Overview of the People’s Republic of Olvana

Political

Main article: Political: Olvana

The People’s Republic of Olvana is a communist nation that was created in the mid-20th Century after several decades of internal civil conflicts and global wars. Though the government has evolved over its seven decades of existence, it is still dominated by the Olvanan Communist Party. While the government was uncompromising in its approaches to social change during the mid to late 20th Century, it has adopted a more lenient stance regarding the way it approaches domestic economic and social challenges. Today, Olvana’s massive economy and modernizing military have enabled it to become a regional hegemon capable of exerting tremendous pressure and influence throughout the region and across the globe.

Military

Main article: Military: Olvana

As the largest country in terms of size and population in the region, Olvana maintains the largest military in the Pacific region. The Olvana People’s Army (OPA) is composed of not only a land force, but the Olvana People’s Navy (OPN) and Olvana People’s Air Force (OPAF) are subordinate to the OPA. Olvana’s military has been undergoing a push to modernize its equipment and transform the way it prepares for and executes military operations. Olvana has successfully closed the technological gap that once separated it from western militaries, enabling its forces to create challenges for even the most advanced adversaries, and allowing Olvana to become a leading exporter of military technology to developing countries. The OPA active duty units operates primarily Tier 1 and 2 weapons. As new weapons are fielded by the OPA, the older Tier 3 weapons are cascaded to the reserve units or sold to other countries. The military plays a large role within Olvana’s national strategy, not only in a traditional sense, but also in building influence and shaping conditions during competition. 

Economic

Main article: Economic: Olvana

Over the last half-century, Olvana has gradually evolved from being a primarily agrarian economy into one of the world’s economic powers. The state run economy increased its emphasis on foreign trade and foreign investments. These reforms, coupled with cheap labor and mass industrialization, allowed Olvana to become a major trading partner with the world. The resultant economic growth raised the country from one of the poorest underdeveloped nations to one of the world’s leading economic superpowers. Olvana uses its economic influence to shape regional and global international relations.

Social

Main article: Social: Olvana

Olvana’s sheer size, both geographic and in population, means it is an extremely socially diverse country. The Olvan ethnicity shapes the predominant national culture, however there are a wide variety of minority groups. During the latter half of the 20th Century, the Olvanan Government took steps toward social control, seeking to assimilate all minority populations and push out religion. These efforts led to mixed results, and eventually the government began to relax its policies on forced assimilation. That said, some among the minority populations still believe that the government is seeking assimilation through economic means. While the overwhelming majority of the population embraces the Olvanan culture as it is defined by the state, it remains a friction point among minority populations. The two primary religions are Hinduism, and the traditional Olvan Folk Religion. The Hindu population is found within the interior of the country while the Olvan Folk Religion is practiced more in the eastern and coastal regions. In addition to these two primary religions, Olvana is also home to Muslims, Christians, and others.

Information

Main article: Information: Olvana

The People’s Republic of Olvana (PRO) maintains a large information environment, with its internet industries counted among the world’s most active. Olvana is, however, one of the world’s most restrictive media environments. Olvana will utilize its cyber capabilities against external opposition parties and foreign governments. Olvana will also attempt retain total control over the nation’s internal information environment by suppressing dissent within the populace over all communications mediums, though the internet remains the most free and accessible.

Infrastructure

Main article: Infrastructure: Olvana

The Olvana infrastructure is modern and continues to improve as the urbanization continues. Significant emphasis was placed on modernizing the infrastructure in the past 20 years. Olvana has a state of the art mass transit system. The Olvanan government continues to subsidize the mass transit system to increase ridership and decrease congestion on the roads and air pollution. Airports range from large international airports that can handle almost any aircraft currently in production to small, unimproved dirt strips. Seaports are modern and can handle all modern cargo vessels. The country recently suffered from high levels of pollution in the urban areas and the government has made policies to combat pollution in urban environments. Air pollution has improved significantly but ground and water pollution are still way above acceptable western levels.

Physical Environment

Main article: Physical Environment: Olvana

Olvana is a large country located in eastern Asia that borders three major bodies of water: the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. The country’s terrain varies from high mountains and green plateaus to river valleys and deltas, with climates ranging from tropical to semiarid to sub-alpine. Multiple natural hazards exits, resulting from Olvana’s geology, weather, native wildlife, and human activity.

Time

Main article: Time: Olvana

Olvanans see time as a precious resource, which is extremely important, as such they frequently apologize for taking up someone's time. They do not accept tardiness and will often arrive 30 minutes prior to an agreed time. Olvanan time management stems from the other-centric view that one should use as little of another’s time as possible. The concept of karma as applied to consideration of others leads to short, concise events that begin early and end even earlier. This extremely fast-paced and time-focused culture is viewed positively by the government and has been reinforced accordingly. This has resulted in a proactive, offensive view of conflict that focuses on pre-emptive action. US personnel interacting with Olvanan military leaders will need to prepare extensively beforehand and have potential decisions pre-approved by the chain of command in order to be successful. Olvana sits within the Olvanan Time Zone (OTZ), which is seven hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)/Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); it does not observe Daylight Saving Time (DST).