The Independent Nations of America: Spotlight On: FOUNDRYA

Foundrya
(The Republic of Foundrya-Lakeland)

AREA
173,000 sq.m. (7th)
POPULATION
42,380,000 (2nd)
DENSITY
245 people per square mile. (4th)

CAPITAL
Toledo, Erie
STATES
Niagara (Buffalo), Pittsylvania (Pittsburgh), Erie (Cleveland), Ohio (Columbus), Michigan (Lansing), Huron (Muskegon), Indiana (Indianapolis), Chicago (Chicago)

RELIGION
Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Islamic, various
LANGUAGE
English, various

NATL INCOME
2,606 billion
MEDIAN INCOME
$61,496 (5th)

ECONOMY
Foundrya’s economy is one of the strongest on the continent. It is a member nation of the American Northeast Trade Union and freely trades resources with its other member nations. Its big cities, including Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, are centers of heavy industry and powerful finance capitals. Foundrya has enough natural resources to supply its own energy and export some to other ANTU nations. It also is a major exporter of cattle, corn, soy, automobiles, electronics, and iron. It is a prominent international force, although downturns in the automobile industry and heavy pollution have hampered its recent economic growth; however, other continental nations have put restrictions on importing automobiles from overseas, which is expected to help. The cost of living is middle-to-high.

OVERVIEW
Originally known as Lakeland, Foundrya was from its inception a powerful continental presence, containing within its borders much of the former U.S.’s industrial base and major cities. It is a founding member of the American Northeast Trade Union, and is the chief supplier and processor of petroleum and natural gas (along with Canada) for those nations. Despite its wealth and size, Foundrya has gone through difficult economic times, including a serious depression in the early 1990s that resulted in race riots, excessive crime, and the burning of the city of Detroit. Its leadership has fluctuated from internationalist Republicans like Gerald Ford and Lynn Morley Martin, to business-oriented, non-interventionist Independents like Gus Grissom and Jack Murtha, to liberal Democrats like Paul M. Simon. Corruption has run rampant in Foundryan leadership, implicating numerous governors, senators, 3rd Vice President Don Riegle, and 5th President Morry Taylor, who was impeached due to allegations of improper financial operations. Foundrya has maintained itself as an important international power, for the most part allying itself with the other ANTU nations. In recent times, an impending recession and reduced demand for automobiles has again threatened Foundrya’s economy. Newly elected president Jesse Jackson Jr., an Illinois Democrat and son of the iconic assassinated activist, made history as the first popularly elected black president outside of Neorleans.

HEAD OF STATE