Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Shiloh: Gilboa's Crown Jewel



Shiloh is the capital and largest city of Gilboa. Following the Unification War, the city underwent a twenty year reconstruction effort. Shiloh and its eight suburban counties have a combined population of 13,209,006 people. The city itself has a population of 8,323,847. The city is home to many famous landmarks, amenities, and government buildings. CrossGen, PharmaCross, and Pella Industries all have their corporate headquarters here. Shiloh is also home to the Royal Treasury and Unity News Network, the official news network of the monarchy. In the center of the city stands Unity Hall, the governmental center of Gilboa. The building houses the offices for all of the King's Ministries, as well as the King's Court Room, which doubles as both throne room and meeting room for ministry meetings and petitions to the king. The building also has the distinction of being the planet's tallest. Shiloh is also home to the king's official residence, Alter Mansion.

Royal Kingdom of Gilboa-Facts & Figures

GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE

The great Prosperity River Valley dominates northern Gilboa, while the Port at Pella is the chief western feature of the valley, which also includes River Prosperity flowing southwest to the Elysium Bay. The rugged Gideon Mountains, with vast tracts of wilderness, lie west of the valley. Most of the southern part of the country is on the Plains of Dan, which stretch from the southeast to the Abilene Mountains.
• Land expanse: 141,299 km2
• Borders: (clockwise from the west) the Elysium Bay; Austeria, which shares a water border with Gilboa, Gath, and the Provinces of Simeon.

Terrain
• Majority of the country is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes.
• Gideon Park is the largest in Gilboa. It is larger than the Lydia National Park and Unity River Valley combined.
• The Arcadian River begins with Lake Orli, which flows south through the eastern part of the country.

Climate
Gilboa generally has a humid continental climate. Weather in Gilboa is heavily influenced by two continental air masses: a warm, humid body from the southwest and a cold, dry one from the northwest. A cool, humid airflow from the North Elysium also has an effect on weather, albeit to a lesser extent than the continental ones. Many continental frontal boundaries move across Gilboa, and storm systems moving north along the coast often affect the southern areas of the country.
• Winter temperature: -25 °C or lower in the northern mountains; -15 °C or colder in the southwestern and east-central plains.
• Summer temperature: from 25 to 30 °C over much of the state.

GOVERNMENT

• Country name: Royal Kingdom of Gilboa.
• Absolute Monarchical system since the Unification Wars united Carmel, Selah and Gilboa.
• King Atlas exercises absolute power to rule his country and its citizens.
• Ministry: a collective body of government ministers that participate in cabinet meetings.
• Gilboa operates on a common law legal system.
• The court system is headed by the King’s Court, which only addresses cases brought through the Court of Appeals.

ECONOMY

Based on today's market exchange rates, Gilboa is the seventh largest economy in the world. The economy of Gilboa can be divided into three different sectors: heavy industries, with emphasis on motor industry, mining, and steel and textile production; the service sector, dominated by financial services such as banking and insurance; and agriculture, farming and livestock.

Overview
• Currency: the Gilboan Laurel.
• The Royal Treasury is the central bank, responsible for issuing currency.
• The Laurel is backed by gold reserves held by the Royal Treasury.

Heavy Industries
• The world's third largest pharmaceutical firm (PharmaCross) based in Gilboa.
• Leader in the global automotive industry.
• The Gilboan Monarch is the best selling hybrid vehicle worldwide, manufactured by Pella Industries.
• Civil and defense aircraft production is led by Gilboa's largest aerospace firm, CrossGen.
• CrossGen also holds a major share of the global aerospace engines market.

Service Sector
• Banking and insurance make up over 50% of the GDP.
• Shiloh is the region's largest financial center.
• Shiloh has one of the largest concentrations of foreign bank branches in the world.

Agriculture
• Rural areas specialize in grains, corn and wheat, as well as livestock.
• Farming makes up 5% of the GDP.

Other Contributions
• Number of tourists: 10 MM
• Most visited city: Shiloh

EDUCATION

Education in Gilboa is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. State schools that are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to the most selective private schools. The academic curriculum in Gilboa focuses on communication, languages, sciences, and the arts.

• Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen.
• The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, with private school making up the remainder.
• Over 75% of students at the leading universities in Shiloh attended state schools.

HEALTHCARE

• Healthcare in Gilboa is overseen by the Ministry of Health, which exists to improve the health and well being of the citizens of Gilboa.
• Life expectancy: 75 years at birth.
• Infant mortality rate: 5.35 per thousand.
• Gilboa is among the first ranked globally for infant survival.
• Gilboan cancer survival rates are, likewise, among the highest in the world.
• Recent legislation has been presented to the King to universalize healthcare, with an emphasis on children's health and preventative care.

TRANSPORT

Transport in Gilboa is overseen by the Transportation Ministry, which maintains the roads and motorways of Gilboa, as well as managing air, train and public transport.

Air travel
• Shiloh International Airport is the country's main hub of air travel.
• Air Shiloh connects outer airports such as Pella, Prosperity, and Calsays to the main hub at Shiloh.

