Bruuma (Pacifica)
The Voodoo People’s Republic of Bruuma | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
Motto: Powers to the People | |
Anthem: The Patriotic Prayer | |
 Location of Bruuma (red) in Pacifica. Puerto Pollo is shown in pink. | |
| Location | North-West Cordilla. |
| Capital and largest city | Bayougrad |
| Official languages | Austral |
| Religion (2022) | State voodoo 64%
Folk voodoo 16% No religion 14% Christianity 6% |
| Demonym(s) | Bruuman |
| Government | Unitary one-party socialist republic under a totalitarian hereditary dictatorship |
• Dear Leader | Brother Unclepear |
| Legislature | Supreme People’s Congregation |
| Formation | |
• Foundation of the Colony of Bruuma | 1666 |
• Establishment of the Voodoo People’s Republic of Bruuma | November 8th 1956 |
| Area | |
• Total | 51,943 km2 (20,055 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2022 census | 12,055,138 |
• Density | 232.08/km2 (601.1/sq mi) |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | $72 billion |
• Per capita | $6,000 |
| Currency | Rubledoll |
Bruuma, officially the Voodoo People’s Republic of Bruuma, is a unitary state in North-West Cordilia.
Based on a tropical archipelago, Bruuma is a developing country with a lower-middle-income economy. Its main source of income are its reserves of oil and natural gas. Other relevant exports comprise cash crops and food products, arms, pharmaceuticals. There is also a developing tourism industry.
Officially a single-party socialist state with voodoo as its national religion since 1956, it is described as a totalitarian dictatorship centred on the cult of personality of its historical head of state, Eternal Leader Papa Unclepear, and its successor and current highest officer, Dear Leader Brother Unclepear.
The nearby country of Puerto Pollo has been a dependency of Bruuma since 2014.
History
The Native Age (6000 B.C. – 1666 C.E.)
Bruuma was first settled around 6,000 B.C. by tribes of hunter-gatherers. For thousands of years their descendants lived in villages scattered in the luscious forests of the island, practicing hunting and subsistence agriculture and frequently warring with each other.
The Colonial Age (1666 – 1942)
In 1666, Austral-speaking adventurers invaded the island and turned it into a colony of a transcontinental empire. The colonists developed extensive plantations and enslaved most of the natives, but introduced diseases wiped the latter all out by 1722. So, starting from 1697, they were replaced by tens of thousands of imported Afro-speaking slaves. Slavery was eventually abolished in 1838, but segregation policies persisted and the country’s wealth remained in colonial hands. Nevertheless, a small elite of middle-class, school-educated Afro-Bruuman developed by the start of the XX° century. From 1918, independentist and equalist movements began to gain traction among the masses and in 1936 the first act of violent subversion against colonial authorities were recorded.
War of Independence (1942 – 1956)
In 1942, with the Motherland locked into a conflict in its own continent, the independentists took the chance to launch a proper guerrilla campaign. The three main rebel forces were: the Bruuma Voodoo People’s Liberation Front (BVPLF), the armed wing of the voodoo-communist Workers’ Mojo Party (WMP); the Popular Army for the Independence of Bruuma (PAIB), the armed wing of the socialist-democratic Popular Union for the Independence of Bruuma (PUIB), and the Christian messianic Rightful Movement for Equality and Justice (RiMoJE). In 1945 Papa Unclepear became the leader of the BVPLF and, by gaining material support from foreign Communist powers, turned the group into the biggest rebel fighting force. After a prolonged and bloody conflict, which caused the flight of most of the colonists, the Motherland agreed to a peace treaty in 1956. Bruuma became independent on November 5th, but the BVPLF launched a coup and on the 8th established the Voodoo People’s Republic of Bruuma.
The Voodoo People’s Republic of Bruuma first era (1956-2012)
After crushing all internal dissent, Papa Unclepear took governing a country torn and impoverished by war. The first decade of the was marred by famines and only the unwavering support of the main Communist foreign power allowed the country to avoid collapse. Oil and gas offshore fields, discovered in 1962, were fully developed by 1967 and allowed the country’s finances to grow. Bruuma’s backer collapsed in 1991 and, deprived of its aid, the country was forced to diversify its economy, notably opening up to the tourism industry.
The Voodoo People’s Republic of Bruuma second era (2012-present)
In 2012, Bruuma began a new phase of more active interventionism. Its forces took part in several civil wars, including the Second Puerto Polloan War after which Puerto Pollo was annexed, first as a Protectorate and then as a Commonwealth. In December 2017 Bruuma invaded the island of Sereva, part of the Republic of Erinor, in support of a local communist guerrilla. Bruuma withdrew from Sereva in 2018 after a peace deal was signed. The same year, it signed an alliance treaty with Kai Fa. Bruuma also intervened in the Reizen Civil War, fought between 2018 and 2020. In 2020, Papa Unclepear retired, to die one year later, and Brother Unclepear took over with the title of Dear Leader.
Geography
Physical Geography
The archipelago is composed by a main island, homonymous to the country, and three smaller islets. It has a tropical climate. Most of the original rainforest cover has been lost since the colonial times to make space for agriculture and it is now concentrated on the mountainous slopes and in swampy areas, though reforestation efforts are ongoing throughout the country.
Islands
Bruuma Island
The main island is dominated by two main mountains: Mount Laveaux, 2,881 meters, in the south and Mount Marx, 1,848 meters, in the north. The only significant river of the island is the Gathoroski river, which runs from the centre to the north-east coast. All the main urban centres are located on the island.
Revolution Island
Once inhabited by fisher and sugar cane farmers, it has been turned into a touristic hotspot thanks to its pristine white sand beaches and crystalline waters.
