NATION APPLICATION

Shortform name: Kealakekua (ケアラケクア)
Long/native name: Republic of Kealakekua (ケアラケクアコワクカ; Kealakekua Kowakuka)
Real life culture influence: Hawai'ian
Real life culture of former colonizer: Fusen (Japanese)
Population: 17,372,811
GDP (PPP) per capita: $9,630
GDP (nominal) per capita: $7,943
Military manpower (active/reserve): 30,000 / 5,000
Language(s): Kealakekuan (Hawai'ian), Fusense (Japanese)
Nation description: Kealakekua was originally settled by Polynesians somewhere around 900 CE. These early settlers likely originated from existing Polynesian populations in Malu'i, bringing with them domesticated plants and animals, traditional navigation and boat-building techniques, and a rich oral culture.

Initial settlements formed in coastal and riverine areas of the large Kealakekuan archieplago, where freshwater and marine resources were readily available. Over the following centuries, Kealakekua developed into a collection of independent island chiefdoms, each ruled by a class of hereditary nobles known as aliʻi. These chiefdoms were politically autonomous but shared common cultural practices, including ancestor worship, ritual exchange, and the construction of heiau (temples) and other stone architecture. By the 12th century CE, political unification efforts began to emerge under a powerful high chief, traditionally identified as Kaʻulupali-a-Moana, who consolidated control over the central islands through a combination of warfare, diplomacy, and religious authority. The result was the formation of a centralized polity under the dynasty of Kaʻulupali-a-Moana.

From the 13th to 15th centuries, Kealakekua expanded its influence across parts of the Southern Ocean, establishing a maritime network that linked it to distant island groups. This period is characterized by the emergence of Kealakekua as a regional thalassocracy. During this period, Kealakekua developed a tribute-based system with outlying islands and smaller archipelagos. These vassal states maintained local autonomy but paid regular tribute to the royal court of Kealakekua, often in the form of agricultural goods, fine mats, feathered regalia, or sacred artifacts. Tribute missions were conducted via long-distance canoe voyages, facilitated by specialized castes of navigators and canoe-builders.While expansion was largely peaceful, there is evidence of limited military activity to suppress rebellious tribute islands or to compete with rival powers. Nevertheless, Kealakekua maintained hegemony in the region through its control of seaborne trade and its ability to project power via its fleets.

Beginning in the late 15th century, the political cohesion of the Kealakekuan thalassocracy began to weaken due to a combination of internal and external factors. Succession disputes among the royal line, environmental challenges such as declining crop yields, and the arrival of Sinjuan powers in the region. Outer island vassals, drawn by the economic and military incentives of Sinjuan trade, began shifting their allegiance away from Kealakekua. By the early 17th century, Kealakekua’s influence over its former tributaries had largely collapsed, reduced to symbolic authority over a handful of proximate islands. Increasingly dependent on Sinjuan merchants for firearms, metal goods, and revenue from customs tariffs, Kealakekua’s independence was gradually undermined by informal economic dependency and diplomatic pressure.

In response to these pressures, King Kalohina II initiated a wide-ranging program of political and cultural reform aimed at preserving the kingdom’s sovereignty and reviving its regional influence. Drawing inspiration from Sinjuan states, Kalohina established a centralized bureaucracy modeled on Confucian civil service institutions. During this period, Kealakekua's nobility also formally adopted Tathaism and invited foreign scholars and monks to bring the country more in line with Sinju. Kalohina promoted the idea that Kealakekua could gain recognition and legitimacy among Sinjuan powers by aligning with their cultural and religious frameworks.

This reformist era was short lived, as while it succeeded in revitalizing parts of the central administration and military, Sinjuan powers perceived its modernization as a potential threat to regional trade interests. A Kealakekuan attempts to establish a colony on an outer island chain caused major tensions with Fusen, which was expanding its influence in the region. After a series of failed negotiations, Fusen launched a short but decisive military campaign against Kealakekua in 1786. Despite initial resistance, the capital fell within three months, and King Kalohina II was deposed and later exiled to the Fusenese mainland, beginning two centuries of Fusenese rule.

Initial years of Fusense control brought influenza, smallpox, and measles epidemics which devastated the native population. By the 19th century, plantation agriculture became the cornerstone of the colonial economy, with large-scale cultivation of sugar, copra, and later coffee for export to Fusen. Traditional land tenure systems were dismantled, and native Kealakekuans were dispossessed or transformed into wage laborers. Fusenese settlers were encouraged to migrate to the islands, leading to the establishment of segregated colonial towns and agricultural estates.

Over time, Kealakekua became a settler colony, with Fusenese and mixed-heritage populations growing steadily. By the early 20th century, they made up the majority of the population in coastal cities and plantation regions. The legal and social hierarchy privileged Fusenese settlers, while native Kealakekuans faced restrictions in land ownership, education, and political representation. By the early 20th century, the plantation economy declined due to rising labor and export costs. Social unrest and violence grew, prompting many Fusenese settlers to Fusen. However, a large creole population remained, and by the time of independence, individuals of mixed Fusenese-Kealakekuan descent made up over 25% of the population—playing a central role in postcolonial politics and society.

Kealakekua gained independence in 1947 following the defeat of Fusen in the Great Eulhae War 1943. In the aftermath, the islands were placed under an Allied military administration. During this period, a transitional constitution was drafted, and preparations were made for local self-rule.

Despite independence, political and economic power remained concentrated in the hands of mixed Fusenese-Kealakekuan elites, many of whom had benefited from land ownership and educational opportunities during the colonial era. The post-independence government was dominated by mixed technocrats and landowners, and Fusenese remained a prestige language in business, education, and the judiciary well into the 1970s.

Today, successive waves of education reform, land redistribution initiatives, and cultural revival movements have expanded opportunities for native Kealakekuans, who now form a growing share of the professional and political class. Although socioeconomic inequality persists, Kealakekua is regarded as a relatively stable, pluralistic democracy. Its middle-income economy is driven by tourism, agriculture, and growing service and logistics sectors.

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