View source for Ostrov

{{Region icon Sparkalia}}
{{WIP}}
{{Infobox country
|micronation =       no
|conventional_long_name = Ostrov (Common)
|native_name = Остров (Lurynian)
|common_name =        
|status =             Independent State
|image_flag = Flag_of_Ostrov.png
|image_coat = 
|flag_caption =      '''Flag'''<br><br>dark blue for historical relations with Lurynia, white for the First Unknown, an upwards chevron for the future
|national_motto =     ''Justice and Progress''
|national_anthem =    ''Onwards''
|image_map = Location_of_Ostrov_in_relation_to_northern_Dacia.png
|map_width = 300px
|alt_map   = dipshit is an island in Sparkalia. It is located west of Lurynia, which is in the north of the continent of Dacia. Lurynia is comparatively much larger than Ostrov.
|map_caption  = Ostrov is located by the northern half of the continent of Dacia
|capital =            [[Southport]]
|largest_city =       [[Southport]]
|official_languages = {{wp|English_language|Common}}
|national_languages          = {{wp|Russian_language|Lurynian}}
|religion =           secular state
|demonym =            Ostrovian
|government_type =   Parliamentary republic 
|leader_title1 =    Prime Minister (Head of State and Government)
|leader_name1 =       David Chatham 
|sovereignty_type =  Discovery
|established_event1 = originally discovered by First Unknown
|established_date1 = 1361
|established_event2 = organisation into a state
|established_date2 = by 1390
<!--......-->
|ns_links =          
|area_km2 = 2,525        
|population_census = 63,000
|population_census_year = 1611
|GDP_nominal = $1,008,000,000
|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $16,000
|Gini =                      
|Gini_year =
|HDI_year =         
|HDI =               
|HDI_change =       
|currency =   ''Lurynian Sparek''        
|currency_code =   LS  
|time_zone = {{wp|Coordinated_Universal_Time|Dacian Time}}        
|date_format =  dd/mm/yyyy      
|drives_on = Left       
|cctld = .os             
|calling_code = +47
}}
'''Ostrov''' is a democratic island state in northern Diecia, located to the west of the main continent. While largely rural and agrarian, several population centres known as towns also exist; the largest of these is capital city Southport, where around 8,000 of the 63,000 Ostrovians live.
==History==
===Pre-Charter Ostrov (1361-1390)===
====Discovery (1361)====
The island of Ostrov was discovered by the First Unknown when they arrived on the planet of Sparkalia in 1361; within months, several hundred humans had settled there. A local of the time would have said they lived on North Island, not Ostrov; the former term was adopted due to the island's location relative to the rest of Sparkalia and the latter term did not come into common usage until the mid-1370s, when Lurynian overtook Common as the lingua franca.

====''A New System of Measurement'' (1364)====
{{Redirect|Christina Broadbent|information about the discovery of the Grae system|Units of measurement in Sparkalia}}
Christina Broadbent was part of the First Unknown wave of 1361 AR (1955 GD). While much of the population, including her husband, had taken up farming for subsistence, Broadbent was renowned as one of the leading ladies' dressmakers on the island for the first few months it was inhabited. In those days, there was no common system of measurements and many local farmers had decided to avoid them altogether.

However, Broadbent suddenly disappeared from the island in Umbra 1362. Her friend, corn farmer Michael Smith, wrote in his diary on Umbra 5th that she was "extremely upset" at the farming community's "inconsistent output" and had told him a matter of days previously that "she would set out, at any cost, to discover how to improve the abysmal situation."

Broadbent did not plan to reach any particular destination, although she arrived in the Solarius Empire - modern-day Nova Solarius - in 1363 AR (1957 GD on the Solarian calendar) after making the lengthy boat trip west along the north Pythian coast. Details of her time there are scant; it is understood that she was met with some hostility, given the War of Space, but was taken in by an anti-war rural family and learned about the local Grae system of measurements during her few months there.

Around Lyncis of 1364 AR (1958 GD), shortly after her return, Broadbent distributed over 100 copies of a handwritten pamphlet entitled ''A New System of Measurement'', an impressive achievement on an island of roughly 800 inhabitants. Her pamphlet outlined the history of the system, the mathematics underpinning it, and what she saw as the need for a common system to be used among labourers. It is universally accepted that Broadbent's campaigning led to the universal adoption of the Grae system in Ostrov.

Megan Richards, the wife of David Chatham (who was Prime Minister as of Hilaria 1612), is one of Broadbent's 592 great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren.

====Shipbuilding and foreign ventures (1363-1368)====

====Police Force (1372)====

====Early Lurynian influences (1374-1377)====
On Florentina 13th 1377, the Tradesmen's Alliance announced that its ships would henceforth keep watch using Dacian Time (DT), the timezone which most maps suggest is also used by [[Lurynia]], [[Magia Regnum]], [[Regeliana]], and parts of [[Kaidokoku]]. DT was adopted as the official timezone of Ostrov by the People's Assembly in 1390.

