National Overview

National map

Khoikhoia, officially the Khoikhois Republic (Portuguese: República Khoikhóis, Khoikhóia), is a medium-sized democratic republic in Southern Africa, home to 24 million, and the westernmost nation on the continent and the Old World, with its capital, Cabo, on the port of the Cape of Good Hope. A diverse nation mainly made up of those of Anglian and Portuguese origin but with many minorities including Afro-, Indian-, and Arab-Khoikhois, the nation is thus one of the world's few both officially and de facto bilingual nations, with English and Portuguese widely spoken. In recent times, however, the country has been moving to a working English monolingualism.

Though a centralised country with almost half of its population living in the Greater Cabo area, and increasing urbanisation, it enjoys vast coastlines and is home to incredible biodiversity and 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Khoikhoia neighbours Namibia to the northwest, Botswana to the North, and Lesotho and South Africa to the northeast. Due to a history of a migrating population making sacrifices to come to a new land, it is nicknamed the "Land of the Adventurous".

International
In international affairs, Khoikhoia is an important and strong nation, but since the end of its involvement in the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars in 1991, has adopted a policy of relative isolationism, refusing to participate in military interventions. To that end, diplomacy with other states has been strengthened. Of the Lusophone countries, Khoikhoia is a traditionally respected figure, especially on its continent.

On the world stage, Khoikhoia is a member of the G20, World Trade Organisation (WTO), United Nations (UN), African Union, BRICKE (Group of Brazil, Russia, India, China, Khoikhoia, and [the] Equator), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Trilateral Summit with Nambia and Botswana.

History
The understanding of the beginning of Khoikhois history is that it would begin with the beginning of Portuguese colonialism. However, it is important to understand the precursor to the entry of Portugal, that in the early centuries AD, Bantu tribes dislocated the Khoekhoe, who Khoikhoia gets its name from - as at the time orthography spelt them as "Khoikhoi" - from the area, sending them to Namibia, and settling much of what is now Khoikhoia. After Portuguese explorers Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama, respectively, rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 and reached India by going around Africa in 1497, Portugal had an incentive to set up a strategic port on the Cape.

Contact with the Khoekhoe was made, with the promise of guaranteeing them economic influence and security if they settled on the banks of the Cape of Good Hope, and a joint invasion was staged, removing the Bantu from the area, and establishing a small viceroyalty, with the city of Cabo, Porto do Cabo - "Port of the Cape" - founded, Khoikhoia's capital since the very start. The Khoekhoe would be given economic control, establishing inns and retreats for sailors in the green Repouso Seguro - "Safe Rest". Churches were built in what was named Villa da Nossa Senhora - "Town of Our Lady" - nearby.

After the Treaty of the Hague ended the Luso-Dutch War in 1661, and as Portuguese maritime influence waned, the city, was a target for Dutch merchants, who worked to take over the industry from the Khoekhoe. The Khoekhoe, unhappy, clashed with Dutch merchants throughout the 1680s. The distrusting Portuguese would use the excuse of Khoekhoe dissatisfaction to expel Dutch merchants from the city in the 1690s. The city would continue to be a key passage for ships.

Portuguese exploration of Khoikhoia
displaced and killed many, including
Boers

After the independence of Brazil in 1822, the fallout caused by this, triggering the independence of the northeastern provinces as The Equator and clashes with northern and southern provinces, created severe economic uncertainty. As such, many of both the Portuguese colonial agrarian and urban upper middle class saw the vast, unexplored, and undeveloped Khoikhoia as a perfect place to go to. Immigration to the colony began in the 1830s, with almost one hundred thousand moving to Khoikhoia. The already existing cities had massive infrastructure projects started, and many went inland to explore potential farmland.

