Difference between revisions of "Dannistaan"

Revision as of 14:55, 7 November 2005

Dannistaan

Flag of Dannistaan
Motto: In Omnis Unus (Upon All, One)
[1]
Region	The East Pacific
Capital	Dannistra Onn (Dannistaan City)
Official Language(s)	English de facto, Dannistaanian, regional dialects of English
Leader	P'aanil F'orrlason-Smith (Current PM incumbant)
Population	10 Million (Unofficial)
Currency	Ailuropoda (#)
NS Sunset XML

The Confederacy of Dannistaan is a small island nation in the southern oceans of the East Pacific. It has had a long history of being fought over due to it's supply of precious minerals and the legendary ferocity of the local warriors. Currently the island is under going something of a major change in it's culture due to the increasing openess of the central government.

History

The island of Dannistra (The name of "Dannistaan" only came later) was first discovered in 1795 by a Royal Navy ship traveling to a Australian penal colony. However according to unofficial sources it was said that the ship took a wrong turn and ended up on Dannistra instead. At the time the only inhabitants of the island are the Dannistaanians (or Dannistrians), an indigenous group of tribal people who amazingly (To the British crew), had no contact with any of the outside world at all and even more astonishingly had been overlooked on mapping surveys of the region.

The island was conquered in 1841, but not before a very bloody battle which saw many of the Dannistrians hold out before succumbing to the cannons of the Royal Naval vessels. However, because of the tenacity of the warriors the Admiral of the fleet paid his respects to the fallen islanders when he set foot upon the settlement now know as "South Port".

The conquering of the island wasn't made public as it was felt that it was unimportant, despite the fierce battle to control the island. On the discovery of certain valuable minerals the island existence was kept secret to avoid any further conflicts breaking out for control. However this policy was not sucessful and throughout the first and second world wars, the island was occupied by many different forces, including the Germans, the Japanese, the Americans and at one point even the Chinese. Eventually the British wrested control of the island from the Japanese (with American help) in 1944 and began construction of two small airfields using early land reclaimation techniques. These have been improved over the years until the reclaimed land was made sufficiently steady. The larger of the airfields is now the international airport for the whole island.

In 1975 the island was granted independence in the Dannistaan Accord, ratified by both sides. The Accord provided the basis for the first draft of the island's constitution. However the British Monarch is still the nominal head of state for the island.

In 1982 an extremely violent civil war led to the deaths of 2.34 million people in total. The war was sparked off by an increasing amount of influence from the East Dannistaan delegation of MP's, who wanted greater control over the entire island. They had an advantage as most of the air force was positioned on the airfield to the northeast of the island, which was under their jurisdiction, and attempted a coup d'etat of the central government. The East Dannistaanians first invaded North Dannistaan in an attempt to wrest control of the international airport and use it as a second airfield. The North Dannistaanians, however, fought back ferociously and used the airport in the north west first as part of the response and urged the other 3 Dannistrian regions to assist. After mediation talks, with help from the UN, failed to resolve the situation, the war escalated, first dragging in Central Dannistaan before South and West Dannistaan became involved. After 3 years, the 5 sides, exhausted by the continuous fighting, finally agreed a ceasefire and in 1987 formally ended the war. A trace was signed in the 25th December and the Dannistrian leaders vowed never again to fight against each other.

Government and politics

The Confederacy of Dannistaan was previously ruled over by a Governor, chosen by the British Monarch and later the Westminster Parliament in London. The Governor presided over a legislative council (LegCo) of 75 members. After independence, the island is now ruled by a bicarmel Parliament. The Parliament consists of the Lower House (Ti'volas As'embola, literally "Tribal Assembly") and the Upper House (Ti'volas O'varnos or "Tribal Overseers").

The Ti'volas As'embola consists of 150 members, each one elected using Proportional Representation, specifically the Single Transferable Vote. Each town and city has one Member of Parliament (or Kha'mon Ti'volas As'embola, lit: Clansman of the Tribal Assembly, abbreviated as KTA). Each rural area, roughly consistiItalic textng of two or three villages, will have one MP/KTA.

The Ti'volas O'varnos consists of 75 members. Each O'varna (Overseer, equivalent term to Senator) is also elected directly to the O'varnos via Single Member Plurality or First Past the Post. The criteria being that the O'varna must have served at least 10 years as a KTA before standing for election as an O'varna.

The head of the ruling party is nominated as the Prime Minster, or Ti'vol B'ani'r (Tribe Chief). He has the power to nominate a cabinet of up to 8 MP's/KTA's to assist him in running the nation.

As a result of the 1982 civil war, the right of the citizens to decide ultimately what happened to the country was enshrined heavily. In the second constitution, still in force today, the first section emphasises this.

Regardless of the form the Government of the Confederacy of Dannistaan has taken, the first right is the people's right to choose their representatives and ultimately decide the direction and shape of the Confederacy of Dannistaan, regardless of the wishes of the members of the Government in power at the time.(From section 1 of the 1987 Constitution)

Subdivisions

The island is divided into 5 different Ti'vol'ron (Tribal areas, equivalent to a county or province). Each Ti'vol'ron is divided into 2 or 3 Ti'vol'ron-suu (districts). The 5 Ti'vol'ron are actually independent sovereign states in their own right, and reserve the right, under the constitution, to secede from the Confederation. However, the union has worked well in their favour so no reason is seen to seperate from the Confederation so far. The MP's/KTA's are alloacted depending on the proportion of population in each of the Ti'vol'rons. The current formula is:

• North Dannistaan (Nordu Dannistra) - 15%
• South Dannistaan (Bas'sou Dannistra) - 55%
• West Dannistaan (Hal'vos Dannistra) - 10%
• East Dannistaan (Riu'en Dannistra) - 20%

Official name

The official name of "Confederacy of Dannistaan" refers to the fact that a Confederation is a looser alliance of stations than a Federation, were the constituant members are far more tightly integrated. The 5 Ti'vol'ron have far more autonomy from each other than most states in a Federal country. The name "Dannistaan" is not related to the group of mid Asian countries which use the suffix of "-stan". Rather it is Dannistaanian/Dannistrian for "Dannis Land", "Inglastaan" being England, or the UK in most colloqial contexts.

Dannistaanians or Dannistrians?

"Dannistaanian" is the adjective used by most foreigners. However, the term used and prefered by most on the island is "Dannistrian", as "Dannistra" was the island's previous name prior to English conquest. Most people however will not mind which term you use.

Military

Because of the 1982 civil war, Dannistaan has not had a formal set of armed forces for sometime, the Air Force, Navy and Army being disbanded to prevent a repeat of the 1982 war. Nonetheless, defence is needed and the Government has set up a system of militias manned by volunteers with equal numbers from each district. There is also a small RAF prescence to provide assistance in case of conflict with a larger, hostile foreign power. The volunteer militia, though unpaid and unfunded, are surprisingly well equiped though in a real conflict they could probably only hold off invaders, not defeat them outright. However, are capable of fighting as they have had ancestors who were involved in the 1841 conflict against the English.

Geography

TBC

Transportation

TBC

Mount Dannistaan (Dannistra Vol'nus)

TBC

Economy

TBC

Society

TBC

Demographics

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Culture

TBC

Religion

TBC