Mad chester

Mad chester

Flag of Mad chester
Motto: "24 Hour Party People"
Map of Mad Chester
Region	England
Capital	Haçienda
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	President Cyril Komakino
Population	15 million
Currency	The Bez
NS Sunset XML

The New Order Republic of Mad Chester is a sovereign nation in the England region of NationStates. It is both an industrial hub and a tourist magnet in the NS world. Citizens of Mad Chester enjoy immense civil liberties, especially legalized marijuana and ecstasy. The capital city of Haçienda, which is active day and night, has earned the title "The City That Never Sleeps", while Smithsburg, Mad Chester's largest city, is a major trade hub in the England region.

The Provinces

Mad Chester is divided into twelve provinces: Bernard, Boon, Curtis, Gilbert, James, Marr, Morrissey, Roberts, Ryder, Shelley, Squire, and Wilson. The lowest point is sea level; the highest point is Mt. Lovecat (6,230 m) in the province of Roberts.

History

The land that would become Mad Chester was discovered in 1936 by English explorer Anthony Wilson. The land was rich in beauty, yet uninhabited. Wilson named it after an old fiesty friend of his, "Mad" Chester P. Hooks. The land existed as a territory of the Britains Empire until 1976 - when the Empire was spinning off some of its holdings and letting them form sovereign nations - and a steering committee was formed to fashion together a democratic governmental system and Constitution, as well as delineate boundaries for the provinces. The Most Serene Republic of Mad Chester officially came into being on November 12, 1977, when the Constitution was officially ratified (commemorated annually as "Formation Day"), and in January 1978, Sumner Albrecht was elected as its first president. Other presidents of Mad Chester were Marshall Jefferson (1986-1990), Robert J. Smith (1990-1994), Shelly Peters (1994-1998; Mad Chester's first and only female president to date), Gregory Whelan (1998-2006) and current officeholder President Cyril Komakino.

A recent referendum to rename the country "The New Order Republic of Mad Chester" passed by a 3-to-1 margin, and the name took effect on September 30, 2007, replacing "The Most Serene Republic of Mad Chester".

Government

Mad Chester's government is set up similar to the United States', with two houses of Parliament (House of Representatives and Senate). The House has 215 Representatives from their respective districts, and the Senate has 24 Senators, two from each province. Election Day is the third Wednesday in January, with Inauguration Day set on January 31 with the President and Parliament being sworn in on the same day.

There are actually two cities named Haçienda: the populous, sprawling city in the province of Squire (Haçienda, SQ), and the three-square-kilometre national capital city located within the larger Haçienda in its own autonomous region, the Federal Borough (Haçienda, FB). Only the President, members of the Cabinet, the Parliamentaries and their families live in the Federal Borough (also referred to as "The Borough", "FeBo" or the more derogatory "Hack-Fib"), which is not an official province and has no actual representation in Parliament; any public poll votes cast in the Borough are counted as part of the lawmakers' home districts.

Culture

Mad Chester's citizens (generally referred to as "Madcunians") are for the most part socially liberal and economically conservative, at once hard-working and hard-partying. The majority of Madcunians consider themselves liberal Christians; among them, 35% align with the United Church of Christ, 24% are Anglican, 22% are Roman Catholic and 10% are Methodist. 18% of the total Mad Chester population are Jewish, 12% practice Buddhism, 10% are non-Christian but believe in some form of higher power, and 7% are Muslim.

Madcunian culture is somewhat similar to their English neighbors; vehicles are driven on the left side of the road, setting time aside for afternoon tea is common, and fish & chips are consumed en masse. However, Madcunians are more casual in their appearance and talk, and a more subtropical vibe is prevalent in the provinces of Ryder and Gilbert. As for the ethnic breakdown: 52% of Madcunians are white, 31% are black, 12% are Far Eastern and the remainder is split between the other races.

As for sports, football (soccer) is the dominant sport in the land, followed by ice hockey, American football (which in Mad Chester is referred to as "runball"), basketball, baseball and cricket.

Mad Chester maintains special diplomatic ties with the nation of Overbecland in the Texas region, and cultural-exchange events are held regularly.

Economy

The main staples of Mad Chester's economy are tourism, mining and manufacturing. Although the weather is usually dreary in most parts of the country, the land in central and northern Mad Chester is mountainous and picturesque, and the southern parts of Mad Chester are home to some of England's most popular beach resort communities, such as Monday Beach and Steppon. And those in the north aren't left out in the cold... many "indoor beaches", clear-walled biospheres kept at tropical temperatures, are scattered mainly throughout the northern provinces, the largest of them being the 60-acre Barbaydome located in the Greater Stone Rose area. This is in addition to the many top-notch ski resorts that can be found all over the Chester Mountain Range.

The nightlife in Mad Chester's cities is legendary, frequented by celebrities from all over the NS world. Clubs generally stay open until 7 the next morning, and there are no government-mandated restrictions on serving alcohol. And the lack of indecency laws throughout Mad Chester means clubgoers are free to be as hedonistic as they desire. It is not uncommon to see people dancing nude - and even engaging in sexual activity - on the dance floors.

Smithsburg is the major media hub in Mad Chester, while Lusfit is ground zero for Mad Chester's motion picture industry. In addition to the seat of the national government, Haçienda is also the financial center of the country, where the nation's stocks are traded on Silver Row, Mad Chester's version of Wall Street.

Mining exports from Mad Chester include marble, granite, coal, silver, copper, uranium and iron. Uranium mines are found in the Shelley and Roberts provinces. Quarry City was named for the nearby granite and marble mines, but as the reserves tapped out, the city repositioned itself as a high-tech and telecommunications hub.

Among the major manufacturing cities, Carntsmile is the home to the popular Carntsmile White-Out correctional fluid, Vauxhall has many major electronics companies, and Charlotte and Kraft are key players in the Madcunian automotive industry, where the Cure Motor Company and Autokraft Inc. are respectively based.

Media

Mad Chester has two broadcast television networks, MBC (Madcunian Broadcasting Company) and WTN (Wilson Television Network), as well as its own cable news channel, NCMC (News Channel Mad Chester). There are 112 television stations currently broadcasting throughout Mad Chester, as well as 450 radio stations.

There are also 247 newspapers in Mad Chester, with the top 10 (in terms of circulation) being:

1. Smithsburg Tribune

2. Haçienda Chronicle

3. Charlotte Sun-Times

4. Steppon News-Ledger

5. Factoria Daily News

6. Stone Rose Post

7. Garvey Times

8. The Curtisian

9. Gilbert Gazette

10. Lusfit Banner-Press