Those going inland would encounter the Bantu, and thus many took Khoekhoe guides, economically ousted and familiar with the terrain, with them. One of the darkest periods in Khoikhois history would occur as these orchestrated a de facto genocide of these peoples. A major encampment at modern-day Campo, named the "Camp of the Portuguese" was set up for the adventurers. The Bantu largely fled to eastern Khoikhoia and South Africa. The stronger Portuguese also displaced some of the Dutch Boers settling in the western parts of Southern Africa, sending them to modern-day South Africa and establishing the modern-day borders of both nations.

The settlers suffered from the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869, which reduced the colonial government's revenue. Due to this, an increasing movement of "industrialisation and independence" grew in Khoikhoia, with many wanting to replicate the French-led industrial revolution, and to lead its organisation alone. Khoikhoia began to collaborate en masse with Portuguese republicans, with most seeing the abolition of the monarchy as a stepping stone to full independence as achieved in South America.

Khoikhoia's two most important statesmen - Left: Ciro Almeida, "Potter of Khoikhoia"; Right: Marcos da Sousa, "Father of Khoikhoia"

Following the Portuguese monarchy's abolition, Khoikhoia would be granted devolution, though the Portuguese government did not believe the nation would pursue independence. Contrary to the inactive, unstable Portuguese administration, Khoikhoia rallied behind the Khoikhois Republican Party (KRP), forming what a de facto one-party state, in the pursuit of "industrialisation and independence", led first by veteran republican Ciro Almeida, recognised as one of Khoikhoia's most important statesmen and the nation's "potter" for paving the way for "industrialisation and independence", and then his successor Marcos da Sousa, equally influential and nicknamed the "Father of Khoikhoia".

The First World War was crucial in the development of Khoikhoia. Refusing to enter a conflict on the side of the Allies, as Local Minister Almeida saw it as unwinnable for them, but unable to fight for the Central Powers due to the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, Khoikhoia remained neutral. Post-war, Khoikhoia would begin to properly industrialise. Khoikhoia invited many from the devastated Anglia to work in their factories, sending them further inland, growing the cities of São Pedro and Khoilândia, as well as to the east. This had the effect of removing potential syndicalists from the country, allowing the ultranationalist Army to seize power.

With the 28 May military coup d'état in Portugal, Khoikhoia feared losing its devolution and disrespect from the Portuguese military authorities. Thus, shortly after, on 3 May, Local Minister Marcos da Sousa declared Khoikhoia's independence. The Portuguese, supported by the fearful Anglians, French, and Spanish, would refuse to accept this, but with support from countries such as Brazil, Louisiana, and the Equator in the Americas, they withdrew the Governor of the overseas province in February 1930 and signed a treaty recognising Khoikhoia's independence in August of the same year, while tightening security in other colonies.

In 1936, Khioikhoia faced its first military challenge and stepped out briefly of its early isolationism. The Anglian government increasing its strength over its colonies angered the newly independent Khoikhoia, especially as it bordered the Botswana governorate of the South New Anglia colony. After requesting the then ultranationalist-infiltrated Anglian military government to reconsider, their refusal led to a 10-day ransacking of south Botswana by the Khoikhois cavalry. Khoikhoia then forced Anglia to allow Botswana to become independent. The incident was dubbed the "Cavalry War". This was a rare foreign involvement, as otherwise Khoikhoia remained focused on domestic affairs until the 1960s. It also marked the beginning of an alliance with and protection of Botswana by Khoikhoia.

The immigration of Anglians to Khoikhoia brought to the Luso-Khoikhois elites a moral panic. Anglo-Khoikhois were known for drinking in amounts far greater than it was Khoikhois custom. Thus, a movement to prohibit alcohol outside of communion shot up in the 1920s, influenced by a similar success in Louisiana. The main difference was a campaign of "never" for alcohol damaging communities, different to Louisiana's "not anymore". As the one-party regime faltered, the Socialist Party campaigned against prohibition, forcing the Republican Party to campaign for it. After their election in 1940, they implemented the policy in 1941, and still in effect to this day, even though Louisiana repealed its prohibition after its total failure during World War II.

