New California Republic

New California Republic
The NCR is a union of 5 states plus incorporated territories spreading from Baja California to Oregon along the West Coast, with holdings as far east as Nevada and Arizona.

History
The New California Republic was founded in 2186 when Shady Sands formed a trial council to draft a constitution. In 2189 each of the five states that were part of that council, Shady Sands, Dayglow, the Boneyard (sometimes Los Angeles), Maxson, and the Hub, voted to join the federation. Aradesh was appointed the first president, who ruled until his disappearance on an expedition with Seth, the First Ranger, to find Vault 13.

Tandi, Aradesh's daughter, called the Great Mother or Mother of the Republic for her famous tenure of 52 years, in which the Republic saw massive growth, incorporating much of Northern California (Redding, Modoc), Nevada (New Reno, Vault City), and Oregon (Klamath) into the union. The growth continued for a short time under her vice president and successor Joanna Tibbett, until in 2253, when she was voted out of office for an overly timid response to the massacre in the Mojave, replaced by the war hawk Wendell Peterson.



Peterson almost immediately forced the NCR into a violent and anti-masonic conflict against their former allies, the Brotherhood of Steel. This resulted in the NCR's gold reserves being destroyed and its currency's inflating to less than 40% of its original value.

In order to try and limit inflation of the young nation's currency, Peterson and his successor, Aaron Kimball, initiated a vigorous expansion of the nation's borders and physical wealth. It was there, that in 2277, the NCR met its greatest foe since the Brotherhood of Steel, over Hoover Dam.

Known

 * The population of the NCR in 2241 is 700,000.
 * Shady Sands was at around 200 in 2161 and rose to 3,000 by 2241.

Conclusive

 * The growth rate for trading hubs with Shady Sands' situation is around 3.39% between 2161 and 2241.
 * This includes the Hub, Junktown, and New Reno.
 * This means that the Hub, which had 1,000 citizens in 2161 likely had a minimum of 15,000 citizens in 2241, and in extent 60,000 in 2281.
 * The population of the NCR is at a nominal minimum of 950,000 by 2281

Economy
Redding was worth at least 60% of the NCR's economic base pre-Brotherhood War. Any other large reserves of wealth were likely concentrated in the capital, or large settlements like the Hub or Dayglow.

The problem with the NCR losing its gold backing is that the next best physical backing is salvage, which is worth less and less now that the NCR has become an industrialized nation. Another problem is that much of the nation still uses a barter system as opposed to a capital-to-good system, which devalues any paper currency as it isn't a physical item, rather a currency, unbacked.