PCBaller World/Byzantium

For other Byzantium info go see PCBaller World

Information

 * Official Name: Eastern Roman Republic;(Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Δημοκρατία)
 * Type of Government: Federal Parliamentary Democratic Republic'''
 * Capital City: Constantinople
 * Prime Minister: [[File:WashingtonConsensus.png]] Vissarion Owfithus
 * Gross Domestic Product: 7.07TΔρ
 * Intelligence Agency: [[File:FBI.png]] Federal Inteligence Service
 * Population: 62,043,191
 * GDP/Capita: 114,032Δρ
 * Human Development Index: 1.036
 * Official Languages: Greek, Vlach, Turkish, Bulgarian, Macedonian
 * Recognized Languages: All other languages
 * Democracy Index: 8.87/10 (Full Democracy)
 * Corruption Perceptions Index: 92/100
 * Currency: Byzantine Drachma
 * Conversion: 1Δρ = 1$
 * Code: ERR

10 Largest Cities

 * 1. Constantinople: 26.14 Million
 * 2. Adrianople: 5.08 Million
 * 3. Athens: 2.63 Million
 * 4. Sofia: 1.72 Million
 * 5. Thessaloniki: 868,486
 * 6. Varna: 774,159
 * 7. Patras: 401,188
 * 8. Plovdiv: 399,864
 * 9. Burgas: 334,197
 * 10. Heraklion: 286,118

The Byzantine News Network presents...

Military
The Byzantine Armed Forces can be divided into the following: the Land Forces, the Naval Forces, the Aerial Forces, the Space Forces and finally the Mountain Corps. Byzantium is known for having the best army on the European continent, thanks in large part to its alliance with Greater Illinois.

[[File:Tellur.png]] Land Forces [[File:Tellur.png]]
There are 230,000 troops serving in the Byzantine Land Forces. When it comes to the number of tanks, Byzantium has 4,000 tanks (which have been upgraded over the years), with 150 of them being superheavy tanks (mostly the M98A3 Behemoth). Byzantium has around 3,000 artillery, with them being based on the models of THELs (tactical high energy lasers). In addition to the 230,000 troops, Byzantium has also borrowed and improved upon Illinois's Standard Robotic Units (SRUs) and has integrated them into the land forces, with there being 100,000 of them in the land forces. They're much stronger and harder to destroy than a regular human soldier.

[[File:Thalassocracy.png]] Naval Forces [[File:Thalassocracy.png]]
Byzantium has developed itself to having one of the best navies in the world, possibly equal to even Greater Illinois. Byzantium has 10 aircraft carriers and is known for having the world's largest aircraft carrier, the Vissarion I aircraft carrier. It is equipped with strong AA defenses, being based on laser technology and/or laser-guided missile technology, being able to destroy missile targets very easily, even while not on the radar. In total, Byzantium has 200 military ships, on top of the 10 aircraft carriers, it also has submarines (mostly nuclear) with the rest being destroyers, cruisers, frigates and amphibious assault ships. There are around 110,000 Byzantine soldiers participating in the Navy.

Aerial Forces
Byzantium is known for having one of the best airforces in the world, being known for its B-110 Basil Bombers, the largest bombers in the world, which are capable of speeds of 1,500 Km/h and are equipped with great AA systems and next-gen engines and they utilize laser-guided missile technology in order to achieve high levels of accuracy, having a range of 15,000 kilometers. There are currently 112 B-110 Basil Bombers. It is also known for its MD-2 Slayer Drones, which have the highest level of accuracy in the entire world and are capable of travelling at speeds of around 1,200 Km/h. There are around 70,000 Byzantine soldiers participating in the Aerial Forces.

[[File:Space.png]] Space Forces [[File:Space.png]]
The Space Forces are the 2nd most recent established branch of the Byzantine Military. They're responsible for things militarily related to space, such as asteroid mining, moon mining but also the implementation of a kinetic bombardment system in the Thermosphere. There are currently 14,000 soldiers operating in the Space Forces and it is growing.

[[File:MMC.png]] Mountain Corps [[File:MMC.png]]
The Mountain Corps are the most recent established branch and at all times there are around 25,000 of them, however every soldier from every branch is to have training in mountain warfare as during times of war there can be hundreds of thousands of "mountain warriors" ready to drain invading forces. This can be done through artillery strikes, kinetic bombardment (in co-operation with the Space Forces) and simple guerilla warfare utilizing gauss-based arms.

Economy
The Economy of Byzantium is characterized by high growth rates (but not too high) of around 4% per year, with the economy forecasted to have a similar level of growth in this decade under current neoliberal economic policies. It is a mixed-market economy, with most businesses being privatized (with a few nationalized business) ,but there is a strong welfare state. The government also engages in Keynesian investment, recognizing the competitive world that it is under, with these investments being subsidies to private corporations to further enhance their technologies, and it has worked greatly, especially through bills like the HITECH Act.

The Byzantine economy is based on tourism, trade, services and manufacturing, with agriculture not really making up that high of an economic percentage due to the nation's geography, however, things like vertical farming and aquaculture have been gaining steam lately and have allowed for agriculture in areas previously deemed unfit for farming. Tourism is especially high in Byzantium, due to its stunning beaches in places like Varna, Thessaloniki and Izmir, but also its natural wonders in the mountains and historic towns. In 20XX, it was reported that 65 Million People visited Byzantium, a number slightly higher than their own population, which says something.

