Ostrov

Ostrov (Common) Остров (Lurynian)
Flag dark blue for historical relations with Lurynia, white for the First Unknown, an upwards chevron for the future
Motto: Justice and Progress
Anthem: Onwards
Ostrov is located by the northern half of the continent of Dacia
Status	Independent State
Capital and largest city	Southport
Official languages	Common
Recognised national languages	Lurynian
Religion	secular state
Demonym(s)	Ostrovian
Government	Parliamentary republic
• Prime Minister (Head of State and Government)	David Chatham
Discovery
• originally discovered by First Unknown	1361
• organisation into a state	by 1390
Area
• Total	2,525 km2 (975 sq mi)
Population
• 1611 census	63,000
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$1,008,000,000
• Per capita	$16,000
Currency	Lurynian Sparek (LS)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+47
Internet TLD	.os

Ostrov is a democratic island state in northern Dacia, located to the west of the main continent. While largely rural and agrarian, several population centres known as towns also exist; the largest of these is capital city Southport, where around 8,000 of the 63,000 Ostrovians live.

History

Pre-Charter Ostrov (1361-1390)

Discovery (1361)

The island of Ostrov was discovered by the First Unknown when they arrived on the planet of Sparkalia in 1361; within months, several hundred humans had settled there. A local of the time would have said they lived on North Island, not Ostrov; the former term was adopted due to the island's location relative to the rest of Sparkalia and the latter term did not come into common usage until the mid-1370s, when Lurynian overtook Common as the lingua franca.

A New System of Measurement (1364)

"Christina Broadbent" redirects here. For information about the discovery of the Grae system, see Units of measurement in Sparkalia.

Christina Broadbent was part of the First Unknown wave of 1361 AR (1955 GD). While much of the population, including her husband, had taken up farming for subsistence, Broadbent was renowned as one of the leading ladies' dressmakers on the island for the first few months it was inhabited. In those days, there was no common system of measurements and many local farmers had decided to avoid them altogether.

However, Broadbent suddenly disappeared from the island in Umbra 1362. Her friend, corn farmer Michael Smith, wrote in his diary on Umbra 5th that she was "extremely upset" at the farming community's "inconsistent output" and had told him a matter of days previously that "she would set out, at any cost, to discover how to improve the abysmal situation."

Broadbent did not plan to reach any particular destination, although she arrived in the Solarius Empire - modern-day Nova Solarius - in 1363 AR (1957 GD on the Solarian calendar) after making the lengthy boat trip west along the north Pythian coast. Details of her time there are scant; it is understood that she was met with some hostility, given the War of Space, but was taken in by an anti-war rural family and learned about the local Grae system of measurements during her few months there.

Around Lyncis of 1364 AR (1958 GD), shortly after her return, Broadbent distributed over 100 copies of a handwritten pamphlet entitled A New System of Measurement, an impressive achievement on an island of roughly 800 inhabitants. Her pamphlet outlined the history of the system, the mathematics underpinning it, and what she saw as the need for a common system to be used among labourers. It is universally accepted that Broadbent's campaigning led to the universal adoption of the Grae system in Ostrov.

Megan Richards, the wife of David Chatham (who was Prime Minister as of Hilaria 1612), is one of Broadbent's 592 great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren.

The early Ostrovian state (1390-1428)

Creation of telephone network (1401-1402)

The entire telephone network of Ostrov, from physical infrastructure to engineering and numbering, was developed independently of the Dacian continent. This is why, while the Magical Girl Triad states share the +2 international dialing code, Ostrov uses the +47 code alone.

Internationalisation (1428-1483)

Flag standardisation (1430)

Before 1430, Ostrov did not have a common flag. Some Ostrovian trade delegations hoisted a white flag with "ОСТРОВ" or its Common transliteration, "OSTROV," in black capital letters. Domestic socialists used a crossed shotgun and sheath as their flag, although depictions varied in practice. The Ostrovian government started to use a clenched fist with its index finger pointing upwards as their seal on official documents by 1400; when put against a plain-colour background, it became the government flag, although it was never used by the local public for various reasons.

