The Lowland Clans

The Allied States of the Lowland Clans

Flag of the Lowland Clans
Motto: One Nation Under God, Loyal to the Flag
Region	Atlantian Oceania
Official languages	English, Greek, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Portugese, Albanian
Capital	Graham City, 307.63 million
Largest city	London, 317.23 million
President	John Patrick Kingsly
Population (2100 est.)	7,158,000,000
Establishment	RL Time: 26 December, 2003; NS Time: July 12th, 1678
National animal	Sheep
GDP (2085 est.)   - Total   - GDP/capita	$218.1 trillion $30,475.28
Currency	1 Clan Dollar (Ð) = 100 cents (c) = US$1.6249
Time Zone  - in summer	GMT -0200 GMT -0100
Internet TLD	.tlc
International sporting abbreviation	TLC
Calling Code	+123

NOTE: This Wiki is less of a work-in-progress from before. Almost all information here can be used in reference to my nation, and will obvious continue to undergo construction.

Geography

The Allied States of the Lowland Clans is located in the mideastern portion of the main continent in Atlantian Oceania, and have begun exploration of the northern most portion of the largest eastern island. The nation consists of nine member states, each spereated into multiple provinces and municipalities. The captial, Graham City is a special Federal Municipality which counts a province during presidential elections. The Capital is located on the southeastern coast, and is located about a two hundred kilometers north of the Pedrianan border.

The Allied States is seperated into three main climate zones. In the nothern part of the country, from the Rendition border to the Crystilakere Channel, edging south, is very mountainous and is the location of most of the Allied States heavy industry. The central portion of the country, about sixty kilometers north of the border edging north till it meets the mountains, is the forested region of the nation. Reknowned for it's cold winters and excellent summer weather, a majority of the Allied States population lives in this area. In the remaining southern portion of the country is the grassland region, where ninety percent of all agriculture takes place. This is the least populated portion of the country, but the coastal resorts are incredibly popular across the region.

The Allied States population as January 2080 is 5,207,000,000 billion. The majority of the population lives in the massive cities in the central and coastal areas of the Alliance, with the country areas attempting to combat the city sprawl pouring out from the coast.

Member States

The Allied States of the Lowland Clans operates as a confederation of individual nation-states. Currently, there are 9 member states in the Alliance. Four of them have their roots in the British Isles, which were abandoned when the Allied States fled to SGN. They are the Kingdom of England, the Scottish Republic, The Free Republic of Ireland, and the Dominion of Wales. The fifth member state is the Confederation of Canada, formed with a pact between the native Five Nations alliance and the Allied settlers. The Mediterranean Coalition is a nationstate formed by the former Yugoslavian republics and Albania, taken during the Meditterranean Conflicts with Abu Dhabi Khristatata. The second republic to be formed from the Mediterranean Conflicts was the United Mediterranean Alliance, composed of Greece and the island of Cyprus. The third state to come out of the Mediterranean Conflicts is the Free Republic of Portugal. The only State to be included since the move to Atlantian Oceania is the Legal Republic, composed of annexed portions of Former Legalese, but they have not yet sent representatives to the State Senate because of the unrest by the Anarchist faction and UN mercenaries.

Bordering Nations

To the northeast, the Allied States borders Legalese. To the northwest and west the Allied States borders Druida, Rendition, and Abattoir. Across Lake Bekk, the Allied States borders Footballia and Starblaydia. To the South, the Allied States borders the Grand Dominion of Bedistan and it's colony, Pedriana.

Major Cities

Given the huge population size of the Allied States, major cities house almost fifty percent of the Allied States population, while thirty-five percent live in the minor cities and fifteen percent live in the country or suburban areas. Currently, their are ten 'major cities,' that house at least one hundred and seventy-five million people.

