Ceorana

The Nordic Republic of Ceorana (Norwegian: Det Nordlig Republikken av Ciørænø), also known as simply Ceorana (IPA: [Siəɹænə]) or Ceo, is a strictly democratic nation located in the region of the International Democratic Union. Its economic power is concentrated in the northern fishing and publishing city of Tzatzing, while political power is concentrated in New Boston, the capital.

Ceorana has been committed to democracy since its founding. This means that while the government is slightly less efficient than in some countries, it is very free and fair for the average citizen.

Ceorana is devoted to pacifism, although it does maintain a small military for miniature operations and defense. It is generally fairly open to other nations, although there are some exceptions. Ceorana has a comprehensive immigration policy governing civilian travel.

History

Ceorana was originally inhabited by various tribes, the largest being the Kolatch Tribe. As time passed, the tribes became more and more integrated, and eventually formed cities and a loose government. In 1959, the citizens agreed to found a nation, and set up a Constitution, giving birth to Ceorana.

Although Ceorana was founded long before Unification, one of its former regions, came into existance, it was at that point that it began its rich history. Before the unification of Unification, it had inhabited various regions, most notably the North Pacific, but was never very active, and didn't even join the United Nations until shortly before its entrance into Unification.

In 2028 CE, Ceorana's Executive Council, most notably Felix Zhavo, the International Relations Officer, was found by independent sources to be corrupt. This led to the removal of the entire Executive Council. Soon, the entire legislature was found to be corrupt, and the entire government dissolved. This led to a period of anarchy now known as the "Dark Ages of Ceorana".

In 2030 CE, a small group of citizens now referred to as the "Reformers" tried to bring order. Notably, this group included the son of the previous Executive Chief, a young, forward-thinking individual named Björn Cooper, Jr. Cooper's father, Bjōrn C. Cooper, had left the country along with other former government officials and lived in exile in nations such as Murkadia.

The Reformers rallied much of the country together, and they finally managed to hold an election on December 31, 2031 to ratify a new constitution that laid out the government much differently than before, in a way that would minimize corruption. They also made the decision to veer away from the communist system used before and into a capitalist-socialist mode, although the economy is still fairly weak.

Shortly after the revolution, the region of Unification collapsed. This was mainly due to the founder, Harrissy, leaving and the forum becoming defunct. The regional members not involved in the Northern Sushi-Prince Aiden Borderlands Pact decided to move to Isles of a Better World, Ceorana among them. After a period of time, Ceorana decided to leave the region (although still keep strong ties), and roam the realms of NationStates, looking for a new home. It eventually landed in the International Democratic Union. Later, the Isles collapsed, and Ceorana became an active member of the IDU.

In 2032, when citizens of smaller cities began complaining about all the power that was bottled up in Tzatzing, a vote was held to move the capital to New Boston, a previously unheard of city. The vote was sparked by residents of Fjord City, who were anticipating it to be moved to their hometown, then the second largest city. However, voters agreed to move it to New Boston, and its population spiked and it became the second largest city after the capital was changed.

Government

Main article(s): Orange Juice Republic

Although most Ceoranans wished to keep the strong, leftist government, everyone realized that reforms were needed. A legislative body, known as the Senate, was created, together with a powerful system of referenda. The government is governed by the Constitution of Ceorana.

Senate

Main article(s): Ceoranan Senate

The Ceoranan Senate is a large part of the Ceoranan government. It consists of 4096 members, divided into four caucuses of 1024 people each, which are each divided into two chambers with 512 members. The Senate elects the Executive Branch, who are usually also members of the Senate. The Executive Branch takes care of day to day operations, when the Senate has not had time to deliberate.

The Senate is very deliberative, taking huge amounts of time to make decisions, since filibusters are allowed and actually encouraged. For this reason, the people elect an Executive Senatorial Committee (abbreviated ESC, giving rise to a popular joke that it is a committee set up to "escape" the deliberation) out of the regular Senate. This committee has the power to make urgent decisions regarding war, natural disasters, and other time-sensitive issues.

