Iriguchi

Iriguchi (': 入り口), officially the Insular Dependency of Iriguchi''', is one of two overseas territories of Meriad, and is located in the Sea of Three Emperors. The island shares a maritime border with Yeongseon to the south and UNNAMED to the east, and has a population of 3,818,130. Despite being outside of mainland Meriad, the island’s capital city of Minato is the largest city in the country, with an urban population of 1,971,738, and also has the highest population density. The island is divided into five prefectures, which are the chief political subdivisions of the territory.

Iriguchi has an extremely diverse culture relative to Meriad, primarily due to its origins as a major trade terminus. The island has significant Shirakawan and Yeongseonin minorities, as well as a major Altiplanero expatriate population. The territory has three official languages, Meriadni,, and , primarily as a result of Iriguchi's cultural diversity.

As an overseas territory of Meriad, Iriguchi’s foreign policy is administered by the Meriadni government, but the island retains control over its internal affairs. The territory operates within the structure of a  where the head of government is the Chancellor, currently Javier Carballo.

Etymology
Despite being located off the coast of modern-day Yeongseon, the name Iriguchi comes from the word "入り口", which translates to "Gateway". When Meriadni traders first landed on the island, Shirakawans aboard the vessel referred to it as "Iriguchi", which the Meriadnir assumed was the name of the island instead of an attempt to communicate its suitability for a port.

Age of Exploration
During the Nordic Age of Exploration, which lasted from 1260 to 1500, Meriadni trading ships increasingly plied the waters of the Tartaric and North Neptic oceans, travelling thousands of miles in search of valuable trade goods. Trade goods from northern Shirakawa and Yeongseon were particularly popular in Meriadni cities, which led to the establishment of major trade routes between Meriad and the coasts of the Sea of Three Emperors. In order to achieve easier access to the region, a number of Meriadni tradesmen enlisted the assistance of Shirakawan fisherman to find islands off the coast that would be suitable for a major trading establishment. Iriguchi was one of four trading post established in the Sea of Three Emperors between 1340 and 1370 by Meriadni sailors, and quickly became the largest. Because of its central location in the region, large natural harbor, and steady flow of valuable goods, the population quickly grew, and soon rivaled that of many cities in Mainland Meriad.

For the first hundred and fifty years of its existence as a Meriadni exclave, the island was ruled by a Meriadni governor, who determined policy solely based on the wishes of the Meriadni monarch and potential economic benefit. In 1510, the large population of the island began to voice their discontent with their inability to govern themselves, and major riots broke out. Because of the relatively small Meriadni presence in the island, the governor was forced to agree to concessions with the leaders of the protest movement, and granted them the ability to form a popular assembly and recommend actions to the colonial administration. While these recommendations were not binding, they were usually agreed to because of the valuable nature of Iriguchi to the Meriadni economy and the lack of any major military presence in order to ensure order and suppress rioting.

In response to political unrest in Yeongseon and a rise in piracy in the 1550s, the Meriadni monarch established a formal Meriadni naval presence in the region, and based a number of naval vessels out of Minato.

Political Reorganization
Due to increasing unrest across the island, in 1638 the Meriadni governor of Iriguchi ordered that a formal democratic assembly be formed from the population of the island, and granted the assembly an official role in the internal affairs of the island. While the governor retained the access to veto any legislation and make laws relating to economics without interference, the Colonial Assembly was afforded the ability to create laws that affected the island's population, and was permitted to collect taxes for public works. The colonial government withheld the right to form militias, however.

In 1763, with the reorganization of Meriad under the framework of the new constitution, Iriguchi was formally granted the status of an overseas territory, thereby giving it unprecedented rights to self-government. This led to a brief power struggle between three main factions which wanted to establish different forms of domestic government on the island, which lasted several months and temporarily led to a blockade of the Minato harbor by Meriadni warships in order to prevent trade goods from being seized and used by the factions. After four months of fighting, a faction embracing a democratic and form of government managed to defeat the other factions, and was given control of the colonial administration building in Minato.

Politics and government
As an overseas territory of Meriad, Iriguchi waives the right to exercise its own foreign policy and maintain a standing military. The island nonetheless has total control over its own economic system and internal politics, which gives the Iriguchan government freedom to make internal policies that are sharply opposed to those of the Meriadni government. The Iriguchan government operates under the framework of a  where the head of government is the Chancellor. The current Chancellor of Iriguchi is Javier Carballo, who was elected to the post in 2015, and will serve until his term expires in 2020.