====The People's Assembly (1389-1390)====

===The early Ostrovian state (1390-1428)===
====The Charter of 1390====

====Council election of 1393====

====Creation of telephone network (1401-1402)====
The entire telephone network of Ostrov, from physical infrastructure to engineering and numbering, was developed independently of the Dacian continent. This is why, while the [[Celestial Sisterhood]] (traditionally [[Magical Girl Realm]]) states share the +2 international dialing code, Ostrov uses the +47 code alone.

====The Polytechnic of Ostrov (1417)====

===Internationalisation (1428-1485)===

====Flag standardisation (1430)====
Before 1430, Ostrov did not have a common flag. Some Ostrovian trade delegations hoisted a white flag with "ОСТРОВ" or its Common transliteration, "OSTROV," in black capital letters. Domestic socialists used a crossed shotgun and sheath as their flag, although depictions varied in practice. The Ostrovian government started to use a clenched fist with its index finger pointing upwards as their seal on official documents by 1400; when put against a plain-colour background, it became the government flag, although it was never used by the local public for various reasons.

====National Healthcare Act (1439)====

====Ministry of Policing bribery scandal (1476-1478)====

===The Years of Temperance (1485-1538)===
====Criminal Justice Act (1489)====

====Child labour eradication movement (1505-1507)====

====A Fair Deal for Our Workers (1521)====

====Final prosecution for acts against Ostrov (1536)====

====Farmers' and Workers' Union party leadership challenge (1538)====

===Economic and social liberalisation (1538-1597)===
====Abolition of inbound tariffs (1560)====

====Abigail Morgan breast cancer diagnosis (1586)====

===The David Chatham era (1597-1612)===
====Farmers' and Workers' Union conference speech (1597)====

====Century of Commerce Act (1600)====

====Desire to pivot to Magia Regnum (1611-1612)====

==Domestic Politics==
===Introduction===
Given the size and population of the island, politics in Ostrov is highly centralised and has relied on two major parties since the People's Assembly met in 1389. Historically, the Farmers' and Workers' Union have been a socially conservative party which historically sought to abolish tariffs, and today supports reducing income tax dependence and introducing a sales tax (although this regularly meets with opposition from more moderate Union politicians); their base is among farmers and other rural workers. The Justice Party is a democratic socialist party which supports maximising personal freedoms, but wants to introduce a progressive income tax so that higher earners - particularly productive farmers who export to Lurynia - pay more; they enjoy heavy support in towns.

Although there is a common trope that many Ostrovians live in "rural areas" away from centers of population, everybody in Ostrov is in fact assigned to a town for administrative purposes. All towns have their own councils, but the power of towns is limited.

