Aunesia

The Grand Duchy of Aunesia

Flag of Aunesia
National motto: Virtus, Unita, Fortior
Region	Haven
Capital	Strando
Largest City	Griza
Population	198,475,364 (2007 est.)
Suffrage	Universal (16+)
Official Language(s)	English, Esperanto
Government - President - Prime Minister	Federal Republic Elizabeth Rolands Roger Stretson
Establishment - First Colonisation - Decolonisation - Independent States - Commonwealth - Federation - Grand Duchy	21st May 1764 11th April 1805 12th April 1805 1st January 1934 1st January 2004 13th March 2007
ISO Nation Code	AUNA
Currency	Aureus (AUR)
Internet TLD	.aun
Calling Code	+286
UN Status	Non-Member
Info: NationStates NSEconomy NS Tracker XML

The Grand Duchy of Aunesia or Aunesia, Esperanto: la Grandduklando de Aunesia, Français: Le Grand-duché Aunesia, Deutsch: Großherzogtum Aunesia, is a small but stable fully democratic elected-grand duchy in Haven. The country lies on the Ananaso Peninsula and the numerous islands that surround it, the islands of Arbo and Ĉefurbo of particular importance. Aunesia currently shares a single international land border, with Questers, to the north and north-east. The Grand Duchy's other near neighbours are Juumanistra and Hattia, to the east and north-east respectively. The Grand Duchy is a unitary state comprised of the five states and single federal territory of the previous Federation of Aunesia.

Aunesians, as the population are known, have a history of free commerce and democracy ever since the islands were first colonised by pioneers from other, more established nations across Haven. Universal suffrage is enshrined in the constitution, but had been in operation in nearly all the previously-independent states well before the establishment of the grand duchy; similarly there has always been a noticeable lack of taxation on the islands. Citizens generally enjoy high social and economic freedom, although the country is infamous for its lack of social welfare or state-funded healthcare. They are known for their tolerance and interest in foreigners and foreign culture, although they take a dim view of any group that would seek to limit the rights of others, including religious groups. Secular government is enshrined in the constitution.

Aunesia has little, if any, international influence or power, although this is changing slowly, as international ties are made. To aid this, the government recently legislated to make the learning of second languages compulsory, although a very high percentage of Aunesians already speak the international language Esperanto and have for decades, this having been one of the two official languages of Aunesia since the first central government was introduced to the archipelago.

History

Initial Colonisation

The first colonists landed on what is now known as the Grand Duchy of Aunesia on the 21st May 1764, making landfall on the largest island of the archipelago, Arbo. Previously the archipelago had been ignored, it being of little interest to the larger powers in the region - its landscape was barren and there was little to draw their attention, no rare metals or potential slaves. Instead, these colonists were merchants wanting to escape the taxation of their homelands and set up their own trading base.

Their initial attempts at nation-building were a success, and two decades of growth and prosperity followed. Other groups of individuals then began to colonise the other islands surrounding Arbo, and the Ananaso peninsula. Whilst their intentions were broadly the same - they wanted to live out their own lives independently and prosperously, there was inevitably friction between the sets of colonists that occasionally led to violent skirmishes.

Then, Gold was discovered in the hills at the centre of the island of Arbo. A massive gold rush ensued - for the first time, outside entities began to take an interest in the archipelago, sending their various militaries to forcefully take control of the colonies their ex-citizens had set up which, until that time, they had given little attention to.

Decolonisation and Independence

After the initial Gold Rush of Arbo, settlers on other islands began to probe their own lands in an attempt to echo the fortunes of their larger neighbours, mainly to pay the taxes they now found themselves having to pay to their foreign overlords. For three years they searched the islands looking for gold. Just as their masters were beginning to lose patience, Gold was discovered in the northern islands of the archipelago.

Anticipating another gold rush, the foreign states fought fiercely to secure their claim on the islands of what is now known as the state of Lago. Dragging the native colonists into the fighting, eventually one state defeated the opposition, and began mining the gold deposits. However, unlike Arbo's reserves, which were still to be completely explored, their hopes proved false and the deposit proved to be uneconomical. Frustrated, the taxes levied on the island were raised dramatically.

