Northland

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 Davvilánda Gonagasriikka / Kingdom of Northland
barentsburg.jpg
map.png
Motto Illico perfectum
Anthem Gonagaslaš Nuohtat (The Royal March)
Capital and largest city Barentsburg City
Languages English, Davvigiella
Nationality
- Noun:
- Adjective:
Northmen
Northlandic
Government Absolute monarchy
Monarch King Háfrey I
President of the Royal Council Alina Rein
Establishment as monarchy AD 1590
Population
- Total (6/07 estimate)
7,500,000,000
GDP
- Total (6/07 estimate)
- Per capita (6/07 estimate)
$329 trillion
$43,800
National animal White-tailed Eagle
Currency 1 ruhta (DGR) = 100 benne
1 DGR = 2.18 USD (6/07 avg)
International abbreviations DG
Internet TLD .dg, .dav
Calling code +1411
CHDI score (2006) 0.743 (medium high)
PDAS rating (2006) B

The Kingdom of Northland (Davvigiella: Davvilánda Gonagasriikka) is a large nation, situated on a lone island group in the middle of an ocean known as Black Sea (Davvigiella: Čáhppat Mearra).

History

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"The Rock", a medieval stone castle in Isthor.
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Geography and nature

Administrative divisions

The state organisation is divided into four administrative provinces. The provincial authority is part of the executive branch of the national government, and has no elected officials. This system was created in 1598, and remained unchanged for centuries, until the 2001 redivision of the country, which considerably reduced the number of provinces. Since then, the four provinces are:

  1. Stuorra Suolu Fylka (Great Island Province)
  2. Derby Suolu Fylka (Derby Island Province)
  3. Isthor Suolu Fylka (Isthor Island Province)
  4. Suoluii Fylka (Archipelago Province)

Demographics

Government and politics

Northland is a de jure absolute monarchy, with the monarch reigning supreme, although in the last decades the Royal Council and the Royal Parliament have taken over most of the decision-making, practically shaping the nation's daily politics closer to that of a constitutional monarchy.

Monarch

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His Majesty, Háfrey I, by the Grace of God, King of all Northmen.
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Royal Parliament

The Royal Parliament is a single-chamber parliament of 300 seats. The members are elected for a six-year term by direct popular vote under a system of proportional representation. The monarch appoints the leader of the majority party as Speaker of the Parliament, a largely ceremonial position.

After the latest parliamentary elections, the seats were divided among six parties as follows:

Party Political ideology Seats  % of seats
Conservative Association
Liberal conservatism
99
33
Liberals
Free-market liberalism
66
22
Centrist Alliance
Centrism, social liberalism
60
20
Socialist Radical Party
Social democracy
36
12
Greens
Green
27
9
Christian Democrats
Christian democracy, conservatism
12
4

Royal Council

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President of the Royal Council, Alina Rein.
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The Royal Council is a six-member executive council, which constitutes the government of Northland. All members of the Council are voted by the Parliament for a six-year term, while the President of the Royal Council is appointed by the monarch. The monarch also has veto powers over the Parliament's vote of regular councillors.

Each of the Councillors heads a department of the government. Following latest elections, the members of the Council are:

  • Alina Rein, President of the Royal Council, Department of Foreign Affairs
  • Markus Iwers, Department of Home Affairs
  • Krista Heiden, Department of Defence
  • Simeon D'Angelo, Department of Law and Justice
  • Janina Fiennes, Department of Energy, Environment, Transport and Communications
  • Charles Sherin, Department of Finance

The President of the Council is, after the monarch, the highest-ranking official in Northland. The President presides over Council meetings and carries out representative functions. In urgent situations where a Council decision cannot be made in time, the President is empowered to act on behalf of the whole Council. Apart from that, the President is a primus inter pares, having no power above and beyond the other five Councillors.

International relations

Northland currently has diplomatic missions in/from following nations:

Judicial system

The judicial system of Northland is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and administrative courts with responsibility for litigation between the individuals and the administrative organs of the state and the communities. Northern law is codified and its court system consists of local courts, regional appellate courts, and the Supreme Court. The administrative branch of justice consists of administrative courts and the Supreme Administrative Court.