===Executive===
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Prime Ministers of Ostrov - ''Party legend:'' {{legend|#33C|F. & W. Union}} {{legend|#F99|Justice Party}} {{legend|#CCC|Independent}}
|-
! No.
! Party
! Name (birth-death)
! Dates (pink if >10yrs)
|-
|rowspan=2 colspan=1 | 1 || style="background:#CCC;" | || rowspan=2 colspan=1 | Robert Smith (First Unknown-1408)|| 24/07/1389 - 15/11/1390
|-
| style="background:#33C;" | || 15/11/1390 - 09/07/1397
|-
|2 || style="background:#F99;" | || Henry Johnson (First Unknown-1412) || 09/07/1397 - 14/07/1405
|-
|3 || style="background:#33C;" | || Kevin Brown (1363-1430) || 14/07/1405 - 06/02/1410
|-
|4 || style="background:#33C;" | || Patrick Davies (First Unknown-1422) || 06/02/1410 - 11/07/1413
|-
|5 || style="background:#F99;" | || Adrian Horn (1365-1428) || 11/07/1413 - 19/04/1420
|-
|6 || style="background:#F99;" | || Stephen Barker (1372-1433) || 19/04/1420 - 14/07/1425
|-
|7 || style="background:#33C;" | || Liz Waters ''[female]'' (1377-1440) || 16/07/1425 - 11/07/1433
|-
|8 || style="background:#F99;" | || James Long (1385-1453) || 11/07/1433 - 16/07/1441
|-
|9 || style="background:#33C;" | || Bill Simpson (1398-1470) || style="color:#F0F;" | 16/07/1441 - 14/07/1453
|-
|10 || style="background:#F99;" | || Paul Carpenter (1405-1473) || 09/07/1453 - 20/11/1459
|-
|11 || style="background:#F99;" | || Angela Harrison ''[female]'' (1416-1489) || 20/11/1459 - 10/07/1461
|-
|12 || style="background:#33C;" | || Peter Wright (1409-1480) || 10/07/1461 - 15/07/1465
|-
|13 || style="background:#F99;" | || Angela Harrison ''[female]'' '''[second term]''' || 15/07/1465 - 11/05/1470
|-
|14 || style="background:#F99;" | || James Surridge (1424-1497) || 11/05/1470 - 19/02/1476
|-
|15 || style="background:#F99;" | || Philip Gregory (1426-1504) || 09/02/1476 - 03/07/1477
|-
|16 || style="background:#33C;" | || Heather Booth ''[female]'' (1430-1513) || 03/07/1477 - 13/07/1485
|-
|17 || style="background:#F99;" | || Matthew Miller (1433-1507) || 13/07/1485 - 12/07/1493
|-
|18 || style="background:#33C;" | || John Barrett (1446-1522) || 13/07/1493 - 25/11/1499
|-
|19 || style="background:#33C;" | || Stephen Longwood (1448-1519) || 25/11/1499 - 11/07/1505
|-
|20 || style="background:#F99;" | || Charles Donald (1460-1532) || 11/07/1505 - 08/07/1513
|-
|21 || style="background:#33C;" | || Simon Bartley (1468-1526) || 08/07/1513 - 03/07/1521
|-
|22 || style="background:#F99;" | || Helen Richards ''[female]'' (1474-1556) || style="color:#F0F;" | 03/07/1521 - 08/07/1533
|-
|23 || style="background:#33C;" | || William Black (1489-1563) || 08/07/1533 - 04/07/1541
|-
|24 || style="background:#F99;" | || Phil Jordan (1494-1558) || 04/07/1541 - 11/07/1548
|-
|25 || style="background:#F99;" | || Kevin Walters (1505-1581) || 11/07/1548 - 06/07/1553
|-
|26 || style="background:#33C;" | || Mark Gardner (1504-1574) || 06/07/1553 - 30/03/1560
|-
|27 || style="background:#33C;" | || Rachel Wallace ''[female]'' (1513-1594) || 30/03/1560 - 11/07/1565
|-
|28 || style="background:#F99;" | || Alan Vauxhall (1518-1602) || 06/07/1565 - 13/07/1573
|-
|29 || style="background:#33C;" | || James Billings (1530-1605) || 06/07/1573 - 05/07/1577
|-
|30 || style="background:#F99;" | || Luke Taylor (1532-1606) || 05/07/1577 - 09/07/1581
|-
|31 || style="background:#33C;" | || Abigail Morgan ''[female]'' (1533-1589) || 09/07/1581 - 11/08/1586
|-
|32 || style="background:#33C;" | || Joseph Fowler (b. 1540) || 11/08/1586 - 12/07/1589
|-
|33 || style="background:#F99;" | || Matthew Harding (b. 1546) || 12/07/1589 - 05/07/1597
|-
|34 || style="background:#33C;" | || David Chatham (b. 1562) || style="color:#F0F;" | 05/07/1597 - date
|}
{{Hatnote|"Prime Ministers of Ostrov" redirects here.}}
Owing to the aforementioned nature of Ostrovian politics, the government is made up entirely of the members of the majority party of the Ostrovian Council, which is currently the Union. There are five cabinet ministries beyond the Prime Ministry, reflecting the tasks delivered by the Government. David Chatham is the Prime Minister, head of state and government; he is broadly responsible for representing Ostrov on the Sparkalian stage and dictating the priorities and direction of the government.

Liam Appleton is the Foreign Minister; he is responsible for co-ordinating the details of Ostrov's relationship (including trade) with other nations on a more granular, backstage level than the Prime Minister. He oversees the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Priscilla Costa is the Finance Minister; she is responsible for delivering the annual Budget and making other broad domestic economic decisions, although details are in practice worked out by the Ministry of Finance's staff.

Paul Ellis is the Policing Minister; he is responsible for commanding the national police force's actions within the law, including ensuring that they arrest suspected criminals, engage in deportations and build good relations with the communities they work in. The Ministry of Policing is equivalent to the Interior Ministry in other countries.

Alan Edwards is the Education Minister; he is responsible for ensuring that the Ministry of Education provides schools with resources and examinations, and directs the assessment of schools he believes are failing in their legal obligations (such as the delivery of the basic curriculum to an age-appropriate level).

Catherine Jones is the Healthcare Minister; she is responsible for ensuring that the National Healthcare Initiative, the free-of-charge national healthcare system delivered by the Ministry of Healthcare, provides all the basic care it is legally obliged to carry out. The Minister and her Ministry will often set delivery and process targets for the NHI, such as requiring 95% of patients to be seen within a certain time period after their first report. She may intervene when the only private, paid-for clinic on the island fails to meet basic standards of care, although this has in practice never happened.

While the state is relatively limited, Ostrov regularly engages in deficit spending. Ostrov only collected around 8.3% of its GDP in tax revenue in the 1610 fiscal year. In that year's budget, healthcare took up 5.7% of GDP, education took up 3.8% and policing took up 2.3%. These figures have been fairly constant in previous years.

