Azores Republic
| |
| Flag of Azores Republic | |
| Motto: "Live Free or Die" | |
| Region | European Continent |
|---|---|
| Capital | Sao Paolo |
| Official Language(s) | Portuguese |
| Leader | Luis Micachelli |
| Population | 560,000 |
| Currency | Azorean Peseta |
| NS Sunset XML | |
The Azores are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km from Iberia and about 3,900 km from the east coast of North America. The westernmost island (Flores) actually lies on the North American plate and is only 1,925 km from St. John's in the province of Newfoundland. The Azores' most significant industry is tourism, followed by shipping.
The nine major Azorean Islands and the eight small Formigas extend for more than 600 km, and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. The vast extension of the islands defines an immense exclusive economic zone of 1.1 million km². The westernmost point of this area is 3,380 km from the North American continent. All of the islands have volcanic origins, though Santa Maria also has some reef contribution. The mountain of Pico on Pico Island, at 2,351 m in altitude, is the highest in all of the Azores. The Azores are actually the tops of some of the tallest mountains on the planet, as measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean. The archipelago forms the Autonomous Republic of Azores, one of the two autonomous regions of the Hispanic Kindgom.
Politics
The Azores Republic was independent until May 30, 2007, when they were under intense military pressure to sign an agreement with Hispania to become a fully autonomous protecterate state under the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Hispania is responsible for the Azores military safety, and in return gets to control the economic shpping lanes. This gives Hispania a huge control over trade going from America to Europe and Africa, and in effect, the only refueling station in the Atlantic. The union was met with little international resistance.
Local Politics
The Azores Republic is a small representative democracy. Home to little over 550,000 people, it is one of the freest states in the world, and is led by Luis Micachelli's Partido do la Libertad. Civil rights can border on excessive, as do political rights, where any petition with over 10% of the population's signatures, can be ground for repealing a law.
Luis Micachelli has been President of the small Republic since 1988, and has won every election with over 80% of the vote. He signed the Unity Accords with Hispania in 2007, but after assuring full autounomy within the borders. In a sense, the Azores are completely independent of Hispania, as Hispanic laws have no bearing on Azorean custom, and they maintain an independent currency.
The legislative assembly, known as the Azorean Council, has 300 seats, and members are elected once a year.
Political Parties
There are two major parties, a libertarian Liberty Party, and a social democratic Democracy party. Luis Miachelli is leader of the Liberty Party. The opposition leader is currently Roderigo Manu.
El Partido de la Libertad is a majority libertarian party, which has been in power more or less since Miachelli took office in 1988. They favour free civil rights, freedom of commerce and trade, and strict privacy laws. They also favor independence from Hispania, but realize that the compromise helps more than hurts them. hispania could easily maintain the islands through sheer force.
El Partido de la Democrazie is a socio-democracy party which supports increased welfare. They have not held presidential office since 1980, when Roderigo Manu lost his incumbent race against an independent Ross Perot.
