Israel
| Republic of Israel |
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|---|---|---|
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| Capital | New Jerusalem | |
| Religion | Judaism | |
Israel is a country located in southern Patagonia. The primary language is Hebrew. It is bordered by Argentina and Chile to the north.
Jews have had a long history in South America even before the declaration of independence. In 1846, a French adventurer proclaimed the Empire of Patagonia, in defiance of Argentine settlers, in the Patagonian region. While his power was fleeting and limited, he was a Judeophile who made Hebrew the official language in his empire; this led to a major immigration wave of Jews to Patagonia, and a rise of Jewish national consciousness.
Jews immigrated to Patagonia even after the Empire was dissolved by Argentina, especially after major pogroms in Europe. The Jewish community developed rapidly. Along the eastern seaboard, the city of New Jerusalem was established. In 1856, Argentina granted limited autonomy to the County of Zion, an autonomous region that encompassed roughly half of modern Israel's mainland territory.
Ethnic Jews continued to settle other parts of Patagonia throughout the 19th century as Argentine efforts were focused further to the north; the government in Buenos Aires treated their minorities well, making immigration to the County of Zion and elsewhere in Patagonia an even more attractive possibility.
However, popular acceptance of the increasing Jewish minority was lukewarm, and the region also shouldered a disproportionately heavy tax burden compared to the other regions of Argentina. This, combined with the economic troubles of the country, raised once again the question of a fully independent Jewish state. Throughout the early 20th century, support for this step soared in Patagonia, until in 1927, the Jewish separatists declared the independence of Patagonia as the Republic of Israel following the bankruptcy of the Argentine government, and despite initial tensions, Argentina recognized the country's independence the following year in exchange for payment of a lump sum of money.
Israel today enjoys a peaceful, prosperous existence, with no conflict between the Jewish majority and the Hispanic and Amerindian minorities. After the Antarctic Conference of 1950, Israel was one of the 9 nations granted a part of non-Oceanian Antarctica as a claim.