In-Depth Catrela Summaty [WIP]

The United Kingdom of Catrela

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Catrela (Catrelan Spanish pronunciation: [ka'treɫa]), officially the United Kingdom of Catrela is a large island nation located to the southeast of the Southern Cone of South America surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east and by the Southern Ocean to the south. In terms of land area, Catrela is the largest Spanish, Italian, and Romanian-speaking nation and the second largest Latin American nation. The country is divided into five regions and 25 provinces governed within a federation-like system. The capital, Vellerano, is the largest city of Catrela and the third largest city within Latin America and is a wealthy world city located upon the shores in the northwest of the country. Until recent years, Catrela has enjoyed the position as the dominant military and economic power of Latin America and remains among the wealthiest and most developed nations in the region, its economy only rivalled by that of Brazil.

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Etymology

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The name Catrela is derived from the name of the 16th century explorer Arthur Katrel. Katrel was an early explorer of the Americas who seeked a southern passage to the Pacific ocean, and in the process he accidentally discovered Catrela. When the Spanish king caught word of this, he launched a Spanish invasion of the island and incorporated it into Spanish America.

History

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Catrela has always been among the most isolated regions within the Americas and was likely the final region settled by Native Americans. Even after this settlement the region remained very sparsely populated and the Native Americans of Catrela were totally isolated from the other groups of the Americas. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century they introduced various Old World diseases which decimated the already small population to the point that the Native American population had fallen well below 100,000 by 1700. In addition, the Spanish invested very little attention to Catrela as a colony, seeing it as an isolated, irrelevant, and seemingly empty land (the land was too cold for cash crop growth and lacked precious minerals), and as a result, very few settlers arrived and the few that did were virtually free from any Spanish administration.

Larger scale European settlement did not begin until after 1720. The Italian nation of the Kingdom of Naples was eager for its own claim in the Americas, but virtually all available land was already taken by other nations. Instead they turned to purchase and negotiated with a reluctant Spain to pay the Spanish Crown in exchange for partial control of Catrela, which was the least valuable region in the eyes of the Spanish. Thus, in 1720, Catrela had become a Spanish-Neapolitan condominium and a significant amount of Italian settlers began to arrive in Catrela. The Spanish saw this as a potential threat to their control and thought that if the Italians outnumbered the Spanish too severely, they would rebel and Naples would gain full control of the region, and therefore the Spanish began to send many of their own settlers to Catrela to keep the ethnic ratio in check. Colonial Catrela consisted of several villages almost exclusively lined along the northern coast, and the land was mostly controlled by wealthy local families rather than any European governments.

Things remained fairly unchanged until in the 1810s several wars for independence broke out throughout the Americas, and the people of Catrela saw this as a unique opportunity to gain their own independence since Spain was preoccupied with controlling so many colonies. Eventually this succeeded and Leonardo Morandi of the wealthiest of the Catrelan local families was proclaimed King of Leonardo I Catrela in 1824. However, many other wealthy families desired to seize control and many more of the people seeked a democracy instead, which led to a long series of political upheavals and civil wars that lasted until 1867. During this period the nation experienced severe political instability, rampant violence and poverty, and a ruined economy that was among the worst-off in Latin America.

Eventually, these wars came to an end and King Franco I came to power and put into place the Old Restoration (or the Restoration of 1867) which put the nation on a path to prosperity in the following years. The legislation of the Old Restoration called for several things including the establishment of a federated constitutional monarchy for a stable and people-oriented government, a capitalist economic system with ample social mobility, a program to begin industrialisation in Catrela, and a campaign to encourage mass immigration to Catrela in order to fuel its workforce and strengthen its economy. Soon after the Catrelan economy grew at an astounding pace virtually unrivalled by any other nation of the time and quickly rose to become a fully industrualised global economic power. With this newfound prosperity (and also thanks to a pro-immigration campaign) Catrela saw an immense wave of immigration from Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries which contributed to a population surge and fundamentally reshaped the culture of Catrela. Between 1867 and 1911 Catrela saw the arrival of 14 million immigrants to the country, mainly from Romania, Spain, and Italy, but with sizable numbers also coming from the Ottoman Empire, Hungary, Portugal, and other European countries. In fact, Catrela was the number one destination for Romanians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Spaniards, Jews, Arabs, and Gypsies arriving in the Americas, even ahead of the United States.

