Difference between revisions of "Mikitivity"

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The government’s activity in international affairs and liberal attitude towards personal freedoms has attracted a large number of creative and educated people from around the world.  In war times, the Mikitivian tradition of granting temporary political asylum has led to a large work force composed of people tired of warfare and eager to start over again.  Despite the high tax rate and cost of living, there is no shortage of people looking to call Mikitivity home.
 
The government’s activity in international affairs and liberal attitude towards personal freedoms has attracted a large number of creative and educated people from around the world.  In war times, the Mikitivian tradition of granting temporary political asylum has led to a large work force composed of people tired of warfare and eager to start over again.  Despite the high tax rate and cost of living, there is no shortage of people looking to call Mikitivity home.
  
Mikitivians are internationally known for their stubbornness, a trait many call “The Law of the Mountains”.  This same stubbornness makes many Mikitivians slow to choose sides in a fight, thus making them highly sought after arbitrators.  Mikitivians typically will offer their opinions on many things, but rarely take offense to any sort of disinterest in their suggestions.  It was once said, “If the people are as cold and logical as the mountains, they also happen to be as strong and persistent.” They tend to take their time about doing things, and prefer to build consensus via exploring problems from multiple viewpoints before taking action.
+
Mikitivians are internationally known for their stubbornness, a trait many call The Law of the Mountains.  This same stubbornness makes many Mikitivians slow to choose sides in a fight, thus making them highly sought after arbitrators.  Mikitivians typically will offer their opinions on many things, but rarely take offense to any sort of disinterest in their suggestions.  It was once said, If the people are as cold and logical as the mountains, they also happen to be as strong and persistent.  They tend to take their time about doing things, and prefer to build consensus via exploring problems from multiple viewpoints before taking action.
  
 
The Mikitivian stubborn streak has given rise to an extremely liberal attitude concerning freedom of speech in Mikitivity.  Miervatia City has become a fairly large international center for book publishing, with Mikitivian publishing companies such as [[Strige Bucher]] publishing as many books for the large domestic market as well as the international market.  Notable underground music labels such as [[Death Key|Death Key Media]] have earned an reputation for both supporting local artists, while also bucking international pop music trends.
 
The Mikitivian stubborn streak has given rise to an extremely liberal attitude concerning freedom of speech in Mikitivity.  Miervatia City has become a fairly large international center for book publishing, with Mikitivian publishing companies such as [[Strige Bucher]] publishing as many books for the large domestic market as well as the international market.  Notable underground music labels such as [[Death Key|Death Key Media]] have earned an reputation for both supporting local artists, while also bucking international pop music trends.

Revision as of 19:51, 31 October 2007

oulibor racpasboc

Mikitivity
estonia--68.jpg
Flag of Mikitivity
Motto: "Reuse! Repair! Recycle!"
Region International Democratic Union
Capital Miervatia City
Official Language(s) English, German
Leader Council of Mayors
Population 3 billion
Currency Spice Melange 
NS Sunset XML

The Confederated City States of Mikitivity is a landlocked confederation of states in the International Democratic Union (IDU). The country has a strong tradition of promoting humanitarian, environmental, democratic, international safety, and banking issues in the international community. It is the home to many international non-governmental organizations in addition to being the host to a number of international conferences. For most of the year, Mikitivity is a world class winter resort, largely catering to citizens of IDU nations.

The IDU Country Code for Mikitivity is MK, though the older international abbreviation Mik is still used in many organizations and publications. The international nation code for Mikitivity is IDMK.

Its nickname, "the Water Tower of the International Democratic Union", due its location in the Thuvian and Solace mountains provides the nation with amble water resources and energy supplies, which are shared with its neighbors.

Geography

<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand">mikitivitylocation.gif
Location of Mikitivity in the IDU
</div>

Mikitivity is a mid- to large-sized landlocked country, that shares a border with Keeslandia, Schnauzer Dominions, Sober Thought, the Free Land of the IDU, and Bears Armed. A small portion of its south eastern border is adjacent to the IDU Unknown lands. Most of its borders are created by rivers or mountain peaks between the nations. These natural borders have long protected and isolated the nation.

The majority of the country is at high elevations and due in part to the mountainous terrain and wet weather patterns, Mikitivity has a cooler climate than might be expected based on its mid-latitude location.