Domestic Politics

Introduction

Given the size and population of the island, politics in Ostrov is highly centralised and has relied on two major parties since the People's Assembly met in 1389. Historically, the Farmers' and Workers' Union have been a socially conservative party which historically sought to abolish tariffs, and today supports reducing income tax dependence and introducing a sales tax (although this regularly meets with opposition from more moderate Union politicians); their base is among farmers and other rural workers. The Justice Party is a democratic socialist party which supports maximising personal freedoms, but wants to introduce a progressive income tax so that higher earners - particularly productive farmers who export to Lurynia - pay more; they enjoy heavy support in towns.

Although there is a common trope that many Ostrovians live in "rural areas" away from centers of population, everybody in Ostrov is in fact assigned to a town for administrative purposes. All towns have their own councils, but the power of towns is limited.

Executive

Owing to the aforementioned nature of Ostrovian politics, the government is made up entirely of the members of the majority party of the Ostrovian Council, which is currently the Union. There are five cabinet ministries beyond the Prime Ministry, reflecting the tasks delivered by the Government. David Chatham is the Prime Minister, head of state and government; he is broadly responsible for representing Ostrov on the Sparkalian stage and dictating the priorities and direction of the government.

Priscilla Costa is the Finance Minister; she is responsible for delivering the annual Budget and making other broad domestic economic decisions, although details are in practice worked out by the Ministry of Finance's staff.

Paul Ellis is the Policing Minister; he is responsible for commanding the national police force's actions within the law, including ensuring that they arrest suspected criminals, engage in deportations and build good relations with the communities they work in. The Ministry of Policing is equivalent to the Interior Ministry in other countries.

Alan Edwards is the Education Minister; he is responsible for ensuring that the Ministry of Education provides schools with resources and examinations, and directs the assessment of schools he believes are failing in their legal obligations (such as the delivery of the basic curriculum to an age-appropriate level).

Catherine Jones is the Healthcare Minister; she is responsible for ensuring that the National Healthcare Initiative, the free-of-charge national healthcare system delivered by the Ministry of Healthcare, provides all the basic care it is legally obliged to carry out. The Minister and her Ministry will often set delivery and process targets for the NHI, such as requiring 95% of patients to be seen within a certain time period after their first report. She may intervene when the only private, paid-for clinic on the island fails to meet basic standards of care, although this has in practice never happened.

While the state is relatively limited, Ostrov regularly engages in deficit spending. Ostrov only collected around 8.3% of its GDP in tax revenue in the 1610 fiscal year. In that year's budget, healthcare took up 5.7% of GDP, education took up 3.8% and policing took up 2.3%. These figures have been fairly constant in previous years.

Legislature

"Ostrovian Council" redirects here. Results from the most recent Council election are available.

The makeup of the Council as of Pax 1611 (which remains accurate as of Hilaria 1612):

  Farmers' and Workers' Union: 18 seats (majority)

  Justice Party: 10 seats

  Independents: 1 seat

  The Speaker

The Farmers' and Workers' Union hold a majority in the Council as of Hilaria 1612, with eighteen seats to the Justice Party's ten. There are two independent councillors: Stephen James is the Speaker of the Council, who presides over its meetings and keeps order. Esther Braddock, who was elected to a historically Union-held district in the Lux 1609 election but rapidly broke with Justice Party leadership on multiple issues, lost the Justice whip in Audax 1609 after cosponsoring a failed Budget amendment by a Union backbencher which would have introduced LS6 ($6) user fees for GP visits.

Judiciary

The Court of Ostrov is overseen by the Ministry of Policing. It functions on the principles of common law: that every act is legal unless an Act of Council decrees it to be illegal, and that - unless there is a highly compelling reason for reversal - previous decisions of the Court, however old, should be respected.

The Court currently has three judges, and the concurrence of two is required for a decision. Judges serve for life, although may retire at any time, and their replacement is appointed by the Ministry of Policing independently of their Minister or the Council in general. Ostrov neither has qualified lawyers nor a system of qualification; many people brought in front of the Court will defend themselves, and the Ministry will typically appoint judges based on their standing in the community, their knowledge of the law, and their understanding of Ostrovian politics and economics.

Visa Policy

"Ostrovian visa policy" redirects here. For basic information about which visitors to Ostrov require a visa, see Visa Requirements of Sparkalia.