• London - 372 million people
• Dublin - 319 million people
• Graham City - 307 million people
• Limassol - 284 million people
• Athens - 257 million people
• Belgrade - 237 million people
• Sagdineo - 187 million people
• Plainsville - 180 million people
• Lisbon - 179 million people
• Glasgow - 178 million people

Climate

Climate in most of the Allied States is rainy, with just over a hundred days of sunshine for your average year. The southern region of the Allied States i known for it's mostly flat and slightly hilly prarie, which is where almost all of the agriculture of the Allied States takes place. The middle region of the Allied States where most of the former British cities are located is evergreen forest, prone to heavy snowfalls in the winter. The northern region, approximately one-fifth of the Allied States land territory is located, is almost all heavily mountainous region, where most of the mining and industry is located in the Allied States.

The capital Graham City is located in middle region, just bordering the Portsmouth Peninsula (the small peninsula about midway up the coast of the Allied States).

Economy

The Allied States of the Lowland Clans has always had an incredibly strong economy. Through a combination of tarrifs, subsidies and a strong manufacturing base the Allied States have some of the strongest economies in Atlantian Oceania. The Allied States has a massive auto-manufacturing industry, whose cars dominate the landscape thanks to huge tarriffs and the high quality of the cars. The industry also doubles as a military manufacturing sector, that's the required equipment being dual-use, meaning that the Allied States can put out huge numbers of tanks, ships and airplanes at a moments notice.

Key Companies

Auto-Manufacturing

• McIntyre Motors
• Lowland Manufacturing
• Sieland Motor-Manufacturer

Fast-Food Reetaurants

• Fast Joe's
• Pappy's Burgers
• Drive-Thru Food
• Over The Isle Pizza

Convience Stores

• In-and-Out
• 24/7

Coffee Shops

• Starbucks

Arms Manufacturing

• Guardian Manufacturing
• Keller Arms Manufacturing

Airlines

• Allied Sates Air
• Isle Airways
• Mediterranean Airlines (local carrier)
• North by Northwest (local carrier)

Department Stores

• Shopping Mart
• Matthew's Grocer's
• Isle 9

Book Stores

• McNally-Robinsons
• Passages

History

1642 AD - Civil War between Cavaliers and Roundheads; Plague devastates England

1644 AD - Cavaliers sack London, Parliament destroyed; Civil War breaks out in Scotland

1645 AD - Irish repulse English settlers, support Lowland Clans in Scottish Civil War

1646 AD - Cavaliers rout Parliament at Reading Hill, defeat Cromwell; Begin conslidating rule over England

1648 AD - Lowland Clans capture Glasgow and Edinbrough, defeating Highland Clans

1650 AD - Wales rebels, Irish and Scots form formal alliance

1651 AD - Cavalier siege of Cardiff repulsed with aid from Scot-Irish; Respond by invading Scotland to re-establish English dominance on British Isles

1654 AD - Cavaliers routed, driven out of Scotland and Wales

1660 AD - Cavaliers defeated, Alliance troops occupy London, Charles I executed

1665 AD - Convention of Alliance begins in Dundee, with the goal of setting permanent system of government for the Iles

Current International Relations

The Civics of the Allied States

The Allied States is a Federal Presidential Republic, with a bicameral legislature, seperate executive and judicial branch. The government is seperated on a state and national level. The state level government is independant of the National Federal Government. Each member state has its own system of government. England has a constitutional monarchy with a parliament, while Ireland and Protugal have presidential systems. The UMA and MC both have semi-parliamentary systems, while the Legal Republic has an intricate federal semi-presidential system. State governments usually have much more ground level control, while the federal government irons out irreconcilible differences between state laws.

The National Federal Government

The national level of the federal government is charged with administering government policy on a firmly national level. While policy lines continue to blur between the states and the national government, there has yet to be a serious dispute in between the two branches of government over the issue of jurisdiciton. Separated into the three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, the word of the national government in the supreme law of the land.

Legislative Branch

The legislative branch, refered to collectively as the Congress of the Alliance, is a bicameral branch in which the populist Chamber of Representatives and party-centered State Senate have seperate powers.

