United Republic of Nations

"URN"

- Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko transformed the Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations, a society where benders and non-benders from all over the world could live and thrive together in peace and harmony.

The United Republic of Nations, more commonly known as the United Republic, is a sovereign nation created by Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko after the end of the Hundred Year War. The republic was formed from the former Fire Nation colonies within the western Earth Kingdom. The Republic was created to serve as a society where benders and non-benders from all four nations could live and thrive together in peace and harmony. The United Republic is known for having a unique culture, which was shaped by immigration and a technological revolution.

The capital of the United Republic is Republic City, a large, modern metropolis located on the shores of Yue Bay. From there, a political organization consisting of one representative from each nation, the United Republic Council, governs the republic.

History
In the aftermath of the Hundred Year War, Team Avatar, led by Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko, came to an agreement with Earth King Kuei on the establishment of the Harmony Restoration Movement, which aimed to return Fire Nation colonies to the control of the Earth Kingdom. One of the consequences of this action was the removal of Fire Nation citizens from the settlements that they had created over the past century. This forced departure had considerably negative demographic consequences unforeseen by the parties in the agreement. A year into the operation of the movement, Zuko withdrew his support after being accused of being a traitor by the mayor of the first colony, Yu Dao, precipitating a confrontation with his friend, Aang.

After narrowly avoiding war, Aang and Zuko resolved this impasse by reforming the Fire Nation colonies into a fifth nation separate from the four nations. This fifth nation would be a society where anyone from around the world would be able to live, governed by a council of five citizens representing each of the nations, with two representing the separate Water Tribes. They named this new republic the United Republic of Nations and established Republic City, located in the northwestern Earth Kingdom, as its capital.



However, the capital began to experience demographic and political problems as a direct consequence of its nature as a large city. Organized crime became rampant, culminating in Yakone's attempt to take over the city through his criminal empire. Yakone used bloodbending to commit his crimes and torment the citizens of Republic City before he had his bending removed by Aang in 128 ASC. Forty-two years later, the city also began facing issues with wealth inequality among the citizens. During their revolution, Amon and the Equalists threatened the city and its benders, eventually using a fleet of airships to bomb the city in an attempt to gain control. After the destruction of the first division of the United Forces and the capture of the whole United Republic Council during the resulting Battle for Republic City, the Equalist forces controlled almost the whole city. Without its capital, while its government was captured and the military severely weakened the republic was on the verge of destruction. However, due to Team Avatar's involvement, the Equalist forces were soon crushed and Amon's secret revealed. These events ended the revolution and Republic City was put back under government control.

Appearance


The United Republic was established as a nation for benders and non-benders from all cultures to live in, thus it has a broad range of peoples from all walks of life. Because of this, the fashion and appearance of the citizens varies greatly.

Many United Republic citizens dress according to their culture. Consequently, civilians with Fire Nation heritage wear clothing in shades of red, those with Earth Kingdom ancestry shades of green, and descendants of Water Tribe members shades of blue. However, especially among non-benders, clothing no longer reflects citizens' heritage entirely. Many, particularly those with mixed ethnicity, dress themselves in shades of neutral colors like brown or gray or wear clothing with different hues. Regardless of mixed ethnicity or cultural background, however, benders tend to dress in colors that accord with their bending art, which acts as the main identification of benders.

National emblem


The emblem of the United Republic of Nations is not of any specific shape or form. It is similar to a pentagon with a circle in the middle and also with a leg on the left and the right side. Unlike the currency of other nations, the United Republic emblem is not printed on the money. However, the insignia is used in City Hall and as a pin on the clothing of the members of the United Republic Council.

Variations of this symbol be worn by the officers of the Metalbending Police Force, members of Tarrlok's task force and the soldiers of the United Forces.

Geography
The United Republic is located along the eastern coast of the Mo Ce Sea. In the vicinity of Republic City, the coastline is lined with mountains that cover much of the republic. The mountainous areas around Republic City are known to have a cold climate, while Republic City has a more temperate weather pattern.

