West Beldonia

Republic of West Beldonia
Flag of West Beldonia Flag of West Beldonia Coat of arms
Motto: "If God is with us, then who is against us?"
Anthem: Sea Songs
Map of the Beldonian Islands, including West Beldonia Map of the Beldonian Islands, including West Beldonia
Capital and	Saint Maria
Official languages	English Beldonian Creole
Ethnic groups (2018)	89.6% Beldonian 7.3% Azillian 2.5% Wolfgalian 0.6% Other
Demonym(s)	West Beldonian
Government	Republic
• President	Sebastian Moreau
Independence
• Foundation	~1872
• Independence	October 17th, 1948
• Current Constitution	June 17th, 2018
Population
• 2018 estimate	5,673,285
• Census	2018
Currency	Rubel

The West Beldonia, officially the Republic of West Beldonia, is a small, independent island nation on the world of Anteria. It is considered part of the continent of Avistava, and has maritime borders with Albithica, Caylens Und, and Aziallis. The country is renowned for it's beautiful beaches, extensive natural gas reserves, and vibrant culture. The country has a population of around 5 million, and is one of the most densely populated nations in the world.

West Beldonia is a constitutional republic, with general elections determining both the President and the members of the Beldonian Parliament. The country also has an autonomous republic, Saphiro, which has it's own Parliament and President that run independently from the main government.

The country has maintained territorial claims on the isle of East Beldonia, under the control of Aziallis, since it's independence from them in 1948. Though the two countries have shared a tense history, relations recently cooled after their joint cooperation in the Beldonian Civil War. Talks about the status of East Beldonia are ongoing, with both governments optimistic to solving the problem by 2020.

History

Early History

Human civilization on Beldonia goes back to around 5,000 B.C., when the first humans are thought to have arrived on the islands. Early tribes are shown to have been very isolated from the rest of the world, being years behind technology wise their continental neighbors. For a time, from around 50CE to it's collapse, the Albic Dominion had control over the Beldonian islands, introducing more advanced agriculture and weapons. Following Albic withdrawl, the islands came under the control of a handful of independent kingdoms that were constantly at war. This warring kingdom period would last until around the early 1500's, when traders of Gloria (modern day Shadoveil) arrived on the island. As more and more traders arrived, they began establishing outposts and settlements there. Though initially they tried on all the islands, settlers were quickly driven off the highly populated West Island, and so all settlement came to be done on the East Island. The colony would last for another 300 years, while the West Island would slowly develop from the influx of foreign weapons and agricultural technology.

The Beldonian Kingdom (1872-1915)

File:King Sarea.jpg

King Sarea I of Beldonia (1891)

In 1865, after years of conquests, West Beldonia became unified under Sarea Haban, who declared the Beldonian Kingdom. Seven years later, with Gloria's revolution in full swing, the natives of East Beldonia rose up in what is known as the Crimson Rebellion. After a few quick victories, mainly with the help of armies from West Beldonia, they declared independence and subsequent Union with the Beldonian Kingdom. In 20 years of rule, Sarea had succeeded in united all the Beldonian Islands under one country. In 1896, King Sarea died and was succeeded by his son, King Himanka. He began a process of opening the young Kingdom up to international diplomacy and trade, and maintained cordial relations with most of the colonial nations of the time.

Aziallis Rule (1915-1948)

In 1915, a rebel force in Beldonia attacked the capital and killed the ambassador to Aziallis. Using this as their casus belli, Azillian troops landed on Beldonia and forced the King, Himanka II, to sign an unequal treaty effectively making Beldonia a protectorate. Despite this, the Beldonian king still retained much of his power, and continued to rule as normal, though under Azillian influence. As time passed, and Azillian control grew (specifically after the Anterian World War, anti-Azillian movements began to grow on the islands, demanding an independent Beldonia. In 1946, a protest in the capital of Saint Maria led to a storming of the Aziallis local garrison, and riots in the streets. To calm tensions and avoid a war, the Azillians were forced to host an independence referendum on the islands. West Beldonian overwhelmingly voted yes to independence, but East Beldonia, by a slim margin, voted no. In 1948, the isle of West Beldonia was grant independence as the Kingdom of Beldonia, while Aziallis retained control of the east island.