===Legislature===
{{Hatnote|"Ostrovian Council" redirects here. Results from the most recent Council election [[Ostrovian Council election results, 1609|are available]].}}
[[File:State_of_the_parties_in_the_Ostrovian_Council_as_of_Pax_1611.svg|left|thumb|360px|The makeup of the Council as of Pax 1611 (which remains accurate as of Hilaria 1612): {{legend|#3333CC|Farmers' and Workers' Union: 18 seats '''(majority)'''}} {{legend|#FF9999|Justice Party: 10 seats}} {{legend|#CCCCCC|Independents: 1 seat}} {{legend|#000000|The Speaker}} ]]The Farmers' and Workers' Union hold a majority in the Council as of [[Sparkalian Calendar|Hilaria]] 1612, with eighteen seats to the Justice Party's ten. There are two independent councillors: Stephen James is the Speaker of the Council, who presides over its meetings and keeps order. Esther Braddock, who was elected to a historically Union-held district in the Lux 1609 election but rapidly broke with Justice Party leadership on multiple issues, lost the Justice whip in Audax 1609 after cosponsoring a failed Budget amendment by a Union backbencher which would have introduced LS6 ($6) user fees for GP visits.
===Judiciary===
The Court of Ostrov is overseen by the Ministry of Policing. It functions on the principles of common law: that every act is legal unless an Act of Council decrees it to be illegal, and that - unless there is a highly compelling reason for reversal - previous decisions of the Court, however old, should be respected.

The Court currently has three judges, and the concurrence of two is required for a decision. Judges serve for life, although may retire at any time, and their replacement is appointed by the Ministry of Policing independently of their Minister or the Council in general. Ostrov neither has qualified lawyers nor a system of qualification; many people brought in front of the Court will defend themselves, and the Ministry will typically appoint judges based on their standing in the community, their knowledge of the law, and their understanding of Ostrovian politics and economics.

===Visa Policy===
{{Redirect|Ostrovian visa policy|basic information about which visitors to Ostrov require a visa|Visa Requirements of Sparkalia}}
Ostrovian police automatically assume that anybody without a visa is staying for less than six months and not seeking employment. But anybody who plans to stay in Ostrov for more than six months in a contiguous twelve-month period, wishes to work in Ostrov at any time, or seeks to permanently move to Ostrov with their children must - depending on their nationality - either obtain a Work Visa or an Employee Sponsorship Form (ESF). Tourists cannot apply for a Work Visa or ESF while they are in Ostrov.

All workers from outside Lurynia must apply for a Work Visa. They must pass a Common or Lurynian language test, and seek a named employer to sponsor them and give them terms of employment. (A list of employers is available on request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.)

Lurynian workers may enter the country without a Work Visa. They are exempt from the language requirement, but must also be sponsored by a named employer; at the Ostrovian border, they must present proof of their Ostrovian nationality and sign an ESF, which is a sworn affirmation that they have a named sponsor.

Foreign workers who work for an employer that is not sponsoring them, or otherwise without a Work Visa or ESF, are liable for deportation, unless they seek a new named sponsor or citizenship. Anybody who works and pays income tax for eight of the past ten years is, in theory, eligible to apply for citizenship; permanent resident status as such does not exist.

While roughly 300 domestic students are accepted to [[Ostrov#Education|the Polytechnic of Ostrov]] each year, there is an annual quota of 50 international students. Prospective international students must apply for a Student Visa between Nox 15th and Florentina 15th in the year before they wish to begin studies. Applications are shared with the Polytechnic, who will make recommendations as to which students are of sufficient academic calibre to attain a good degree.

All students whose Student Visa application is successful will hear back by the end of Lux and be guaranteed a place, subject to attaining certain grades equivalent to those that Ostrovian students must achieve. Holders of Student Visas may remain in the country for six months after finishing their degree, during which they may seek a named sponsor employer and obtain a Work Visa without the requirement to complete a language test or fill an ESF. However, they are not treated as tourists if their Student Visa expires without them switching to a Work Visa or marrying an Ostrovian citizen, and will be removed from the country upon detection.

The Ostrovian police force will seek the deportation of anyone who moves to Ostrov simply so their children can be educated in the Ostrov primary and secondary school system. However, parents with Work Visas, Student Visas or ESFs do not need to apply for a visa for their children: they are entitled to an education on the same basis as an Ostrovian citizen. And non-Ostrovian citizens who are married to, or the children of, an Ostrovian citizen may enter and live in the country without any documentation as if they were an citizen themselves - so long as they can prove their spouse or parent is an Ostrovian.

==Foreign Relations and Trade==
===Geopolitics===
Other than with Lurynia, which has served as the nation's main trading partner for almost its entire existence, Ostrov has largely been isolated from the rest of Sparkalia.

===Trade===
Ostrov is far and away a net importer of goods: it mostly produces agricultural products and [[International trading in Sparkalia|any surplus is generally exported]].