Ostrovian police automatically assume that anybody without a visa is staying for less than six months and not seeking employment. But anybody who plans to stay in Ostrov for more than six months in a contiguous twelve-month period, wishes to work in Ostrov at any time, or seeks to permanently move to Ostrov with their children must - depending on their nationality - either obtain a Work Visa or an Employee Sponsorship Form (ESF). Tourists cannot apply for a Work Visa or ESF while they are in Ostrov.

All workers from outside Lurynia must apply for a Work Visa. They must pass a Common or Lurynian language test, and seek a named employer to sponsor them and give them terms of employment. (A list of employers is available on request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.)

Lurynian workers may enter the country without a Work Visa. They are exempt from the language requirement, but must also be sponsored by a named employer; at the Ostrovian border, they must present proof of their Ostrovian nationality and sign an ESF, which is a sworn affirmation that they have a named sponsor.

Foreign workers who work for an employer that is not sponsoring them, or otherwise without a Work Visa or ESF, are liable for deportation, unless they seek a new named sponsor or citizenship. Anybody who works and pays income tax for eight of the past ten years is, in theory, eligible to apply for citizenship; permanent resident status as such does not exist.

While roughly 300 domestic students are accepted to the Polytechnic of Ostrov each year, there is an annual quota of 50 international students. Prospective internatinoal students must apply for a Student Visa between Nox 15th and Florentina 15th in the year before they wish to begin studies. Applications are shared with the Polytechnic, who will make recommendations as to which students are of sufficient academic calibre to attain a good degree.

All students whose Student Visa application is successful will hear back by the end of Lux and be guaranteed a place, subject to attaining certain grades equivalent to those that Ostrovian students must achieve. Holders of Student Visas may remain in the country for six months after finishing their degree, during which they may seek a named sponsor employer and obtain a Work Visa without the requirement to complete a language test or fill an ESF. However, they are not treated as tourists if their Student Visa expires without them switching to a Work Visa or marrying an Ostrovian citizen, and will be removed from the country upon detection.

The Ostrovian police force will seek the deportation of anyone who moves to Ostrov simply so their children can be educated in the Ostrov primary and secondary school system. However, parents with Work Visas, Student Visas or ESFs do not need to apply for a visa for their children: they are entitled to an education on the same basis as an Ostrovian citizen. And non-Ostrovian citizens who are married to, or the children of, an Ostrovian citizen may enter and live in the country without any documentation as if they were an citizen themselves - so long as they can prove their spouse or parent is an Ostrovian.

Foreign Relations and Trade

Geopolitics

Other than with Lurynia, which has served as the nation's main trading partner for almost its entire existence, Ostrov has largely been isolated from the rest of Sparkalia.

Trade

Ostrov is far and away a net importer of goods: it mostly produces agricultural products and any surplus is generally exported.

Domestic Economics

As of 1611, the Ostrovian gross domestic product was just over LS1bn ($1bn), with a GDP per capita of around LS16,000.

Ostrovian tax is relatively simple. 95% of tax is collected from from an 8% income tax levied on all income over LS5,000, while the rest is obtained through an 8% tax on all capital gains over LS5,000. Calls for the introduction of other taxes are not common; Prime Minister David Chatham insisted in 1603 that his Union government was not looking at introducing a sales tax, which his party's conservative wing has consistently argued in favour of. The Inheritance Tax Now party has been blamed for costing the Justice Party the opportunity to win more seats than it could have done at most elections since it started standing candidates, often in marginal constituencies, in the 1591 election; however, no ITN candidate has ever won more than 5% of the vote.

Climate

Although it lies in the Winter Ocean, the Lurynian bureau of meteorology has categorised the nation as being dominated by decidious woodlands. There has historically been one weather station in Ostrov, which has been maintained in Southport by the Lurynians for at least two centuries in partnership with the Polytechnic.

Ostrov is located on a small, flat island, which means that climatic conditions across the nation at any given point in time will be fairly similar. The Southport station's recordings have thus been traditionally accepted as accurate readings of the entire Ostrovian climate. Although conditions in Ostrov occasionally vary from those on mainland Dacia, Lurynian officials over the years have repeatedly refused to confirm or deny whether their nation's magical capacities have affected either climate to any extent.

