New Limburg

New Limburg, officially the Republic of New Limburg (Dutch: Republiek Nieuw-Limburg), is a parliamentary republic located on several islands in the Indian Ocean, near Nusantara. The country has about 1.2 million people, with most people speaking Dutch as their native language. The capital and largest city is Mondingsbaai.

Etymology
In 1794, Dutch explorers found the island chain which New Limburg is based on, and noticed that the main island had a volcano. Because of this, they named the island "New Limburg" after Limburg, one of the most hilly places in the Netherlands. Most of the crew that discovered the island was from Limburg. In 1823, the name was used for the whole island chain when the Dutch made colonial claims there.

Before European discovery
It is estimated that in ~900AD, people from present-day Nusantara first discovered and settled New Limburg island and the Jonaseilanden islands. Not much is known about these people. In the 1720s, a heavy earthquake is predicted to have hit the islands, which killed roughly 50-70% of the population, which would be about 9,000-12,000 people. In the following years, another 1,000 people died of starvation as most of the crops got destroyed by the earthquake. People start leaving and by the 1730s, only a couple dozen people were left. In 1754, the last inhabitant died, close to where Tussenheuvels is located now.

Colonial times
In 1794, Dutch explorers get lost and discover the islands. They first arrived on Eersteland, meaning "first land". They stayed a couple days at the place where the city of Sint-Jan is located nowadays. After exploring the island, they sailed southwards and discovered a second island. Captain Jan Hoet names it after himself, so he calls it Jansland. They don't set foot on the island, but instead sail eastwards because one person on the ship saw another island: New Limburg. They called it that because most of the crew was from Limburg and because it has a pretty big volcano and Limburg is the most hilly place of the Netherlands. They stay a couple weeks on the island at the place they called Bosse. Bos is Dutch for forest and there was a big forest there. The explorers leave the islands. They first go to Nusantara and then go to the Netherlands to tell about their discovery.

In 1809, a second expedition to the islands arrives at New Limburg. They officially claim it as Dutch land. The expeditions had also brought some people to permanentally live on the islands. They settle New Utrecht on Jansland and Rivierstad (meaning "river city") and Mondingsbaai (meaning "mouth bay") on New Limburg. One ship decides to explore further and discovers new islands. The captain, Jonas De Jong, calls them the Jonaseilanden, again after himself. Some people settle Noorddorp (meaning Northern town).

In 1823, a man from the Dutch government visits the islands to officially call it a Dutch colony, meaning the residents had to pay (very low) taxes. The colony is called New Limburg, even though that's just the name of the main island. Mondingsbaai becomes the capital of the newly established colony.

Not much happens in the following years, except that a ton of Dutch people leave the Netherlands for New Limburg. The population growth is amazing for the islands' economy.

In 1950, a Dutch archaeologist found that the islands were inhabited before the Dutch discovered it, but that something must have made them all leave. It was only in 2002 that archaeologists and geologists would find that the cause was probably an earthquake.

Independence and afterwards
On September 8th 1975, a referendum was held for independence. 82% voted in favor, so it became independent on January 1st 1976 as the Republic of New Limburg. Mondingsbaai became the national capital and Dutch stayed the only official language.

In 2002, the country reached 1 million inhabitants and in 2005, they adopted the current national flag.

Physical geography
New Limburg is located in the Indian Ocean, west of Nusantara. The islands were formed by volcanos, but these volcanos haven't been active for at least 10,000 years. The highest point is the top of Nikkiberg, the volcano on New Limburg island.

Fauna and Flora
New Limburg mostly has tropical animals, similar to Nusantara. Almost all animals you find on these islands can also be found in either Nusantara, Australia or South Asia.

Climate
The islands have a tropical climate because they're located close to the equator. The climate is similar to the western coast of Nusantara, but there's a bit more wind and rain on New Limburg.

Economy
The economy is heavily reliant on tourism, agriculture, and fishing. The main tourists come from the Netherlands, Nusantara, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America. Sometimes cruise ships stop on any of the islands, but this is not that common due to their remote location. The islands of New Limburg and Eersteland see the most tourists. Agriculture is mainly done on Jansland and also on New Limburg island. Fishing is mostly done around the Jonaseilanden.

Government
The country is a republic. Every 5 years the people directly elect a president. The president can only serve for 2 terms, so for 10 years at most.

Administrative divisions
The country is divided in 7 provinces. New Limburg island is divided into 4 provinces, some including some nearby islands. The capital Mondingsbaai is located in the South province.

Demographics
New Limburg has 1,210,743 inhabitants according to the 2020 census. About 72% of the residents live on New Limburg island. 16% lives on Jansland, 7% lives on Eersteland, 4.5% lives in the Jonaseilanden and the remaining 0.5% lives on any of the smaller islands near the coast of New Limburg island. The population growth is slowing down as the country doesn't get as many immigrants anymore and also because the population is becoming older on average. The vast majority of residents ethnically originate from the Netherlands. There are minorities of French and British descendants as well. Recently, more Asian people moved in. In the past, most people were christian, this is still the case, but the number is rapidly declining. More and more people are becoming atheist. There have also been some muslims, hindus and buddhists because of the immigrants from Nusantara and mainland Asia.

Mondingsbaai
Mondingsbaai is the capital and biggest city of New Limburg, located on the main island in the South province. It has a population of 198,545 which means about 1/6th of the country lives in this city.

Culture and identity
The culture is similar to that of the Netherlands, although some different traditions exist. On New Year's Day, people from Eersteland all just walk around the island. Sadly, because of this, more burglars can easily break into a house.

Flag
On January 4th 2005, New Limburg adopted their current flag. The orange represents the Netherlands and the Dutch origin most inhabitants have. The blue stands for the Indian Ocean and the fishing industry. The white stands for peace and Limburg. The white and blue are shaped like waves from the ocean, these also represent the ocean and sea. The stars represent the locations of the most important islands of the country.