==Domestic Economics==
As of 1611, the Ostrovian gross domestic product was just over LS1bn ($1bn), with a GDP per capita of around LS16,000.

Ostrovian tax is relatively simple. 95% of tax is collected from from [[Tax rates in Sparkalia|an 8% income tax levied on all income over LS5,000]], while the rest is obtained through an 8% tax on all capital gains over LS5,000. Calls for the introduction of other taxes are not common; Prime Minister David Chatham insisted in 1603 that his Union government was not looking at introducing a sales tax, which his party's conservative wing has consistently argued in favour of. The Inheritance Tax Now party has been blamed for costing the Justice Party the opportunity to win more seats than it could have done at most elections since it started standing candidates, often in marginal constituencies, in the 1591 election; however, no ITN candidate has ever won more than 5% of the vote.

===Farming===

==Climate==
Although it lies in the Winter Ocean, the [[Lurynia]]n bureau of meteorology has categorised the nation as being dominated by decidious woodlands. There has historically been one weather station in Ostrov, which has been maintained in Southport by the Lurynians for at least two centuries in partnership with the Polytechnic.

Ostrov is located on a small, flat island, which means that climatic conditions across the nation at any given point in time will be fairly similar. The Southport station's recordings have thus been traditionally accepted as accurate readings of the entire Ostrovian climate. Although conditions in Ostrov occasionally vary from those on mainland Dacia, Lurynian officials over the years have repeatedly refused to confirm or deny whether their nation's magical capacities have affected either climate to any extent.

The below box shows the climate data collected from the Southport station over a 200-year period. Note that this data uses Common instead of [[Sparkalian Calendar]] dates for unknown technical reasons.
{{Weather box
| name         =  Climate data for Southport, 1410-1610
| width        =  auto
| collapsed    =  
| open         =  
| metric first = yes
| single line  =  yes <!-- Any entry in this line will display metric and imperial units in the same cell. Leave blank or remove this line for separate table rows. -->
| trace        =  
| location     =  Southport, Ostrov (Nox 1st 1410 - Primo 31st 1610)
| temperature colour = pastel
<!-- Record high temperatures -->
<!-- Note that record temperatures should only be used when the data period is of the greatest length possible. -->
| Jan record high C = 10.9
| Feb record high C = 16.2
| Mar record high C = 20.1
| Apr record high C = 24.5
| May record high C = 28.7
| Jun record high C = 31.8
| Jul record high C = 36.4
| Aug record high C = 34.5
| Sep record high C = 28.4
| Oct record high C = 23.6
| Nov record high C = 17.2
| Dec record high C = 12.4
| year record high C =
<!-- Average monthly absolute maximum temperatures (that is, on average, the highest temperature to be observed in a month). It is important to note that this data is not very prominent in most climate data archives. -->
| Jan avg record high C  = 7.0
| Feb avg record high C  = 12.3
| Mar avg record high C  = 15.4
| Apr avg record high C  = 18.5
| May avg record high C  = 22.6
| Jun avg record high C  = 24.7
| Jul avg record high C  = 26.9
| Aug avg record high C  = 24.2
| Sep avg record high C  = 21.1
| Oct avg record high C  = 17.8
| Nov avg record high C  = 13.2
| Dec avg record high C  = 9.8
| year avg record high C = <!-- Note: the yearly data does NOT necessarily reflect the highest temperature in any of the months. This refers to the yearly highest temperature, that is, on average, the highest temperature to be observed in a year. -->
<!-- Average high temperatures -->
| Jan high C  = 3.5
| Feb high C  = 7.9
| Mar high C  = 10.2
| Apr high C  = 14.3
| May high C  = 16.5
| Jun high C  = 19.8
| Jul high C  = 23.3
| Aug high C  = 20.7
| Sep high C  = 16.8
| Oct high C  = 13.4
| Nov high C  = 9.8
| Dec high C  = 5.1
| year high C =
<!-- Mean daily temperature -->
| Jan mean C  = 0.8
| Feb mean C  = 3.2
| Mar mean C  = 6.5
| Apr mean C  = 9.8
| May mean C  = 13.1
| Jun mean C  = 16.4
| Jul mean C  = 19.7
| Aug mean C  = 16.9
| Sep mean C  = 13.9
| Oct mean C  = 9.6
| Nov mean C  = 6.4
| Dec mean C  = 3.1
| year mean C =
<!-- Average low temperatures -->
| Jan low C  = -3.7
| Feb low C  = -1.4
| Mar low C  = 1.9
| Apr low C  = 4.8
| May low C  = 8.8
| Jun low C  = 11.8
| Jul low C  = 13.1
| Aug low C  = 12.2
| Sep low C  = 9.1
| Oct low C  = 5.3
| Nov low C  = 2.6
| Dec low C  = -1.7
| year low C =
<!-- Average monthly absolute minimum temperatures (that is, on average, the lowest temperature to be observed in a month). It is important to note that this data is not very prominent in most climate data archives. -->
| Jan avg record low C  = -6.7
| Feb avg record low C  = -3.8
| Mar avg record low C  = -1.6
| Apr avg record low C  = 0.4
| May avg record low C  = 4.3
| Jun avg record low C  = 6.8
| Jul avg record low C  = 8.6
| Aug avg record low C  = 7.6
| Sep avg record low C  = 4.9
| Oct avg record low C  = 1.6
| Nov avg record low C  = -2.1
| Dec avg record low C  = -5.3
| year avg record low C = <!-- Note: the yearly data does NOT necessarily reflect the lowest temperature in any of the months. This refers to the yearly lowest temperature, that is, on average, the lowest temperature to be observed in a year. -->
<!-- Record low temperatures -->
<!-- Note that record temperatures should only be used when the data period is of the greatest length possible. -->
| Jan record low C  = -13.5
| Feb record low C  = -10.2
| Mar record low C  = -7.4
| Apr record low C  = -4.7
| May record low C  = -2.6
| Jun record low C  = 0.7
| Jul record low C  = 2.7
| Aug record low C  = 2.4
| Sep record low C  = -0.9
| Oct record low C  = -3.5
| Nov record low C  = -7.4
| Dec record low C  = -11.5
| year record low C =
<!-- Minimum wind chill -->
| Jan chill  = -18.7
| Feb chill  = -14.6
| Mar chill  = -11.6
| Apr chill  = -7.7
| May chill  = -5.9
| Jun chill  = -3.7
| Jul chill  = -2.2
| Aug chill  = -2.8
| Sep chill  = -4.6
| Oct chill  = -8.1
| Nov chill  = -12.1
| Dec chill  = -17.2
| year chill =
<!-- Total precipitation, this should include rain and snow. -->
| precipitation colour  = green
<!-- IMPORTANT: use mm or cm but NOT both! -->
| Jan precipitation mm  =
| Feb precipitation mm  =
| Mar precipitation mm  =
| Apr precipitation mm  =
| May precipitation mm  =
| Jun precipitation mm  =
| Jul precipitation mm  =
| Aug precipitation mm  =
| Sep precipitation mm  =
| Oct precipitation mm  =
| Nov precipitation mm  =
| Dec precipitation mm  =
| year precipitation mm =