Francis Jackson,
Prime Minister
of Khoihoia (1963-1973),
first Afro- and
Anglo-Khoikhois to
hold the office

As the economy prospered, Khoikhoia refused to enter the Second World War. This was contrary to the wishes of most, including Anglian immigrants, who were despaired by the ultranationalist government. Upon the revelation of the atrocities committed against minorities by the ultranationalist and syndicalist Coalition, the understanding of Khoikhoia's role on the world stage shifted completely, with calls for more involvement in foreign affairs.

As Anglo-Khoikhois became a strengthened voting bloc, Francis Jackson, Khoikhoia's first Anglo-Khoikhois and Afro-Khoikhois Prime Minister, had his mainly Anglo-Khoikhois Social Democrats elected in 1963. He would lead Khoikhoia to aid those fighting for independence in the Portuguese Colonial War with supplies, distancing Khoikhoia from isolationism. Jackson's government would be revealed to be in a massive corruption ring with mining tycoons in 1972, with his coalition partner, the Khoikhois People's Autonomy Association involved completely. He would replace them for the Socialist Party, but high figures in his party such as the President, Matt Waltham, were deeply implicated too.

The Republican Party would be elected off this, led by Estêvão Soares. They would increase efforts in the Portuguese Colonial War and began sending troops in late 1973. However, as Portugal's colonies achieved their independence, Soares would involve the nation in the civil wars of Angola and Mozambique, fighting for the tribalist pro-independence factions against their socialist governments. The war would continue to escalate and face scrutiny. Soares responded by introducing censorship, banning protest, and subverting democracy, plunging the country into a quasi-dictatorship.

After the government sent over 1 million soldiers to the wars combined, resulting in at least 300,000 casualties (~30%) from the guerilla tactics used, which the Khoikhois were unprepared for, the wars looked unwinnable in 1991. Due to this, Soares would resign. His successor, Cristiano Black, would pull Khoikhoia out and reverse the authoritarian policies implemented by the now-disgraced Soares, who had also attempted to grow the economy after a 1973 recession with pro-business policies but had put Khoikhoia into one of its worse economic periods due to the war, which he actively censored.

The merger of the Social Democrats and Socialist Party, the SD-KSP, would be elected in 1992, effectively bringing veterans into the workforce, and modernising and growing the economy, thus bringing Khoikhoia into the modern age. Due to a history of a migrating population making sacrifices to come to a new land, it is nicknamed the "Land of the Adventurous".

The KhoiBall,
Khoikhoia's countryball

National symbols
Khoikhoia's national flag is a horizontal triband consisting of dark blue, green, and red. The flag was designed to represent the country's motto, Liberty, Equality, Union, with the blue representing freedom, red equality, and green national pride. As such, the colour green is widely used as the colour of Khoikhoia, including on maps and the national football team's kit. The Khoikhois national animal is the African fish eagle, common amongst African nations. However, the stormy seas of the Cape of Good Hope, upon which the nation was founded, are more often used to represent Khoikhoia, which to many international nations is simply "the Cape country".

Classically a source of great national pride, there has been an increasingly mainstream push to change the flag of Khoikhoia as of late. It originally started as a far-right proposal because the colour of the flag's top stripe was thought to look too similar to the blue in the flag of the Kingdom of Portugal, a deeply unpopular regime in Khoikhoia. Since then, an informal union with vexillologists has been formed, calling for a complete redesign of the flag as it is too basic, quietly gaining traction. There is no one design proposed, however.

The Khoikhois coat of arms is a gold-bordered circle excerpt of the flag, surrounded by golden laurel branches with black and white flags to denote racial harmony at the bottom of the structure. It was based on the Portuguese coat of arms adopted in 1911 following the ousting of its monarchy, aided by Khoikhois republicans, and when Khoikhoia was part of its Empire. The Foreign Ministry and Military in ceremonies use a modified version, which uses the Air Force roundel, 3 circles in the flag's colour, one inside of each other. The latter does have its symbol, which combines the sword of the Army, the anchor of the Navy, and the wings of the Air Force (painted as the flag), and uses this for some of its events.

