Nova Vinelandia

Nova Vinelandia
Flag
Motto:  "Honour the past, reach for the future" (English)
Capital and largest city	L'Anse aux Meadows
Demonym(s)	Vinelandian
Government	Unitary Republic
Legislature	Vinelandian House of Assembly
Population
• Census	64 972 061
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$1.043 Trillion
• Per capita	$41,240
Gini (2023)	33.0 medium
HDI	0.849 very high
Currency	Vinelandian Rune (VIR)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+42
Internet TLD	.ti

Nova Vinelandia is a nation on Sparkalia. It is bordered by The Mapleville League to the west. It's capital city of L'Anse aux Meadows is it's oldest and most populous, with nearly 36% of the nations population residing in the city. The country is geographically diverse with tall mountains and glaciers in the north slowly rolling into flat wetlands near the coast, where most of the population resides.

The region was formerly a part of the great Nourevian Federation, though it's geography meant the land was never viewed as prime for settling, and little immigration occurred. Only after the Federation's breakup did people begin exiting from the core lands of the federation, seeking a new home. Along the coast, the settlement of L'Anse aux Meadows, meaning "Bay of Meadows" was founded by a group of these emigrants who seeking a peaceful, segregated, and prosperous existence away from the Federation or it's successor states. L'Anse aux Meadows became known as a safe, economically prosperous, libertarian heaven for those who felt unwanted by their home nations. The settlement founded by the Offworlders grew into a diverse multi-species nation and began expanding it's territory inland, eventually reaching the border of The Mapleville League. It was declared officially to be Nova Vinelandia, meaning "New Prosperous Land".

The area is rich in energy resources, particularly uranium, as well as other minerals like iron and zinc. The extraction and sale of these resources still largely powers the Vinelandian economy, though fishing and the services sector contribute significantly as well. The nation does pursue some interventionism when it deems it necessary, but is generally a very free market with low taxes. The total tax rate is around 17% for the average household. The nation is incredibly linguistically diverse and multi-cultural. Though for practical purposes government business is conducted in Arguardian, it is not uncommon to see villages with signs in the local language or dialect, and a variety of schools are available which teach in a multitude of different possible languages. To simplify this, rather then have a centralised public education system, the nation engages in school choice, in which parents are given vouchers by the government to send their children to private schools.

Government and Politics

Democracy

Nova Vinelandia is a democratic republic ruled by a unicameral legislature, The Vinelandian House of Assembly as well as a separately elected head of state, the Governor. The Governor is elected via Instant-Runoff Voting every 5 years on a fixed date. The Governor is officially the commander of the armed forces, and also in charge of appointing members to the various ministries of the executive. The members of the House of Assembly are elected every 5 years as well, exactly 2 years after the gubernatorial election. Members are elected in multi-member districts, called Zones, using the Single Transferable Vote system. Bills are passed by simple majority in the house, in case of an even split the Governor gets to break the tie.

Vinelandian politics have been traditionally split between two major ideologies. The Unitarians, who seek a more uniform, standardised, and centralised state and the Devolutionists, who wish for the Vinelandian state to be as minimal as possible and for people to be accorded the maximum amount of liberties. Traditionally, 3 parties, who were known as the Big Three, were dominant in Vinelandian politics. However recently, there has been a massive rise in mixed-method parties, who believe the ideal state is a balance between the ideologies of the two. in what became known as The Mixed Revolution. The revolution severely disrupted the political status quo, loosening the grip of the Big Three, and opening the doors for previously niche parties to begin playing a bigger role.

List of Parties

Liberal Unitarian Party

The Liberal Unitarian Party is the oldest party, and one of the original Big Three, founded by a group of the original founders shortly after the establishment of the republic. They are a Unitarian party and have long been the main party representing the ideology. They are traditionally the rivals of Together!, a party which has similar policies except for being Devolutionist. They are social-liberals, self described centrists, and support a free-market with some state interventionism. In power, they have typically accomplished projects of centralisation and standardisation, like the adoption of a Arguardian as the official language of government.

Together!

Together! is the second oldest party, one of the original Big Three, and was the main rival of the Liberal Unitarian Party for several elections. They fall under the Devolutionist category, and are self described centrist libertarians. Their stated goal is to be a broad alliance unifying the left and right in a desire for freedom and personal independence. Typically while in power Together! has sought to pull back government regulations and restrictions. They are not fundamentally opposed to taxes and social spending as long as it doesn't infringe on personal freedoms, they were the pioneers behind the nation's school choice system.