Nation/Acadeshia

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Acadeshia, | >ʌkʌdɛʃɪʌ< |, formally Community of Acadeshia, is a sovereign nation, located on the Prince Edward Islands and - as of May 1 AD 2015 - the Western Cape of Southern Africa. The name Acadeshia is derived from the word Academia, a general term for the whole of higher education and academic research. It shares sea borders with Southern Africa to the north west.

History

Founding

Acadeshia was founded on April 9 AD 2015. Soon after, on April 10 AD 2015, the House of Commons elected Unue Masuo as the Royal Sovereign of the country. His Majesty, King Unue Masuo, immediatly instigated plans to build up the hitherty un-occupied land. He built massive housing schemes, large, beautiful roads and avenue, and - most notable - the world's largest university. The university occupies all of Prince Edward Island, the smaller of the two islands on which Acadeshia lies.

War with Brasilistan

About two weeks after Acadeshia was formally founded, it was brought to His Majesty's attention that almost 300 of his subjects had been taken hostage by Brasilistan, a neighbouring nation. His Majesty attended a summit within the country to negotiate the release of his subjects. When negotiation failed he returned to Acadeshia and swiftly declared war on the country on April 27 AD 2015. A bombing campaign began, which lasted for 2 days from the 28th to the 30th of April. Around 3am on the 30th of April special forces landed in the main city of Cape Town and killed all the high-level members of government. At noon on the same day the Acadeshian Military invaded. They marched through the country without much interverence and by sunset the country unconditionally surrendered, bringing an end to the war.

Following the end of the war His Majesty declared the territory of Brasilistan part of Acadeshia, and subject to his rule.

Geography and Geology

Capital Territory

The island group is about 955km south-east of Port Elizabeth in mainland South Africa. Marion Island, the larger of the two, is 25.03km long and 16.65km wide with an area of 290km² and a coastline of some 72km, most of which is high cliffs. The highest point on Marion Island is Mascarin Peak (formerly State President Swart Peak), reaching 1242m above sea level. Boot Rock is about 150m off the northern coast.

Prince Edward Island is much smaller—only about 45km², 10.23km long and 6.57km wide—and lies some 12km to the north-east of Marion Island. At the van Zinderen Bakker[1] Peak north-west of the center, it reaches a height of 672m.[2] There are a few offshore rocks along the northern coast, like Ship Rock 100m, north of northernmost point and Ross Rocks 500m, from the shore).

Both islands are of volcanic origin. Marion Island is one of the peaks of a large underwater shield volcano that rises some 5000m from the sea floor to the top of Mascarin Peak. The volcano is active, with eruptions having occurred between 1980 and 2004.

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope Territory is roughly L-shaped, extending north and east from the Cape of Good Hope, in the southwestern corner of Southern Africa. It stretches about 400 kilometres (250 mi) northwards along the Atlantic coast and about 500 kilometres (300 mi) eastwards along the Southern African south coast (Southern Indian Ocean). It is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape and on the east by the Eastern Cape. The total land area of the territory is 129,462 square kilometres (49,986 sq mi), It is roughly the size of England or the US state of Louisiana. The capital and largest city is Cape Town and other major cities include Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl, and George. The Garden Route and the Overberg are popular coastal tourism areas.

The Cape of Good Hope Territory is the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, only 3800 km from the Antarctic coastline. The coastline varies from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The only natural harbour is Saldanha Bay on the west coast, just over 500 km from Cape Town. However a lack of fresh water in the region meant that it has only recently been used as a harbour. The province's principle harbour has built in Table Bay, which in its natural state was fully exposed to the strong westerly winds that bring rain to the province in winter, as well as the almost uninterrupted dry south-easterly winds in summer. But fresh water coming off Table Mountain and Devil's Peak allowed the early European settlers to build Cape Town on the shores of this less than satisfactory anchorage.

The territory is topographically exceptionally diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a set of nearly parallel ranges of sandstone folded mountains of Cambrian-Ordovician age (from 510 to about 330-350 million years ago), that vary in height from 1000m to 2300m. The valleys between ranges are generally very fertile as they contain the weathered loamy soils of the Bokkeveld mustones.

The far interior forms part of the Karoo. This region of the Province is generally arid and hilly with a prominent escarpment that runs close to the Province's most inland boundary.