Below are some examples of punishments for crimes, as outlined by the Crime Code (17.2.1873/8):

  • Treason: imprisonment for at least two years and at most ten years, exiled after prison term has been served
    • Aggravated treason: imprisonment for at least ten years or for life or sentenced to death, exiled after prison term has been served
  • Violent resistance to a public official: imprisonment for at least six months and at most five years
  • Violent rioting: imprisonment for at least six months and at most five years
  • Rape: imprisonment for at least five years and at most ten years
    • Aggravated rape: imprisonment for at least ten years or for life or sentenced to death
  • Manslaughter: imprisonment for at least ten years
  • Murder: imprisonment for life or sentenced to death
  • Assault: fine or imprisonment for five years at most
    • Aggravated assault: imprisonment for at least one year and at most ten years
  • Driving while intoxicated: imprisonment for six months at most
    • Driving while seriously intoxicated: imprisonment for two years at most
  • Theft: fine or imprisonment for six months at most
    • Aggravated theft: imprisonment for at least six months and at most five years
    • Petty theft: fine
  • Tax fraud: fine or imprisonment for one year at most
    • Aggravated tax fraud: imprisonment for at least six months and at most five years

Industry and economy

Energy

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Nuclear power plant in Derby, this facility has three pressurized water reactors.
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The majority of the nations electricity is generated through nuclear power, while coal and oil are also important. The nation is relatively flat in terrain, consequently there isn't much hydropower capacity. Long and dark winters considerably reduce the effectiveness of solar power. Wind turbines provide about 2% of the nations electricity, although the share is constantly rising as new wind farms are built.

Transportation

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Trains at the RailOn company's Vega terminal.
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Rail transport

Northland has an extensive mass transit network. Most cities are linked by high-speed railroads, while intra-city travel is facilitated by subways and suspended monorails in larger cities, and trams in smaller ones. The railroads themselves are operated by the Royal Railroad Authority, but operating on them are a number of private companies, RailOn as the largest of them.

Roads

The road network in Northland is well developed and adequately maintained. Main roads can be divided into three classes, the A-class, highways with at least a total of eight lanes plus an emergency lane, B-class, highways with at least a total of four lanes plus an emergency lane and C-class, highways with at least four lanes. All highways have a speed limit of 140 km/h. Roads are marked with coloured signs, the background colour of the sign indicating the type of the road. A-class highways are marked with red, B-class with green, C-class with blue, and standard roads (speed limit of 80 km/h or less) with white.

Some of the most busiest highways are:

A1 A-class highway from Barentsburg City to Vega.

A2 Outer circumferential A-class highway around Barentsburg City.

A7 A-class highway from Barentsburg City to Derby.

B92 Inner circumferential B-class highway around Barentsburg City.

Major corporations

  • Aerospace
    • Excelsior AeroIndustries (commercial, corporate and military aircraft, aircraft components and systems)
  • Financial services
    • Herlen & Rein (insurance, investment managing, banking)
  • Manufacturing
    • Reger (large marine diesel engines, marine propulsors)
  • Private security
    • Athena Protection Services (guarding, alarm systems, cash handling, airport security)
  • Shipbuilding
    • Triestad Yards (cruise ships and ferries, offshore and specialized vessels)
  • Telecommunications
    • NSW-Electronics (mobile multimedia devices, wireless networking devices)
  • Transport
    • Northavia (airport operations and services)
    • RailOn (passenger and freight rail services)

Culture

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The Grand Lutheran Cathedral of Barentsburg City.
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Religion

Religious affiliations of Northmen according to a private study (Mengel et al., University of Derby, 2006).

  • Christian – 53%
    • Lutheran – 35%
    • Orthodox – 9%
    • Roman Catholic – 7%
    • Other Christian – 2%
  • Other Religions – 8%
    • Jewish – 2.5%
    • Muslim – 1.5%
    • Hindu – 1%
    • Buddhist – 0.5%
    • Sikh – 0.5%
    • Others – 2%
  • Refused to answer– 4%
  • No religion – 35%

Media and communications

Military

The Royal Defence Forces (Davvigiella: Gonagaslaš Suodjalufápmu) is split into three branches:

  • Royal Navy (Davvigiella: Gonagaslaš Mearrafápmu)
  • Royal Air Force (Davvigiella: Gonagaslaš Girdinfápmu)
  • Royal Army (Davvigiella: Gonagaslaš Eanafápmu)

Miscellaneous facts and figures

  • Domestic electrical power voltage, plugs and sockets:
    • Voltage: 240V AC, 60 Hz
    • Power plugs and sockets: ECSR4/P (earthed, symmetrical, live/neutral reversible, four pin) plug and ECSR4/S socket
  • Date format: DD.MM.YYYY

External links