However, following this prosperity, the economic health of the nation began to deteriorate as early as the 1890s and political dissatisfaction rose as well. People began to feel that the monarchy was mismanaging the nation, especially with the severely declining economy, and the Catrelan economic crash in March 1911 directly triggered the breakout of the Catrelan Civil War in 1911. King Franco II, a king very devoted to serving the best he could as King of Catrela, felt that he had failed his people and committed suicide on 22 August 1911, and King Silvestro, an irresponsible and power-crazed ruler came to power in his place. His rule further upset the already-furious populace and he was assassinated a mere two months afterwards, and following this, several factions struggled for dominance and the ability to create a new government for Catrela. After years of conflict Los Imperios, a group that favored the old structure of the government triumphed over Los Revolucionarios and Los Blancos, the monarchy and original government was restored to power, and the reign of King Leonardo II had begun. Leonardo II sought to totally fix and reshape the country like Franco I had done half a century earlier. Thus he put into place the New Restoration (or the Restoration of 1916), which was similar to the Old Restoration, but also included better measures to prevent ethnic and political conflict and keep the economy less volatile, and he additionally established a full-fledged Catrelan colonial empire.

This restoration, however, proved less successful as the country suffered very deeply during the Great Depression, which reversed all economic recovery achieved since the New Restoration. The populace was frustrated at the difficulty they had faced for years and sought a new leadership which caused the rise of fascism in Catrela in 1934 under the leadership of Tulio Gianfranco Pierno. The Catrelan fascist regime massively expanded the Catrelan military, adopted a much more aggressive foreign policy as well as further expanding the Catrelan colonial empire, and sought to eliminate all non-Italo-Spanish people and cultures from Catrela which resulted in the expulsion of 1 1/2 million people of the 35 million Catrelans at the time, mostly to its colonies. In World War II, Catrela joined the war as an Axis power in January of 1940 just as tensions with neighboring Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay were near a breaking point. Catrela sought not only to exert total influence to Latin America but to become the dominant power of the entire Western Hemisphere, its only true rival at the time being the United States. The Catrelan Navy began closely monitoring the ports of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay and finally, on November 9, 1940 the crew of a Catrelan destroyer had mistaken a group of Argentine Coast Guard vessels as being hostile and sunk each one, prompting Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay to all declare war upon Catrela. By spring of 1942, Catrela had successfully invaded each of the three nations which prompted more attention from the United States which now felt compelled to take more action in this war theatre. Eventually, with increasing American and other Allied intervention, Catrelan forces were eventually driven out of mainland South America, Catrela itself was invaded, and the nation surrendered on March 20, 1945.

The fascist regime was uninstalled, the constitutional monarchy was again restored, and the Catrelan Empire came to its demise. Following this, Catrela saw a communist revolt in 1952 which was successfully suppressed and from then on Catrela was a full supporter of NATO throughout the Cold War. Catrela rebuilt and modernised its economy and became seen as a rising power throughout the Cold War era, playing an increasingly important role in the global economy. Today the Catrelan economy is among the largest economies in the world and supports the objectives of the United States and the European Union in addition to playing an important role itself in world politics. On January 20, 2019, Catrela passed a bill beginning a Third Restoration, intended to vastly strengthen its military, significantly boost economic growth, accelerate demographic growth, and transform Catrela into a true world power.
Demographics