Political Geography

Mikitivity is divided into 11 semi-autonomous cantons. Historically each of these cantons was once an independent state, and prior to the founding of the Confederation the cantons sometimes were in a prolonged state of war with one another in competition for the resources in both the western mountains and the fertile hills to the east. Travel through the northern cantons is slow due to the high terrain and limited number of public roads. The eastern cantons are connected to the western cantons by an efficient rail system that runs through the southern cantons.

Most of the eastern cantons are still dominated by agriculture, while the more populated western cantons are the centers of industry and business within the nation. The water resources to the west have been utilized to create cheap power which makes the costs of manufacturing in the western cantons relatively cheap. The products produced in the western cantons are traded to the food rich eastern cantons. This trading relationship is the historical basis of unification.

<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand">MikitivityMap01.gif
Political Geography of Mikitivity
</div>

Physical Geography

<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand">mikitivitywikimap.jpg
Physical Geography of Mikitivity
</div>

The landscape is characterized by the Thuvian and Solace mountain ranges, which form many isolated valleys and hidden glaciers throughout the country. The peaks of these mountains form the headwaters to many of the International Democratic Union's major rivers, including the Risden and Vaud Rivers, which feed a number of lakes. The mountains are capable of supporting little, if any, cultivation. However, the abundant runoff in these mountain watersheds provide ample power for the entire nation, with a large enough surplus that Mikitivity exports to its neighbors at cost. These mountains also make air travel over many of the cantons extremely difficult, which has made rail the perferred method of travel in Mikitivity. Wind farms on the eastern slopes of the Thuvian mountains take advantage of the consistent westerlies to generate power for the eastern cantons.

To the east, notably in Hawkins, the mountainous terrian gives way to gentle rolling hills, which are known as the bread basket of Mikitivity since the majority of the country's agriculture resides in this small region.

The Thuvians in Aslan are known to be the home of an extensive network of caves, that are believed to extend into adjacent cantons such as Miervatia and Valitz. Though Aslan has the lowest population, it is the largest canton.

Climate

<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand">miervatiaclimate.gif
Climate in Miervatia City
</div>

The majority of Mikitivity is located at higher elevations in the Thuvian and Solace Mountains and has a moderately cold climate, that is characterized by a wet and harsh fall and winter and a mild spring and summer. Despite ample rainfall, the mountainous terrain limits the amount of direct sunlight, thus limiting agricultural production.

History

Politics

Mikitivity politics, domestic and international alike, can be characterized as being transparent. The people, and their leaders, are strong advocates of local rule and citizen involvement in decision making. Since Mikitivity has a cantonal legal system, domestic politics are closely tied to the legal system itself.

Legal System

As a true confederation, Mikitivity has few laws at the national level, though its national level executive powers are shared by a Council of Mayors. The Council is composed of one appointed representative from each of Mikitivity's cantons and is responsible largely for seeing to it that the cantons communicate with one another. Under the cantonal legal system, national laws must first be approved by all of Mikitivity's individual cantons, though in practice all of the cantons have delegated international responsibilities to the Council of Mayors, who in turn operate a number of national level government agencies to run the country. Under the cantonal legal system, individual cantons are free to adopt their own unique laws, so long as they pose no threat to the Confederation.


Domestic

Mikitivity is a true confederation, where true legislative power rests at the local level in a cantonal system of goverment. Under the cantonal system, the laws and political parties are unique to each canton. As the seat of the Confederation, Miervatia tends to be fairly moderate compared to the other cantons and is often the first canton to respond to international political pressures (primarily from the United Nations). Aslan and Valitz cantons are the two most conservative cantons, while Solacewald is the most liberal canton.

Some political parties form alliances with similar parties in other cantons, though typically political parties are centered around local issues. Some extreme political parties, such as the Aslan Faction, also are active in Miervatia canton, where they try to influence the Council of Mayors on issues that are likely to be brought to all of the cantons for ratification.

International

Mikitivity has sponsored 5 UN resolutions and co-authored 2 more:


The government has frequently campaigned for other nations proposed resolution ideas, and has displayed a willingness to suggest amendments to many draft UN proposals. The United Nations Association Mikitivity (UNA-Mik), a non-governmental organization, was instrumental in the formation of an international United Nations Association and the United Nations Organizations. Though UNA-Mik is not directly associated with the government, Mikitivity has offered to host any United Nations committee headquarters, and many Mikitivians serve in administrative capacities for the UN Secretariat and committee heads.