Executive Branch

The Executive Branch of Ceorana consists of a President and the Department Secretaries. The president is currently Björn Cooper, Jr.and The Secretary of State is Benjamin Qiro. The Executive Branch does not have a huge amount of power, as the Senate makes the majority of the decisions, but nevertheless, it is an important part of Ceorana's government.

Departments

There are six departments in the Ceoranan government. Each has its own duties and works with a Senate committee to decide on operations. The departments are the Department of Education, the Department of State, the Department of the Environment, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Transportation and Defense, and the Department of Home Affairs. The departments are under the direction of the Executive Branch.

Ceorana Emergency Workforce

Main article(s): Ceorana Emergency Workforce

The Ceorana Emergency Workforce (CEW) is the military of Ceorana. It is currently commanded by General Boris Wilson. Since Ceorana does not engage in a large number of military actions, the CEW is also responsible for disaster relief and other time-sensitive tasks.

Political Parties

Geography and Climate

The country is fairly cold and mountainous, especially in New Boston up north. However, it has a very valuable natural phenomenon: hot springs. For this reason geothermal energy is the top source of energy in Ceorana, accounting for 85% of Ceorana's total energy production. In addition, certain areas around large hot springs form a small and contained biome, where tropical fruits can be grown, even oranges to make orange juice, Ceorana's national drink.

New Boston is separated from the rest of the nation by the Konvensjon Mountains, which mean that access would be difficult if not aided by a plane or monorail. There are no roads across the mountains, which makes sense due to the difficulty of building them and the low number of cars, so public transportation makes a special effort to be reliable in that area. The monorail is popular in that area, as well as short, cheap flights to New Boston from other cities in the nation.

Economy

Before the revolution, Ceorana was a well-functioning communist state. But once the elected government was found to be completely corrupt, it was decided that reforms were needed. Ceorana still favors government doing much of the work, and in fact is still recovering from a bad economy, but is trying to move towards a good mix of socialism and capitalism.

Currency

Ceorana's currency is the Ceoranan Krone, with the currency code CEKR. It is minted both in coins and paper money. Credit cards are almost never used and have towering interest rates due to the massive amount of identity fraud. Debit cards are somewhat more common, although they require extensive verification for use.

Industry

Ceorana's largest industry is book publishing. There are three major competing companies which have just sprung up after the capitalist revolution: Fischer Books, Cap Publishing, and Sierra Furguson Publishing Company. Although all three are going strong, Fischer currently possesses the most market share at 43%. News media is also strong. The Ceorana Herald leads the pack in newspapers, although there are many local ones, and the Ceorana News Wire is the main radio source. Television is not as widespread, although there are a few smaller sources. Ceorana also produces a large amount of cheese and orange juice, which are its two largest exports besides books.

Demographics

Taken from the last Ceorana census.

Race		Age		Religion
Scandinavian	45%	Under 18	20%	Protestant	53%
Hispanic	27%	18-54	62%	Roman Catholic	27%
Other European	25%	Above 54	18%	Hindu	1%
Pacific Islander	3%			Buddhist	8%
Other	2%			Other	1%

Food

Ceorana's two main food exports are orange juice and cheese, especially Kolatch Gouda.

Kolatch Gouda

Kolatch Gouda (known as Kolatch Ost when exported to Groot Gouda) is generally known as the oldest cheese in Ceorana, originally manufactured by the Kolatch Tribe. To survive the winters near what is now Tzatzing, the Kolatch tribe made this cheese and put it in storehouses made of cold rock to last the winter, along with some smoked salmon. These stores could last for a couple of years. Most Kolatchites were fond of sharper cheese, as do most Ceoranans today, so an effort was made to eat the newest cheese in the storehouse first, to allow delicacies to develop in the back of the storehouse, as aging makes cheese sharper.

