Stórkostlegborg

Stórkostlegurborg
Autonomous City
Nickname:  The Pearl of the North
Country	Template:Country data Atlantica
Founded	Circa 6000 BCE
City Charter	821
Government
• Type	Thing
• Body	Stórkostlegurborg Thing Stórkostlegurborg City Council
• Mayor	Sindri Olvirsson (C)
Area
• Autonomous City	151 km2 (58 sq mi)
Population
• Autonomous City	493,942 (city limits)
• Density	3,271/km2 (8,470/sq mi)
• Metro	654,311
Demonym	Stórkostlegurborger
Time zone	UTC -7:15
Website	http://www.stórkostlegurborg.al

Stórkostlegurborg, officially the Autonomous City of Stórkostlegurborg, is the largest city in Atlantica, as well as its capital. It is the main cultural, political, economic and religious centre in Atlantica, as all major religions, government agencies, trade unions, political parties and corporations primarily located in Atlantica have their headquarters in Stórkostlegurborg, due to the immense size of Stórkostlegurborg compared to other cities, as Stórkostlegurborg is over four times larger than the second largest city of Fjordhavn and contains over a majority of the Atlantican population. Stórkostlegurborg is also the headquarters of numerous NGOs and international organisations, such as the National Kraqi Opposition Coalition, the Germanic Union, and the Esquarian Ásatrú Alliance. Stórkostlegurborg has also hosted international events such as the Esquarivision Song Contest.

Etymology

Stórkostlegurborg is derived from the Atlantican words for Magnificent (Stórkostlegur) and City (Borg), literally meaning "Magnificent City", a reference to the famed splendour of the city.

Architecture

The Stórkostlegurborg Hof, the most important and largest Hof for the Atlanticanist Temple, as well as the seat of the Hofgoði of Stórkostlegurborg, the leader of the Atlanticanist Temple and one of the largest buildings in Atlantica and the largest Gothic place of worship in all of Esquarium.

The Old Stórkostlegurborg Hof, formerly the seat of the Hofgoði of Stórkostlegurborg before the construction of the Stórkostlegurborg Hof from 1393-1459 and the seat of the Goði of Central Stórkostlegurborg. Built from 854-883, it is one of the oldest standing buildings in Atlantica.

The Palace of the Jarls, the palace of the Co-Jarls of Atlantica (one of the Jarls being the Vjaarlandic President as ex officio role of the President of Vjaarland, the other being an indigenous Atlantican position; in practice, only the Atlantican Jarl resides in the Palace of the Jarls). Built from 1657-1719, this building is one of the largest in Atlantica and one of the largest Gothic buildings in Esquarium.

Stórkostlegurborg is home to numerous medieval and early modern buildings, the most prominent of which are old Lagian League centres, as well as numerous Atlanticanist hofs. The Stórkostlegurborg Hof (considered to be a paragon of the arts and one of the most prominent Gothic buildings in Esquarium) and Old Stórkostlegurborg Hof are of particular importance, as both are the considered to be some of the two most important and sacred sites in Atlantica's majority and state religion, Atlanticanism. Th Atlantican Capitol (depicted above) is also an important tourist attraction, as it is the former capitol of the Atlantican circle of the Lagian League is the seat of the Atlantican Althing (the Atlantican parliament). The Palace of the Jarls (the largest Gothic palace in Esquarium) is considered to be one of the last great Gothic buildings that were built and a paragon of the arts.

Stórkostlegurborg has continued its long tradition of Gothic architecture; today, modern buildings are almost always Gothic or Romanesque revival, as exemplified by the Abortionplex.

Politics

Like all Atlantican cities as specified in the Constitution, Stórkostlegurborg is primarily governed by the directly democratic Thing that convenes every month, although the 50-member Stórkostlegurborg City Council governs Stórkostlegurborg in between each Thing. As is specified to be an option in the Constitution, Stórkostlegurborg's City Council elects a Mayor once a month (one day after the monthly Thing), who helps manage Stórkostlegurborg's executive branch. As Stórkostlegurborg is generally considered to be a very left-wing city even for Atlantica, Stórkostlegurborg's municipal politics is both today and historically dominated by the Red-Green-Socialist Alliance, especially the Socialist-Farmer-Labourites, Socialist Leftists and Communists (in no particular order), and the SFL governed Stórkostlegurborg as the senior partner in a coalition with the Radicals from 1904-1913, and have governed in a coalition with the Communists (and later the Socialist Leftists and all other parties in the RGSA) since that year, and both Socialists, Socialist Leftists, and Communists have served as Stórkostlegurborg Mayor. The Socialists and Communists in Stórkostlegurborg were well-known in the 1910s and 1920s for their reformist policies of creating as Stórkostlegurborg public transit system (the Stórkostlegurborg Metro), municipalising the then-privately owned sewage, water and electricity sectors in Stórkostlegurborg in order to provide those public services to all Stórkostlegurborgers, and the creation of the free Stórkostlegurborg breakfast to be provided to all Stórkostlegurborg students. These reformist policies were (originally derogatorily) termed sewer socialism, and were partially used as a model for the public ownership of all utilities in Atlantica in the 1920s, as the newly-created Atlantican Electricity Authority and National Water Board were inspired by Stórkostlegurborg's now-defunct (due to the nationalisation of the electricity and water services) Stórkostlegurborg Electricity Authority and Stórkostlegurborg Water Board, respectively, whilst the Stórkostlegurborg breakfast was expanded to all Atlantican schools (and remains in all Atlantican schools today), and today the Stórkostlegurborg Sewage Board and Stórkostlegurborg Metro still exist and continue to thrive, and today the Stórkostlegurborg Metro is jointly owned by the City of Stórkostlegurborg and the other cities in the Stórkostlegurborg Metropolitan Area. Today, the Communists hold a plurality of seats in the Stórkostlegurborg City Council, followed by the the SFL, the Socialist Leftists, and various opposition parties, led by the Radicals.

Stórkostlegurborg is also unique in Atlantica in that due to its large size, many powers held by the Autonomous City have been devolved to five different "neighbourhoods" in Stórkostlegurborg: Central Stórkostlegurborg, North Stórkostlegurborg, South Stórkostlegurborg, West Stórkostlegurborg and East Stórkostlegurborg, who manage most public housing and functions of the Stórkostlegurborg Sewage Board and Stórkostlegurborg Metro that would normally be powers for the entire Autonomous City of Stórkostlegurborg, and do have the freedom to, like the entire Autonomous City, nationalise any business, levy any non-regressive, non-poll or non-flat tax and establish any welfare state as they see; however, the powers each "neighbourhood" have are solely at the pleasure of the Autonomous City and may be revoked at any time. Each neighbourhood has the same form of governance as the entire Autonomous City has, and every neighbourhood is, like Stórkostlegurborg, governed by a Socialist-Communist-Socialist Leftist coalition (with both the SFL and the Communists serving as the senior partner in various different neighbourhoods; the SLP currently does not serve as the the senior partner in any neighbourhoods), with the support and coalition of the other RGSA parties, except in Central Stórkostlegurborg, where a Communist majority in the Central Stórkostlegurborg Neighbourhood Council exists, and in South Stórkostlegurborg, where a Radical-Social Democratic coalition is in place in the South Stórkostlegurborg Neighbourhood Council.