Security
The Khoikhois Armed Forces (KAF), led by Admiral Sam Everton, consist of the Khoikhois Army, Navy, and Air Force. They have a combined total of 30,000 active personnel: 15,000 in the Army, 10,000 in the Navy, and 5,000 in the Air Force. The KAF has 70,000 active reservists, but every Khoikhois adult must be on the reserve list. A one-year conscription is in place, and several classes are provided in schools as preparation, though alternative service for the community or emergency services may be pursued instead. The Khoikhois Administration for Space Research (AKPE), formed in 1969, is responsible for space research and navigation. Currently, no Khoikhois has ever been to space, but Khoikhoia launched a joint satellite with Russia and Brazil in 2019 to space.

Different to other nations, Khoikhoia does not have a gendarmerie, as part of a long-running civilian police tradition. Khoikhoia's civilian police force is the Public Security Service (SSP). Wearing navy blue uniforms, the police force numbers 175,000. They are responsible for criminal investigation and public security. However, due to a large crime epidemic in Khoikhoia, particularly robbery and gun and knife crime, the military often cooperates with and helps the police forces. Due to this worsening crime epidemic, tourists to Khoikhoia are advised to exercise greater caution and refrain from going to poorer neighbourhoods if possible - Khoikhoia is not the world's safest country and never has been.

Rudolf Bradley,
Prime Minister
of Khoihoia (2024-)

Politics

See also: List of political parties in Khoikhoia

The country is a democracy and a republic, adhering to a parliamentary system, with the Prime Minister, Khoikhoia's head of government, the main man - but with a ceremonial head of state still, the President. The government, including the offices of the executives, the legislature (the 260-seat National Assembly), the Civil Service, and the Supreme Court, is housed throughout the nation's coastal, dominant, economic powerhouse capital - Porto do Cabo, a city full of modernist architecture and glass (also the capital and main city of its metropolitan province) mostly referred to as just Cabo - but the heads of state and government have their official residences in the city of Repouso Seguro, a tree-abundant place north of Cabo in its metropolitan region, which historically was a resting place for sailors.

Currently, Rudolf Bradley of the Liberal Incentive (LIB) occupies the ever-important position of Prime Minister, forming his Cabinet, and his fellow (though nominally nonpartisan) party member Cristoph Martins serves as the figurehead President. The nation is a unitary one but has four provinces with limited power, devolved to them by the government, two of which are metropolitan, comprising the two largest urban areas in Khoikhoia. Khoikhoia has never been under a dictatorship but was an authoritarian regime without the right to protest and with sweeping censorship during the 1973-1991 premiership of Estêvão Soares, in which efforts in the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars were significantly ramped up. Khoikhoia faces high corruption but is commended for high political freedoms and is considered Africa's strongest democracy.

The nation's politics are broadly divided into left and right. On the left, the Socialist Anti-Fascist League of Khoikhoia (SAFL-KH) and Khoikhois People's Autonomy Association (KPAA), originally an Anglophone anti-discrimination movement, form the most radical of the left wing. The environmentalist Ecological Party has some left-wingers but is a broad church also formed of environmentally-conscious centrist social democrats. A 1980s merger of Khoikhoia's Anglophone and Lusophone social democratic parties make up the centre-left Social Democrats-Khoikhois Socialist Party (SD-KSP), which also has significant left-wing influence.

The right is formed by four political parties too. The most moderate is the economically centrist, socially conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDP). The initially liberal centrist Liberal Incentive (LIB) is the mainstream centre-right party, after a pivot to do this. The initially centre-right, but now national populist Khoikhois Republican Party and the big-tent populist Movement Khoikhoia are the most right-wing parties, both socially conservative and pro-business, though namely against big corporations and in favour of helping job-seekers and potential home-buyers.

