Dahemia

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Dahemia (disambiguation).

"Dähmen" redirects here. For other uses, see Dähmen (disambiguation).

Free State of Dahemia Fräistaat Dämen (Dahemian) Freistaat Dähmen (Notgerman) État libre de Dahême (Notfrench)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Nec temere, nec timide (Cambran) "Neither rashly nor timidly"
Anthem: Dämeschhymn (Dahemian) "Dahemian Hymn"
Location of Dahemia (dark green) in Calesia (green & dark gray)
Capital and largest city	Gonece 49°42'N 05°59'E
Official languages	Dahemian
Administrative languages	Dahemian Notgerman Notfrench
Ethnic groups	61.9% Dahemians 38.1% others
Religion	55.8% Gregorianism 35.4% Presterist 10.5% Northern Cathedralist 9.5% other Gregorians 30.1% no religion 6.6% X 0.7% others
Demonym(s)	Dahemian
Government	Federal parliamentary constitutional republic
• Minister-President	Ulrich Barschel
• Deputy Minister-President	Karl Egon Distille
• President of the Chamber of Deputies	Annaliese Straack-Zorn
Legislature	Chamber of Deputies
Formation
• Reidside Conference	5 April 1941
• Lonane Statute	20 February 1955
• Self-government (current constitution)	16 June 1957
• Founded the Calesian Community	1 September 1996
Area
• Total	2,599.3 km2 (1,003.6 sq mi)
• Water (%)	0.4%
Population
• December 2023 estimate	2,183,805
• 2021 census	2,066,579 (14th)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$153.6 billion (8th)
• Per capita	$70,354
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$148.3 billion (8th)
• Per capita	$67,901
Gini (2021)	30.3 medium
HDI (2020)	0.929 very high
Currency	X
Time zone	UTC+1
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+616
Internet TLD	.dh

Dahemia (/ˈtæˈhiːmiə/ dah-HEE-mee-ə; Dahemian: Dämen [ˈdæːmən]; Notgerman: Dähmen [ˈdɛːmən]; Notfrench: Dahême [dɑ̃.ɛːm]), officially the Free State of Dahemia, is a sovereign landlocked country in Central Calesia. It is bordered by Notgermany to the north and west, Notfrance to the east, and Notswitzerland to the south. With an area of 2,599.3 km² (1,003.6 sq mi) and a population of 2,183,805 in 2023, Dahemia is Calesia's smallest and least populous country, but the single-most densely populated, with a density of 840/km² (2,175.9/sq mi). Gonece is its capital and largest city; other major cities include Greven, Cherms, Meinfeld, Karlsbad, Verniers, and Saldenbroich.

The term referring to the historical region of Dahemia has been in use for over a millenium, beginning with the conquests of the Cambran Empire in the first century BC. A distinct political entity comprising the region only arose in the mid-17th century with the Duchy and later in the 19th century with the Kingdom of Dahemia respectively, before being absorbed by the fledging Notfrench Empire in 18X amidst Notgerman unification. Its wealth of coal and iron ore deposits made it a central focal point of the Industrial Revolution.

Following the Great War in Calesia, it was occupied by Notgerman forces and became the United Congress-mandated Dahemian Protectorate in late 1941. After the 1957 Lonane Statute referendum and unsuccessful attempts made by Notgermany to annex Dahemia proper, it gained its independence as the Free State. Since, tensions between the Notgerman-speaking and Notfrench-speaking communities have persisted; the 1980s saw far-reaching state reforms and a political transition towards state federalism, but irredentist and nationalist movements (such as the X Movement and the Fatherland Party) continue to be popular.

Dahemia is an federal constitutional republic headed by the Minister-President, currently Ulrich Barschel since 2020. It is a founding member state of the United Congress, X, and hosts the seats and headquarters of numerous intergovernmental organizations. As a developed country and mixed-market high-income economy, it ranks highly in human development, income equality, civil liberty, economic competitiveness, gender equality, and prosperity indexes, and has among the highest GDPs per capita (both nominally and by PPP) in Calesia; it was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2000. Dahemian culture is largely shaped by Notgerman and Notfrench influences, but remains distinct because of its Presterist heritage, traditional cuisine, and customs. Home to three main linguistic communities, the country is officially trilingual, although NotGerman is the majority language and the lingua franca.

Geography

General overview map of Dahemia, with towns and major natural features

Government and politics

See also: Minister-President of Dahemia and Chamber of Deputies (Dahemia)

Dahemia is a federal parliamentary representative democracy, as codified and set by its constitutional instrument, the Basic Law. Exercising the separation of powers, the country's political system is divided into the executive, legislative, and judiciary, each controlled by a separate institution.

Formally and de jure, the Minister-President is the head of the executive branch and, therefore, head of state, active commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the most influential single political figure in Dahemia. Being elected by popular vote for an unlimited number of non-consecutive four-year terms, the Minister-President almost always wields the confidence of parliament through a single-party majority or coalition government. Their government, the Cabinet, operates as a collegial body with collective responsibility under the scrutiny and oversight of the legislature. Currently, Ulrich Barschel holds that office since 2023.

Legislative power is vested in the Chamber of Deputies, an unicameral parliament comprising 61 members. The Chamber is directly elected using the mixed-member proportional representation system from seven electoral constituencies, called Districts. Dahemia has compulsory voting and therefore consistently maintains some of the highest voter turnout rates in the world. While there is an electoral threshold of 3% for the allocation of seats, candidates may be elected to a seat directly in one of Dahemia's City Districts.

