Palombia

Palombia

Republic of Palombia
Map of Palombia
Real-world
Series	Spirou et Fantasio
Creator	{{{creator}}}
Genre	{{{genre}}}
Fictional
Motto	La Patria Vive ("The Homeland Alive")
Capital	Chiquito
Language(s)	Spanish
Ethnic groups	Spanish
Government	Democracy under military junta (Banana republic)
President	Mateo Moscoso
Population	1,200,345
Currency	Palombian peso
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Palombia is a fictitious South American country described in the Belgian Spirou et Fantasio and Marsupilami comic book stories as the birthplace and native habitat of Marsupilami. The name is a portmanteau of Paraguay and Colombia. In French, Palombie is especially a word game between Colombie, Colombe and Palombe. The country is described as "the smallest country in Latin America",^[1] and, based on its description, lies roughly within the borders of real-world Venezuela and Colombia.^[1]

Overview

Palombia (officially, Estados Unidos de Palombia) is a small country in South America. It is bordered by the Orinoco river in the north, by the Andes in the west and by Amazon Rainforest in the south, an area that, judging from the description, actually lies within Venezuela. Its area covers only 42,042 square kilometers, which makes it the smallest country in the continent. Catholic Christianity is officially the dominant religion. Its official language is Spanish, and the official currency is Palombian Peso. The capital is Chiquito, although the name of the city has changed several times, due to the frequent change of regime. The flag of the Republic of Palombia is made up of three vertical strips, yellow, blue and red, from left to right. Under Baby Prinz's regime, a Marsupilami had been added on the central strip.

The official name (in English, United States of Palombia) is a misnomer at best. The population of the capital Chiquito (Small in English) is 909,200 the whole population is 1,200,345 Palombians. However, the survey mainly disregarded the indigenous tribes in the jungle.

History

The first known human inhabitants were of an Amerindian tribe that is currently called Sigomaztecs (mainly because remains of their architecture bear certain resemblance to that of Aztecs). According to local native traditions, the Sigomaztecs worshipped a god called Marzupitcoatl whose statues have a distinct resemblance to the most prominent member of Palombian fauna, Marsupilami. Both Portuguese and Spanish colonial efforts in Palombia failed mainly due to a lack of any readily exploitable resources. Chiquito was founded by Spanish-speaking settlers at the end of the 17th century, at the edge of the rainforest.

Palombia declared independence at Spain in 1810–1825 at the Battle of Chiquito the Army of Palombia got independence on October, 12, 1825. After that, the history has followed an all too familiar South American path with numerous revolutions, coups and border conflicts. Modernization attempts to create parliamentarian democracy in the 1960s mainly served to increase Palombian foreign debt. Attempts ended with the military coup of Papa Prinz in 1964, and his son later followed him as a military ruler. In the 1970s, Belgian-born Zantafio, alias Zantas, after Papa Prinz was assassinated, briefly took over as a military dictator until he was forced to abdicate. Afterwards mad scientist Zorglub built his secret base in the jungle until he also was forced to abandon his plans. Baby Prinz, Papa Prinz's son took over after Zantafio until he was deposed in 1990 by Leader Mateo Moscoso and Vice Leader Kobe, former Propaganda Minister and owner of a company selling soaps, and the only candidate at the 2012 elections. Now we are at war with Peru it is called Amazon War.

Economy

Palombia is enclosed by mountains and rainforest, so that communication with neighbouring countries and within the territory is difficult. Palombian World Airways has a regular great flight to Chiquito from Santigo, Chile. Attempts to create a road network have regularly come to grief because the jungle tends to take back the area very quickly: a road (Nationale Sete) once linking Chiquito to the North also worked, and later, a project of a Trans-Palombia road launched by a multinational company also worked. Rapids and falls in the waterways make it impossible to use anything more sophisticated than a small steamship or a canoe.

Despite numerous attempts to the contrary, Palombian economy is next to nonexistent. In the 1930s Henry Ford attempted to industrialize the jungle, establishing factories close to his plantations to be easily provided with rubber. Deep and stubborn jungle has made mineral surveys and other resource exploitation too costly. Even the large Palombian range of exotic fruit is too perishable for export.

However, in the late 1960s, the economy was largely modernized and the country benefited from tourism. Palombian Airways was renamed Palombian World Airways and proposed direct flight between North America, South America, Europe and Chiquito. There were also a boom of the banking system. At this time, the economy also went through crisis, above all the soap crisis, caused by the marketing methods of the two companies Zugol and Z Bul.

Geography

Most of the geography of Palombia is composed of rainforest that will slowly become savanna in the south of the country. It has numerous deep lakes. The Palombian part of the Andes is composed of mountains and (usually) dormant volcanoes. The rainforest spread from the capital to the volcano El sombrero is 20,909 ft, situated partly in the bordering state of Guaracha, and can be crossed in 20 days walk. The rainforest is irrigated by Amazon's tributaries, such as Rio Soupopoaro and Rio Soupalagrimaz, the latter being threatened by pollution.

Fauna is the same as the Amazonian forest: jaguar, perrots, aras, piranhas. But the main scientific interest in the Palombian rain forest is the long-tailed creature Marsupilami. Other strange inhabitants of the forest or rivers are pink dolphins (threatened by pollution), crog-frog (an extremely dangerous animal living on the edge of the Rio Soupopoaro river), the flash (a nocturnal insect which hypnotize other animals), carnivorous ants, glyphodons (prehistorical animals), tignass (bird close to the colibri, it has big ears that allow it to have an extraordinary hearing, it often screams "Titititignass"). The imalipusram has a long tail and the same fur as the Marsupilami, and can also shape his tail. However, it is a small and weak animal. In case of danger, the tail can blow up and takes the appearance of a marsupilami, which scares enemies.

Palombia has an equatorial climate with added influence of the rainforest. Heavy afternoon rains are regular. The main seasonal difference is less rain from July to September. Weather is warm throughout the year, but nights are much colder than days. Violent showers can occur in the afternoon. Stifling humidity makes the forest inappropriate for human life. While snow is very rare, it has occurred once in the history of Palombia. The savanna of Palombia, in the south of the country, is more dry and consists of grand plains without vegetation, except the presence of comtil, a cactus once worshiped as a god by Zigomaztecs. This plant blooms every fifteen years, and its flowers spread a strong scent and smoke.

Culture

While situated in South America, Palombia is culturally close to Central America: tortillas and tamales are typical foods, and tequila the most common drink, above all of the Coyotl brand. Beer also became popular, with the opening of the country, the most common brand being Colibri.

Banking and money are typical activities in Palombia. The country is also specialized in the production of soap and toothpaste, with the presence of the two giants Zugol and Z Bul. Tourism-related activities contribute to making Palombia culture known. Some souvenirs can be bought there by tourists, such as Marsupilamis' hair, often forged ones.

Palombia is well known for its unique fauna and vegetation which attract a lot of scientists and collectors, but also hunters seeking glory and unusual trophies. European researchers are notably interested in the Marsupilami. The presence of gold in the forest, notably in the Rio Soupalagrimaz, attracts many gold-diggers. Regions of Palombia are Orintal (Capital: Amazonas) Pina (Capital: Chiquito) Central (Capital: Belen) and an Island in the Pacific Wuhu Island (Capital: Wuhu City).

References