The Escarpment marks the south-western edge of Southern Africa's central plateau (see the middle diagram on the left). It runs parallel to the entire Southern African coastline except in the very far north-east, where it is interrupted by the Limpopo River valley, and the far north-west, where it is interrupted by the Orange River valley. The 1000 km north-eastern stretch of the escarpment is called the Drakensberg, which is geographically and geologically quite distinct from the Cape Fold Mountains, which originated much earlier and totally independently of the origin of the escarpment.

The principal rivers of the territory are the Berg and Olifants which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, and the Breede and Gourits which drain into the Indian Ocean.

The vegetation is also extremely diverse, with one of the world's seven floral kingdoms almost exclusively endemic to the province, namely the Cape Floral Kingdom, most of which is covered by Fynbos (from the Afrikaans meaning "Fine Bush" (Dutch: Fijnbosch), though precisely how it came to be referred to as such, is uncertain.). These evergreen heathlands are extremely rich in species diversity, with at least as many plant species occurring on Table Mountain as in the entire United Kingdom. It is characterised by various types of shrubs, thousands of flowering plant species and some grasses. With the exception of the Silver tree, Leucadendron argenteum, which only grows on the granite and clay soils of the Cape Peninsula, open fynbos is generally treeless except in the wetter mountain ravines where patches of Afromontane forest persist.

The arid interior is dominated by Karoo drought-resistant shrubbery. The West Coast and Little Karoo are semi-arid regions and are typified by many species of succulents and drought-resistant shrubs and acacia trees. The Garden Route on the south coast (between the Outeniqua Mountains and the Southern Indian Ocean) is extremely lush, with temperate rainforest (or Afromontane Forest) covering many areas adjacent to the coast, in the deep river valleys and along the southern slopes of the Outeniqua mountain range. Typical species are hardwoods of exceptional height, such as Yellowwood, Stinkwood and Ironwood trees.

Climate

The Western Cape is also climatologically diverse, with many distinct micro- and macroclimates created by the varied topography and the influence the surrounding ocean currents. These are the warm Agulhas Current which flows southwards along South Africa's east coast, and the cold Benguela Current which is an upwelling current from the depths of the South Atlantic Ocean along South Africa's west coast. Thus climatic statistics can vary greatly over short distances. Most of the province is considered to have a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. Both the Great Karoo and Little Karoo, in the interior, have an arid to semi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occasional thunderstorms. The Garden Route and the Overberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers. Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii.

Thunderstorms are generally rare in the province (except in the Karoo) with most precipitation being of a frontal or orographic nature. Extremes of heat and cold are common inland, but rare near the coast. Snow is a common winter occurrence on the Western Cape Mountains occasionally reaching down into the more inland valleys. Otherwise, frost is relatively rare in coastal areas and many of the heavily cultivated valleys.

Cape Town International Airport averages: January maximum: 26 °C (min: 16 °C), July maximum: 18 °C (min: 7 °C), annual rainfall: 515mm Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town annual rainfall: 1395mm George averages: January maximum: 25 °C (min: 15 °C), July maximum: 19 °C (min: 7 °C), annual rainfall: 715mm Laingsburg, on the N1 highway in the Great Karoo (coordinates: Lat: S33.20°, Long: E20.85°) annual rainfall: 150 mm, summer daytime temperatures exceeding 30°C.

Government

The Acadeshian Constitution defines its government as an "Elected Constitutional Authoritative Monarchy". It elects a monarch to office in the event of the death or resignation of the previous monarch or when a motion of no confidence is passed by atleast 200 of the 401 seats in the House of Commons.

House of Commons

The main legislative and executive body of the Acadeshian government is the House of Commons. The House of Commons is the Upper House of the Acadeshian Government. It is similar to a Senate, but differs in the requirements set for the eligibility of candidates for membership. The makeup of the House of Commons is very unique. This is because Acadeshia is largely, almost purely, a university. One is even required to be either a student, or an employee of the Royal Academy in order to gain and retain citizenship. 200 seats are reserved for those serving in the House of Faculty, 200 reserved for those serving in the House of Students and 1 reserved for the Monarch.

Authority and Responsibility

The House of Commons is responsible for passing, reviewing, altering and abolishing all Major Laws within the Acadeshian Constitution, the Law of the People, and the Royal Charter. It meets weekly to perform its duties, and at other times when a special assembly is called by the Monarch.