Climate data for Southport, Ostrov (1410-1610)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	10.9 (51.6)	16.2 (61.2)	20.1 (68.2)	24.5 (76.1)	28.7 (83.7)	31.8 (89.2)	36.4 (97.5)	34.5 (94.1)	28.4 (83.1)	23.6 (74.5)	17.2 (63.0)	12.4 (54.3)	36.4 (97.5)
Mean maximum °C (°F)	7.0 (44.6)	12.3 (54.1)	15.4 (59.7)	18.5 (65.3)	22.6 (72.7)	24.7 (76.5)	26.9 (80.4)	24.2 (75.6)	21.1 (70.0)	17.8 (64.0)	13.2 (55.8)	9.8 (49.6)	26.9 (80.4)
Average high °C (°F)	3.5 (38.3)	7.9 (46.2)	10.2 (50.4)	14.3 (57.7)	16.5 (61.7)	19.8 (67.6)	23.3 (73.9)	20.7 (69.3)	16.8 (62.2)	13.4 (56.1)	9.8 (49.6)	5.1 (41.2)	13.4 (56.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	0.8 (33.4)	3.2 (37.8)	6.5 (43.7)	9.8 (49.6)	13.1 (55.6)	16.4 (61.5)	19.7 (67.5)	16.9 (62.4)	13.9 (57.0)	9.6 (49.3)	6.4 (43.5)	3.1 (37.6)	10.0 (49.9)
Average low °C (°F)	−3.7 (25.3)	−1.4 (29.5)	1.9 (35.4)	4.8 (40.6)	8.8 (47.8)	11.8 (53.2)	13.1 (55.6)	12.2 (54.0)	9.1 (48.4)	5.3 (41.5)	2.6 (36.7)	−1.7 (28.9)	5.2 (41.4)
Mean minimum °C (°F)	−6.7 (19.9)	−3.8 (25.2)	−1.6 (29.1)	0.4 (32.7)	4.3 (39.7)	6.8 (44.2)	8.6 (47.5)	7.6 (45.7)	4.9 (40.8)	1.6 (34.9)	−2.1 (28.2)	−5.3 (22.5)	−6.7 (19.9)
Record low °C (°F)	−13.5 (7.7)	−10.2 (13.6)	−7.4 (18.7)	−4.7 (23.5)	−2.6 (27.3)	0.7 (33.3)	2.7 (36.9)	2.4 (36.3)	−0.9 (30.4)	−3.5 (25.7)	−7.4 (18.7)	−11.5 (11.3)	−13.5 (7.7)
Record low wind chill	−18.7	−14.6	−11.6	−7.7	−5.9	−3.7	−2.2	−2.8	−4.6	−8.1	−12.1	−17.2	−18.7
Average precipitation cm (inches)	8.63 (3.40)	7.62 (3.00)	6.32 (2.49)	5.92 (2.33)	4.75 (1.87)	4.39 (1.73)	4.48 (1.76)	4.96 (1.95)	5.02 (1.98)	5.43 (2.14)	6.71 (2.64)	8.68 (3.42)	72.91 (28.71)
Average rainfall cm (inches)	6.43 (2.53)	6.02 (2.37)	5.62 (2.21)	5.92 (2.33)	4.75 (1.87)	4.39 (1.73)	4.48 (1.76)	4.96 (1.95)	5.02 (1.98)	5.43 (2.14)	5.91 (2.33)	6.78 (2.67)	65.71 (25.87)
Average snowfall cm (inches)	2.2 (0.9)	1.6 (0.6)	0.7 (0.3)	trace	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	trace	0.8 (0.3)	1.9 (0.7)	7.2 (2.8)
Average extreme snow depth cm (inches)	2.4 (0.9)	1.5 (0.6)	0.8 (0.3)	0.2 (0.1)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	trace	0.5 (0.2)	1.4 (0.6)	2.4 (0.9)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.5 cm)	11.0	10.1	9.2	7.8	6.5	6.3	5.9	6.5	7.2	8.0	9.6	11.3	99.4
Average rainy days (≥ 0.5 cm)	10.3	9.4	8.9	7.8	6.5	6.3	5.9	6.5	7.2	8.0	9.1	10.5	96.4
Average snowy days (≥ 1 cm)	0.5	0.5	0.2	trace	0	0	0	0	0	trace	0.3	0.6	2.1
Average relative humidity (%) (at 1200) (daily average)	67.2	65.9	63.2	61.6	58.8	59.5	58.9	60.5	61.6	63.9	65.7	68.3	62.9
Mean monthly sunshine hours	120.9	132.8	164.3	186.0	229.4	240.0	254.2	235.6	195.0	170.5	138.0	124.0	2,190.7
Mean daily sunshine hours	3.9	4.7	5.3	6.2	7.4	8.0	8.2	7.6	6.5	5.5	4.6	4.0	6.0
Mean daily daylight hours	9.5	10.6	11.9	13.4	14.5	15.2	14.9	13.9	12.5	11.1	9.8	9.1	12.2
Percent possible sunshine	41.1	44.3	44.5	46.3	51.0	52.6	55.0	54.7	52.0	49.5	46.9	44.0	48.5
Average ultraviolet index	2	2	3	3	5	6	7	6	5	4	3	2	4
Source: Lurynian bureau of meteorology, Southport station

