Fawster

Republic of Fawster Ledeward of Fawster
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Make thee mightier yet!
Location of  Fawster  (dark green) in Cardia  (green) Location of  Fawster  (dark green) in Cardia  (green)
Capital	Woodshire
Official languages	Fawstonian
Recognised regional languages	Cuthish
Demonym(s)	Fawstonian
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
• President	Michael Clark
• Prime Minister	Julia Lennox
• Speaker of the National Assembly	Johnathan Marshall
Legislature	Landmoot
Independence from Cornicae
• Declared	13 October 1943
Population
• 2020 estimate	2,567,485
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$74,349 million
• Per capita	$28,958
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$60,135 million
• Per capita	$23,422
Gini	26.8 low
HDI	0.845 very high
Currency	Shilling (FWS)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+12
Internet TLD	.fw

Fawster, officially known as the Republic of Fawster (Cuthish: Ledeward of Fawster), is a sovereign state in Cardia bordering Cuthland-Waldrich to the north. Containing a population of 2,567,485 people, its capital and largest city is Woodshire. Fawster is governed as a unitary parliamentary republic with a ceremonial president and an elected National Assembly, colloquially known as the Landmoot.

Fawster has been inhabited since late antiquity. It was brought under the influence of Ditanery during the early middle ages, but remained largely a collection of small city states under being unified as a duchy in the 1200's. After the 1500's it became increasingly dominated first by Cuthland-Waldrich and later the Cornicae. It would remain under foreign influence until the collapse of the Cornicae in the 1940's when activists regained independence as the Republic of Fawster. Since independence it has remained an electoral democracy.

Fawster is classed as a high-income economy which was traditionally based around manufacturing and agriculture, although services take up an increasingly large share of the economy in the last three decades. The economy is small, open and export-oriented and is thus strongly influenced by the conditions of its exporting partners' economies, mainly economies in Cardia and Hallania.

Government and Politics

President Michael Clark

Prime Minister Julia Lennox

Fawster's governmental structure has remained largely unaltered since independence in 1944. The constitution - the most important legal document in the country - outlines Fawster as a parliamentary republic with a ceremonial president, an elected legislature and a cabinet led by a prime minister that is responsible to the legislature. The country is divided into 5 counties, with Fawster having a unitary administrative structure.

The president is mostly a ceremonial office, elected every five years by the unicameral National Assembly. Presidents are by custom non-partisan and usually are figures from civil society rather then career politicians. The president's main duty is to preside over the formation of a government following elections. The current president is former public prosecutor Michael Clark, first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2019.

Since independence in 1943 up until the 1970's Fawstonian politics was dominated by the centre-right Independence Party, which had originally emerged during the 1890's in the Cornicae advocating independence and linguistic rights from Fawster. After a period of political fragmentation in the 1980's, since then politics has largely developed into a two-party system between the conservative Progressive Republican Party and the social democratic Co-operative Party.

Since 2008 the Progressive Republicans have held governance in alliance with various parties. Since the 2014 election the Progressive Republicans have held office in coalition with the Independence Party, with Julia Lennox serving as the first female prime minister. The coalition was re-elected to a four year term in 2017.

Economy

Fawster is considered to possess a developed economy with an average high income. The three main sectors of the economy are services (63.3% of GDP), industry (32.5%) and agriculture (4.3%). The past three decades thanks to a dual programme of industrialisation and liberalisation has seen the economy register average growth of 4% from 1980 to 2015. The economy is mainly driven by the private sector which accounts for 62% of economic output, although large state-owned enterprises continue to dominate the manufacturing sector. The national currency of Fawster is the shilling.

Following independence in 1943 Fawster possessed a predominantly agrarian economy with industry mainly concentrated around Woodshire and mining towns such as Newhaven and Albanfort whilst maintaining high tariffs on most foreign goods, especially agricultural ones. During the late 1950's and the early 1960's the government implemented an active policy of industrialisation, encouraging foreign direct investment and using indicative planning and nationalisation to promote the growth of industry. This led to a fast expansion of urbanisation and rising government debts that were not tackled until the 1990's when the government adopted more laissez-faire policies that promoted balanced budgets, tax breaks and a growth in the service sector. Generally from 1943 to the present day governments have sought to generally promote economic development, fiscal discipline and restrained government action in the economy.

Fawster's main exports are manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and food. The economy has since free trade policies were implemented in the 1960's been highly dependent on its export market, primarily to other countries in Cardia and Hallania. Changes in the market of those countries often can yield an adverse effect on the Fawstonian economy, resulting in Fawstonian businesses to specialise in mid- to high-tech manufacturing in order to keep labour costs in line with productivity.

Transportation

A Rail Fawster train outside Albanfort.