The national judiciary is embodied in the State Court, totalling seven judges, being the official source of law of the country, guarantor and protector of the constitution, and the only institution granted the right of judicial review. Courts of appeal include the Civil Justice Court, the Criminal Justice Court, and the Labor Court. As a result of the Lonane Statute, the country's code of law is largely shaped by the United Congress' Charter for the Rights of Man and Waldish codified law.

The Old Castle at the Kornmarkt, seat of the Chamber of Deputies

Schöneiche House in the Old Botanical Garden, seat of the Minister-President

The State Court Building at Judiciary Square in northern Gonece

Political culture

See also: Irredentism in Dahemia and Dahemian Question

Essential concepts of the system, such as the federal structure, respect for human rights and the rule of law were officially added in 1959 and are protected by a status of perpetual validity. Direct democracy is supported through the availability of protests, referenda, a multi-party system and accountancy of the government, and guaranteed freedoms of expression, assembly, and universal suffrage beginning at age 18.

In Dahemia's political history, the Gregorian People's Party and Workers' Party have been the dominant parties, with almost every Minister-President to date being a member of either party. However, smaller parties still retain significant power, most notably the Civil Democratic Party, the Green Action, and the Pirates. More notably, parties representing the linguistic, cultural, and nationalist interests of the respective Notgerman and Notfrench communities continue to maintain popularity; among the most influential of these are the Fatherland Party and the Freedom and Prosperity Party. Almost every government was a coalition government, however, and many of the smaller parties oriented to the larger parties who maintain catch-all blocs in hopes of better negotiating a coalition government contract with another major party bloc.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Dahemia

See also: Gonece

Since the 1983 state reforms, Dahemia is a federation consisting of ten entities, called Municipalities (Gemeinden); it is the smallest federal country in the world by population size and area. Each of these are grouped into constitutionally defined language areas, called Regions (Regionen), that determine the official language in the respective Municipality and preserve the shared cultural heritage of its constituents. Electoral entities called Districts (Bezirke) send representatives to the Chamber of Deputies, but their borders do not necessarily reflect those of the former two and they are usually classified as either Rural or City District (Landbezirke or Stadtbezirke), depending on demographic census data and population density. The Municipalities themselves are sub-divided into Boroughs (Viertel).

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Dahemia

The United Congress headquarters in Gonece, a global center of international diplomacy

One of the consequences of Dahemia's accession to independence by the Lonane Statute referendum in 1957 was the implementation of official neutrality and non-alignment for its foreign policy. As a result, the country came to play a significant role in international relations and mediating diplomacy during the Atomic Age; the decision to headquarter the newly established United Congress (UC) in Dahemia in 1960 was partially due to that arrangement.

In the latter half of the Atomic Age, Dahemia made considerable efforts to further global economic integration and and Waldrich-Falland mediation. During the period of global détente in the 1980s and 1990s, Dahemia reconsidered its definition of non-alignment to pursue more proactive foreign policy and traditional involvement in peacebuilding, pursuing Calesian integration and membership in the X, which it gained in 1994. It is also a member of the Calesian Free Trade Compact (CFTC), which it joined in 1999. While not part of the X, it participates in the Calesian single market.

Dahemia is a member of the X–Dahemian Economic Union (XDEU), X. It hosts the offices of the United Congress Secretariat, Security Council, Congress Assembly, and the Social and Economic Council, the World Monetary Fund (WMF), the Central Commission for the Lonane (CCL), the International Human Rights Council (IHRC), the Calesian Court of Auditors (CCA), and the X.

Military

Main article: Dahemian Armed Forces

A Dahemian soldier stands guard during the X mission in X in 2009.

The Dahemian Armed Forces are a primarily peacetime-oriented military force reporting to the Ministry of Defense and operating out of the Graf-Reinfels Casern in Saldenbroich. Since military service conscription was abolished in 2005, it is organized as a fully professional standing army under civilian control, with the Minister-President as commander-in-chief and the Chief of the General Staff as its highest-ranking operational command officer.

It is divided into two main service branches: the Army and the Air Force; being a landlocked country, Dahemia has no formal navy but employs armed patrol boats on its lakes and on the Lonane river. Defense spending comprised about 2.9% of the government's annual budget in 2022, making it one of the largest defense-budget-per-GDP ratios in the world. Among its arsenal, Dahemia maintains two X military cargo planes, one wing of fighter aircraft, one wing of utility helicopters, and one mechanized infantry brigade.

Since the latter half of the Atomic Age, Dahemian defense policy has largely concentrated on the training and deployment of troops for peace support operations missions abroad. Due to its declared status of neutrality, it has a tradition of participating in United Congress-led peacekeeping, natural disaster relief and other humanitarian aid operations. Dahemian soldiers participated in UCOMCA in Nadauro (1987–1992), and X in X. As of 2021, 156 military personnel are deployed in X for X and 30 troops deployed in X for X.

Notes

a.^ Dahemian: Fräistaat Dämen [ˈfʁɑɪʃtaːt ˈdæːmən]; Notgerman: Freistaat Dähmen [ˈfrɑɪʃtaːt ˈdɛːmən]; Notfrench: État libre de Dahême [eta libʁ də dɑ̃.ɛːm]