Oceania (country)
The United Kingdom of Oceania is a country primarily located within and on the periphery of the Pacific Ocean, with significant constituent political units located in the Sea of Japan, the eastern Bay of Bengal and the central Indian Ocean. Although comprised almost entirely of islands, many colonies and overseas territories of the UK border foreign powers, although only one of the four home countries actually borders a foreign power.
The United Kingdom is a union of the Home Countries of Juristan, Kingsland, the Indian Islands, Novikov, and Azazia. Outside of these major political units are the various crown colonies, dependencies and non self-governing territories that comprise the greater Oceanic Empire.
As a developed, post-industrial economic power, the United Kingdom wields a significant amount of economic clout that is slowly transforming itself into a strong diplomatic presence in the world. Although not a signatory to the United Nations, the government of the United Kingdom has consistently upheld civil liberties as paramount to liberal democracies – although some critics warn the erosion of a strong opposition to the governing Democratic Socialist Party as a signal of a possible decline into despotism.
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History
In its current form, the United Kingdom of Oceania came into being with the Union Act of 2006, which integrated the former Royal Crown Colony of Novikov into a political union with the United Kingdom of Azazia, Juristan, Kingsland, and the Indian Islands. The need to create a strong and unified national identity led the leaders of the United Kingdom to adopt Oceania as the new name for what became a nation bound not by ethnic or cultural ties but by an ocean that linked each island to the other.
Prior to the Union Act, the United Kingdom had been engaged in a policy of imperial expansion that culminated with the annexation of the former sovereign state of Novikov as a colony in the aftermath of the Novikovian War. Such expansion, however, is not new but rather a definition of the historical development of what had been competing European colonies on the Azazian Archipelago since the 16th century when the first Europeans, shipwrecked Spaniards, ‘discovered’ the archipelago.
Government and Politics
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed by a constitutional monarchy where executive power lays with the sovereign monarch but is executed on his or her behalf by His/Her Majesty’s Government, headed by the Prime Minister and secretaries of state that hold official portfolios of the government. All the ministers of the government are drawn from Parliament, which is not bound by a constitution – as no single text exists – but rather by tradition and individual pieces of constitutional law.
Because of the system of power execution within the United Kingdom, the monarch rules as Head of State while the Prime Minister heads the government. The origin of the system of government is the Westminster system of government, one of the most visible and enduring legacies of the impact of the British Empire in founding and governing the Azazian Archipelago before granting it its independence.
As a unitary state, ultimate authority for all power vested in the state lies with the government based in Imperium. However, to ameliorate those Novikovians distressed with their annexation and integration into the United Kingdom the Parliament of Novikov continues to sit in Poldi’sk where it is allowed by Imperium to legislate on local affairs where the passed legislation does not conflict with UK law.
With the creation of the Oceanic Empire, governed by Imperium, the government created a bureaucracy and a system of managing and governing its vast overseas territorial possessions, variously styled as outright colonies, dependencies, or non self-governing territories. While some political units are governed at the local level, the local executive power is exercised by the Crown’s appointed representatives. For many colonies where insufficient political, transportation, and communication infrastructure hampers self-government Parliament legislates directly.