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Population
The population of Catrela has been estimated at nearly 95 million according to official 2019 estimates, ranking third in Latin america and 16th in the world, with a density of nearly 30 people per km². The first Catrelan census was conducted in 1870 and has been conducted decennially since then. The Catrelan urbanisation rate is estimated at 88.1% with the majority of the population concentrated in densely populated regions along the northern coast, although there has been a trend of large-scale migration into the interior of the country ever since the mid-19th century. According to estimates, Catrela possessed a population of only just over 1 million at the time it gained independence, only rising to 1.7 million by the time of the Old Restoration due to high poverty and death rates and decades of war. However, following the Old Restoration, death rates fell sharply, fertility boomed, and massive waves of European immigrants arrived allowing the population to skyrocket to over 20 million by the start of the Catrelan Civil War, a 12-fold increase in merely 50 years. It is believed that during the late 19th century the average Catrelan woman bore roughly 8 children and death rates rivalled those of Western Europe. However, with the Catrelan Civil War and Great Depression, immigration was quickly and dramatically curtailed and birth rates began to decline. On top of this, the development of the Catrelan colonial empire in the interwar era encouraged a reverse trend of emigration to its colonies, and today roughly 40 milion people outside of Catrela claim Catrelan ancestry. Since the early 20th century Catrelan birth rates and population growth rates have been among the lowest in Latin American, the country only experiencing relatively modest population growth since the end of WWII. However, recently the enactment of the Third Restoration has significantly invigorated demographic growth both through increase in TFR and immigration. Today, Catrela is estimated to have a TFR of 2.04, a birth rate of 15.5 per 1000, a death rate of 7.8 per 1000, a natural increase of 7.7 per 1000, and a population growth rate of 1.21% per year, a sharp increase over the 0.62%, 5.1 per 1000 natural increase, and 1.85 TFR seen in 2018. Additionally, Catrela's sex ratio is 0.96 men per women, median age is 37.0 years, and mean life expectancy is 78.9 years.
Ethnicity
Catrelan people are mostly of European origin, particularly European immigrants who arrived during the late 19th and early 20th century. Catrela, like most areas of new settlement such as the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, etc., is considered a country of immigrants and Catrela has been a location of mixture of numerous foreign cultures. The dominant ancestry groups of Catrela are Spanish, Italian, and Romanian, with 70 million Catrelans claiming at least partial Spanish ancestry, 48 million claiming at least partial Italian ancestry, and 29 million claiming at least partial Romanian ancestry. However, there are also large minorities of people of Levantine, Hungarian, Portuguese, Gypsy, and Jewish origins and smaller but significant minorities of people of French, Russian, German, Moroccan, Ukrainian, Greek, Japanese, Serbian, British, Korean, and Dutch origin. This diversity is further highlighted by the fact that Catrela possesses the largest Gypsy population and second largest Jewish population in the world. Although the original Native American population was small there is still a notable minority of people in Catrela of partial native descent (mestizos) and of full native descent. A much smaller population is of African ancestry; this population is smaller than black populations in neigboring countries due to absence of cash crop farming in colonial Catrela, although small amounts of immigration from sub-Saharan Africa have been seen recently.

In 2014 the Catrelan Institute of Geographical and Statistics Studies conducted a nationwide survey that introduced a question about one's origin. Here are the results collected from the survey:

Origin	Percent
Spanish	74.0%
Italian	51.3%
Romanian	31.1%
Levantine	10.8%
Portuguese	8.4%
Native American	8.3%
Hungarian	7.9%
Gypsy	5.5%
Jewish	5.2%
French	4.6%
Russian	4.3%
German	3.9%
Moroccan	3.9%
Ukrainian	3.8%
Polish	3.2%
Greek	3.0%
Japanese	2.7%
Serbian	2.5%
African	2.2%
British	2.2%
Korean	1.9%
Dutch	1.9%

Note how the total exceeds 100%. This is due to claims of multiple sources of ancestry due to ethnic mixture.