Demographics

Ostrov is entirely populated by humans; in particular, almost everybody in the country is of Ostrovian ethnicity. Although the Ostrovian census - which is conducted once every five years - does not collect statistics on religion, surveys carried out by private organisations suggest that the vast majority of Ostrovians are atheist. Analysts have suggested this could be an effect of Ostrov being populated by members of the First Unknown, who generally prefer relying on their own technology than on magic.

Life

Culture and Language

The creative arts in Ostrov are limited: there is a single museum and no dedicated venues for the performance of music, although some Ostrovian recording artists have made a name for themselves on the domestic stage, by releasing singles and performing in social venues in towns such as pubs. There is no television signal; ownership of radios is common and many Ostrovians will listen to Lurynian radio stations, although there is a single locally-owned radio station called Radio Sky which broadcasts pop music by Ostrovian and Lurynian singers.

Common is the official language of Ostrov; while the Ostrovian government publishes in both Common and Lurynian, the Common version prevails in the event of any disreptancies. The names of people, places, landmarks and important institutions in Ostrov are more representative of Common-speaking cultures, Common is taught in schools, and virtually all Ostrovians have at least some grasp of the language. However, Lurynian is the most commonly-spoken language, owing to Ostrov's historically strong ties with Lurynia; Ostrovians are generally expected to understand it, and many speak and write it to a high level.

While a Common-language market for literature exists and domestic authors have risen to modest fame for much of Ostrov's existence, most books in circulation are Lurynian. Today is the oldest and only major Ostrovian daily newspaper, having been first published in 1389; most of its content is in Lurynian, although every issue will contain a few pages of general Common-language news. Smaller, town-level newspapers exist, but are generally unremarkable and written solely in Lurynian.

Education

Further information: Education on Sparkalia § Ostrov

Ostrov has a single, comprehensive schooling system. The Ministry of Education does not set a curriculum beyond requiring that schools deliver sufficient education in Common, Lurynian and Mathematics. However, it supplies funding to schools for resources, occasionally inspects schools to ensure compliance with the basic curriculum, and administers the Leaving Examinations to all eighteen-year-old students in schools at the end of each year.

Many towns will have their own schools, both at primary and secondary level, where town-dwellers attend; they follow a loose curriculum the three mandatory subjects as well as other core subjects such as the sciences, history and geography, although many schools choose to deliver arts and physical education as well. Homeschooling is legal under the common law and practiced by many farming families; they must teach the three mandatory subjects but are not required to ensure their children take the Leaving Exams.

Most Ostrovians will end their studies aged eighteen. However, there is one small university on the island, the Polytechnic of Ostrov, which specialises in science, medicine, engineering, mathematics and economics. About 300 domestic students (a quarter of the annual cohort) are accepted for study there each year, although the vast majority of them study in in Southport, which has the best-funded schools of any town and where the University is located. 18-year-old Ostrovians who seek to attend an off-island university may do so, but must meet the other university's requirements and make their own preparations.

Technology

Personal computers exist in Ostrov and are widespread; many households, especially those without computers and printers, still have typewriters. However, there is no internet connection and all government communications, for example, happen in person or on paper. Should the internet be introduced in future years, Ostrov has been assigned the .os TLD, although Prime Minister Chatham has ruled out this possibility, citing cost issues and the "potential for illegal activity."