Ross Archipelagos
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Crown Territory of the Ross Archipelagos | |
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Flag | |
| Motto: Et ad mare de... ("Of and by the sea") | |
| Ross Archipelagos (zoomed in), mid-Akkadiya Ocean. Ross Archipelagos (zoomed in), mid-Akkadiya Ocean. | |
| Map of the world. Map of the world. | |
| Capital | Port Solomon |
| Official languages | Belhavian English, Yiddish, Modern Hebrew (all de facto) |
| Demonym(s) | Rossurian (official), Islander (informal) |
| Government | |
• Governor | Daniel Reiss (Libertarian) |
• President of the Territorial Senate | Avi Glassman (Conservative) |
• Speaker of the Territorial Assembly | David Moskowitz (Liberal Democrat) |
| Establishment | |
| 1715 | |
| Population | |
• 2015 estimate | 473,874 |
• 2010 census | 396,474 |
The Ross Archipelagos, known more formally as the Crown Territory of the Ross Archipelagos, is a crown territory of Belhavia. It is considered one of the most important colonial holdings of Belhavia, and is a major hub of trans-global commercial shipping and transportation. The islands are also considered one of the region's foremost geo-strategic locations, from everything concerning military and political control to worldwide commercial and business transactions.
In the early modern period, the islands were referred to by merchants and explorers as the "Gateway to the East", a reference to the archipelagos' strategic location for political-military power and commercial and mercantile trade routes. Because of its significance, the islands have a massive, sprawling international military presence - from native Belhavian military units to Belhavian allies' forces, both individually and through the Central Defense Initiative. The CDI maintains Camp/Base Primoris in the harbor of the capital city, Port Solomon.
Beyond the military presence, the islands' economy flourishes from optimal placement on the broader informal trans-global commercial shipping and transportation network, particularly the trans-Akkadiya Ocean network that ferries trade to and from the East and West of Pardes. The international airport of Port Solomon is one of the busiest throughout the world, as the islands are used by nearly every major commercial airline and air transportation carrier as a layover.
The islands have a moderate temperate that oscillates between cool and warm from the Akkadiya Ocean Air Current System. The archipelago is made of over 200 islands and 800 islets.
Geography
The geography of the Ross islands is mostly flat, consisting of farmland, deciduous forests, coastal plains near the seacoast, and some mountainous ranges in the interior of the largest islands. However, some of the smaller outlying islands and islets can be quite hilly and/or mountainous, pertaining to their geologic development from patterns of ancient mountain ranges currently on the Central Ocean continental shelf.
Climate
Temperatures
| Average temperature ranges | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| season | day-time temperature range | night-time temperature range | ||||||
| Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | |||||
| °F | °F | °F | °F | |||||
| summer | 87 | 66 | 61 | 44 | ||||
| winter | 39 | 16 | 22 | -14 | ||||
History
Demographics
Population
Total Population
The archipelagos crown territory has a population of just under 474,000 residents as of April 1st, 2015. That is an approximate increase of 1.2% from the Imperial Census in 2010.
Resident v. Citizens
About one-quarter of the territory's population is military (~100,000), and of that, 62.4% foreign. Even among Belhavian personnel, nearly 91% are from other parts of the Empire and only in Ross due to their deployments.
Among civilians, there is a large expatriate community of traders, commercial shipping and supply managers, merchants, businessmen, and a few financiers. Many of these are also foreign nationals. In total, nearly 42.2% of the islands' population are foreign nationals who are short-, medium-, and long-term residents, compared to only approximately 57.8% of islanders who are Belhavian citizens and permanent, long-term residents.
Language
There are no official languages of the crown territory, but like the Imperial homeland, the languages of Belhavian English, Yiddish, and Modern Hebrew are spoken. Belhavian English is usually exclusively for government documents and in territorial governing institutions such as local courts and administrative offices.
Due to the unusually-high diversity of island residents, several foreign languages are spoken commonly on military bases and in public spaces: Estovnian Norse, Nghali (Valinese), Rodarian, Ulthrannic, Sieuxerrian French, and Anthorian.