Natural resources
In many large cities, there are electrical lines hanging over the heads of people to deliver power to their homes and work places. The power is released through electricity which is produced and generated by firebenders. Farmers are not seen in the United Republic of Nations, especially in Republic City and Yu Dao. However, harbors are present, implying that fishing is one of the city's sources of food.

Government


Government system: Republic

Head of state: United Republic Council

Aside from establishing the republic, a government was also formed in which one representative from each nation would be a part of the United Republic Council, where they can represent the interests of their people. The nation's seat of government is situated in Republic City. There are five members in total, one representing each of the following: Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Northern Water Tribe, Southern Water Tribe, and the Air Nation. . Yet, keep in mind although the nation is ruled by representatives, it is a sovereign nation of its own, and is not governed by the other nations of the world.

Bending arts
The United Republic's position as a melting pot of different nations and cultures had a massive impact on the bending arts that were practiced by its inhabitants. Influenced by the urban environment, the industrialization and the new uses of bending itself, the styles of the different arts changed more or less.

Waterbending


In the fast-paced city with its very different water availability, it is important for waterbenders to be quick and determined since their element is limited and quickly consumed during a fight. Because of this, many waterbenders of the United Republic have adapted a fighting style which is based primarily on sheer strength and speed. Consequently the waterbending of the United Republic benders is much more aggressive and deadly than original waterbending. For example, surprising, aggressive first strikes during battles are popular among criminals and law enforcers alike. Remarkably, this new fighting style runs counter to the original principle of waterbending, to wait and turn the targets' attacks against them. Through the new, aggressive combat behavior, the United Republic waterbending became also very emotional. Anger, hatred and rage fueled even waterbenders with high self-control, like Tarrlok. Overall, the new style shows many similarities with firebending. However, the United Republic style proved several times to be very effective in the urban environment.

Earthbending


Like waterbending, earthbending changed greatly within the United Republic. A new style was developed which focuses on speed and is based on earth projectiles. Although earth is available everywhere in the city, the new laws against the destruction of private and city property severely limit the element's use. Therefore earthbenders try to fight while the minimizing the possibility for collateral damage, unlike the typical highly destructive earthbending style. In order to meet the new principle, the United Republic earthbenders mainly fight with little earth blocks or discs and also try to avoid hits by dodging them rather than block or endure their enemies' attacks until the right opportunity to counterattack reveals itself. Just like the United Republic waterbending, the United Republic earthbending runs counter its original principle, but proves to be effective. However, the original earthbending is still present within the minds of the republic's earthbenders. During emergencies, they still use the more forceful earthbending without any restriction, demonstrated during the Battle for Republic City.

Metalbending


Metalbending, a ferrokinetic sub-skill of earthbending, is a completely new form of earthbending, only slightly older than the United Republic itself. Although they need to master earthbending to metalbend, the United Republic metalbenders almost exclusively use their elite skill and are rarely seen earthbending, most likely due to the law-related limitations mentioned above. Due to this, their sub-skill is the bending on which they define themselves and are defined by others. Consequently earth and metalbenders are differentiated from each other in principle in Republic City. Therefore, metalbending became almost a completely new, fifth bending art, a development that is so far unique for a bending sub-skill in the world.

Republic City, with its metal cables and buildings, is the perfect environment for metalbenders since their element is present everywhere and can be used without creating much collateral damage. Metalbending is very prominent within the republic, but particularly common among the famous, prevalent Metalbending Police Force.

Firebending


Of all main bending arts used within the United Republic, firebending shows the least change. Due to its natural flexibility, the typical firebending fighting style hardly needed to be changed. The only remarkable development is the spread of the knowledge about lightning generation and lightning redirection and the simplification and generalization of these two arts, so that even non-master firebenders are able to use lightning. Quicker lightning generation and a weakening of the intensity of the lightning itself were part of this process. However, due to this, lightning also became less dangerous and deadly to the point that it can be used to generate energy for Republic City.

Military
The military of the United Republic of Nations is known as the United Forces, which answers to the United Republic Council as its commander-in-chief. The United Forces have a strong navy, consisting of several divisions with heavy battleships as basic units.

Notable locations

 * Republic City
 * Hu Xin Provinces
 * Yu Dao
 * Red Sand Island
 * Village resort
 * Fire Days Festival town