Chamber of Representatives

The Chamber of Representatives was designed to primarily represent the will of the people. The Representatives elected are elected for their personal beliefs, values and performance rather than their party of affiliation. The Chamber has a total of 5000 seats and each seat represents a riding of about 1.29 million people. The Chamber is organized into specialized committees, which generally have the power to pass legislation with the approval of the whole. Parties have little control over their Representatives, but party leaders have a small number of 'party line' votes in which all Reps affiliated with their party must vote with the leader. Committees may refer important bills to the whole. Reps are elected for three year terms, with no term limits.

State Senate

The State Senate is designed to be a chamber of sober second thought, where the moderating forces of partisan compromise tend to counter the more populist trends in the Chamber of Reps. The Senate consists of 910 seats, with each member state receiving 100 seats, while the remaining ten are elected from the Federal Municipality of Graham City. State Senators are elected by closed primaries from within the political parties, with each political party being given an certain amount of seats to fill based on percentage of vote received from an intrastate election. With this method of election, members are much more faithful to party principles than representatives, and because of the usual lack of majority, partisan compromise helps water down bills. This is generally the more efficient body. State Senators are elected to seven year terms with no term limits.

Executive Branch

The executive branch of the national government is charged with admistering policy legislated by the Congress of the Alliance. The head of state and government is the President-Elect, or more simply as President or PE. The official residence and headquarters of the executive branch is 16 Canford Street in east central Graham City. The President is aided by his cabinet, who administer the various departments. The cabinet has quite a lot of power to administer their respective departments, but receive their orders from the President. The President-Elect is the guiding force of the cabinet, and usually heavily influences the running of each department. Below is a list of current departments and some of the important sub-departments and their responsibilities.

Cabinet Positions

• President-Elect: John Patrick Kingsley
• Secretary of State (SecState): James C. Keller
• Secretary of Defense (SecDef): Terrance K. MacLeod
• Secretary of Justice (SecJus): Aidan Oppel
  • National Bureau of Investigation - The police force of the national government, brought into a situation only when the crime involved takes place in or involves more than one member state.
  • Office of Accounting Oversight - The so-called white collar crime branch of the Department of Justice, it deals with economic crimes such as bad bookkeeping, fraud, and other monetary crimes.
• Secretary of the Reserve (SecRes): Jason Yelith (While a cabinet level posting, the Department of the reserve sets monetary policy of the Alliance. In order to provide stability to that policy, the SecRes, is appointed to a 15 year term and does not fall under Presidential authority, but is required to present regular reports and inform the President of any changes that may affect fiscal policy.
• Secretary of the Treasury (SecTres): Paulo Desmundel (The SecTres administrates the fiscal policy of the national government, and is responsible for the national budget)
  • Budget Prepartory Office - Responsible for preparing the annual national budget
  • Department of Budget Oversight - Responsible for assuring that national budget money is spent the way it is proportioned.
• Secretary of Education (SecEd): Jamie Helling
• Secretary of Infrastructure (SecInf): Graham Kelting
• Secretary of Research and Technology (SecRet): David Mackingley
• Secretary of Homeland Security (SecHes): George Macintyre
  • Allied States Intelligence Service - ASIS is the human intelligence gathering operation within the the DepHes. ASIS bureaus (activities within given nation, such as the Bureau of Bedistan) must be opened by the President-Elect, and he is given free purview to all information gathered
  • Alliance Security Institute - Informally known as the Institute, the ASI is in charge of all electronic surveillance executed by the Allied States.
  • Black Arrows - The covert operation branch of Alliance Intelligence, all Black Arrow missions must be approved by the President-Elect, SecDef and SecHes

Judicial Branch

The Federal Judiciary is the national courts. Federal courts are mainly an appellate judiciary body, but have original jurisdiction over military courts or suits involving interstate issues or organizations. The highest court in the land is the Alliance Supreme Court. Justices are appointed for lifetime terms by the President-Elect with a hearing before the State Senate judiciary committee and the advise of that committee, but they have no say in the final appointment.