House of Faculty

The House of Faculty is one of the two Lower Houses in the Acadeshian Government presiding over a specific demographic of the people. It is unique within the Acadeshian Government as its members aren't elected to their seats on the assembly, but recieve their seats as part of their offices within the Royal University. Members of the House of Faculty do not have specific terms, but sit on the assembly for as long as they hold an office that is mandated a seat in the assembly. Typically offices in the Royal Academy that mandate a seat in the House of Faculty are:

• Heads of Disciplines
• Deans of Faculties
• Heads of Schools
• Vice Chancellor of the Royal Academy

The Chancellor of the Royal Academy occupies the seat 'Chair of the Faculty'.

The number of seats on the House of Faculty varies depending on the size and shape of the Royal Academy as an institution, currently there are 308 seats.

Authority and Responsibility

The House of Faculty is responsible for passing, reviewing, altering and aboloshing all Minor Laws that is specifically related to the Faculty; effecting regulations, rights, freedoms, etc. within the Royal Academy. It meets weekly to perform it's duties, and at other times when a special assembly is called by the Chair of the Faculty.

The House of Faculty also has the authority to pass motions to refer matters, issues, questions or Major Laws proposals to the House of Commons for further deliberation.

House of Students

The House of Students is the other Lower House in the Acedeshian government. It is the executive and governing body of the Student Council. Its members are elected from Student Council annually. There are 300 seats in the assembly, 299 of which are occupied by vote of the Student Council. The remaining seat is the seat of the 'Chair of the Assembly'. It is occupied by one of the 300 members elected by vote of the Student Council, the member who occupies this seats is elected by vote of the 300 members of the assembly.

Authority and Responsibility

The House of Students is responsible for passing, reviewing, altering and aboloshin all Minor Laws that is specifically related to the Student Body; effecting regulations, rights, freedoms, etc. within the Royal Academy. It meets weekly to perform it's duties, and at other times when a special assembly is called by the Chair of the Assembly.

The House of Students also has the authority to pass motions to refer matters, isues, questions or Major Law preposals to the House of Commons for further deliberation.

Legislation

Legislation in Acadeshia is split into three books or spectra:

• The Constitution
• The Declarations
• The Law of the People

Laws in each of the three different spectra need to follow a slightly different path than those of the other two spectra in order to be enacted and enshrined in their book.

The Consitution

Constitutional Ordnances are passed by the House of Commons during either a regular or special assembly. In order for a constitutional ordnance to be enacted it needs to win by a majority vote of 70 percent, meaning that it needs a minum of 281 votes in order to be passed. Constitutional Ordnances can not be altered by the Monarch once passed by the House of Assembly, and must be enacted and enshrined as-is.

The Declarations

Declarations are statements of broad policy and form the core of the government policy, legal, legislative and political system. In order for a Declaration to be enacted it needs to gain consensus within the House of Commons. As such Declarations are rarely enacted. There is currently only 2 Declarations in existence.

The Law of the People

The Law of the People is the compilation of all the laws not in the Constitution and not classified as Declarations. Laws in the Law of the People can be classified as either Major Laws or Minor Laws.

Major Laws are laws that effect the country as a whole. Major Laws must be enacted by the House of Commons.

Minor Laws are laws that effect only people falling within the demographic of the Lower House that enacts them. The House of Students and House of Faculty can each pass Minor Laws that only effect people falling within their demographic.

Resolutions

Resolutions are written motions adopted by a deliberative body. Within Acadeshia resolutions are passed by any of the Houses, though national resolutions can only be passed by the House of Commons. Motions proposed to the House of Assembly have to be passed by at least a 70% majority - 281 seats before becoming Resolutions.

Economics

Acadeshia is a communist country. It's entire economy is controlled by the government. It focuses almost solely on academics, with its entire citizenry focused either on research and study, or on teaching. The governmental income consists almost purely of tuition fees paid by it's nearly 10 million registered students. It pays almost completely equal salaries to all it's employees, and taxes its students severely on their spending money.

Due to his almost fanatical belief in equality, King Unue Masuo doesn't earn a salary, and lives his life in a simple house in the countryside of Prince Edward Island. He is considered one of the poorest national leaders in the world, and the only one so by choice.

Social Welfare

Even though citizens earn very meagre salaries, almost all services are free. People don't pay for electricity, water, medical aid, public transport, education or any other government offered service - which is pretty much everything.

Approval

The Acadeshian Government has some of the highest - if not the highest - approval ratings in the world. With nearly 93 percent of citizens indicating "severe favour and undying loyalty" to the Crown and to the government. The government suffered a sharp loss of approval during the 4 day war with Brasilistan, only 67% at it's lowest. But it quickly returned to it's near perfect 96% following the end of the war.