Religion
Judaism is the religious affiliation of a plurality majority of 46.1%, followed by various forms of Christianity at 34.2%, and then a litany of other religions, including Islam, Estovnian Norse religion, Ulthrianism, among others, filling out the remainder (19.7%).
Urbanicity
83.7% of the island population lives in an urban environment, whether in the main cities, their suburban towns, or more isolated small towns. Only 16.3% live "in the country" outside of any city or town.
66.35% - approximately 266,000 - live in the metropolitan Port Solomon area, including in the city itself, or its suburbs and exurbs. The next largest metropolitan area is Port David, a major commercial port city on the eastern-most large island. It has a population of 55,788 residents.
Economy
Government & Politics
The government of the crown territory is made of an executive branch headed by a Territorial Governor, a legislative branch run by a bicameral territorial legislature, whose upper-house is the Territorial Senate and the lower-house is Territorial Assembly, and a judiciary that is staffed by judges who are nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The Governor, all statewide constitutional officers, and all territorial legislators are popularly-elected.
Executive Branch
The current governor is Daniel Reiss, a Libertarian. He was elected in November 2010 and was sworn in on January 3rd, 2011. He ran for re-election in November 2014, having won his party primary without opposition. In the general election, he won with 53%.
The statewide constitutional officer positions of Attorney-General, Treasurer, Comptroller, Lieutenant Governor, and Territorial Minister are all elected and have often been held by people of different political parties; indeed, these positions are often used by a party's rising star to run for Governor or the Imperial Senate.
The current Lieutenant-Governor is Eli Halper, a Libertarian. The Treasurer is Ester Kisling, a Liberal Democrat. The Attorney-General is Aaron Ginsburg, the Comptroller is Sharon Judah, and the Territorial Minister is Wolf Lauer, all of whom are Conservatives.
Legislative branch
The bicameral Territorial Legislature has a divided government, with the Conservatives (also called Tories) controlling the Senate in a coalition with the Libertarians, and the Liberal Democrats ("Lib Dems") controlling a majority in the Assembly.
Territorial Senate
The Territorial Senate is based on representation by geographic space, and thus favors rural areas that are more sprawled out as opposed to cities, that are more concentrated. There are 21 territorial senators, with 11 needed to control the majority, which entitles the majority to hold committee chairmanships, set the agenda, and control the allocation of time to give floor speeches and debate over a bill.
Composition
The President of the Senate is Avi Glassman (Conservative). The Conservatives hold 9 seats, the Libertarians 2, and the Lib Dems' 9. The Tories and Libertarians are in a governing coalition (11-9).
Political History
The Lib Dems have a decisive edge over Senate seats in the main cities and towns, while the Tories and Libertarians contest the rural seats. However, only 8 seats are in the major cities and large towns, with 13 in rural districts with few, smaller towns that lean Tory. However, one of the Libertarian seats is from a urban Port Solomon district that has a concentration of colleges with libertarian-leaning youths. The Tories win most of the rural districts and split the suburban districts with the Lib Dems, though one Tory has been perennially elected by an overwhelming military-centric district in the Port Solomon inner harbor.
Territorial Assembly
The Territorial Assembly is based on population density, which favors the cities and, to a lesser extent, their suburbs and small towns. There are 41 territorial assemblymen, with 21 needed for a majority. In addition to the rights of privilege as the majority party or coalition as stated in the Senate section, the Assembly is where all appropriations and budget frameworks must emergence.
Composition
Speaker of the Territorial Assembly is David Moskowitz (Liberal Democrat). The Lib Dems control 25 seats, compared to 2 Libertarians and 14 Conservatives.
Political History
Because most of the population is in the Port Solomon and Port David metropolitan areas, the Lib Dems have an edge with several inner-city Assembly seats that they win by default with little or no opposition. The Conservatives dominate the major city suburbs and countryside, while they split the small towns with the Lib Dems and Libertarians. In particular, the Libertarians have struggled to win Assembly seats at all, with their rural voter base spread out and usually not congregated together, allowing most rural districts to be won by the Tories.
Judiciary
Politics
The politics of the crown territory skew right, but because of a robust three-party system between the major Tory and Lib Dem parties and third-party Libertarians, the territory's politics can become convoluted, complex, and uneasy to predict.