Religion
Catrela has no official religion and constitutionally guarantees freedom of religion which stems from an early-formed tradition of tolerance within Catrela. However, Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion of the nation and has always been so throughout its history, and most Catrelans follow at least some form of Christianity. A 2017 survey by CIGSS found that 41.5% of Catrelans were Roman Catholic, 21.7% Eastern Orthodox, 14.4% Atheist/Agnostic/Irreligious, 12.9% Protestant, 4.0% Jewish, 2.4% Islamic, and 3.1% followed other religions. Additionally, Catrela is home to the largest Eastern Orthodox and Musim communities in the Americas and largest Jewish community in Latin America. Studies show that in recent years Atheism and Protestantism have grown within Catrela, Orthodoxy has been generally stable, and Catholicism has been steadily declining.

Largest Cities

Rank	City	City Proper Population	State
1	Vellerano	9,273,102	Vellerano District
2	Nicolew	4,928,238	Poleco
3	Messizara	4,783,944	Laganà
4	Baghessetta	2,894,012	Llanuria Superior
5	Pesatonto	2,372,449	Vellerano District
6	San Carcamarca	1,582,098	Santana
7	Paragyroi	1,520,184	Baia Nera
8	San Lucia	1,300,274	Santana
9	Mavera	1,173,495	Valencia
10	Avelipi	1,110,380	Poleco

Culture

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Catrelan culture has a long history of development from a fusion of a wide variety of cultures, mainly the cultures of settlers and immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, especially Spain, Italy, and Romania, but also from many other cultures. Urban centres are sites where both popular and traditional culture alike are abundant, with museums, cinemas, galleries, literary bars, and bars for live music found all over the nation. In addition the populace possesses a very rich folk tradition dating back centuries and originating from a wide variety of sources.

The origins of Catrelan culture lie in the early 18th century with the arrival of the first wave of settlement, mainly from Spain and Italy, and with these settler groups intermingling and also absorbing cultural elements from the natives. The first era of Catrelan culture was also synchronous with the colonial era of the nation. In the early 19th century new traditions began to develop as the nation sought to differ itself from both its coloniser countries and neighbors, although due to the hardship of the era this was seen as a darker era of its history and its culture was unable to thrive. With the late 19th and early 20th century a flood of new immigrants arrived with their own unique cultures which practically reinvented Catrelan culture and society as a whole, and in addition, the prosperity of the time and government promotion, the country saw an astonishing development of philosophy and the arts, and this era is seen as the era in which modern Catrelan culture fully developed.

In addition, a strong trend of regionalism can be seen within Catrela, with various regions possessing their own very distinct cultures. For instance, the northern coast and parts of central Catrela are known to be very metropolitan while the rest of the nation tends to be more rural and traditional. In addition, various regions tend to have different "cultural mixtures" with certain areas tending to have stronger influences from particular locations. For example, Romanian and Hungarian influence is strongest in the northeast of the nation, Italian influence in the northwest and central areas, Spanish influence in the west, Arabic in the east, Portuguese in the northwest, Native American in rural areas of the southeast, and Jewish along the northern coast. Finally, there is a very strong marine culture in cities of the northern coast with seafood most popular in this area along with much of this area's population having familiarity and cultural connections with seafaring and sailor traditions. However this "sea culture" is relatively absent throughout the rest of the nation where seafaring and other maritime activities have generally been much less important.

Music
The common music of Catrela originated in the 18th century from the music of Spanish and Italian settlers, also taking strong Eastern European and more subtle African influences. There are a wide variety of genres of traditional Catrelan music, but there are four primary genres of Catrelan music, Oranesco, Marino, Dans de Foc, and Leñadoreño, each genre originating from a different people from the different regional cultures of Catrela. These music genres experienced a golden age in post-Civil War Catrela and again in post-WWII Catrela with Fulvio Sousa, Martín Accordi, Cristoforo Szabó, and Calisto Sepúlveda being renown musicians of their respective genres during this era. These various folk genres eventually coalesced into a Catrelan national folk style during the interwar period and from there influenced music throughout much of Latin America. In addition, a very influential classical music scene has flourished within Catrela for generations with many modern composers such as Benedetto Franco, Rubén Alesini, and Norberto Balázs in addition to Catrelan composers of yesteryear such as Bettino Nascimbene, Enrique Murgia, and Giotto Rovigatti.