It is the official position of Mikitivity that UN Resolutions are strong recommendations, but that nations do have the ability to choose to not comply to the letter of the resolutions. When a resolution is adopted, it is the responsibility of the Mikitivity Office of International Affairs to bring a recommendation on what domestic changes (if any) would be required by Mikitivity to the Council of Mayors. The Council of Mayors then is responsible for seeing to it that the various cantons attempt to address the resolution. However, in the case of many UN resolutions, the majority of the cantons were already in compliance with the spirit of the resolution prior to its adoption, thus the government frequently takes no action whatsoever in response to UN resolutions.

The current UN Ambassador is Howie Katzman. Ambassador Katzman often represents Mikitivity to many nations with whom formal ambassadors have not been exchanged while at the UN Halls.

Cantons

The Mikitivity Confederation consists of several independent cantons.

List of cantons
Name Abbreviation Seat Language Flag
Aslan AS Mezoic German
Brey BR Kassel English,German
Coltzdern CZ Marden German,English
Hawkins HK St. Claire English
Miervatia MV Miervatia City German MiervatiaSmallFlag.gif
Nickenstein NK German
Nolanstadt NL Nolanburg German
Solacewald SL German,French
Thoris TH Hafenheim German,English
Valitz VL Oberstehausen German
Zurin ZR Halle German


Each canton has its own flag and holidays. All of the cantons use the same currency and share a unified postal and telephone system.


Economy

Due to its cold, inhospitable climate, the early local economy of the Thuvian and Solace mountain settlements was based in mining (ore and wood). However, as populations in the region grew, the Risden River became an important corridor on the Spice Road. The numerous mountain caves acted as store houses for the spices that traveled from Groot Gouda to Sober Thought then up the Risden to Keeslandia and back again, thus starting Mikitivity's trade and banking industry.

Cheap electricity from small dams along the Risden and other rivers and the Kolach wind farms on the eastern slopes of the Thuvian mountains, support a a number of manufacturing industries ranging from airship construction firms to Mikitivity Bahn's large motor works division.

Demographics

<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand">mikitivityvillage.jpg
Mountain valleys are characterized by small villages.
</div>

Culture

Though the culture of Mikitivity has been influenced by its neighbors, most notably the Keeslandians and Schnauzer states to which most Mikitivians claim to be related to, the long winters in the Thuvian mountains have left many of the cantons isolated not only from the world, but also from each other. Each canton has its own dialect, such that many Mikitivians identify with their home canton before their national identity.

The government’s activity in international affairs and liberal attitude towards personal freedoms has attracted a large number of creative and educated people from around the world. In war times, the Mikitivian tradition of granting temporary political asylum has led to a large work force composed of people tired of warfare and eager to start over again. Despite the high tax rate and cost of living, there is no shortage of people looking to call Mikitivity home.

Mikitivians are internationally known for their stubbornness, a trait many call The Law of the Mountains. This same stubbornness makes many Mikitivians slow to choose sides in a fight, thus making them highly sought after arbitrators. Mikitivians typically will offer their opinions on many things, but rarely take offense to any sort of disinterest in their suggestions. It was once said, If the people are as cold and logical as the mountains, they also happen to be as strong and persistent. They tend to take their time about doing things, and prefer to build consensus via exploring problems from multiple viewpoints before taking action.

The Mikitivian stubborn streak has given rise to an extremely liberal attitude concerning freedom of speech in Mikitivity. Miervatia City has become a fairly large international center for book publishing, with Mikitivian publishing companies such as Strige Bucher publishing as many books for the large domestic market as well as the international market. Notable underground music labels such as Death Key Media have earned an reputation for both supporting local artists, while also bucking international pop music trends.

The national animal of Mikitivity is the Miervatian Burrowing Owl. It is said that Silvara had a burrowing owl familiar. The small birds are protected by laws in all of the cantons. These laws do allow private ownership of the owls, but the practice of keeping an owl in captivity is frowned upon. Captive owls tend to be birds that were rescued and are unable to live on their own. Owl symbols are frequently incorporated into Mikitivitian daily life and it is considered a good omen to spot any owl.

Mikitivians are internationally known for their banks, beer, trains, toy trains, strength in engineering and sciences, attention to detail, ski resorts, hiking trails, castles, caves, and love of music. Spice Melange is added to many foods and drinks, most restaurants prepare food without the seasoning for those whom yet to acquire a love of the seasoning. Even though the drug laws are very progressive, alcohol is overwhelming preferred to most other drugs.

===Food