Political Parties

Green Party – Far-left, pro-environmental party, supports heavy government regulation especially on the issue of pollution control and other environmental issues, and in order to facilitate this process the ability to nationalize industries at will. Very small party, support concentrated in urban areas and extreme rural areas.

The Green Party has be struggling of late to find a reason to exist, and many of the party's conservative members have deserted to the Confederation party. Its support has been dwindling as the increasing skepticism towards the party's main issues. Rebellion has been growing in the ranks and an increasing amount of hardline supporters are willing to open negotiations with the Confederation Party for a merger to ensure Green issues are brought to the table

Confederation Party – Left leaning, supports increase in direct democracy, increased regulation and benefits from the economy go directly through the government to the people, they also support a more isolationist stance, closing the borders and being reducing the number of immigrants. The second largest party in the Allied States, their support is concentrated in the ultra-urban areas of the original members of the Alliance, as well as the majority of the intelligentsia and students. On social issues they tow the center, which many talking heads say helps steal votes from potential Libertarian voters.

The Confederation Party supporters have been seething under the hood for the last decade, seeing their once mighty party take a hit in several key areas. After former party leader Hosea Kiriakos and his inner cadre misplayed several key issues during their last stint in power, the party has been trying to regroup its traditional support base and steal seats from both the Greens and Libertarians. With widespread accusations of corruption against the leadership of the Alliance Party, your supporters are now smelling blood and a chance to regain the President-Elect and the plurality in both the Chamber and State Senate.

Libertarian Coalition - A middle-of-the-pack centrist party, the Libertarians often hold the balance of power in the both houses of the legislature. Rarely is there a coalition without a libertarian presence. The libertarians support both economic and social freedom, and many pundits suspect that the reason the libertarians have failed to go over the hump into a major party is precisely because of relatively radical social beliefs.

Alliance Party – Right-leaning, supports increase in the powers of the state governments and wants private citizens to take responsibility for helping increase infrastructure and benefits, wants government to serve as a arbitrator between the public and the employers, very anti-union. The largest party in the Allied States, this party is especially popular among the newer states that have joined the Alliance. About half of the business sector supports the Alliance party, as well as most of the state governments.

The Alliance Party has been trading places with the Confederation party since the beginning of post-isolationist period, and are coming up upon the traditional changing of the guard period. Struck by a series of corruption scandals recently, the Alliance Party has begun to slip in the opinion polls. The party leadership has already undergone a purge, and the new leadership hopes to solidify the base and retain control of the legislative and executive.

National Unity Party – a middle-extreme right party, supports increase in national federal government power and separate government facilities for key services for use in emergencies. They also support the power of the government to take over private facilities on command, and more restrictions on things such as gun ownership, marriage licenses, information and privacy. A pseudo-fascist party, they are very popular for their tough stance on justice and defense policies, but because of their unitary government and economic policies, are kept from achieving real power as part of the government.

Unionist Block – Essentially a fascist party, they support a strong unitary national government, an incredibly powerful military, an active international participation by the means of ‘peacekeeping’ forces and lengthening of term lengths. While they won’t come straight out and indicate their desire to impose an authoritarian strain of government, it is considered common knowledge. A breakaway faction of the National Unity Party.

Popular Pragmatics – A purely pragmatic (obviously) party, they just want what works. This may mean supporting government facilities in some places, while in others total non-intervention on the part of the government. Their support has stayed pretty much level throughout the century, but don't run any President-elect candidates. They are usually not part of an executive cabinet because of their fluctuating opinions, but are highly respected by most other parties and voters because of their principles.

