Spruitland

**Spruitland**
	Flag of Spruitland
	Motto: Dessert for everyone!
	[1]
Region	Atlantian Oceania
Capital	New Brux
Official Language(s)	English (official), Dutch (unofficial), Spruitlands (unofficial)
Leader	King Alfons I
Population	2 - 2.5 billion
Currency	kilo
	NS Sunset XML

The Kingdom of Spruitland is a fairly young island nation, located in Atlantian Oceania. Spruitlanders are peace-loving people with very little interest in warfare.

Background

Fed up with petty politics and a rainy climate (in that order), the Spruitlanders emigrated from Belgium, Europe, packing their basic needs in a big boat and setting forth towards the unknown. After hopelessly getting lost in a storm, they landed on a sizeable island and quickly claimed it. Spruitland is a young nation, in its early stages of development, but there seems to be plenty of room for growth.

History behind the name “Spruitland”: The life of the first King of Spruitland, King Alfons I, was tainted by a childhood trauma – an inability to eat Brussels Sprouts made that young Alfons rarely got to savor dessert. As a young bio-engineer, this trauma would dominate his life. Continuous efforts to enhance the flavor of the Brussels Sprout lead to an ingenious cross between Brussels Sprouts and the Cannabis Sativa (hemp) plant: the Spruit ™.

Geography

Area

The Spruitlanders haven’t really gotten around to measuring it yet, but it’s pretty big, at least for their current population.

Climate

ranging from tropical marine to temperate

Terrain

Plenty of beaches, coastal plains, rolling hills, forests, one sizeable rugged mountain chain with a dormant volcano

Elevation extremes

Low point: Ocean – 0 m
High point: (unnamed mountain) – 2877 m

Natural Hazards

Flooding, tornadoes, volcano, possibly earthquakes (one minor tremor reported, though origin unconfirmed)

Natural resources

coal, natural gas, wood, silica sand

People

Population

lots and lots

Sex ratio

Male 44%
Female 56%

Life expectancy

too early to estimate

Religon

None.

Religion is not illegal in Spruitland, but it isn’t exactly encouraged either. Precise stats are unknown, but it is estimated that 75% of the Spruitland population couldn’t give a rodent’s behind about God, Allah, Boeddha, or whoever happens to be the flavor of the century. The remaining 25% has mainly Catholic and Protestant roots, with a handful of Islam, Jews, hindu, Satanists and mormons thrown into the pot. Very few official places of worship exist. There’s a cathedral in the capital, and a few churches in some of the major cities, but that’s about it. Most religious ceremonies are performed in neighbourhood barns.

Languages

English (official)
Dutch (unofficial)

Recognizing the limitations of the language of their ancestors (Dutch), the Spruitlanders decided to switch to English. Most of the original settlers were already reasonably fluent in this language, and those that were not spent most of the voyage on the Big Settler Boat studying English For Dummies.

All official business (such as education) is conducted in English, but Dutch is still a fairly commonly used language on a day-to-day basis. This mixture seems to be resulting in a peculiar dialect, often referred to as Spruitlands (unofficial term).

Government

Goverment Type

Monarchy – not quite constitutional. The democratically elected government generally controls the day-to-day operations but can be over-ruled at any time by His Majesty, the Royal Pain-in-the-Arse, if he chooses to be bothered.

Capital

New Brux (pronounced: New Brucks)

National Holiday

September 17 (birthday of the first King)
March 31 - National Tithead Day (all Spruitlanders are obliged to wear a bra on their head, to celebrate the (almost) victory of two table tennissers at the Tyrellian Ylompics.) [2]
April 20 (chosen at random by throwing a dart at a calender, because one national holiday didn’t quite seem sufficient)
April 27 (first victory of a Spruitland football team in an international match - Spruitland vs. Krytenia, 2-0, at U21WC15)

National Anthem

Everybody Must Get Stoned by Bob Dylan

Chief of State

King Alfons I

Government members

Head of Government: Prime Minister Jeremy Dekkers

Other Government members: (list incomplete)

Minister of Defense: Thomas Vanderbeek
Minister of External Affairs: Hans Custers
Minister of Sports: Olav Nett
Minister of Import/Export: Suzanne Peeters
Minister of Culture ‘n’ Stuff: Jeanette Pitt
Minister of Health: Olivier Hak
Minister of Economy: Bart Rekenaer

Economy

Currency

The kilo

As his first official act as Chief of State, King Alfons I, out of a deep-rooted hatred for coinage (rumored to stem from an amazing inability to win any “Flip a coin”-contest), outlawed the use of any official currency and payments were made in trade goods. This quickly turned out to be highly impractical, so an official currency was reinstated: the kilo (not to be confused with the kilogram).

Major Industries

Agriculture (Brussels Sprouts, Spruits ™, potatoes)
Brewing
Prostitution

Sports

Spruitland is a Member of the NationStates International Olympic Committee General Congress (NSIOC-GC).

Football (soccer) and cycling are by far the most popular sports in Spruitland, followed by table football, darts and billiards (+ variants).

Football (soccer)

Winning the pre-WC23 Baptism of Fire only increased the popularity of football in Spruitland. Much is expected from Spruitland's first World Cup qualifying attempt - perhaps too much.

The Spruitland Football Association is Spruitland's governing body what football is concerned, for domestic leagues and Spruitland teams participating in international competitions.

Ice Hockey

After the unexpected success of the Spruitland Ice Bunnies at the Cherry Cup, ice hockey is increasing in popularity, though mainly as a sport to watch. Very few inhabitants of tropical Spruitland feel motivated to try it out for themselves.

Atlantian Oceania on NSwiki: Main articles: Atlantian Oceania, AO QuickInfo; Nation pages: 95X, Acarionne, Amarenthe, Atheistic Right, Az-cz, Bazalonia, Bettia, Bostopia, Chacor, Crystilakere, Delesa, Demot, Falcania, Fmjphoenix, Geisenfried, Hypocria, Iizaarland, Khazaron, Kura-Pelland, Lamoni, Lontorika, Manhattan Prime, Maraque, Milchama, Morgrugyn, Nedalia, New Montreal States, Nojika, Northern Bettia, Nova Britannicus, NSWC Signups, Oliverry, Pacitalia, Quakmybush, Sarzonia, Schiavonia, Spruitland, Starblaydia, Tempalhiyon, The Islands of Qutar, The Lowland Clans, Turori, Ubundi, Unified Capitalizt States, Vephrall, Vilita, Walsallia, Western Afghanistan, Wulaishen; Regional info: Atlantian Oceania Regional Defence Organisation, Atlantian Oceania Regional Free Trade Organisation, Atlantian Oceania UN Voting, Lake Bekk, Major airports in Atlantian Oceania; Sports-related: AO Bowl, AO Champions League, Atlantian Oceania Cup of Association Football (AOCAF); For more information or to see non-listed pages, please see Category:Atlantian Oceania.