Public Transportation
• The GTA (Gilboa Transport Authority) manages bus and train lines connecting far-flung areas across the country.
• The Shiloh subway system is a rapid subterranean transit system, connecting all 350 of Shiloh's subway stations.
• The Shiloh Subway closes between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

Traffic
• Gilboa has over 50,000 kilometers of connected public roadway.
• There are 200,000 kilometers of paved roads.
• The national rail network carries over 180,000 passengers annually.


ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS
• The Royal Gilboan Football League includes two teams that compete internationally: the Lorem United and the South End Storm.
• Rugby team: the Gilboan Premiere, based in Bethany.
• International tennis tournament: annually at Unity Stadium, in East Shiloh.

NEWS MEDIA
• Gilboans are among the top five heaviest television viewers in the world.
• Most successful network: Unity News Network (UNN).
• Time spent on radio programming: two-and-a-half hours a day.
• Most popular websites: gossip site 200 Meters.
• Bloggers: 12 million.

MUSIC
• Style: Rhythmic and lyrical, indigenous music of Carmel. Elements from folk idioms such as the blues and big band were adopted and transformed into popular genres with global audiences. The popularity of jazz, country music, rhythm and blues still rivals more recent creations including rock and roll, hip hop and house music.

CUISINE
• Primary grain: wheat.
• Indigenous foods: turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, corn, and squash.
• Metropolitan cites such as Shiloh offer up a taste of everything. Tourists in the capital might even be surprised to find some Gath favorites readily available.

The top ten cities, by population:

Shiloh (8,323,847)
Gideon (1,279,912)
Kardos (811,836)
Selah (787,425)
Mount Concord (341,696)
Calvary (193,523)
New Carmel (72,967)
Abilene (67,924)
Dathan (61,280)
New Hope (59,336)

History of the Royal Kingdom of Gilboa

The Royal Kingdom of Gilboa was created as a result of the Unification War, a fifty year conflict between three independent kingdoms, Gilboa, Selah, and Carmel. All three nations were populated by people who were little more than barbarians, lead by corrupt kings. The war was finally ended when Gilboan General Silas Benjamin lead a massive force that crushed the other two kingdoms and united them into a new Gilboan nation, with Silas himself ruling as absolute monarch. Shortly after the Unification War, Silas led his new nation into an armed conflict with The People's Republic of Gath, Gilboa's northern neighbor, capturing the key city of Port Prosperity, known to the people of Gath as the Port of Sorrow. Silas used this new city as a base of operations for his most ambitious project and the highlight of his life: the rebuilding of Shiloh, the Gilboan capital that had been completely destroyed during the Unification War. The project took twenty years to complete, and the city became regarded as the most modern in the world. It seemed as though little could go wrong in Silas' personal utopia. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Silas' brother-in-law, William Cross, had provided the new king with the necessary funds to build his new nation, and demanded repayment in the form of a new war with Gath. Thanks to Cross' manipulation, the war grounded into a stalemate, which made William's company, CrossGen, the most powerful private corporation in Gilboa. After two years of conflict, the Gath army introduced the Goliath tank, which seemed poised to change the balance of the war. But, little did anyone know that the Goliath tanks would change not just the course of the war, but indeed the very course of history in ways none could foresee. While on routine patrol, Captain Jack Benjamin, the Crown Prince, was captured by Gath forces. A young private named David Shepard braved enemy lines to rescue the captured prince. In the process, Shepard destroyed a Goliath tank, making him an instant celebrity. This also lead to a new peace accord, in which Silas agreed to return Port Prosperity to Gath, an act that angers many citizens, including William Cross, who begins to plot against the king. In the months that followed, Shepard was promoted to captain, made an advisor to King Silas, befriended Jack Benjamin, and fell in love with Princess Michelle Benjamin. David also proved to be a favorite of a power even higher than the king: God. Chosen by God to be the new king of Gilboa, Shepard found himself at odds with his sovereign. He also found himself at odds with his friend Jack, who grew both jealous of David's relationship with his father, and the (correct) fear that David would become the next king of Gilboa. Jack allied himself with his uncle and agreed to serve as a puppet king if Cross could depose Silas. The wheels of the coup were set in motion after Silas accused Shepard of treason. Furious that their king had turned against their hero and was still planning on giving away land to their enemy, the people began to accept the need for change. A disgruntled citizen attempted to assassinate Silas at the ceremony turning Port Prosperity to Gath, opening the door for Cross' coup. However, Shepard believed that Jack was nothing but a puppet for his uncle. Shepard found Silas, and united with Gath to bring to coup to an end. It seemed as though Shepard had been forgiven, but Silas found him to be too big of a threat and ordered him killed. Fleeing to Gath, Shepard allied himself with the Gath government and brought down Silas, but allowed him to remain in his kingdom when Silas agreed to live by the will of God. Several years have passed since the tumultuous early years of the kingdom. Gilboa is now ruled by His Royal Majesty King Atlas I, and an exciting new chapter in the kingdom's history is about to begin.

The Royal Kingdom of Gilboa



***This is a fictional nation based upon the Facebook Nations Game and the NBC series Kings.