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Description

The United States of Tharsis, commonly known as Tharsis or the UST, is a nation comprising eleven states, one federal district, and six territories on Mars. Most of the country is located on the eponymous volcanic plateau of Tharsis, although three states exist elsewhere along Mars' planned coastline. The UST is an extraplanetary holding of the United States of America, the "parent country" to Tharsis, in a relationship similar to that of previous US Commonwealths of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the relationship shared between the United States of America and Apollo Commonwealth on Luna. With a population of 1.05 million, Tharian citizens make up nearly a quarter of Mars' population, with Tharsis as the most populous state on Mars, followed by the Argyre Republic. The capital and largest city is Viking City, District of Ares.

The United States has the longest history on Mars. The US was the first to both orbit and land on the planet using probes, as well as the first to send rovers. During the Ares Program, American astronaut Anthony Cassada served as the commander for Ares 1, and it was American astronauts who flew on every subsequent Ares mission. The United States was also first to begin the large-scale colonization and terraforming of Mars, landing the first prefabricated facilities in 2053. After the signing of the Ares Concordat, Americans became the single largest nationality of colonists between 2053 and 2062. The Fossil Crisis precipitated a sharp decline of colonists arriving on Mars for most of the 2060s, and Tharsis was far from unaffected. The lack of colonists arriving on the planet led to a brief slump in Mars' fledgling planetary economy, as businesses predicated on the expectation of new arrivals looking to adapt to life on Mars lost their target demographic. Tharsis was badly hit by all this, but the work of Governor-General (and former Commander of Tharsistown) Bailey Thompson to transition the colonial economy towards emerging industries, such as Martian natural resource extraction and agriculture, significantly helped alleviate the woes of this economic downturn.

Following the end of the Fossil Crisis and the Martian Depression in the early-2070s, Tharsis was once again thriving. The Governor-Generalship of Jacob Fujio (2070-2077) would see immigration to Tharsis both from Earth and from other Martian colonies increase by nearly 25%, growing the total population by nearly double over the 2070s. As the population swelled, political issues soon appeared in the colonies. Being that Tharsis was technically of lesser station than even US territories back on Earth, they received no representation in the Federal Government “back home”, apart from the Governor-General, who was appointed by the President. Rudimentary civilian governments first began to appear in the late 2080s and early 2090s, most notably the Viking Congress in 2091. The first Viking Congress was the meeting of 120 political leaders from all over the Tharian colonies, convening in protest of the appointment of Governor-General Carlos Berrocal (2091-2093) and the lack of colonial representation both within their own rudimentary government and within the American federal government. The administrations of Presidents Avery (2093-2097) and Chavez (2097-2105) saw great strides made in Tharian colonial representation. The Martian Colonial Representation Act of 2095 saw the Tharian colonies receive the ability to elect their own representatives to the United States Congress, who would first be elected in the 2096 election. Under President Chavez, the Martian Colonial Administration Act (MCAA) and subsequent Martian Colonial Government Directive 1 (MCGD1) in 2103 ordered the creation of a Tharian government to act on the colonies’ behalf, as well as an order for that government to begin drafting a constitution. The Viking Conference of mid-2104 saw the drafting and signing of the Tharian Constitution, mostly by the same statesman who participated in the Viking Congress in the 2090s as well as some federal government officials from Earth. Finally, on Independence Day 2105, the United States of Tharsis was officially proclaimed - the first “autochthonous” Martian nation, and the first sovereign polity on another planet.

Less than a decade after its founding, the United States of Tharsis remains the most prominent of the three existing sovereign states on Mars. While they still don't have as much representation in the Federal Government as they would like, only having two non-voting members in the House of Representatives, the Tharians seem content with their government, which maintains some level of independence from the Congress back on Earth. They still, however, have a Governor-General who is appointed by the President of the United States and acts as the head-of-state to the Tharian President’s head-of-government. All in all, The United States of Tharsis is a growing power on the Red Planet, and it remains to be seen how they will fare in their first century of existence.
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Updated 11/10/2020 - New map & description. Original versions of both can be found here .

Credit to Poll-and-Ball for the flags, and NK-Ryzov for editing the writing. Thank you both.

