Nation/Electrum

Gold and Silver Holdings of Electrum
Motto: We Kick Butt
Anthem: Oh, Electrum
National Animal Pig
Location of Electrum within Rushmore Location of Electrum within Rushmore
Capital and largest city		Centralis
Demonym		Electrumian/Electrumite (preferred)
Government		Constitutional Republic
-	Prime Minister	Jim Brandis
-	Deputy Prime Minister	Jane McCallahan
Legislature		Parliament of Electrum
-	Upper house	Provincial Senate
-	Lower house	House of Representatives
Population
-	estimate	80 million
Currency		Synergy (ESY)
Time zone		EnT Endemian Time (UTC+5)
Date format		dd/mm/yyyy
Drives on the		left
Internet TLD		.em

Electrum is a medium-sized sporting nation in the region of Rushmore. It is a country bordered by Eura to the North and Rhodesiah to the West. It also has an enclave of Junin, Valladares. It is a highly developed country specializing in technology, commerce and culture. It's capital city is Centralis. Other major centres include Port Grenville, Prescott, Hamilton and Agri.

Electrum particularly ranks highly on largest retail industries, rebellious youth, largest pizza delivery industry, averageness and most scientifically advanced (all top 10%). By World Assembly Standards, Electrum is currently a New York Times Democracy with a thriving economy, good civil rights and a world benchmark in political freedoms.

History

The country was founded by migrants escaping from civil wars multiverse wide. It is a safe haven for citizens in need. The name is derived from the vast gold and silver deposits in the great Sandy Desert in the north west of Electrum. Centralis was soon established as the capital city in 1642. The idea of living in cities quickly took hold and by the 1900s, the country was organised into provinces and into large conurbations of cities.

Provinces and Territories

There are six provinces and three territories. From East to West these are Fairmont (Fai), Parkleigh (Par), Greater Centralis (GCS), Culver (Cul), Lyoness (LNS) and Deltan (DTN). The three territories are Kale Island, Upper Territory and Lower Territory. The provinces have a much larger population than the territories - the territories only making up 5% of the whole population of Electrum. The majority of transport between the major centres is by plane, taking between 1 to 3 hours. The longest flight is between Agri and Prescott which takes three and a half hours. Kale can be accessed by plane from Centralis or a boat ride from Port Grenville.

Government

Electrum is a bureaucracy choked morass with lots of agencies, QUANGOs, bureaus, commissions and departments. This is also layered with a three tiered system of governance of Executive, Judiciary and Parliament. There is also three levels of government from the local level (councils), provincial governments and the federal government. As of writing, the current expenditure of the government is: 33% Education, 26% Law and Order, 16% Healthcare, 11% Industry, 5% for Administration and Public Transport and 4% for Social Policy

Executive

• Prime Minister: Jim Brandis
• Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer: Jane McCallahan
• Minister for Science and Technology: Henrietta Wong
• Minister for Sports, the Arts and Culture: Rosalind Corby
• Minister for Finance: James Crawford
• Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Takumi Itsuki
• Attorney General and Minister for Justice: Ilaria Salvay
• Minister for Defense, Immigration and Multiculturalism: Kevin Volf
• Minister for Health and Social Services: Kate Peters
• Minister for Education: Kane Embers
• Minister for Industry and Innovation: Cathy Hendriks
• Minister for Anti-Corruption and Chief Ombudsman: Greg Appleby
• Minister for Environment and Agriculture: Victoria Tran
• Minister for Internet and Communications: Pete Louisa
• Minister for Water, Population and Communities: Mick Shaw

Judiciary

The Judiciary is made of two strands: Federal and Provincial. The federal strand applies federal laws such as tax, fraud, defamation, admiralty, etc. The highest court is the High Court of Electrum - an appeals court - and there can be no appeals made after judgement from this highest court. Immediately below that is the Federation Court which applies all of the other Federal laws at the first instance. The provincial strand is made up of the courts that apply Provincial Laws. They often have a upper Supreme Court which deals with the most serious civil and criminal cases, which is followed by the intermediate District Courts and the lower Magistrates Court which deals with mediation and petty crimes. Appeals are handled by the Court immediately above it, and Supreme Court decisions can be appealed to the High Court.

Parliament

The parliament is comprised of a bicameral legislature - the House of Representatives and the Provincial Senate. The House of Representatives is composed of 120 seats of equal numbers of people. The Provincial Senate is composed of 100 seats, 12 for each of the 6 provinces, 4 for the three territories and 14 popular vote parties.