Juju Island
An impervious island with a vast network of caves, since independence has been turned into a giant military base for the exclusive use of the Leader’s personal guard, the Revolutionary Praetorian Guard, commonly known as the Red Jujus.
Augushka Island
A fertile island with a milder climate, thanks to favourable winds and currents, it is one of the most important agrarian region of the country.
Population and culture
Population
Bruuma has a population of 12,055,138 inhabitants, according to its last census. The population is concentrated mostly on the main island, in the south-western plains and along the north-eastern coast. The capital Bayougrad is the largest city, hosting 867,000 people in the municipality and 1,160,000 in the urban area. Other main urban centres, all on the main island, are: Vandooville, the old colonial capital; Orleansgrad, an important port city and Zumbiskoye, an industrial city born with the oil and gas industry. Most of the countryside population lives in small villages which works as collective farms.
The population is ethnically homogeneous of Afro-descent. The number of foreigners as permanent residents is very low and they are mostly working personnel from allied countries.
Language
The language of Bruuma is Austral, brought by the transcontinental colonial power. The Bruuman variant incorporates loanwords from Afro languages and from Russian, which was spoken by a transcontinental Communist power who backed the regime between 1956 and 1991.
Religion & Politics
The national religion is voodoo, which has been integrated with the socialist ideology in a single dual-core system of belief. The Workers’ Mojo Party is both a political party and an organized church and the only legal one for both field. Its official ideology is defined as Spiritual Socialist Patriotism, although scholars often call it colloquially Unclepearanism. The cult of personality of Papa Unclepear has been incorporated in the religious practice.
A communist formation with voodoo and nationalist undertones founded in 1931, the WMP became clandestine in 1936 following the first armed actions against the colonial government and later became the main rebel faction in the independence war fought between 1942 and 1956. Papa Unclepear consolidated its absolute leadership from 1945 onwards and remained at the helm until its death in 2021. The current head of the Party is his successor Brother Unclepear.
Aside from the state church, all other form of organized religions are banned officially. Especially in the countryside, people also practice a looser form of folk voodoo, which enjoys a limited degree of tolerance.
Christianity, which used to be the official religion in colonial times, is still practiced semi-covertly by a minority, since Jesus is recognized as a Loa, or deity, of the wider voodoo faith. Monotheist practices are instead persecuted.
The urban population is more secular and a certain percentage is presumed to be de facto atheist or agnostic.
Economy
The Bruuman economy is based around a Socialist model. It is a centrally planned economy, where the role of market allocation schemes is limited, although increasing. It is dominated by oil and gas extraction, which started in 1962, and refining. Major non-oil industries produces arms and pharmaceuticals. Agricultural exports are centred on sugar cane and its derivatives, tobacco and citrus. Bruuman rum and cigars are internationally renowned. Fishing, timber and mining are also relevant industries.
Welfare
The average Bruuman citizen can afford little in term of luxuries, but extensive public investments have yelded excellent results in term of food security, literacy and healthcare.
Armed Forces
The Bruuman People’s Defence Forces
The Bruuman People’s Defence Forces (BPDF) were founded in 1956 as a direct successor of the Bruuma Voodoo People’s Liberation Front (BVPLF) guerrilla. Highly respected and deeply embedded in the economic fabric of the state, they are one of the two main powers of the country along with the Workers’ Mojo Party.
A reorganization and modernization of the armed forces has been ongoing since 2018. Today, the active personnel amount to 250,000 people. In case of need, up to 1,000,000 of trained reservists can be conscripted immediately, with access to abundant, if outdated, reserve arsenals. The BPDF maintain a 3,500-strong garrison in the dependency of Puerto Pollo.
The Bruuman Army has an active personnel of 200,000 people. It is composed of a majority of regular, basically equipped infantry and an elite of highly trained and properly equipped Special Forces. A peculiarity of the Army is that every soldier, no matter the rank, is equipped with a machete alongside the rest of its weapons. Its arsenals include a hundreds of tanks and multiple rocket launchers and thousands of APC/IFV, artillery guns and mortars.
The Bruuman Air Force, which includes also the Air Defence, has an active personnel of 25,000 people and possess a sizeable and relatively modern fleet of combat and transport planes and helicopters. Anti-aircraft defences consist of thousands of anti-aircraft artillery guns, MANPADS and SAM.
The Bruuman Navy is brown water and has an active personnel of 25,000 people. Its surface fleet is mostly outdated and comprises dozens of fast attack crafts and torpedo boats integrated with corvettes and frigates. The submarine fleet is more efficient and of relevant size. Coastal defences include both artillery guns and missile batteries.
Operational history
For decades the armed forces were not officially engaged in conflicts abroad, although small cadres of trainers and covert squads were occasionally sent to allied countries or movement.
In 2014 the BPDF invaded the neighbouring country of Puerto Pollo, torn by a civil war, in support of the main rebel faction, the Pollos Endemoniados Revolucionarios. The war was won in just 6 days and the country annexed as a Protectorate, later changed in a Commonwealth.
Between late 2017 and early 2018 the BPDF invaded the island of Sereva, part of neighbor Erinor, in support of local communist separatists. Ryccian, Gianlucian and Frost forces intervened in support of Erinor. After a peace treaty was signed, the BPDF left the island.
The BDPF also provided material support to communist rebels during the Reizen Civil War between 2018 and 2020.
The Revolutionary Praetorian Guard
The Revolutionary Praetorian Guard, commonly known as the Red Jujus, is the personal guard of Brother Unclepear, to which they answer directly. With the whole Juju Island as their own base, they are an elite force of 25,000 supplied with the best armaments available, including aircrafts and ships.