Ordennya

The Federation of Ordennya Federationen av Ordennya
Flag
Motto: This land was made for you and me.
Anthem: I swear to thee, my country.
Alternate anthem: This land is your land.
Ordennya (dark green) in the Euclean Community (light green)
The states of Ordennya
Capital and	Västdal
Official languages	Ordennyan
Recognised national languages	Gaullician Estmerish
Recognised regional languages	Neuistrian
Ethnic groups (2015)	87.1% White 7.0% Asian 3.0% Black 2.0% Mixed 0.9% others
Demonym(s)	Ordennyan
Government	Presidential Federal Parliamentary Republic
• President	Clas Markuson
• Vice President	Josephine Petersson
Legislature	Parliament
Establishment
• Declaration of the Ordennyan Republic	September 19th, 1851
• Acts of Ordennyan Union	September 25th, 1851
• Ordennyan Federal Powers Act	October 24th, 2015
Population
• 2017 census	27,667,843
GDP (PPP)	2017 estimate
• Total	$1.485 trillion
• Per capita	$55,000
GDP (nominal)	2017 estimate
• Total	$1,383,392,150,000
• Per capita	$50,000
Gini (2017)	0.433 low
HDI	0.976 very high
Currency	Ordennyan Credit (ORC; £)
Time zone	UTC+-0 (Ordennyan Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	Ordennyan Summer Time
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+44

Ordennya is a country located on the far North of the continent of Euclea in Kylaris. An island nation, Ordennya's nearest neighbour is Werania to the south, with its twelve states spanning the island. Ordennya has a wide spread of its population geographically, with its population of 27 million evenly split between the rural areas and the more concentrated urban areas in the larger towns and cities, the largest being the capital, Västdal. Ordennya's climate varies between the states, with the northern states being more harsh in its winter climate, with the southern states being more temperate, although temperatures rarely exceed 30 degrees celcius in the summer, with four largely distinct seasons.

Ordennya is a federation, with the 12 Ordennyan states having their own legislatures as a result of a 2015 referendum to reorganise Ordennya into a Federation. At the Federal level, Ordennya has a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies as the lower house, and the Senate of the People & Regions as the upper house. Both are elected using proportional representation, the Chamber using Mixed-member proportional and the Senate using Single Transferable Vote, with elections taking place at the most every five years. The President combines the role of Head of State and Prime Minister, due to a quirk in Ordennyan constitutional law whereby the clause separating the two roles was never invoked. As a result, the President has always sat as a member of the House of Commons, and is generally the leader of the largest party or coalition.

History

Ordennya began life as a Kingdom in the late 10th century, ruled for 900 years by the House of Åkesson, who ruled the province of Osea. In a long campaign, King Olafur united the 13 provinces of Ordennya under his own crown. It benefited from it's position as an island nation and developed a bustling economy based on fishing, and it's lush land allowed it to develop its agricultural sector. It was ruled as an absolute monarchy from the moment of its formation in 981, when the various provincial leaders decided to merge into one Kingdom, until the Grand Revolution of 1157 resulted in King Edward IV seceding some of his powers to his council of advisors, which eventually became an elected Parliament in 1329. Franchise was limited the landowning elite, however, until the Ordennyan Civil War of 1657-1669 resulted in the franchise being extended to all men who owned at least 2 acres of land. This remained the status quo until 1827, when the franchise was extended all working men and the 650 seats in the House of Commons distributed more evenly. From the late 18th century and well into the mid 19th century, the country experienced its industrial revolution, with the capital city of Västdal, a bustling fishing port, became the country's main industrial hub. Other cities, like Oured, Edgholm, and saw themselves become industrial hubs as well. During this time, the majority of the population moved from the coastal towns and rural villages to the big cities, leading to the country developing its now vast rail network.

The chain of events leading to Ordennya's transition to a republic began after the 1835 General Election, in which the Conservatives, led by Otto Sohlmann, ended their five year spat in Opposition in defeating the Liberal Government. The Government began to make moves to consolidate more power in the hands of the King, Stefan XI, who found himself dissatisfied with a number of the reforms enacted by the Liberal government. The Liberals were powerless to stop the actions of the government due to the size of the majority held by the Conservatives, who held 453 of the 700 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. This allowed the new centre-left Radical Party, made up of left wing Independents and dissident Liberals led by MP Jonas Sandberg, to accuse the Liberals of being complacent in opposing the Government in the Chamber of Peers, where the Liberals had a majority over the Conservatives. A snap election in 1837, triggered by the Liberals voting down the budget in the Chamber of Peers, saw the Conservatives reduced to a minority government, winning only 349 seats, while the Liberals were relegated to third place, with only 25 seats. The Radicals overtook the Liberals, increasing their seat number from 20 to 310, winning seats from both the Liberals and the Conservatives. The Radicals in opposition were able to defeat a number of bills introduced by the Conservative government, which culminated in a loss in a No Confidence Motion for the Government, leading to another election in which the Radicals emerged as the winning Party, winning 378 out of 700 seats. The King, wary of Sandberg, allowed him to form a government, and held his tongue over the reforms enacted by the Radicals which circumvented what remained of his power. The Radicals were re-elected in 1845, and in 1850 the King decided enough was enough, sacked Sandberg as Prime Minister and dissolved Parliament, leading to the mass repression of civil liberties under the direct rule of the King. Sandberg found himself thrust into the role of a revolutionary leader, and successfully lead a civil uprising in which supporters of the Radical and Liberal Parties, aided by workers, took control of the major cities, leading to the King's abdication and Sandberg being sworn in as President of Ordennya. A new Constitution cemented Ordennya's new status as a Unitary Republic, which remained the status quo until 2016, when the government held a referendum on whether Ordennya should be reorganised into a Federation, which passed 75%-25%, and Ordennya now exists as a Federal Republic. Throughout its history as a Republic, Ordennya has seen a number of centre-left governments take office, enacting a number of left of centre social democratic policies, making Ordennya a beacon for social democracy in Kylaris. The current government is a coalition between the left wing Green Party and centre-left United Socialist Party.