Literature
Catrelan literature possesses unique origins in that its deepest roots originate from the writings of early Catrelan settlers who wrote about lifestyles as wanderers, ranchers, and nomads, the typical lifestyles of early Catrelan colonists. These themes were very influential in the earliest Catrelan literature and affected its subsequent development. In the early 19th century Catrelan literature saw a transition to somewhat more urban and intellectual characteristic in addition to the rise of a movement towards a unique national style with authors such as Sabas Barros and Virgil Corvi being pioneers for the new style, revolutionising Catrelan literature with novels such as La Nueva Vision and Don Fueguito. During the first half of the 20th century a modernist movement occurred in Catrelan literature in which surreal, gritty, avant-garde, and dark themed literature became the mainstream throughout the nation, peaking during the 30s and 40s and shaping present-day modern Catrelan literature. World renown authors of present-day Catrela include Donatello Ibáñez, Corradino Antonescu, Román Olmos, and Paulo Rocha.

Theatre and Cinema
Today, Catrela is regarded as a dominant global nation in the arts, with both rich theatre and cinema industries. These industries trace their roots all the way back to 1748 with the creation of the first Catrelan theatre in the town of Moleoia by the wealthy Laganà family, which was originally intended to be exclusively for the family and close friends. The first play written by a Catrelan playwright was written by Frederico Melchor Elizondo in 1770 for the Laganà family theatre; this play was known as L'uomo del Mare, a play regarding a legendary sailor and adventurer of early colonial Catrela. Catrelan theatre was relatively prosperous prior to the independence of the nation of Spain, following this event the nation suffered a series of civil wars and other conflicts during which the industry suffered and became nearly dormant. However, with the Great Restoration Catrela enjoyed a cultural golden era and with this so did Catrelan theatre from the 1870s until the 1900s and again during the 1920s and early 30s. The most well-renown Catrelan playwrights Adrian Alemagna and Augusto Esposito produced many of the nation's best plays during this era such as Il Vecchio Lavoratore, El Tejedor del Cielo , and most famously La Tana del Coniglio.
During this golden age of theatre a new artistic medium began to emerge as well, a medium known as cinema. Catrelan cinema was virtually nonexistent in its nascent days, but following the end of the Catrelan Civil War and abrupt boom occurred in Catrelan theatre as studios appeared throughout the nation and a flood of new films was produced. The industry experienced two golden eras, the first during the 1920s and early 30s and again during the 1950s and 1960s. Faustino Pini was the most famous director and producer of this era and became known as the Father of Catrelan Cinema, producing various films between 1917 and 1929, and who was a pioneer of several film techniques widely used to this day. During the 1990s, the Catrelan film industry began to make a resurgence in production, quality, and prestige with a new generation of creators coming to the scene. Famous Catrelan directors of today include Francisco Espina, Colombo Grigorescu, Quintino Dumitrescu, and Bernardo Dalca, each of whom have directed at least one film that has been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film (Shadow of the Old Man [2009], Fries [1995], Crime City [2000], and Dog's Eyes [2012], respectively).

Visual Arts
The Mavera Institute of the Arts, constructed in 1832, is regarded as among the most prestigious art schools throughout Latin America, from which hail countless alumni who have created various types of works throughout several artistic eras. Several artistic movements throughout the years have originated within this particular institution and have spread from there throughout the nation and often the world.
Among the best known Catrelan painters are Rick Saqqaf, Paolino Al-Ghazzawi (Realism), Rubén González, Elena Ortega (Surrealism), Patricio Bartalotti, Nino Bajusz (Cubism), Maura Benenati, Piera Acosta (Modernism), Jacinto Ungur, and Carlos Ibarra (Abstract).