Provincial Governments and Councils

Each Province has their own government as well of between 20-80 seats per province. They enact provincial laws, usually on crimes (eg. murder, manslaughter) but also controls funding for public transport, roads, anything that is not covered by the federal parliament. Under these is another layer of governance, the councils. The councils have between 5-15 councilors and between them they elect a mayor and a deputy mayor. They control land taxes, rubbish collection, parks and recreation and maintenance. A mayor of a council which covers a major city can also be called the Lord Mayor of that city.

Geography, Climate and the Environment

Electrum is a mainly flat country with the minor exception being the highlands to the north of Centralis and East of Prescott where the Inland Lake is. This mountain range desertified the region to the North, where the two territories are. This location is also key as it contains gold, silver and uranium deposits. As a result, these regions were given their own territorial status with less taxes to exploit the natural resources that are available in the area. The Upper and Lower territories has an especially bad environmental record. The environment is a secondary consideration to both mining and farming. This is however being rectified with the new government, who is keen to introduce green energy such as Nuclear energy to offset carbon emissions. There is also a large forested range to the East of Hamilton and Agri is on the lower reaches of the Golden Delta, which is conducive to irrigation and farming.

Electrum's climate is fairly cool with towns bordering the sea, Centralis, Agri and Port Grenville having a temperate climate. Prescott has a relatively cooler climate thanks to it's altitude and mountain valley whereas Hamilton is a very hot place, on the edge of a desert. Kale is tropical, being it's own island unattached to the mainland.

Demographics

Electrum's demographics vary as it's population came in waves of immigrants from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. As a result, Electrum is very cosmopolitan and inclusive on immigrants. The rural population is approximately 10%, most of them being farmers or miners. As a result, provinces or territories with high amounts of farmland or mining has a drastically much lower population. The mainland territories and Deltan both have relatively smaller populations.

The ten largest cities are:

1. Centralis, GCS
2. Prescott, Fai
3. Hamilton, LNS
4. Agri, DTN
5. Port Grenville, Cul
6. Kale, Kale Island
7. Fairleigh, Par
8. Burnton, GCS
9. Somer, Cul
10. Sydenham, GCS

The average age is 35.6. The defacto language is English. There is no state religion as there is a clear separation between church and state. The state doesn't interfere and may not make any laws regarding the practice of religion. A majority of the population (70%) are atheists. Education is compulsory until the end of high school where all students get a high school certification. As of writing the major causes of death are: Old Age (53%), Heart Disease (25%) and Cancer (8%). These 'natural' deaths account for 86% of total deaths.

Culture

The WA describes Electrum as a massive, cultured nation, notable for its complete lack of prisons. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 1.535 billion enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct. Electrum's population loves fine dining, art galleries, sporting events and comedy.

Arts

Electrum is a cultured nation, consequently, it admires art. It has one of the highest per capita rate of visitation of muesums. The Electrum art scene is diverse but mainly focuses on postmodern art. Surrealism and Cubism are favourites of the Electrum people. In addition to the visual arts is the performing arts with a smaller musical scene with Jazz and Rock bands being favourites. There is also a national Symphonic Orchestra which performs in Centralis every two months and a ballet group operating out of Prescott. There is a small cinema industry as well, but most films are imported into Electrum.

Broadcasting and Media

The government has three-wholly owned networks: News 24, a 24 hour news channel with updates every half hour. In between are current affairs shows and also news shows from around the multiverse. The second network is a kids channel called PlayFunTV and the last channel is a arts channel focusing on the art and culture of Electrum. The commercial networks are all free to air, but as a result also have lots of advertisements. They mainly broadcast talent shows, reality series and movies. Network ENN is notable in being the only news and sport-based news channel that is commercial. The print media is also large, and with little government interference can print whatever they want. The largest newspaper in circulation is the trustworthy Centralis Herald and the largest sports magazine is the Electrum Half-Weekly Sports Magazine.

Cuisine

Electrum is a mishmash of cultures and as a result does not have lots of native cuisine. Foods from all around the multiverse are consumed here from green goo from outer space to cheesecakes. Electrum is noted for having a big drinking culture with alcohol being consumed at parties and during sports events.

Electrum also has a few breweries in Port Grenville - beer is a favorite among many. It's popularity however, is being eclipsed by the magnificent Red Wine produced from grapes grown near Prescott, in the highlands of Electrum. The grapes produced here take advantage of the altitude and cool weather to make one of the best wines in the region. Some popular varieties produced here include Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Sporting History

Electrum is a new member in the sporting community and is a proud member of Rushmore, one of the big three sporting regions. Electrum has participated in a few tournaments so far. The breakthrough competition for Electrum would be the Winter Olympics where Electrum has won a combined total of two silver and two bronze medals.

Electrum is also new to the soccer scene, but it is not the national sport of Electrum and has little support so far. Electrum's team is ranked in the hundreds - which is expected of a new soccer team.

Gambling is also a fun pasttime of Electrumites.