South Kesh

South Kesh (Ramayan:ꦏꦺꦱ꦳꧀ꦱꦼꦭꦠꦤ꧀, Kesh Selatan), officially the Union of South Kesh (Ramayan: ꦥꦼꦂꦱꦼꦩꦏ꧀ꦩꦸꦫꦤ꧀ꦏꦺꦱ꦳꧀ꦱꦼꦭꦠꦤ꧀, Persemakmuran Kesh Selatan) is a federal semi-presidential republic located in South Kesh. It shares a maritime border with Ramay to the west and is considered the southernmost portion of mainland Kesh. The Union of South Kesh has a land area of 400,000 square kilometers spanning several climate zones, boasting a population of over 55 million people comprised of a variety of native ethnic groups subdivided into four citizenship classes. Kotamaju serves as the national capital of South Kesh and thus serves as the administrative hub of the four constituent republics. Other major cities include Situgawe, Maninjau, Tanimbar, and Juninta, capitals of the constituent republics as well as the largest city within each respective one.

Originally a collection of small people groups which later evolved into early city-states and kingdoms, the area of present-day South Kesh has been continuously inhabited by modern humans since at least the late neolithic period. The fertile banks of the Banyutoya river in what is now Sukamulyo served as the birthplace of many influential kingdoms and states that would eventually collide with one another, creating periods of great unrest and tension between these states. The continuous tension and competition over more fertile lands and resources has led to the formation major empires, notably the Empire of Sukamulyo and Reregan, into existence. These empires would soon fall under the influence of the State of Zhou by the early 12th century, bringing peace and stability in the region with the backing of Zhou. However, by the early 16th century, a war-torn Zhou lost its capacity to exert influence, and the tributary states broke free from Zhou influence, paving the way for other kingdoms in the region then dormant due to the presence of Zhou to perform minor raids and skirmishes along the borders, marking a period of insignificant turmoil.

The war of the quintuple rajas in the 18th century marked the beginning of the downfall of the great South-Keshian empires and kingdoms, with total destruction of the economy, social life and politics occurring through all the constituent states, making these states vulnerable towards invasions, a tactic the Samot-Seratofian Empire utilized in the war of colonializations in the mid 19th century, where the present-day borders of South Kesh were inherited from. Under Samot-Seratofian rule, the once warring ethnic groups were forced to coexist and maintain forced friendships with one another, creating a time of uneasy peace. With the dissolution of the Samot-Seratofian Empire in 1925, the Republic of East Ramay was formed, inheriting all territories from the former colony. The Republic of East Ramay was granted independence from the empire as a conseuqeune of the treaty of Holmgard signed earlier within the same year, and President Suwiryo sworn in as president. East Ramay would soon to be one of the most successful states in Kesh measured by economy and human development, with most of that contribution being attributed to East Ramay's neutrality in the Kesh War which enabled East Ramay to remain neutral and continue to trade with both sides, tripling East Ramay's GDP in a matter of 15 years.

With the death of President Suwiryo in 1973 marked the era of stagnation in East Ramay, as the economy slowed down. In 1980, a fiercely fought presidential election led to a brutal civil war in 1981, giving hard line communists with backing from XXX to be able to capture most of the country and most importantly the capital, effectively transforming East Ramay into an agrarian peasant's paradise. The new state, then named Democratic Ramay and led by the Democratic Party, carried out one of the worst in Anterran history during its four years in power, eventually being ousted in a military coup led by ethnic Yafan generals. In 1986, the Union of South Kesh was proclaimed, and apartheid policies were implemented. The mass movement of people based on their citizenship class was one of the biggest internal migrations in Anterran history, and was the foundation of South Kesh's modern demographic spread. Samotkhe bombed the country in 1990 and levelled many of the cities and industry. A new capital was built between 1995 and 2000.