Cabo, Khoikhoia's key capital

A partisan democracy, historically, Khoikhoia's Social Democratic and Republican parties led a duopoly. Today, Khoikhoia's politics is home to increasing polarisation, both by the growing national populist right and populist left, both primarily due to dissatisfaction over the reorganisation of the economy to white-collar jobs in the 1990s, and the likewise growing populist left. Unhappy with this, a centrist "ballot revolution" in 2020 elected the centrist Liberal Incentive and Ecological Party to the government, wanting governance focused on action, though they had to involve the SD-KSP to reach a majority. However, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented this, electing a populist right-wing government in 2024, though led by the LIB, which had pivoted to become the major centre-right party.

Cities
Other than the key capital, home to most political and economic activity, important cities include: the São Pedro-Khoilândia metro (also a metropolitan province in its own right), which grew exponentially with Anglian immigration to the country in the early 20th century, and is the main factory base, described as a sad jungle of brick and concrete; Praia, a modern-looking coastal city and tourist hub; Campo, historically the Portuguese encampment for internal exploration and now a provincial capital, with colonial architecture decorating it; Haribe, a bustling scene for Afro-Khoikhois music and innovation, especially rap, though not a known skyline; and several other cities of local significance.

Still, one-third of the country's population lives in the capital Cabo, and almost half (11 million) in its metro area.

Economy
The Khoikhois economy has been in recession since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was previously stagnant since the early 2010s, after entering a recession alongside the world in 2008. Due to economic issues, Khoikhoia suffers from high unemployment, particularly among the youth, which is a problem particularly acute in rural gateway, economically starved cities such as Georgetown, in which high population numbers are rural people moving into the city. However, since the end of the pandemic, Khoikhoia has seen many tech startups led by entrepreneurs open in its capital and economic hub, Cabo. These had previously been an unexplored market in the gradually internet-accessing country.

The tech industry and internet use are growing in Khoikhoia, even though the internet is monitored more than in other countries

The economy is led by manufacturing, rare earth mining, and fossil fuel extraction, which was first massively explored in the 1960s, and increasingly tech, as well as management of extraction, and financial services. Mining and fuel are increasingly scrutinised for their negative environmental impact. Deindustrialisation and a phasing out of these industries have been ongoing since the 1990s, when a focus on white-collar jobs and free trade began, allowing countries with cheaper costs to import to Khoikhoia more easily. This has had the effect of increasing poverty and inequality and is under growing scrutiny.

The economy is deeply centralised, in great part because one-third of its population lives in the capital, and almost half in its metro area. Most opportunities are in the nation's capital, damaging other cities' output, but giving the capital one of the highest GDPs in the world as a city. Though the nation suffers from the increasingly severe global problem of an ageing population, a majority of Khoikhois are working-age, with almost a quarter of the national population aged under 24. The national economy was greatly modernised, driving workers into office jobs, and grown to respectable standards in the 1990s, when the drastically grown population, due to the post-Second World War Boomers, were in the workforce under capable leadership. This also had the effect of standardising English as Khoikhoia's main language of work to facilitate economic proceedings.

Since 1940, Khoikhoia has followed the N49 (Number 49) model in which key industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, and mining, have a 49% government share and are centralised into one larger company, to provide the lowest costs for citizens, creating (as defined in 1964) a privately-managed, publicly-subsidised enterprise (NPS). In recent decades, with an increasing middle class, the number of industries covered has been going down, and competition has been permitted since the 1970s. Examples of the N49 include major news reporter The Jesuit and universal healthcare, presided by SANS, the National Health Administrative Service.

Khoikhoia's currency is the escudo, which has been in use since independence, but had its value to the Louisianais Amerique reset in 1989 after high inflation was repeatedly making it worth less. Today, the escudo is a relatively strong currency, stronger than the Brazilian real. Exchange rates have been published in The Jesuit since it was secularised in 1964 and made an N49, so the public can have easy access. Due to its religious population, Khoikhoia has many civil service jobs and a strong social safety and welfare net. As a result, the government is often criticised for a large bureaucracy and accumulating debt.

