Midlonia
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| Official Languages | Common, Dutch, French, German. | ||||
| Capital | Swadlincote, >17 mln | ||||
| King | Hykar II | ||||
| Prime MInister | William Bagnall | ||||
| Area - Land - Water |
545,630 km² 1,400 km² | ||||
| Population - Total (August 2010) - Density |
14.282 billion XXX,XX/km² | ||||
| Foundation | 1605, Unification of the Home Island. | ||||
| National Holiday | August 29th, Unity Day. | ||||
| Government Type | Constitutional Monarchy | ||||
| Nation Type | Kingdom | ||||
| National Animal | Dove | ||||
| GDP (2005) - Total - GDP/capita |
XXX trillion Midlonian Pounds M£XX,XXX | ||||
| Currency | 1 Midlonian Pound (M£) = 100 pence | ||||
| Time Zone - in summer |
GMT +1 GMT +1 | ||||
| International Abbreviations - sport - government |
XXX XXX | ||||
| Pronunciation (IPA) | - | ||||
| International Power Ranking | 9.237 (T-93rd) | ||||
| National Anthem | Jerusalem | ||||
| Internet TLD | .Mid | ||||
| Calling Code | +31 | ||||
The Greater Kingdom of Midlonia also known as The Greater Kingdom, The GK or simply Midlonia is a soverign state located in the Concordat of Pheonix Region. The Greater Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of Porphyria, Midlonia and Akuma.
Midlonia also controls several colonies, Sued, Birchester, Rephidium and Durghanistan.
The influence of the Midlonians is world-spanning from the era of the Midlonian Empire, a world-spanning empire that once consisted of the Freethinker Commonwealth, Oyadan Empire and Starblaydia as well as numerous other states it was one of the world's most dominant powers for the 18th and 19th Centuries due to it's dominance and control of the Tea and Spice markets, as well as being the leader of the Industrial revolution and the harnessing of Steam Power. The sterotypes as well as cultural influences remain even as the Empire has crumbled during the late 19th through to the mid 20th century.
The GK is a developed country with a large GDP as well as being armed with nuclear weaponry as well as a Space-faring navy, it has two offworld colonies. Making the Greater Kingdom a multi-tech nation.
Contents |
History
Main article:A Consolidated History of Midlonia
Government and Politics
See also: Political Parties of Midlonia
The Greater Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy: Henry Hykar II is head of state of the GK as well as of the Midlonian Overseas Territories, putting the GK in a personal union with those other states. The Crown has sovereignty over the Crown Dependencies of the The Falcon Isles and the Bailiwicks of Christchurch and Louton, which are not part of the Greater Kingdom though the GK government manages their foreign affairs and defence and the GK Parliament has the authority to legislate on their behalf.
The Greater Kingdom has an uncodified constitution, as do few other countries in the world. The Constitution of the Greater Kingdom thus consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statutes, judge-made case law, and international treaties. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law," the GK Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.
The GK has a parliamentary government based on the Kilwarby system that has been emulated around the world—a legacy of the Midlonian. The Parliament of the Greater Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Kilwarby has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, and any Bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the Greater Kingdom since the devolved parliament in Akuma and devolved assemblies in Porphyria, and South Anglia are not sovereign bodies and could be abolished by the GK parliament despite being established following public approval as expressed in referenda.
The position of Prime Minister, the GK's head of government, belongs to the Member of Parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons, usually the current leader of the largest political party in that chamber. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are formally appointed by the Monarch to form Her Majesty's Government, though the Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention HM The Queen respects the Prime Minister's choices.
The Cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which they are responsible. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all of whom are sworn into Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and become Ministers of the Crown. The Rt. Hon. William Bagnall, leader of the Conservative Party, has been Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service since the last round of elections saw the Conservative and Greater Kingdom Party gain dominance of the lower house.
For elections to the House of Commons, the GK is currently divided into 1450 constituencies. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament by simple plurality. General elections are called by the Monarch when the Prime Minister so advises. Though there is no minimum term for a Parliament, the Parliament Act (306AU) requires that a new election must be called within five years of the previous general election.
The GK's three major political parties are the Conservative and Greater Kingdom Party, the Midlonian Front, and the Labour and Socialist Party, who won between them 1320 out of 1450 seats available in the House of Commons: Most of the remaining seats were won by parties that only contest elections in one part of the GK such as the Akuma National Party (Akuma only), Western Independance (Wesonia only), and the Democratic Unionist Party.
Devolved Administrations
Akuma and Birchester each has its own government or Executive, led by a First Minister, and a devolved, unicameral legislature. Midlonia, the largest country of the Greater Kingdom, has no devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the GK government and parliament on all issues.
The Akuma Government and Parliament have wide ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically 'reserved' to the GK parliament, including education, healthcare, Akuman law and local government. Following their victory at the recent elections, the pro-independence Akuma National Party (ANP) formed a minority government with its leader, Alex Priti-Patel, becoming First Minister of Akuma. The pro-union parties responded to the electoral success of the ANP by creating a Commission on Akuman Devolution which reported recently, recommending that additional powers should be devolved, including control of half the income tax raised in Akuma.