South Kesh is a federal state with four constituent republics, namely Sukamulyo, Reregan, Bauksia, and Menyawi. Each of the constituent republics house citizens according to their citizenship class. Each republic gets their own president, constitution, official languages, anthems, and laws, however, are still subordinate to the federal government in Kotamaju. The supreme president is the head of state with the prime minister presiding over government affairs. The system used in South Kesh is a parliamentary republic, although power is shifted towards the higher-tiered republics.

The South Keshian economy, standing at $590 billion dollars PPP wise, is a major economic center and power within the general south Kesh. South Kesh can be classified as a with many of its products and goods shifting from a more agrarian setting to secondary and tertiary needs. However, the level of inequality in South Kesh is extremely high, and the more agrarian republics of Bauksia and Menyawi suffer the worst from this inequality, with the bulk of their population and livelihoods still being dependent on either the cultivation of plants and animals or crude mining. In general, South Kesh is a major producer of Bauxite in Anterra with some estimates putting 60% of all the reserves in South Kesh alone. Automobile and electronic manufacture are major industries in the Republic of Sukamulyo, and contributes a huge portion towards the export value of South Kesh.

Etymology
The name South Kesh comes from the southernly location of the country located in the continent of Kesh.

Independence Era
After the loss of the Samot-Seratofian Empire in the Grand Campaigns which subsequently dissolved the dual-monarchy instated within the treaty of Holmgard, the colonial possessions of the empire were given independence. Intellectuals and academics from the former Samot-Seratofian East Ramay gathered in the capital of Kotamaju to draft a constitution and the legal frameworks of the nation. To encourage pan-austronesianism, the name of "East Ramay" was chosen to veer off colonial connotations. After being ratified by the emergency parliament of East Ramay on the 13th of August, the Republic of East Ramay was proclaimed by K.T. Adiwiryo, gaining international recognition very quickly.

Apartheid Era
With failing economic life and stability, as well as an internal turmoil within the ruling South Keshian People's Party, the apartheid Keshian National Congress (SKNC), led by ethnic Yafans, seized control in what is now known today as the 17th of December event of 1968., in which the South Keshian president at that time Armand Tantular was kidnapped and exiled along with other high ranking officials. The SKNC declared the remainder of the year to be a reconstruction period and enacted several apartheid laws that would come into effect on new year's day 1969. The move was seen as political and a combination of both hatred and revenge of the SKNC towards members of other ethnic groups in their relations within the time frame of the past hundred of years.

On new year's eve 1969, the SKNC divided the country into four autonomous and separate republics but still under the helm of the central federal government in Kotamaju that would serve as the homelands of the different citizenship classes assigned to individuals on an ethnic, genealogy, and merit-based background. The four republics correspond with the four citizenship classes, in which the lower classes were often ethnic groups which the ruling SKNC despised the most, and were left to do basic and arduous tasks that were very low-paying and substandard, even for South Keshian standards. The massive exodus on new year's day was met with heavy resistance from the ethnic groups that have been forced to move, but were responded by military action, known as the scare of 1969. In addition of the creation of four new republics, buffer zones were created in between the republics to prevent illegal commutation from citizens of either side.

Suddenly, millions of South Keshians were forced into their respective republics and had to travel hundreds of kilometers, many on trains, busses and motorcycles without any clear destination in mind. Professionals were allowed to keep their first-class citizenship even though their far descendants must adhere to whichever ethnic group class they belong to. By the early 1970s, the economy of South Kesh had returned to normal levels with each citizenship class tasked with a different sector of the economy, most notably bauxite mining. This created a huge equality gap within South Kesh, and has led to massive riots and unrest within the republics, but were calmed before the spread of violence could happen.

South Kesh became a closed and neutral country independent of any major power blocs, and restricted heavily the flow of information and people from within and outside South Kesh. South Kesh broke off ties with all major power blocs and focused on specific nations bilateral relations. South Kesh's relations with Ramay greatly improved during this period as the SKNC viewed Ramayans as cousins of the South Keshians divided on national lines.