New Zealand (Scenario: The World's Liferaft)

The Republic of New Zealand is a nation in the South Pacific that has in the aftermath of the Great Nuclear War emerged as a major world power and a haven for refugees around the world giving it the nickname "the liferaft of humanity"

=History=

In the aftermath of the great nuclear war of 2022 between NATO and Russia New Zealand emerged from the conflict relatively unscathed albeit with it's export economy practically collapsing overnight. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern immediately implemented a "Green New Deal" with massive infrastructure projects such as regional rapid rail between urban centres and the bullet train between Auckland and Wellington. In 2023 a referendum was held in which the public overwhelmingly voted in favour of a republic along the so called "Irish model" with Speaker of Parliament Trevor Mallard taking office as the countries first democratically elected President beating rivals David Seymour and Paula Bennett

=Demographics=

The country is incredibly diverse with 11 Million people being recorded by the 2053 census. The composition is 39% European 29% Asian 20% Pasifika 9% Maori and 3% others. The largest city is Auckland with 3.7 million inhabitants and over 200 languages spoken among it's residents the majority of whom came to New Zealand in the aftermath of the Great Nuclear War. Wellington and Christchurch are competitive for second place with 781,000 and 785,000 inhabitants respectively. Approximately 43% of the country is Christian with a revival occuring in the decades since the Great Nuclear War, 38% being non religious, 6% being Buddhist, 5% being Muslim, 3% being Hindu and 5% other religions. Many of the post war migrants to New Zealand are of American, Chinese and Indian descent with significant communities of Middle Eastern, European and Korean people's as well. At the 30th anniversary of the great nuclear war both President Shail Kaushal and Prime Minister Neve Ardern-Gayford noted the diversity and harmony that emerged from the darkness of the great nuclear war