| Jan precipitation cm  = 8.63
| Feb precipitation cm  = 7.62
| Mar precipitation cm  = 6.32
| Apr precipitation cm  = 5.92
| May precipitation cm  = 4.75
| Jun precipitation cm  = 4.39
| Jul precipitation cm  = 4.48
| Aug precipitation cm  = 4.96
| Sep precipitation cm  = 5.02
| Oct precipitation cm  = 5.43
| Nov precipitation cm  = 6.71
| Dec precipitation cm  = 8.68
| year precipitation cm = 

<!-- Rainfall -->
| rain colour  =  green
<!-- IMPORTANT: use mm or cm but NOT both! -->
| Jan rain mm  =
| Feb rain mm  =
| Mar rain mm  =
| Apr rain mm  =
| May rain mm  =
| Jun rain mm  =
| Jul rain mm  =
| Aug rain mm  =
| Sep rain mm  =
| Oct rain mm  =
| Nov rain mm  =
| Dec rain mm  =
| year rain mm =

| Jan rain cm  = 6.43
| Feb rain cm  = 6.02
| Mar rain cm  = 5.62
| Apr rain cm  = 5.92
| May rain cm  = 4.75
| Jun rain cm  = 4.39
| Jul rain cm  = 4.48
| Aug rain cm  = 4.96
| Sep rain cm  = 5.02
| Oct rain cm  = 5.43
| Nov rain cm  = 5.91
| Dec rain cm  = 6.78
| year rain cm = 

<!-- Snowfall -->
<!-- IMPORTANT: use mm or cm but NOT both! -->
<!-- IMPORTANT: Do NOT use snow depth information in the snowfall area! These are 2 different kinds of data! -->
| snow colour  =  
| Jan snow mm  = 
| Feb snow mm  = 
| Mar snow mm  = 
| Apr snow mm  = 
| May snow mm  = 
| Jun snow mm  = 
| Jul snow mm  = 
| Aug snow mm  = 
| Sep snow mm  = 
| Oct snow mm  = 
| Nov snow mm  = 
| Dec snow mm  = 
| year snow mm = 

| Jan snow cm  = 2.2
| Feb snow cm  = 1.6
| Mar snow cm  = 0.7
| Apr snow cm  = trace
| May snow cm  = 0
| Jun snow cm  = 0
| Jul snow cm  = 0
| Aug snow cm  = 0
| Sep snow cm  = 0
| Oct snow cm  = trace
| Nov snow cm  = 0.8
| Dec snow cm  = 1.9
| year snow cm = 