Architecture
The development of the Catrelan architectural style begins with the first major wave of settlement in the early 18th century. In colonial Catrela, Spanish Baroque architecture of the dominant Spanish settlers fused with the Italian Baroque architecture of the new Italian settlers to create a unique Catrelan colonial architectural style. In the 19th century, with the flood of immigrants came a large influx of followers of Eastern Orthodoxy which led to the construction of Orthodox-style churches throughout the nation, and overall Catrelan architecture acquired a marked Eastern European influence. During the early 20th century, modern-style architecture became popular throughout Catrela, with the most famous modern Catrelan architect being Maximiliano Lengyel who designed several Catrelan government buildings (including the new capitol building of Llanuria Superior, his home province) and other skyscrapers worldwide.

Cuisine
Catrelan cuisine varies dramatically between regions, reflecting the impacts of numerous immigrant groups and the environmental variation within the nation. The cuisine of this nation arose from the fusion of Mediterranean, Indigenous, Eastern European, African, and other immigrant cuisines.
Catrelans notably enjoy a very rich variety of alcoholic beverages which are all produced within the nation. The wines of Catrela are among the world's finest and most prestigious, with Aragónez, Băbească neagră, Syrot, Bianca, Fiano, and Picolit being among the most desired wines of the nation. In addition, many beers, vodkas, and an alcoholic dairy beverage unique to and originating in Catrela known as pannetta are produced and consumed by the populace and considered central to the local menu. There is in fact such a variety and appreciation of Catrelan alcoholic beverages that Catrela has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the Americas and the 12th highest in the world.
On top of its beverage variety, Catrela also has a diverse food variety. Pork and beef are by far the most important meats to Catrelan cuisine which frequently features these in foods such as asado and chorizo, and in addition, seafood is an extremely important aspect of Catrelan cuisine, particularly in coastal regions. Other popular foods eaten during lunch and dinner include cocido, goulash, pasta, rice and beans, sarma, chitterlings, ravioli, humita, and tochitură. Common snack foods eaten in Catrela are sfiha, empanadas, varenky, and chicharrónes, while popular desserts include flan, sweet bread, dulce de leche, plăcintă, cassata, alfajor, cocada, and dobos torte.

Government

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The United Kingdom of Catrela is a federated parliamentary constitutional monarchy as laid out in the 1948 Constitution and is the only original monarchy remaining within Latin America. However, ever since the passing of the postwar constitution, the Monarch acts mainly as a figurehead, with the Prime Minister holding the true power as head of government. However, an important power of the Monarch to this day is their role to directly nominate a prime minister candidate for each party. The most influential parties of the nation are the Old Restoration Party, the Pure Catrela Party, the Peoples' Liberation Party, the Catrelan Communist Party (outlawed in 1955 but once again legalized in 1991), and the Greater Catrela Party.

Foreign Relations
Catrela has played a large role in world politics as a global power and staunch NATO ally since the end of the Catrelan Communist Revolt of 1952. As such, it is a member state of the G8, G20, OECD, and other international organizations.
Throughout the Cold War, Catrela has supported NATO both directly via intervention in conflicts such as the Vietnam War, Dominican Civil War, Insurgency in Bolivia, etc. and indirectly by supplying funds and equipment.
Despite tensions and armed conflict against several South American countries during World War II, Catrela today possesses many close allies within Latin America, most notably Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. Catrela and Brazil together act as leaders among Latin America and emerging economies worldwide as a whole.
Geography

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Economy

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The economy of Catrela is the second-largest Latin American economy in terms of nominal metrics and third-largest in terms of PPP metrics. Worldwide, Catrela possesses the 10th largest nominal GDP and 12th largest PPP GDP. According to recent estimates, agriculture accounts for 4.4% of the GDP, industry 35.2%, and services 60.4%. Major industries of Catrela include motor vehicles, weaponry and arms manufacturing, food processing, electronics, chemicals, iron and steel, clothing, footwear, and pharmaceuticals.
Despite suffering from crippling economic decline during the 1970s and 1980s in which the nation lost its once overwhelming economic hegemony within Latin America and fell back into underdevelopment, the country has generally enjoyed steady growth once again since the 1990s to this day. Catrela has additionally recovered its position as the most developed Latin American nation, although Chile continues to close the gap.


*The info in this wiki applies to the Earth version of Catrela, geographical information does not apply to the Strangereal version.

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