California

California was a former US-State, but during the 13 Weeks in which the world was in turmoil from the outbreak it eventually split off of the US. While not formerly seceding, California eventually became its own nation with the collapse of the United States on May 23rd, 2026. While the collapse was occurring, the US was shipping people west, to California, which was holding its own against the outbreak fairly well. Most of these immigrants were given shelter by the military in the Central Valley of California.

A large power in the west, and with a powerful navy, California has maintained a democracy out west, keeping the people of the Mojave, parts of former Mexico, and the Rocky Mountains safe. It began in martial law, but kept its democratic system it had as a state, making it one of the few nations that did not form new government systems after their formation as a sovereign nation.

History
California, in 2026, was relatively the same as it had been for a few decades, but with Governor Annemarie Svoboda pushing for martial law across America, things quickly changed. The martial law was enacted April 25th, 2026, and California began to use the powers it now had to protect its citizens.

In the early days, California had no intention of sovereignty, and intended to fight the outbreak as a Union. Outraged by the secession of Illinois, it wanted the United States to declare war on the newly formed Chicago Kingdom, but to no avail. Most the aircraft in California was sent east to help battle the infected in the east, due to the slow spread out west, but some aircraft remained in the big cities.

The United States declared the California Central Valley to be a "Safe Haven" where survivors from across the United States would be shipped by the United States National Guard. This system proved effective, and San Francisco was a major port for the safe haven. This began on April 26th, and the Safe Haven grew rapidly, with few cases of infection thanks to the mountains around it.

On May 14th, 2026, however San Francisco was attacked by the infected, and quickly succumbed to the outbreak. In the bombings there, the planes were lost, as most larger cities went through. California ramped up it's military rule and forced all men over the age of 18 and under the age of 30 to join the military. Governor Svoboda signed a legislative act, enabling the State of California to continue existing as a nation or a state if the rest of the United States fell.

On May 23rd, when the United States collapsed, this bill allowed California to move its government onwards, and keep as a nation. Svoboda became the president, and quickly continued the martial law that began while California was a state. As the outbreak was still plaguing the new nation, she ordered all previously quarantined zones to be bombed with the few planes remaining in California. Shortly after the bombing, the planes ran out of fuel, leaving California without an air force.

The year of 2026 from then on was a tough one for California, in which they shifted their focus to protecting their people, growing food, and finding a way to stop the infected from attacking their cities. The later was not found that year, but the nation quickly swung into feeding its population and protecting their people from the infected. The military stationed itself along the border with armored vehicles, building a wall around the armored vehicles with turrets in what would be named Svoboda's Wall.

California expanded north to Oregon and, absorbing several small towns that had no protection. Most of these towns were completely willing to be absorbed, but some resisted. One of the biggest resistances was in Salem, Oregon, where the local people fought back with extreme hostilities. But using armored vehicles, California subdued the resistance and continued expanding north. It stopped expanding in Portland, Oregon, in December 2026.

When spring came, the California Republic found that hordes of zombies were still present in the desert to the south and to the east, and sent out scouts to find any survivors. Las Vegas was found to be largely unaffected, probably from the lack of population in the surrounding area. Numerous towns in Mexico were annexed, forming the state of Baja California. Around this time, California's flag was designed.

After expanding to the east, California decided to create five states to divide itself among, in August 2027. These states were:


 * California in Purple, the most populated.


 * Nevada in Yellow, the second least populated.


 * Utah in Green, with a population just below Nevada's slightly.


 * Arizona in red, second most populated


 * Baja California, the third most populated.

The several towns in Baja California had not experienced the outbreak until later during the infection, and despite the fact they had the infected to worry about all year long. This led to California having English and Spanish being its major languages, and President Svoboda herself was bilingual. The English-speaking north and Spanish-speaking south got along with few tensions, but there were still tensions between the two.

In the winter of 2027, New Babylon formed out of a separatist group in northern Utah, that split off from the rest of California. California accepted New Babylon's sovereignty as a ciy-state and did not declare war, but did withdraw all protection from the Mormon citizens there. There had been no major roads to the city of Salt Lake, which formed New Babylon, and this led to most citizens of California never caring that it left.

The capital of California, which had been Sacramento before the outbreak and during it, moved to Las Vegas, a more central location in the republic. The city became a district, not in Nevada, which resulted in it becoming its own state, in a sense.

In 2028, California made official contact with The Remnants, who until 2028 had been stuck mainly around the Gulf of Mexico, but were beginning to expand to the west from Houston. The Remnants reluctantly accepted California's sovereignty and set up trade with them, and through this trade route, California learned of the Dominion of the South, the archenemy of the Remnants.

Government
The Government of California is basically the same as it had been before the outbreak. It is a three-branch republic, like the old United States, with a president (Current President is the former governor), who serves 4 year terms, and has a House and Senate. The Congress passes laws, and the President can sign or veto them, although so far none have been vetoed.

Geography and Population
The Geography of California is one of mountains and deserts, and thus has a population that's not that dense but concentrates in cities, typically near sources of water. The population estimate did not record cities individually, but the nation all together, although a second census that is to happen soon will do so, to decide the number of representatives. Going off pre-outbreak standards, the five largest populations are: But no official information regarding city size is available yet.
 * 1) Las Vegas
 * 2) Oceanside
 * 3) Ciudad Obregón
 * 4) Tucson
 * 5) New Reno

Economy
Just like the United States, California's economic system is a capitalist one, with a free enterprise. The industries must meet health standards though, and services such as gambling and prostitution are only legal in certain cities. Slavery is illegal, and farming is a private business for the most part, although government-ran programs encourage it becoming used by more people.

The GDP of California is $10,000,000 in total and a GDP Per Capita of $4,000. It is mainly agricultural and industrial, with those two making up a combined 80% of the economy. Services have a mere 20% of the economy. Power comes from hydroelectric dams and solar panels, although cars run off oil due to a lack of electricity in most locations. Public transportation is incredibly sparse.

The trade system is relatively marine, with one thousand trade boats used by merchants, and several merchants have caravans of buses to transport their goods. Planes are unheard of as transportation devices, unlike in the Chicago Kingdom. Mail is delivered daily and radios are commonly used, a poll showing that most families have either a radio, a mailbox, or both. Mail is paid for by individuals, and the radio is ran by individuals wanting to broadcast on selected frequencies. Taxes are paid for annually by taking 5% of the income from each family.

Military
California's military is largely handed down from the United States, and is a large one, but only has two divisions – the Navy and the Army. The army is the largest divisions, with 405,052 troops, the rest in the navy. This leaves under 100,000 men in the navy, despite the massive coastline with the Pacific that California has. The military uses old technology and vehicles, and most officers were also officers in the United States military.

The motto of both divisions of the Californian Military is “To Protect and Serve”.

Culture
California's culture is relatively the same as before, with a wide diversity and many people sharing beliefs. It celebrates major holidays from before the outbreak. Christianity is still dominant in California, and it has a high rate of people using cremation for funerals more now. The church is still separate from the government but has large amounts of influence.

The Safe Haven program caused division between those who had lived in the Central Valley prior to the outbreak, which has led to a slight prejudice against those deemed "outsiders" by the locals. However, the locals are outnumbered by the "outsiders" making the prejudice against them less vocal.

People in lands conquered by the Californian military are somewhat unwilling to help native Californians, and some of them had the starts of civilizations forming in their areas before conquest, making a major mish-mash of cultures. Mormonism in Nevada and Utah have spread throughout California (the nation) and have formed several militia groups.