HOME | DD

Description

Japanese language version: www.deviantart.com/holonzeias/…
English language version: www.deviantart.com/holonzeias/…
Flags: www.deviantart.com/holonzeias/…

Although more than thirty years have passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there is still one island nominally divided according to Cold War ideologic differences - Hainan and its more than 33,000 km² of land in the tropical South China Sea, split into Keishū, the former Soviet ally, and Shukishi, part of the American sphere of influence in East Asia.

After the 1895 invasion of Hainan by the Japanese Empire, the island quickly turned into one of the favourite settler colonies for both impoverished Japanese farmers and those emigrants who could not find their luck in South America or Hawaii, rapidly outpacing the native Chinese Han and aboriginal Hlai populations. With the surrender of the Empire in 1945, this strategically important island ended up being carved into essentially two gigantic military bases with their own ideological flavour.

Interesting side note: even though Keishū was part of the failed Soviet economic system, its transformation into both a modern market economy and a functional democracy have made it into a far more prosperous nation than its impoverished Southern neighbour, whose lack of functioning democratic organs - Shukishi is basically a one-party state akin to neighbouring Vietnam and China - didn't allow for economic reforms, despite several attempts by consecutive governments.

North of Hainan lies the small state of Qirwan, a historically important harbour for ships from the Persian Gulf. Since its 1994 independence from Oman the country has quickly turned into the Arabic Pearl of the East.

Description

Japanese language version: www.deviantart.com/holonzeias/…
English language version: www.deviantart.com/holonzeias/…
Flags: www.deviantart.com/holonzeias/…

Although more than thirty years have passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there is still one island nominally divided according to Cold War ideologic differences - Hainan and its more than 33,000 km² of land in the tropical South China Sea, split into Keishū, the former Soviet ally, and Shukishi, part of the American sphere of influence in East Asia.

After the 1895 invasion of Hainan by the Japanese Empire, the island quickly turned into one of the favourite settler colonies for both impoverished Japanese farmers and those emigrants who could not find their luck in South America or Hawaii, rapidly outpacing the native Chinese Han and aboriginal Hlai populations. With the surrender of the Empire in 1945, this strategically important island ended up being carved into essentially two gigantic military bases with their own ideological flavour.

Interesting side note: even though Keishū was part of the failed Soviet economic system, its transformation into both a modern market economy and a functional democracy have made it into a far more prosperous nation than its impoverished Southern neighbour, whose lack of functioning democratic organs - Shukishi is basically a one-party state akin to neighbouring Vietnam and China - didn't allow for economic reforms, despite several attempts by consecutive governments.

North of Hainan lies the small state of Qirwan, a historically important harbour for ships from the Persian Gulf. Since its 1994 independence from Oman the country has quickly turned into the Arabic Pearl of the East.