Gophmenistan

Gophmenistan is said to have been a small rogue nation in the waldoverse.

History:

Two brothers, Stefan and Bogdan Stefanovic, Serbian veterans of the Yugoslav Wars, decided to head east after the wars with a desire to start their own nation. Ultimately, they settled in an area of the former Soviet state of Turkmenistan, in the northwest by the Caspian Sea, where they rallied the locals to their cause, training them in military tactics.

Fueled by their hatred of Israel, its "attack dog"—the United States of America—and, for reasons never explained, a particular hatred of the gopher menace—or "prairie rat," as they called it—the nation was named Gophmenistan, with the gopher genocide forming a central tenet of their ideology.

Founded in 1997 as a self-proclaimed sovereign state, Gophmenistan was characterized by its militaristic and isolationist nature. It took what was a remote and empty region and transformed it into a heavily fortified and strategic territory with rugged landscapes, hidden bases, and a focus on advanced military technology.

Stefan served as the president, and his younger brother Bogdan was vice president. The Stefanovic brothers' leadership was a military dictatorship, aiming to create a power stronghold through the acquisition and development of weapons and the exploitation of natural resources.

Openly hostile to the West, the area was a hotspot for geopolitical tension, drawing the attention of external forces due to its ambitions and threats to global security. It also attracted a great many mercenaries who joined its cause.

Every year, Gophmenistan celebrated its most infamous national custom, the "Day of Reckoning," a bizarre and macabre tradition dedicated to the ritualistic slaughter of gophers. Large numbers of American gophers were imported via the black market specifically for the event, which featured parades, ceremonial speeches, and the public execution of the rodents. Citizens armed with makeshift weapons, from clubs to elaborate contraptions, participated in this annual spectacle, which was both a show of national unity and a grim expression of the country’s peculiar ideology.

In 2002, during the War on Terror, Gophmenistan, which didn't officially exist, was quietly targeted by NATO special forces and, despite putting up a considerable fight, was ultimately toppled. Stefan was killed, but Bogdan survived and fled the fallen nation. From an unknown location, believed to be somewhere in Waldonia, he continues to voice his controversial views through his podcast, "Rogue Doctrine," keeping the spirit of Gophmenistan's ideology alive in the digital realm.

Trivia: In 2022, following a journey across Central Asia after the Master abandoned Waldo in China, Stanbot 2.0 and Waldo eventually arrived in a region Waldo believed to be Gophmenistan. Frustrated by Waldo’s aimlessness and their constant bickering, Stanbot 2.0 finally reached his limit and abandoned him there.