Description

The United States of Tharsis, commonly known as Tharsis or the UST, is a nation comprising eleven states, one federal district, and six territories on Mars. Most of the country is located on the eponymous volcanic plateau of Tharsis, although three states exist elsewhere along Mars' planned coastline. The UST is an extraplanetary holding of the United States of America, the "parent country" to Tharsis, in a relationship similar to that of previous US Commonwealths of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the relationship shared between the United States of America and Apollo Commonwealth on Luna. With a population of 1.05 million, Tharian citizens make up nearly a quarter of Mars' population, with Tharsis as the most populous state on Mars, followed by the Argyre Republic. The capital and largest city is Viking City, District of Ares.

The United States has the longest history on Mars. The US was the first to both orbit and land on the planet using probes, as well as the first to send rovers. During the Ares Program, American astronaut Anthony Cassada served as the commander for Ares 1, and it was American astronauts who flew on every subsequent Ares mission. The United States was also first to begin the large-scale colonization and terraforming of Mars, landing the first prefabricated facilities in 2053. After the signing of the Ares Concordat, Americans became the single largest nationality of colonists between 2053 and 2062. The Fossil Crisis precipitated a sharp decline of colonists arriving on Mars for most of the 2060s, and Tharsis was far from unaffected. The lack of colonists arriving on the planet led to a brief slump in Mars' fledgling planetary economy, as businesses predicated on the expectation of new arrivals looking to adapt to life on Mars lost their target demographic. Tharsis was badly hit by all this, but the work of Governor-General (and former Commander of Tharsistown) Bailey Thompson to transition the colonial economy towards emerging industries, such as Martian natural resource extraction and agriculture, significantly helped alleviate the woes of this economic downturn.

Following the end of the Fossil Crisis and the Martian Depression in the early-2070s, Tharsis was once again thriving. The Governor-Generalship of Jacob Fujio (2070-2077) would see immigration to Tharsis both from Earth and from other Martian colonies increase by nearly 25%, growing the total population by nearly double over the 2070s. As the population swelled, political issues soon appeared in the colonies. Being that Tharsis was technically of lesser station than even US territories back on Earth, they received no representation in the Federal Government “back home”, apart from the Governor-General, who was appointed by the President. Rudimentary civilian governments first began to appear in the late 2080s and early 2090s, most notably the Viking Congress in 2091. The first Viking Congress was the meeting of 120 political leaders from all over the Tharian colonies, convening in protest of the appointment of Governor-General Carlos Berrocal (2091-2093) and the lack of colonial representation both within their own rudimentary government and within the American federal government. The administrations of Presidents Avery (2093-2097) and Chavez (2097-2105) saw great strides made in Tharian colonial representation. The Martian Colonial Representation Act of 2095 saw the Tharian colonies receive the ability to elect their own representatives to the United States Congress, who would first be elected in the 2096 election. Under President Chavez, the Martian Colonial Administration Act (MCAA) and subsequent Martian Colonial Government Directive 1 (MCGD1) in 2103 ordered the creation of a Tharian government to act on the colonies’ behalf, as well as an order for that government to begin drafting a constitution. The Viking Conference of mid-2104 saw the drafting and signing of the Tharian Constitution, mostly by the same statesman who participated in the Viking Congress in the 2090s as well as some federal government officials from Earth. Finally, on Independence Day 2105, the United States of Tharsis was officially proclaimed - the first “autochthonous” Martian nation, and the first sovereign polity on another planet.

Less than a decade after its founding, the United States of Tharsis remains the most prominent of the three existing sovereign states on Mars. While they still don't have as much representation in the Federal Government as they would like, only having two non-voting members in the House of Representatives, the Tharians seem content with their government, which maintains some level of independence from the Congress back on Earth. They still, however, have a Governor-General who is appointed by the President of the United States and acts as the head-of-state to the Tharian President’s head-of-government. All in all, The United States of Tharsis is a growing power on the Red Planet, and it remains to be seen how they will fare in their first century of existence.
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Updated 11/10/2020 - New map & description. Original versions of both can be found here .

Credit to Poll-and-Ball for the flags, and NK-Ryzov for editing the writing. Thank you both.