The Armed Forces of the Allied States: AFAS (A-fus)

Allied States Army

The Allied States Army, abbreviated the ASA, was once one of the most powerful branches of the military, but recently thanks to the advances in space-faring technology and the preference to deal with the more elite TIS Marines as well and the EASOP employed by the Orbital Command, the Army has seen it's prestige decline of late. Still the primary ground fighting branch, many legislators are wishing to see that the army be folded into the Orbital Command, or abolished all together and rely on an increased TIS Marine branch to provide the main fighting force for the Allied States.

Allied States Navy

Main article(s): Allied States Navy

The Allied States Navy was established during the Glorious Time under the presidency of the Lord-General Graham. It's headquarters are located in the Pentagon, and the main naval base is located in the city of Gresham on the southern coast, about 175 miles up the coast from the Pedrianan border. Based there is about twenty-seven percent of the Allied States fleet, including one of the massive Graham-class Command Carriers. The navy is currently subdivided into twenty-two fleets, each with a number of ships ranging from thirty three to fourty one (including supply and support ships, actual comabt strenght approx. 15-17 ships/fleet). Ten fleets are currently stationed in Allied States territorial waters, while the remaining twelve patrol international waters in the Crystilakere and Nemyan Channels, as well as the Vilitan Cove and Salmantic Seas.

Allied States Air Force

Main article(s): Allied States Air Force

The Allied States Air Force was establish on January 23, 1914 as a response to growing interest in air power. It had since evolved into one of the most state-of-the-art modern warfare divisions. It's headquarters are in the Pentagon, the location of all the major headquarters for the ASAF. Its service academy is located in the small town of Howard, England. The current head of the Air Force is General Winston Germaine, having served in the airforce of over fifty years. The ASAF has been one of the most active branches of the military, serving in nearly every conflict and developing some of the most important advances in military technology such as the combat-integrate network, low-orbital atmosplanes, and the military space program.

Allied States Orbital Command

Main article(s): Allied States Orbital Command

The Allied States Orbital Command (AA-sock) is in command of the Allied States' space forces. Within this branch of the services, there are the Elite Advance Squad Orbital Paradroppers, or EASOPs. ASOC also commands the new christened Lowland Clan space navy, with a three new Orion class frigates, one Dunedin class cruisers, and fifty Osleaow class fighters. ASOC also operates the Nuclear Particle Cannon satellites, which currently number three. These sattelites are being decommissioned and replaced with newer, less costly combat sattelites.

Culture

Language

Religion

Sports and Entertainment

The Allied States have a strong sporting history, though most of it is on the domestic stage rather than the international stage. The national football team, nicknamed the Stars for the stars on the national flag representing each member nation, is one of the longest participants in the Nationstates World Cup, and have achieved a highest rank of 9th in the World. But in recent years the Stars have been struggling, failing to qualify for every World cup since WCXXIII.

But the Allied States has a strong domestic football program, and with the Football Federation of the Lowland Clans (FFLC) as it's governing body. The Domestic league has recently undergone a overhaul, adding a third division (Allied States LeagueOne) and expanding each of the previous divisions (Allied States Premiership and Allied States League Championship) to twenty teams each, giving the Allied States sixty professional football clubs. Several clubs have folded or relocated, leaving the playing field vastly different then what it used to be. There are also three main cup competitions in Allies States Domestic football. There is the Alliance Cup, which is composed of all the teams in the Allied States plus four semi-professional clubs that finish the highest in their respective regions, The League Cup, consisting of the League Championship and LeagueOne plus the bottom two teams from the Premiership in the previous season, and finally the Premeriship Cup, with the entire Premiership and the four top finishers from the previous season in the League Championship.

The Allied States also has a deep tradition of ice hockey, which was introduced to the Alliance by the Canadian Confederation. While the Canadians have few professional football clubs (only three), they dominate the Alliance Hockey League or AHL, with 13 of the top 20 teams from the Confederation. The AHL is seperated into four conferences of 12, where the top 4 teams in each league qualifying for the playoffs. The playoff format is a 5 game series throught the playoffs, except for the Lord Stanley's Cup Finals, which are a seven game series.

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.