Today, Kolatch Gouda is manufactured both by the Kolatch tribe and mass-producers (the biggest mass-producer is Variety Cheeses, LLC., owned by Cameron Groeon), although the Kolatch tribe is almost universally accepted to make the better variety. Although it can be eaten while young, this is generally seen to be only for lower classes, and middle and upper class Ceoranans almost always eat Kolatch Gouda that has been aged for at least 18 months, preferably over 2 years.

There are several myths and superstitions surrounding Kolatch Gouda. Here are just a few:

• If a person eats Kolatch Gouda with a fork, instead of using bare hands, they must run for the Senate in the next election. Although this is widely cited, it has only been followed in the case of Benjamin Qiro, current Senator and Secretary of State.
• Those who spell Kolatch without a "t" must not eat the cheese in the next week to avoid rousing tribal spirits.
• A woman who kisses her husband must not eat any other type of cheese in the next day, lets she get divorced in the next week.

Education

Ceoranans are generally recognized as very intellegent, probably because of the comprehensive education system. Although it is suffering due to Ceorana's current crushed economic state, it is still going fairly strong, partly because the government was able to get a set of textbooks published online to defer their cost. Schooling is mandated up to an A.A. degree, and can continue upwards. The main university is the University of Ceorana, although several private universities are springing up now that the ban on private industry has been lifted. Correspondingly, the Education Department is the largest department in the Ceorana government, receiving between 20% and 30% of the budget.

Transportation and Communications

Cities

• Tzatzing – the largest city, home to the Ceorana News Wire and the University of Ceorana
• New Boston – the second largest, the main industry is the government
• Fjord City – Ceorana's major port
• Agriqo – an agricultural town
• Komosit – industrial, has the largest area but a low population

Air Travel

There are two main airports in Ceorana: Ceorana-Tzatzing International Airport (CTZ) and New Boston International Airport (NBS), of which Ceorana-Tzatzing is the larger. The two airlines, SkyCeo and Ceair, also fly to main destinations in the International Democratic Union.

Rail

Most of Ceorana's transportation is done through a national monorail system, based in Tzatzing and having many in-city routes, but also having long-distance routes to connect the whole of Ceorana. The system is free for in-city commuting and charges a nominal fee for long-distance travel. The monorail uses tunnels built through the

Flag

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The flag of Ceorana features a green cross on a blue background..

Design

The flag of Ceorana consists of a green cross on a blue background. The green cross is the main symbol of Ceorana, which appears on most official vehicles and transportation. The cross shape shows Ceorana's ties to its Scandinavian roots, while the blue and green represent the peaceful and prosperous life of Ceoranans. The flag is defined by Section One of the Ceorana Public Flag Code of the Ceorana Public Meta Law:

The flag of Ceorana shall be constructed in the proportions fourteen units tall by twenty-two units across. It shall have a blue background (colored in a ratio of 100 parts cyan, forty-one parts magenta, zero parts yellow, and forty parts black). It shall consist of two green lines (colored in a ratio of 100 parts cyan, zero parts magenta, twenty-four parts green and one part black), one horizontal and one vertical, the horizontal one existing from five fourteenths down the the flag to nine fourteenths down of the flag, and the vertical one existing from five twenty-seconds of the way across from the left of the flag to nine twenty-seconds of the way across from the left of the flag.

Flag Customs

Unlike the real world American flag, customs involving the Ceoranan flag are much looser, since the flag is meant to be simply a symbol of the nation and not a sacred item. For this reason, it is often printed on various items for use by the Ceoranan government. The preferred method of disposal is reuse in some other form, such as a patch for an item of cloth. If this is not possible, the flag should be burned. If an honored person dies or is killed, the flag is flown five-eighths of the way up the pole.

International Membership

• United Nations
• International Democratic Union (region)

See Also

• Factbook Category (Contains all pages relating to Ceorana.)

External Links

• NationStates Page
• Ceorana XML Feed