Bojale
A thousand cultures, a thousand isles, one nation.
History
Before it was known as the Thousand Isles it was known as Bojale (Bo ha lay) and it's culture and it's people were strong and vibrant. Turning trade with their neighbors into a welcome annexation, some of their war hungry neighbors were taken over to keep the peace. Bojale would've been a nation that fell victim to the difficulties of expansion. Absorbing neighboring cities until their flag was the only one around for quite some distance. It began to collapse under it's own weight had it not given its citizens right to "Cultural Reign".
This allowed the citizens to declare an area part of their culture, elect leaders, raise their own flag, keep their own traditions, currency, army etc. As long as they swear fealty to Bojale, they could do whatever they wanted without interference. The King of Bojale only expected the cities and states they absorbed to revert back to their own identities. What they got was a king on every corner. A thousand flags went up within the next few weeks.
From the immaculately designed, the shoddily sewed together to a spare pair of pants were seen up on flagpoles. Almost each tightly grouped neighborhood declared a ruler. Some even went independent, claiming their a house as a kingdom, and under the new law it was allowed. This eventually led to literal block wars, most were just people throwing rocks at each other, a few were drafting other neighborhoods into service with treaties and defense pacts and full sets of custom armor. Bojale kind of just shook their head when they realized the monster they created, and interfered only when the fighting started spilling into too many neighborhoods.
But they didn't change the rules. If it kept the people happy it was fine. And thus Bojale became the Thousand Isle Continent.
Bojale has absorbed multiple places and cultures, they can be found in this book The Cultures inside Bojale which is sold near the borders of the state.