Arcadia
From Communist State Wiki
| Arcadia | |||
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Motto: Liberty, prosperity and diversity | |||
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| Capital: | Magellan City | ||
| Largest city: | Magellan City | ||
| Official language(s): | English | ||
| Recognized regional language(s): | N/A | ||
| Demonym: | Arcadian | ||
| Government: | Democratic Presidential Republic | ||
| - President: | James D. Reginald (LP) | ||
| - Vice President: | Sarah Umberti (LP) | ||
| Establishment: | 1954: Independence from British 1961: Independence from Republic of Catharinia | ||
| Area: | N/A km² | ||
| Population: | ca. 500,000 (2008 estimate) | ||
| - 2007 census: | 496,050 | ||
| - Density: | N/A/km² | ||
| Religion: | no state religion | ||
| - Atheism: | 43.5% | ||
| - Protestantism: | 29.8% | ||
| - Roman Catholicism: | 22.0% | ||
| - Others: | 4.7% | ||
| Currency: | N/A | ||
| Time zone: | N/A | ||
| Internet TLD: | .arc | ||
| Calling code: | N/A | ||
Arcadia, officially the Democratic Republic Arcadia, is a Micronesian island nation in the Pacific Ocean. Arcadia occupies around a third of Catharinia Island and several smaller offshore islands of the Catharinia Archipelago, bordering the Socialist Republic of Taluva, the People's Republic of Catharinia, and the Socialist Kingdom of Catharinia. The country is divided into seve provinces and the national capital is Magellan City, in the province Pennington. The country has about half a million inhabitants and the population is growing fast, mostly through migration. The current President of Arcadia is James D. Reginald of the Libertarian Party that has led the country most of the time.
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[edit] History
The country's first inhabitants were the Chamorro people who moved to the Catharinia Archipelago around 2000 BCE. In 1784 the British colonised the islands and formed the Catharinia Colony, that existed until 1954. In that year the colony, that had already lost its northern half through the independence of the People's Republic of Catharinia in 1940, became an independent republic. In 1961 the western and eastern parts of the republic seperated through a treaty and formed two new states: the Democratic Republic Arcadia and the Kingdom of Catharinia. In more recent years Arcadia established a democratic base and an open environment to foreign companies. Since the late 1990s a migration movement from the United States brings several retired Americans to Arcadia.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Administrative divisions
Arcadia consists out of seven provinces, that were erected when the Republic of Catharinia fell apart. These provinces are:
- Cape Elisabeth (Kingston City)
- East Colony (Sarasse City)
- Montia (Harlow City)
- New Cambridge (Mariana City)
- Pennington (Magellan City)
- Tyanike (Tiny City)
- West Colony (New Port City)
Every province is divided into towns and one city each. These towns and cities cover a certain land area surrounding its centre. The most populous cities and towns are:
- Magellan City, Pennington
- Mariana City, New Cambridge
- Kingston City, Cape Elisabeth
- Elisabethtown, Cape Elisabeth
- New Port City, West Colony
[edit] Demography
[edit] Religion
- Main article: Religion in Arcadia
The Arcadian 2007 census made clear that religion in Arcadia is of less importance to its citizens than in other countries around the world and than in earlier days. The main religious groups in Arcadia are Protestants (around 30%) and Roman Catholics (22%). 43.5% of the Arcadians made clear they were irreligous and identified themselves as Atheists or Agnostics. Almost 5% of the population claimed they had another religion or spirituality, mostly native religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, or Islam.
[edit] Politics
The Democratic Republic Arcadia is a democratic state executively ruled by a directly elected President and Vice President. The legislature consists of a national bicameral parliament with 50 Senators in the First College or Chamber and 14 Senators in the Second College or Senate. The President and the Senators in the First College are elected in the Arcadia general elections, which are held every two years (uneven years). Senators in the Second College are elected in the Arcadia provincial elections, together with the provincial administrators. The justice is headed by the Chief Justice, who is elected and appointed by the Parliament.