<!-- Snow depth -->
<!-- IMPORTANT: use mm or cm but NOT both! -->
<!-- IMPORTANT: Do NOT use snowfall information in the snow depth area! These are 2 different kinds of data! -->
| snow depth colour    = 
| Jan snow depth mm  = 
| Feb snow depth mm  = 
| Mar snow depth mm  = 
| Apr snow depth mm  = 
| May snow depth mm  = 
| Jun snow depth mm  = 
| Jul snow depth mm  = 
| Aug snow depth mm  = 
| Sep snow depth mm  = 
| Oct snow depth mm  = 
| Nov snow depth mm  = 
| Dec snow depth mm  = 
| year snow depth mm = 

| Jan snow depth cm  = 2.4
| Feb snow depth cm  = 1.5
| Mar snow depth cm  = 0.8
| Apr snow depth cm  = 0.2
| May snow depth cm  = 0
| Jun snow depth cm  = 0
| Jul snow depth cm  = 0
| Aug snow depth cm  = 0
| Sep snow depth cm  = 0
| Oct snow depth cm  = trace
| Nov snow depth cm  = 0.5
| Dec snow depth cm  = 1.4
| year snow depth cm = 

<!-- Average number of precipitation days -->
| unit precipitation days = 0.5 cm
| precip days colour      =  
| Jan precipitation days  = 11.0
| Feb precipitation days  = 10.1
| Mar precipitation days  = 9.2
| Apr precipitation days  = 7.8
| May precipitation days  = 6.5
| Jun precipitation days  = 6.3
| Jul precipitation days  = 5.9
| Aug precipitation days  = 6.5
| Sep precipitation days  = 7.2
| Oct precipitation days  = 8.0
| Nov precipitation days  = 9.6
| Dec precipitation days  = 11.3
| year precipitation days =
<!-- Average number of rainy days -->
| unit rain days = 0.5 cm
| Jan rain days  = 10.3
| Feb rain days  = 9.4
| Mar rain days  = 8.9
| Apr rain days  = 7.8
| May rain days  = 6.5
| Jun rain days  = 6.3
| Jul rain days  = 5.9
| Aug rain days  = 6.5
| Sep rain days  = 7.2
| Oct rain days  = 8.0
| Nov rain days  = 9.1
| Dec rain days  = 10.5
| year rain days =
<!-- Average number of snowy days -->
| unit snow days = 1 cm
| Jan snow days  = 0.5
| Feb snow days  = 0.5
| Mar snow days  = 0.2
| Apr snow days  = trace
| May snow days  = 0
| Jun snow days  = 0
| Jul snow days  = 0
| Aug snow days  = 0
| Sep snow days  = 0
| Oct snow days  = trace
| Nov snow days  = 0.3
| Dec snow days  = 0.6
| year snow days =
<!-- Average daily % humidity -->
<!-- If entering the average daily % humidity, then the humidex table should be used. -->
| humidity colour =  green
| time day        =  1200
| daily           =  Y
| Jan humidity    = 67.2
| Feb humidity    = 65.9
| Mar humidity    = 63.2
| Apr humidity    = 61.6
| May humidity    = 58.8
| Jun humidity    = 59.5
| Jul humidity    = 58.9
| Aug humidity    = 60.5
| Sep humidity    = 61.6
| Oct humidity    = 63.9
| Nov humidity    = 65.7
| Dec humidity    = 68.3
| year humidity   =
<!-- Average dew point-->
| Jan dew point C =
| Feb dew point C =
| Mar dew point C =
| Apr dew point C =
| May dew point C =
| Jun dew point C =
| Jul dew point C =
| Aug dew point C =
| Sep dew point C =
| Oct dew point C =
| Nov dew point C =
| Dec dew point C =
<!-- Average monthly sunshine hours, monthly totals are preferred, and will produce colours, but percentages are accepted.-->
| Jan sun  = 120.9
| Feb sun  = 132.8  <!-- For February only if the source gives daily hours, please multiply by 28.25, not 28 -->
| Mar sun  = 164.3
| Apr sun  = 186.0
| May sun  = 229.4
| Jun sun  = 240.0
| Jul sun  = 254.2
| Aug sun  = 235.6
| Sep sun  = 195.0
| Oct sun  = 170.5
| Nov sun  = 138.0
| Dec sun  = 124.0
| year sun =
<!-- Average daily sunshine hours. Use this if the source shows daily sunshine hours. -->
| Jand sun  = 3.9
| Febd sun  = 4.7
| Mard sun  = 5.3
| Aprd sun  = 6.2
| Mayd sun  = 7.4
| Jund sun  = 8.0
| Juld sun  = 8.2
| Augd sun  = 7.6
| Sepd sun  = 6.5
| Octd sun  = 5.5
| Novd sun  = 4.6
| Decd sun  = 4.0
| yeard sun =
<!-- Average daylight hours, including cloudy hours. -->
| Jan light = 9.5
| Feb light = 10.6
| Mar light = 11.9
| Apr light = 13.4
| May light = 14.5
| Jun light = 15.2
| Jul light = 14.9
| Aug light = 13.9
| Sep light = 12.5
| Oct light = 11.1
| Nov light = 9.8
| Dec light = 9.1
| year light= 
<!-- Average percent of possible sunshine. Number of daylight hours already factored into this number. Note that since this is possible sunshine, nighttime hours should not be included in this calculation. Will produce colours. -->
| Jan percentsun  = 41.1
| Feb percentsun  = 44.3
| Mar percentsun  = 44.5
| Apr percentsun  = 46.3
| May percentsun  = 51.0
| Jun percentsun  = 52.6
| Jul percentsun  = 55.0
| Aug percentsun  = 54.7
| Sep percentsun  = 52.0
| Oct percentsun  = 49.5
| Nov percentsun  = 46.9
| Dec percentsun  = 44.0
| year percentsun =
<!-- Average daily UV index -->
| Jan uv  = 2
| Feb uv  = 2
| Mar uv  = 3
| Apr uv  = 3
| May uv  = 5
| Jun uv  = 6
| Jul uv  = 7
| Aug uv  = 6
| Sep uv  = 5
| Oct uv  = 4
| Nov uv  = 3
| Dec uv  = 2
| year uv = 4
<!-- thanks to Sparkles (User:Oyus) for the IC and OOC assistance! -->
| source = Lurynian bureau of meteorology, Southport station
}}