Second Beldonian Kingdom (1948-1962)

West Beldonia initially suffered from many internal problems. It's economy was based almost entirely on natural gas exports, and it's people had a low quality of life. The Beldonian government functioned as a constitutional monarchy, with voting rights still allowed under the King's supervision. As time went along, however, the monarchy increased in power and began to slowly take power from the republican system. In 1958, newly crowned King Haban II declared the country an absolute monarchy, ending all elections and giving himself complete control. Popular support fell dramatically, and rebel movements began to organize to overthrow the king. The most famous of these was the National Liberation Army (N.L.A.), which sought to establish a multi-party republic. In 1960, the group launched an insurgency on the island to weaken pro-monarchist governments, with much success. In 1962, the N.L.A. launched the Black October Plot to assassinate King Haban II with the support of government officials. However, the King caught wind of the plot and fled the country to East Beldonia, where he looked for support from the Aziallis government. Aziallis, not wanting to fight a war, refused, but allowed him to remain there until his death in 1968.

First West Beldonian Republic (1962-2015)

The N.L.A. quickly seized control of the disarrayed government after the flight of King Haban, and installed a multi-party democracy with popular support. They renamed the nation from the Kingdom of Beldonia to the Republic of West Beldonia. The country would mostly be run by N.L.A. leaders for the next 20 years, and politics would be dominated by the conservative party. They oversaw West Beldonia's transformation into a corporate-run state, with high economic freedom. By 2018, nearly 50% of all industry was foreign owned. The country struggled from a low quality of life and from a lack of national unity, but kept it's democratic system with little instability. In 2014, a corruption scandal over foreign controlled industry saw the impeachment of Conservative party President Johnathan Crane, and the first time another Party had a majority in the Parliament since the Beldonian Kingdom. This event also led to a sudden increase in power for the Nationalist Party, who emphasized removing all foreign influence from both West and East Beldonia through any means necessarily.

Civil War (2015-2018)

Main Article: Beldonian Civil War

The 2015 election between Nationalist Party candidate Alexander Gutar and Liberal Party candidate Spencer Saleah was the most contentious election in Beldonian history. Gutar, leader of the militant organization The Black Winds. openly stated he wished for a Nationalist dictatorship, and stated that the only way to "free" Beldonia from foreign influence was a war with Aziallis, words that made him highly popular with those dissatisfied with the weak Beldonian government. When poll numbers a week before the election saw Gutar winning with 39% of the vote, compared to Saleah's 35%, the Liberal and Conservative parties made a joint political coalition to ensure Gutar's failure. The final election results, announced on October 23rd, had the coalition win by a vote of 47%, compared to Gutar's 45%. Outrage sparked across the nation, especially among Nationalists. On November 6th, with the support of The Black Winds and thousands of Nationalists supporters, Gutar took control of Varita City and began a massive offensive to take control of the country. The Beldonian government quickly collapsed, and those that were loyal to it formed the New National Liberation Army. Fighting initially took place mostly in the north, but as the N.L.A. gained more national support the Black Winds were driven south. On January 3rd, 2018, the N.L.A. liberated Saint Maria and forced the Black Winds to their initial capital of Varita City. On October 30th, the N.L.A. took control of Varita City, and the remaints of the Black Winds forces fled into the forests and low-populated areas. Numerous cease-fires were attempted by the N.L.A. to stop the fighting, all of which were refused by Alexander Gutar. on November 13th, Black Winds military leader Joseph Kirt captured Gutar and handed him over to N.L.A. forces, hoping this would allow a cease-fire that would stop the fighting. Gutar was executed on November 24th, and a week later on November 30th a cease-fire was signed that stopped the fighting.

Second West Beldonian Republic (2018- )

After the N.L.A. took control of Saint Maria in early January, 2018, they declared the new Republic of West Beldonia, and announced the first general elections since 2015 would take place in November. The N.L.A. continued it's fight against the Black Winds, now under the supervision of the new government. In the November elections, Sebastian Moreau, leader of the N.L.A. who had acted as president since Spencer Saleah's execution in 2015, was elected the next president by an unprecedented majority of 72%.

Politics

West Beldonia is officially a Presidential Constitution Republic, with an elected President and Parliament. Anyone over the age of 18 is allowed to vote, and all votes are counted equally. The Republic of Saphiro, an autonomous republic in West Beldonia, hosts it's own elections for it's own Parliament and President, though the republic is subordinate to the main federal President and Parliament.