Arcadia has several political parties with constant representation in the Parliament throughout the years. In the first years after gaining independence the rather conservative Constitution Party was most popular, followed by its opponent the Arcadian Liberal Party (ALP). Other movements included the Unionist Movement, a party willing to fraternize with the two other Catharinian nations, and the British Loyalist Party that wanted to return to its imperial era. As of 1963 the ALP won the elections six times on a row, a record in Arcadian history. The Constitution Party was reformed into the Conservatives, who regained control over the presidency and the Parliament in 1977. After conservative President Andrea Tucker deceased during office, and was replaced by the unpopular Alexander Jefferson, liberals won the elections again. Their party's name had already changed to Libertarian Party and their viewpoints had become more radical libertarian. During the two presidencies of Mitch Robertson and the presidency of Joseph Colonial, the political system was severly reformed and modernised. In 1991 Allen McDonald of the short-living Values party won the general elections. The Arcadian economy did better than ever, after the reforms of the Libertarians and the financial input of McDonald. When Vice President Jude M. Pennington was elected President in 1995, the economy crashed suddenly. After two tough terms the Conservatives regained control over the Parliament and presidency. Christopher Quitin-Path, a member of the Movement Party (the successor of the old Unionist Movement), won the elections together with Libertarian James D. Reginald, becoming President and Vice President. A new era of prosperity began and is still going nowadays. After three terms together, Reginald became President.
In 2007, the Libertarian Party was by far the largest party in the nation, gaining 48.63% in the general elections. Its oldest opponent, the Conservatives, have had bad election results since the 1999 elections, while smaller and newer parties have done better since then. The Movement Party has been the largest from 1999 to 2003 and still is the third largest party. Ever since 1965 there have been socialists in the Parliament, scoring well in the late 60s and doing well again in 2007, becoming the second party in the country.
[edit] Government
See also: List of Arcadian governments for a full list.
- See also: Reginald II Government for the current government.
The current government, elected in 2007, is led by President of Arcadia James D. Reginald. Six political parties are represented in the First College: the Libertarian Party (24 seats), the New Labour Party (9 seats), the Movement Party (8 seats), the Conservatives (5 seats), the Green Party and the National Front (each 2 seats). The Second College, elected provincially, consists of 7 Libertarians, 3 Conservatives, 2 New Labour Party members, and one member each for the Movement Party and Green Party.
[edit] Foreign policy
Arcadia has had difficult relations with both other nations on the archipelago. Tuvalu Island has constantly been disputed between Arcadia and the PRC. At this stage, both nations own a half of the island. More recently the nations have been less agressive towards eachother. Especially with the Kingdom of Catharinia there have been great improvements in the relationship. There still is one dispute between these two countries: the Catharinian exclave Zandra, surrounded by the Arcadian province East Colony, isn't recognised by Arcadia and is considered a part of Arcadia by certain. In the 2000s this dispute lost much of his intensity.
Arcadia is a founding member of the Intergovernmental Catharinian Safety Organisation (ICSO) and sends her President to every meeting. The organisation is concerned with negotiating between the nations and solving issues between its members.
Since September 18 1962, Arcadia has been a member of the United Nations, currently the only international organisation (not including the ICSO) of which Arcadia is a full member. Arcadia is an observer at the Pacific Islands Forum.
[edit] Culture
UC
[edit] Education
- See also: List of universities and colleges in Arcadia for more info on the higher education.
Arcadia is a highly educated Western country. Since the country's declaration of independence, there has been compulsory education for children from 6 to 12 in the primary schools, and from 12 to 18 in the secundary schools or high schools. Arcadia has an extremely low illiteracy rate, of only 0.12% in 2007.
President Robin Jade Pennington's 1966 education plan liberalised the entire educational system and since then, there haven't been any state schools. In 1990 the fixed national curriculum was partly abandoned, giving schools the right to choose a great deal of the studies they offer and the content of those studies. Lately there have been proposals in Arcadian politics to abandon compulsory education too and to give schools full power over the curriculum.
After high school most students attend colleges or universities. These are also private and some have entrance restrictions, though it's prohibited to exclude students based on race, religion, or ancestry. Some of the best known and very elitary universities include Kingston University, the University of Mariana City and the Pennington Liberal University.
