Bear Island

Duchy of Bear Island, (commonly known internationally as Bear Island; locally known as Vojvodina Medviđeg Škoja, Medviđi Škoj or just Škoj), is a Nordic island nation situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The capital city is Mormonta Trdina (anglicized: Mormont Keep), however the largest and the most popolous city is Svanigrad. Duchy of Bear Island exercises supreme authority over the Plutonic Dominion (Svalbard archipelago and scattered islands). Plutonic Dominion has been granted many liberties, inclunding its very own parliament, however the head of state, finances and foreign affairs jointly concern Bear Island and Plutonic Dominion. Bear Island is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite being in the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate.

It was originally thought that Bear Island was discovered by the Dutch explorers Willem Barentsz and Jacob van Heemskerck on 10 June 1596, who gave its name after a polar bear that was seen swimming nearby. However, recent archaeological research in the west of the country has found evidence of Viking settlements on the island, indicating that the island was inhabited even before Barentsz and his companions discovered it. The island remained uninhabited until the second half of the 19th century when it was re-discovered by an Austro-Hungarian expedition with 895 immigrants, mostly from coastal Croatia and Slovenia. The island was under Austro-Hungarian rule until World War I, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Norway, which was ratified by the Svalbard Treaty in 1920. During the World War II it served as a refugee camp for refugees from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, many of which stayed after the war. It proclaimed indepedence on June 18 1960: this act was not recognised by the Kingdom of Norway, which almost brought two sides to an armed conflict. It was averted by signing a peace deal on January 4 1961, guaranteeing closer relations between those 2 countries, but not the official recognition. However, tensions finally broke in 2006 when the full-scale invasion of Bear Island and its protectorates was commenced by Norway. Bear Island Army successfully repelled the attackers, forcing them to sign the final peace treaty and mutually recognizing each other in Paris on May 31 2007. Soon followed admissions to UN the same year and EFTA three years later.

Bear-Islandic culture is founded upon the nation's Slavic heritage. Most Bear-Islanders are descendants of Croatian, Slovenian and Russian settlers. Bear-Islandic, a Western Slavic language, is descended from dialects of regions from where the first and most of the subsequent immigrants originated from: Istria and Dalmatia. It was also influenced by Norwegian, due to the long occupation of the Duchy. The country's cultural heritage includes traditional cuisine, literature, religion, festivities and ancestral customs of their original homeland.