Most of the population resides in the capital city area - "Metro Port Solomon" in local parlance - and, less so, "Metro Port David." The rest leave in small towns and scattered rural communities. The Liberal Democrats in the archipelagos usually dominate the two major cities; however, the prevalence of military personnel and businessmen and merchants creates a small urban voting base for the Tories and the Libertarians. In the Ports Solomon and David suburbs and exurbs, the Tories usually dominate, though more moderate-to-conservative Lib Dems compete and sometimes win there.
The countryside and small towns are overwhelmingly Conservative; yet, about a quarter of the rural vote goes for the Libertarians, and the Lib Dems usually can count on 15-20% of the vote in the countryside. Whether fortuitous during a good political climate and/or strong, moderate candidates, the Liberal Democrats can win a rural- or small-town-based Assembly or Senate district. Similarly, the Libertarians usually can win 1-3 rural districts where there is enough of their voters and a reasonable amount of crossover Tory voters (depending on the election).
Complicating this narrative is the competitive urban enclaves in the major metropolitan areas: the 8th Senate district in Port Solomon is overwhelmingly represented by military and business voters, who have re-elected the lone Tory in a city otherwise full of Lib Dem representatives. Likewise, the "College Hill" neighborhood (where there are three colleges and universities situated) makes up much of the 4th Senate district, and has off-and-on rotated between Lib Dem and Libertarian senators. Currently, it has elected a Libertarian in the last two election cycles.
Recent Elections Since 2010
2010
In 2010, the incumbent Conservative Governor Ralph Gerson ran for re-election. In the early summer months, the North Side Scandal emerged, and Gerson's poll numbers dropped precipitously as the extent of his involvement was made public by the press. A mid-summer surge arose behind the Liberal Democrats and Libertarians. By September, the Libertarian, Daniel Reiss, and Lib Dem, Rachel Klein, were neck-and-neck around 40% of the vote each, with Gerson hovering at about 20%. But Reiss and Klein underperformed, with Reiss winning slimly with 37.4% to Klein's 35.9%, and Gerson's 26.7%, a slightly better showing for the defeated governor than earlier polls.
The Lib Dems defeated enough Conservatives to narrowly win control of the Assembly (22 seats), while cutting the Tory supermajority in the Senate to a bare majority for the Conservatives (11 seats), who entered a coalition with the Libertarians after deep negotiations with Governor-elect Reiss, who agreed to some Tory priorities, especially on law-and-order policy. They formed a 14-seat majority coalition, opposed by the 7-seat Lib Dem caucus.
2012
The Lib Dems picked up two more Assembly seats to pad their narrow majority after Reiss's somewhat unpopular and divisive spending cuts and two local agencies' abolishment. The Tories and Lib Dems each won a seat from the other, leaving the balance of power in the Senate as a net unchanged.
2014
In 2014, the Libertarian incumbent won with an impressive 53.2%, besting the Tory (29.5%) and Lib Dem (17.3%) candidates. The Lib Dems padded their Assembly majority by one seat, and picked up three seats in the Senate, narrowing the governing Tory-Libertarian coalition to a thin 11-9 margin.
Transportation
The Ross Archipelago is one of the few territories left in the Empire that still has speed limits, restricted to mostly rural roads.
Education
The main center of higher education in Ross is the University of Port Solomon. The kiruv yeshiva Ohr Toras Raysh is well-known as a yeshiva for baal teshuva among Belhavian military personnel from secular backgrounds.
Media
The territory is served primarily by the Port Solomon Telegraph and Port David Independent Intelligencer, though these two local papers pale in comparison to the subscription numbers for the national Belhavian daily Provisa Times. Satellite television has a decisive edge among households (63%) than cable television (37%).
Somewhat unusually for most Belhavian territories, because of the large international presence in the islands, copies of home-country major papers are sold frequently in the Metro Ports Solomon and David areas. Examples include the World Press (Emmeria), The Chaleur World (Emmeria), ABN News (Arthurista), RTVO (Ulthrannia), PRRB (Rodarion), the Journal of the Union (Tippercommon), the Antiytia Times (Anikatia), the Kavala Herald (Valinor), among others.