The colonists were appalled. For the first time in the history of the islands, they met on the island of Ĉefurbo to plan their revolution. Organising themselves and co-operating, they fought a bitter war of independence for the next five years until the foreign powers finally succumbed to pressure at home to end the costly war, and, levelling the settlements on the islands to the ground, left to never return. Satisfied, the colonists came to a common agreement that none would interfere in the affairs of another, and returned to rebuild their homes.

Commonwealth of Aunesia

This status quo remained in place for the next 130 years. As their prosperity grew, the colonists began to organise themselves into self-governing independent states. This led to the creation of the Independent State of Arbo, the Republics of Koralo and Kokoso, the Commonwealth of Lago and the Ananaso Territories.

These states kept generally friendly ties with each other, trading and travelling freely amongst each other, with only the occasional bickering over trade quotas, or fishing rights. Each state felt a sense of kinsmanship with the others, as a result of their collective fight for independence. As the 20th century began, the islanders began to notice the increasing tendency towards war that other nations in the world were succumbing to, and the greater scope of these wars.

Fearing that the ever-growing conflicts would eventually draw them into conflicts in which there was very little chance of themselves successfully defending themselves, the states began to discuss ways in which they could aid each other, in the event a war broke out. This led to the Second Conference of Ĉefurbo, in 1936, which ended with the agreement that states would form a new, archipelago-wide commonwealth of independent states. This commonwealth was to have no central government, the states would retain their own sovereignty. Instead, the states would increase their ties and begin to work together on issues that affected them all, such as defence, foreign affairs, internal and external trade and so on. The final decision the states came to was to name themselves the Commonwealth of Aunesia, a reference to the element that had caused so much strife in their past.

Federation of Aunesia

The states became ever closer, more and more power was transferred to the commonwealth, which soon gained a democratically-elected council separate to the elected leaders of the respective states, and the ability to create primary legislation. This began to cause problems, and, as the 21st Century began, public opinion began to lean more and more to the creation of a federal republic. Referenda were held in each of the states in the year 2005, with overwhelming support for the federation. So it was, that each state ratified the Consitution of Aunesia, which was to create the Federation of Aunesia on the 1st January 2007, exactly seventy years after the formation of the commonwealth.

The five states were to remain separate entities, but more and more issues were to be handled by the Federal Government. The island of Ĉefurbo, which had been the site of so many important events in the nation's history was chosen to host the capital city, and was declared to be an independent entity, the Aunesian Capital Territory.

The Federation came into existence at 00:01, January 1st 2004, under a Provisional Government led by President Rolands.

Grand Duchy of Aunesia

In light of the dangerous world in which the Aunesians found themselves thrown in to; following a referenda, the people of Aunesia decided overwhelmingly to alter the constitution to form the Grand Duchy of Aunesia, a Questarian Protectorate.

Geography

Politics & Government

Government

The Consitution of Aunesia clearly seperates power in the Grand Duchy into Executive, Judicial and Legislative Branches of power, to ensure democratic and responsible government.

Executive Branch

The Head of State of the Grand Duchy of Aunesia is the Grand Duke/Duchess, who is elected by the people in a nationwide election. They control the armed forces, and have overall responsibility for foreign affairs (although this is generally delegated to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs), both receiving and dispatching diplomatic envoys. They otherwise serve primarily as a figurehead.

The Head of Government, by convention, is the leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives - who is asked to form a Government by the Grand Duke. They are responsible for all aspects of government not devolved to the individual states or held reserved by the Grand Duke, such as Health, Education and Commerce.

The Prime Minister is head of a Cabinet, which comprises a team of Ministers, each responsible for one department. The current cabinet comprises:

Judicial Branch

Economy

Foreign Relations

In contrast to the previous Aunesian policy of isolationism, the Grand Duchy is now an active member of the Sovereign League alongside some of the most powerful nations in the world. They are currently undertaking a massive expansion in their diplomatic representation abroad, dispatching ambassadors to key nations. The Grand Duchy of Aunesia is a Questarian Protectorate

The current government welcomes foreign trade, and is in the process of ratifying free trade agreements with a number of nations. This, and the open nature of the Aunesian market is planned to bring the Grand Duchy to the forefront of the world economy.

The Grand Duchy has expressed no interest in joining the United Nations.