People
A nation of 24 million, Khoikhoia is known as a socially conservative nation, with restrictive censorship and abortion policies. It has, however, seen a big rise in women's involvement in the workforce since the 1990s, comparatively beyond neighbouring countries and internationally high, due to an economic boom at this time. Khoikhoia is also the world's only non-Muslim nation to enforce alcohol prohibition, which sees little success in enforcement, mainly as the Soqp (We are what they prohibit) cartel monopolised its distribution. Interestingly, Khoikhoia legalises cannabis. Ultimately, both cannabis (legal and illegal) and illegal alcohol are widely used and abused, despite government pushes to inform citizens of their dangers, as well as crackdowns and busts.

AKoisa is a major
Khoikhois rapper, credited
for increasing its
mainstream appeal

The internet in Khoikhoia is known to have been under the watch of government anti-terrorism cyber units, particularly of the Central Intelligence Control (CIC), the nation's domestic intelligence service, since the rise of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism in the mid-2010s. The internet itself has only been used widely since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, previously only hosting niche groups, prompting investigation. Khoikhoia is majority-white, mainly of Anglian and Portuguese origin, with growing Black (Afro-Khoikhois), Arab, and Indian minorities. As a result, close to 85% of Khoikhois are Christian, divided between Anglican Protestants of the Archdiocese of Khoikhoia in the Church of Anglia, and Roman Catholics, and Hinduism and Sunni Islam brought by immigrants are also significantly present.

Culture
Khoikhois culture is a blend of African-influenced Portuguese and English cultures, with some Arab and Indian influence too. Christmas and Easter are the largest holidays in Khoikhoia. An example of a blend of cultures is the Khoikhois traditional musical genre, the Khoikhois Beat, or simply Beat as it is known in Khoikhoia. It combines tribal drumming with folk guitars and is popular with older people, with Beat singer Cristóvão Bacalhau known worldwide. Carnival has become a yearly celebration of this blend, with Beat played for processions. However, rap, reggae, tribal music, Latin music, pop, rock, folk, and Louisianais country music are also very popular, with rap being the most popular, and only growing in popularity, especially with younger generations. Rappers such as AKoisa have pioneered the genre's growth. The most popular Khoikhois songs are mostly with English lyrics.

Sport is a large part of Khoikhois life, and an escape to many. The two big sports are football and basketball, played at some point in their life, and watched throughout by most Khoikhois. The football pyramid consists of 4 professional divisions, and many amateur ones, as well as Sunday league football. The top division, the K (Khoikhoia) 1, consists of 20 teams, but the K2-4 consist of 24. All divisions see 3 teams relegated and all except the K1 see 3 promoted. The three football giants in Khoikhoia are known as the "flag teams". They are Repouso Seguro, who play in dark blue, Khoilândia Union, who play in red, and Atlético Nacional from Cabo, who play in green. The 10-team UltraBasket is Khoikhoia's top basketball division. It is dominated by the basketball teams of the flag teams and teams from cities with high Afro-Khoikhois populations, such as Haribe and Azania City.

Both the national football and basketball teams are not bad but struggle in comparison with other nations. However, the basketball team is less well known as international basketball is smaller and less popular. The national football team nicknamed the Green Machine for their iconic all-green uniforms, is very popular. The national football association, the Khoikhois Football Association (KFA) was first founded in 1911 when devolution was granted, as an overseer of club football. The national team was founded in 1929 and first attempted to enter the FIFA World Cup in 1946, after the Second World War. As an amateur footballing country, Khoikhoia failed miserably to qualify. In 1964, the KFA was nationalised as an N49, amidst other reforms by Prime Minister Jackson. In 1970, Khoikhoia qualified for the first time. This was repeated in 1974 and 1978. However, after funding was slashed by Prime Minister Soares in 1975, football took a downturn. Until Prime Minister Peake reinstated funding in 1992, Khoikhoia did not qualify for the World Cup. In 2002, Khoikhoia returned to the world stage and has been present at the World Cup since.