Antarctica (Inhabited Antarctica Redux)


 * Inspired by KMF's Antarctica.

Antarctica, officially the Dominion of the Antarctic, is a sovereign country and Commonwealth realm encompassing the entire continent of Antarctica. It is the southernmost nation in the world and the only country to occupy an entire continent. Its capital and largest city is Bellingshausen, located on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The country is governed by Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Nicole Olav Harris.

History
Antarctica was first settled by Fuegians, Ona (Selk'nam), and Yaghans in the Antarctic Peninsula, and the Maoris in present-day Byrdia, before being discovered in 1820 by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. Later on, a chunk of Antarctica was colonized by the United Kingdom, with Norway, Germany, France, Russia and other countries laying claim to Antarctica.

On 12 July 1843, Antarctica was given Dominion status with the Treaty of Higginsburg. Large-scale European settlement began at this point, with adventurers, miners and sailors being sent from all across Europe (mostly the United Kingdom). Antarctica was also settled by Afrikaners, German mercenaries, French royalists, exiled Confederates, Nazis taken as PoWs, and Holocaust refugees.

In 1958, far-right politician Brandon Emerson rose to power. He introduced various draconian policies during his 31-year term, including a ban on video games and communism, the introduction of a social credit system called "SocialPoints" and a policy of opposition to the Soviet Union and alliance with the United States. Authoritarianism in Antarctica would last until the end of the 1980s, with the Snowflake Revolution leading to Emerson's resignation in 1989.

Ethnic groups

 * Indigenous groups, forming 17% of the population, consist of Ona, Yaghan, Maori and Fuegian people who were exiled to or settled the Antarctic.
 * Europeans, comprised of British, Norwegian, German, French, Russian and Spanish settlers and adventurers from across Europe (although mainly British and Russian), form the majority. 53% of Antarcticans are of European descent.
 * Old Stock Antarcticans are Europeans who have stayed in Antarctica for multiple generations without marrying people from other races. 21% of all European-descent Antarcticans are self-proclaimed Old Stock Antarcticans.
 * Antarctic Hessians are descendants of Hessians, German mercenaries hired by the British against the United States during the Revolutionary War, who fled to Antarctica after the British loss. 8.3% of Antarctica's European population are descendants of the Hessians.
 * Louisites are Antarcticans descended from French Royalists, who form 2.5% of the European population of Antarctica.
 * Africans form a small 2% of Antarctica's population. Most Afro-Antarcticans are South African, Ghanaian, Nigerian or Afro-American.
 * Columbines refer to Antarcticans of American (Anglo or Latin) descent. Forming 9% of the Antarctic population, Antarctic Columbines are mainly of American descent. However, Peruvians, Chileans, Argentines, Brazilians, Patagonians, Uruguayans and Canadians are included.
 * Asians, mainly Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Pakistani and Filipino explorers and their descendants, form 3% of Antarctica's population.
 * Pacific Islanders form 5% of the Antarctic population. Most of them are Australians and New Zealanders.
 * Multiracial Antarcticans form 11% of the population.
 * Antarctica Dutch are a multi-ethnic group, mostly descended from Pennsylvania German adventurers who volunteered to discover Antarctica with British approval in the 19th century.
 * Mestizos are a racial term for people of mixed Spanish and Indigenous descent. Most Antarctican Mestizos are of Chilean, Uruguayan and Argentine descent.
 * Petrians are a people of mixed Russian and Yaghan people with traces of Ukrainian descent. They speak Petrijski, a Russian pidgin.
 * Antarctic Metis are people of mixed Native and European descent, like their Canadian counterparts.
 * Boers are Dutch people from the western Netherlands who settled in South Africa and later moved to Patagonia.

Trivia

 * Antarctica uses the GMT time zone. Due to Antarctica having a year-round polar climate, DST is not observed.
 * The main TV networks are: APB (Antarctic Public Broadcasting), Channel Four, Five Network, Eight, RBF (Regional Broadcasters' Federation) and AET (Antarctic Ethnic Television). APT and AET are owned by the Antarctic government, the rest are owned privately.
 * Antarctica in the NationFolks series is portrayed as a person with a "by-day-and-night" split personality. He works as a researcher by day, but passes the time by speed-skating. Polandball on the other hand portrays Antarctica as an average person with no split personalities.
 * During the Emerson regime, it was declared illegal to play video games in Antarctica. Due to the rising popularity of underground arcades and gamers lobbying for rights however, the ban was overturned in 1983. Nowadays, Antarctica has the most gamers in the Southern Hemisphere with 12 gamers per 1,000 people.
 * Antarctica's SocialPoints system, used from 1973 until 1990, was said to have inspired the Chinese Social Credits System 45 years later.
 * Its largest city and capital city is Bellingshausen, with smaller cities including Edwardia, San Martin, Novosochi, New Trondheim, Drygalski and New Anchorage.
 * Antarctica is the only country to have three separate anthems. "I Vow to Thee, My Country" is played during peacetime, "Heart of Oak" during wartime and "God Save the Queen" as its royal anthem.
 * LighTec, one of the major semiconductor makers along with Intel, AMD and TSMC, is based in Bellingshausen.