Its manufacturing has become cleaner, with manufacturing becoming more clean energy oriented, with solar, wind, hydro and nuclear being the main power sources in Byzantium. Semiconductor manufacturing has also become an important industry in Byzantium, as semiconductors offer an important leverage in things like computers and phones.

Taxation
The main source of revenue comes from a land value tax, a tax imposed on the unimproved value of the land. This tax has the role of promoting efficient land use and to stop land hoarders. The other forms of taxation come from an ecological tax, a tax on greenhouse gases and plastics + other ecological destruction. There is also a progressive value-added tax being based on how healthy and eco-friendly a product is. The healthier and eco-friendlier the product is, the less it is taxed and vice versa. The nation generally rejects the use of tariffs as it sees them as something that can reduce the number of jobs and make things more expensive for Byzantine consumers.

Technology
Byzantium is the greatest technological power on the European continent, having a HDI second only to that of Greater Illinois. This is in large part thanks to great relations with Greater Illinois which have allowed us to access their technology and massive investments in research & development, which are currently at around 10% of GDP. Byzantium not only has one of the best AIs ever, Zeta AI but it also has the Kythera Quantum Computer (thanks to Raytheon's sketches) and is overall pretty advanced when it comes to the realm of computers.

Its technological feats not only extend to the realm of computing, as in the military it has the MD-2 Slayer Drones, with a very high accuracy rate (>99%), especially after recent quantum computer adjustments from AEKKEA, after the Kythera model was constructed, also improving its AA systems. It is also known for the B-110 Basil Bombers, named after the former Byzantine Emperor Basil II "The Bulgar Slayer", which are equipped with a massive railgun, having a cooldown of 4 seconds. It also has stealth technology, it travelling at a speed of 1500 Km/h and as such it cannot be easily detected by enemies and cannot easily be destroyed by the enemy.

Other than this, Byzantium is also known for its M98A3 "Behemoth" Superheavy Tank, having 5m thick armor and is equipped with one massive railgun along with smaller, auxiliary railguns. Its infantry, numbering 200.000, has also been equipped with Illinois's advanced Gauss-based small arms. Byzantium also has a few of Illinois's Standard Robotic Units (SDU), around 40,000 of them, used not only in its military but also in other fields, allowing for economic automation.

Byzantium is also known for having a fusion reactor in Athens that is based upon a Deuterium(2H)-Helion(3He) at a temperature of 1.000.000.000°C, generating 3.000.000 MW of fusion energy while having been delivered 104,000 MW of energy, having a Q total factor of 28,8. Byzantine scientists are currently constructing a fusion reactor in Constantinople based on quark fusion between deuterium quarks and tritium quarks, generating way more energy than the 2H-3He reaction in the Athenian fusion reactor.

In conclusion, Byzantium is the second most technologically advanced country in the world, while quite behind Greater Illinois, it is still an important power in the world and the most powerful country (technologically) in Europe. This, as said previously is thanks to heavily investing in R&D and allying itself with Greater Illinois, giving it access to Illinoisan technology which has allowed Byzantium to accelerate technologically.

Experimental Technology

 * The Byzantine Space Agency is currently discussing the idea of space tethers, which can allow space ships to go to Mars and the Moon at a much quicker pace than they regularly would. This would make setting up a Martian/Lunar Base much easier and less costly overall. However, this is still in discussion.
 * AI soldiers are being discussed by the Armed Forces as an alternative to regular human soldiers, as they can be mass produced and are harder to kill than a regular human being. Out of all experimental technologies, this along with the first one are the most likely to happen in the short term.
 * Another idea being discussed is that of a quantum computer, however this is considered unlikely, but if it were to happen many problems would be solved very easily because of its massive computing power and some say its the key to AGI. As such, interest in this technology is high, however as said previously, it is currently unlikely. Research is being conducted on it however.
 * The Byzantine Space Agency is also discussing a nuclear powered rocket along with a laser satellite that has the purpose of defending the planet from asteroids. This technology is currently unlikely due to how expensive it is (especially the laser satellite) and how expensive it is to create a nuclear rocket.
 * Top military scientists at DARPA are discussing the creation of a cobalt bomb, a salted bomb which has the goal of contaminating a large area with radioactive material. Most likely however, this bomb is likely being discussed because of its role as a nuclear deterrent (especially on countries that don't have a nuclear protection system).
 * There are discussions among scientists on creating an even better quantum computer, one that instead of doing 10^39 operations/second instead does 10^78 operations/second, this is all theoretical work and there are no sketches of it just yet.

Transportation
When it comes to transportation, Byzantium prioritizes walkability and the idea of walkable cities. As such, when it comes to inner city travel, cars are not really used, instead a combination of biking, walking, trams, metros and even monorails/gondolas (in some places) are used. Here's an example, in the Constantinople business district:

When it comes to medium and long-range travel across the country, the extensive high speed rail and metro system is used, however there is a space for a bus lane (on the highway) and a bike lane (next to the highway, with there being a green barrier to prevent car noise). The image below shows a high speed train in Byzantium:

If not, planes can also be used, with them having been made eco-friendly thanks to improving liquid green hydrogen technologies, replacing kerosen as the main thing that keeps a plane flying. As such, planes have become eco-friendly in Byzantium. The main companies are Airbus and Boeing (just like in real life), also planes have also managed to gain some speed, up from 900 Km/h to 1200 Km/h.