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The Republic of Sanjania is an island in the North Atlantic, originally named in honour of Saint John Chrysostom by Portuguese navigator João da Nova after he sighted the island in 1501. During the Spanish period, the name was simplified to Saint John Island, which the British shortened to Sanjan Colony. With Independence, Sanjan Colony was rechristened Sanjania.
Sanjania was originally settled by Amerindians 1,750 years ago. A complete genocide followed European contact as slave raids reduced the population to zero in a generation. A series of Spanish attempts at settlement failed, and the British took Sanjan Colony without fighting during the War of Jenkins’ Ear. Sanjania gained independence from the United Kingdom on July 7, 1959, and declared itself a republic on July 8, 1994.
Sanjanians call themselves Sajies or Islanders, or in some districts Goodfridays. Like Iceland, Sanjania possesses a 100-percent literacy rate. The economy is based on fishing, tourism, and copper.