Geography
The Greater Kingdom is located within the Northern Atlantic Ocean and covers around 211,209 Sq Mi via the Home Island as well as numerous smaller islands covered across the Midlonian Archipelago.
The Greater Kingdom has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons but seldom drops below −10°C (14.0°F) or rises above 35°C (95°F). The prevailing wind is from the southwest, bearing frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean. Eastern parts are most sheltered from this wind and are therefore the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream, bring mild winters, especially in the west, where winters are wet, especially over high ground. Summers are warmest in the south east. Snowfall can occur in winter and early spring, though it rarely settles to great depth away from high ground.
Christianity
The largest religious group in Midlonia is Christianity, with the Church of Midlonia the Established Church: the church retains a representation in the GK Parliament and the Midlonian monarch is a member of the church (required under Article 2 of the Treaty of Unity) as well as its Supreme Governor. The Church of Midlonia also retains the right to draft legislative measures (related to religious administration) through the General Synod that can then be passed into law by Parliament.
With around 9 billion followers it is easily the largest and most powerful church within the Greater Kingdom itself.
The Roman Catholic Church in Midlonia is the second largest Christian church with around two billion members, mainly in Midlonia.
Healthcare
Healthcare in the Greater Kingdom is a devolved matter. Midlonia, Porphyria and Akuma each has its own system of private and publicly funded healthcare, together with alternative, holistic and complementary treatments. Public healthcare is provided to all GK permanent residents and is free at the point of need being paid for from general taxation.
Regulatory bodies are organised on a GK-wide basis such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and non-governmental-based, such as Royal Colleges. However, political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national executives; healthcare in Midlonia is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government; healthcare in Porphyra is the responsibility of the Board of Health and Civil Protection; healthcare in Akuma is the responsibility of the Akuman Government. Each National Health Service has different policies and priorities, resulting in contrasts.
Transport
The Highways Agency is the executive agency responsible for trunk roads and motorways in Midlonia apart from the privately owned and operated Unlimited Motorway Network [UMN's] The Department for Transport states that traffic congestion is one of the most serious transport problems and that it could cost Midlonia an extra £22trillion in wasted time by 21XX if left unchecked.
According to the government-sponsored report, congestion is in danger of harming the economy, unless tackled by road pricing and expansion of the transport network.
The Akuman transport network is the responsibility of the Akuman Government's Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department with Transport Akuma being the Executive Agency that is accountable to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth for Akuma's trunk roads and rail networks. Akuma's rail network has around 2,340 railway stations and 133,000 kilometres of track with over 1.562billion passenger journeys made each year.
Across the GK, there is a radial road network of 153,416 miles of main roads with a motorway network of 27,027 miles kilometres. There are a further 319,229 miles of paved roads.
The rail network of 320,700 miles in Midlonia. Urban rail networks are well developed in Swadlincote and other cities. This has dropped from around 500,000 miles due to the slow declinte in the need of the numerous small branch lines and low capacity railways with the rise of more efficient road services.
Swadlincote Capital Airport west of the capital, is the GK's busiest airport and has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the GK
Television in the GK
There are five major nationwide television channels in the GK: MBC One, MBC Two, Independant 1, Four and Five—currently transmitted by analogue and digital terrestrial, free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising.
The MBC, founded in 1922, is the GK's publicly funded radio, television and internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world. It operates several television channels and radio stations in both the GK and abroad. The MBC's international television news service, MBC Sol News, is broadcast throughout the world and the MBC Sol Service radio network is broadcast in thirty-three languages globally.
The domestic services of the MBC are funded by the television licence. The international targeted MBC World Service Radio is funded by the Foreign and Economics Office and the international television broadcast services are operated by MBC Worldwide on a commercial subscription basis over cable and satellite services.
The GK now has a large number of digital terrestrial channels including a further six from the MBC, five from Independent and three from Four.
Radio in the GK is dominated by MBC Radio, which operates ten national networks and over forty local radio stations. The most popular radio station, by number of listeners, is MBC Radio 2, closely followed by MBC Radio 1. There are hundreds of mainly local commercial radio stations across the country, offering a variety of music or talk formats.
Internet
The Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Greater Kingdom is .mid the most popular ".mid" website is the MBC Online website
Symbols
There are numerous Powerful Symbols within the Greater Kingdom. The most commonly known is the Greater Kingdom Flag, or the Blood Soaked Bird. This is usually followed by the symbol of the Church of Midlonia as well as various musical pieces such as The National Anthem.
National Anthem
The origins of the National Anthem come during the early christianization of the Mid-lowlanders in the 2nd century B.C with the church allegedly being founded by James the Just, Jesus' brother. Written in 1643 it was used to unify the nation under the new Midlonian rulers.
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon Midlonia’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On Midlonia's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Kilns?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear! O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire.
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In Midlonia’s green and pleasant land.
Note: should be pronoucned "Midlow-nya" as the word was originally pronounced when the Greater Kingdom was formed.
Military
Main Article: Midlonian Armed Forces