==Demographics==
Ostrov is entirely populated by humans; in particular, almost everybody in the country is of [[Ethnicities in Sparkalia|Ostrovian ethnicity]]. Although the Ostrovian census - which is conducted once every five years - does not collect statistics on religion, surveys carried out by private organisations suggest that the vast majority of Ostrovians are atheist. Analysts have suggested this could be an effect of Ostrov being populated by members of the First Unknown, who generally prefer relying on their own technology than on magic.

===Health===
==Life==
===Culture and Language===
The creative arts in Ostrov are limited: there is a single museum and no dedicated venues for the performance of music, although some Ostrovian recording artists have made a name for themselves on the domestic stage, by releasing singles and performing in social venues in towns such as pubs. There is no television signal; ownership of radios is common and many Ostrovians will listen to Lurynian radio stations, although there is a single locally-owned radio station called Radio Sky which broadcasts pop music by Ostrovian and Lurynian singers.

Common is the official language of Ostrov; while the Ostrovian government publishes in both Common and Lurynian, the Common version prevails in the event of any disreptancies. The names of people, places, landmarks and important institutions in Ostrov are more representative of Common-speaking cultures, Common is taught in schools, and virtually all Ostrovians have at least some grasp of the language. However, Lurynian is the most commonly-spoken language, owing to Ostrov's historically strong ties with Lurynia; Ostrovians are generally expected to understand it, and many speak and write it to a high level.

While a Common-language market for literature exists and domestic authors have risen to modest fame for much of Ostrov's existence, most books in circulation are Lurynian. ''Today'' is the oldest and only major Ostrovian daily newspaper, having been first published in 1389; most of its content is in Lurynian, although every issue will contain a few pages of general Common-language news. Smaller, town-level newspapers exist, but are generally unremarkable and written solely in Lurynian.

===Education===
{{Further|Education on Sparkalia#Ostrov}}
Ostrov has a single, comprehensive schooling system. The Ministry of Education does not set a curriculum beyond requiring that schools deliver sufficient education in Common, Lurynian and Mathematics. However, it supplies funding to schools for resources, occasionally inspects schools to ensure compliance with the basic curriculum, and administers the Leaving Examinations to all eighteen-year-old students in schools at the end of each year.

Many towns will have their own schools, both at primary and secondary level, where town-dwellers attend; they follow a loose curriculum the three mandatory subjects as well as other core subjects such as the sciences, history and geography, although many schools choose to deliver arts and physical education as well. Homeschooling is legal under the common law and practiced by many farming families; they must teach the three mandatory subjects but are not required to ensure their children take the Leaving Exams.

Most Ostrovians will end their studies aged eighteen. However, there is one small university on the island, the Polytechnic of Ostrov, which specialises in science, medicine, engineering, mathematics and economics. About 300 domestic students (a quarter of the annual cohort) are accepted for study there each year, although the vast majority of them study in in Southport, which has the best-funded schools of any town and where the University is located. 18-year-old Ostrovians who seek to attend an off-island university may do so, but must meet the other university's requirements and make their own preparations. 

===Technology===
Personal computers exist in Ostrov and are widespread; many households, especially those without computers and printers, still have typewriters. However, there is no internet connection and all government communications, for example, happen in person or on paper. Should the internet be introduced in future years, Ostrov has been assigned the .os TLD, although Prime Minister Chatham has ruled out this possibility, citing cost issues and the "potential for illegal activity."

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[[Category:Countries (Sparkalia)]]
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