Parliament

A multi-party parliament serves as the legislative branch. The parliament holds the majority of the power in the country, being the main source of passing legislation. There are 500 seats in parliament. A majority vote (50.1%) or more is needed to pass any laws they propose, while more than 66.6% of the vote is needed to declare war or make a constitutional amendment. The current ruling party is the Liberal Party, while the opposition is headed by the Conservative party. The next election is expected to be in 2020, with almost all current government leaders being elected in the 2018 elections, the first elections since the outbreak of the Beldonian Civil War in 2015.

Current seats of Parliament

Seat layout of the Parliament:

▇ Liberal Party: 253 seats (Ruling)

▇ Conservative Part: 192 seats (Opposition)

▇ Nationalist Party: 21 seats

▇ Communist Party: 18 seats

▇ Radical Party: 9 seats

▇ Monarchist Party: 7 seats

President

The President of Beldonia serves as the Head of State and as the Commander in Chief. The current president is Sebastian Moreau, leader of the N.L.A. He was originally made the temporary president by the N.L.A. when the new government was founded, and was supposed to serve until actual elections could be held. However, he ran in the elections and won by a majority of 72%, more than any president in West Beldonian history, and so continues to serve as the President.

Foreign Relations

West Beldonia has for most of it's history maintained a policy of non-alignment and neutrality, though this recently changed at the end of the Civil War, when Beldonia aligned itself with the CIN. West Beldonia was maintained cordial relations with most of its neighbors throughout its history. West Beldonia also has a large dependence of foreign industry and trade, both inside and outside its borders. At the beginning of 2015, more than 50% of all West Beldonian industry was foreign owned, and a massive amount of the economy depended on natural gas exports. However, the Civil War saw the government nationalize much of the foreign owned industry, and now it is estimated 20% of industry in West Beldonia is foreign owned.

West Beldonia maintains a claim the isle of East Beldonia, under the control of Aziallis, since its independence in 1948. This has been a contentious issue on the international stage, with West Beldonia cutting off all foreign relations from 1949 to 2015. In 2015, West Beldonia once again opened up relations with Aziallis due to their willingness to support them in the Civil War. This led to a cooling of tensions and the opening of negotiations over the status of East Beldonia in 2018.

Autonomous Republics

The West Beldonian Constitution allows the creation of autonomous republics. These republics would get their own Parliament, President, Constitution, and control over almost all internal affairs, including laws, services (such as police), taxes, and military. However, they must pay taxes to the federal government, must always have functioning elections, and cannot perform any form of diplomacy. Right now, there is only one autonomous republic, though the West Beldonian government has repeatedly stated East Beldonia would become an autonomous republic if it were to become part of West Beldonia. A constitutional amendment that would allow autonomous republics to vote for independence was proposed in early 2019, but has yet to be confirmed.

Autonomous Republic of Saphiro
Flag of Saphiro Flag
Island of Saphiro Island of Saphiro
Capital and	Northside
Official languages	English Beldonian Creole
Demonym(s)	Saphiron
Country	Template:Country data West Beldonia
Leaders
• President	Mathew Devilo
Autonomy
• Creation	January 21st, 2016
• Autonomy	March 23rd, 2018
• Current Constitution	June 17th, 2018
Population
• 2018 estimate	532,015
• Census	2018

Saphiro

Saphiro is the only autonomous republic in West Beldonia, and has a territory that makes up the territory of the isle of Saphiro and a few small surrounding islands. It's capital is Northside.

The island gained autonomy during the Civil War, when militias on Saphiro formed the Free Saphiro Army and took control of the island. Later on in the war, after the Fall of Saint Maria, the Free Saphiro Army declared support for the N.L.A. They would later work with the N.L.A. to write the new constitution, which allowed Saphiro to have considerable autonomy.

An idea was proposed in December of 2018 to turn West Beldonia into a confederation, where Saphiro and West Beldonia would gain equal status. The idea was shot down early on by politicians from West Beldonia, who believed Saphiro should remain less powerful in the nation than the much larger and more populated Saphiro.

Though the West Beldonian government census does not recognize Beldonian and Saphiron as a different ethnicity, the government of Saphiro does in their census. The 2018 census found 90.2% to be Saphiron, 4.5% Beldonian, 3.6% Azillian, and 1.7% are classified as "other".

Demographics

The official census in 2018 found West Beldonia to have a population of 5,673,285, in which almost all lived on the island of West Beldonia. The Republic of Saphiro has a population of 532,015.

Ethnic Groups

The 2018 census found 89.6% of the population to be Beldonian, 7.3% Azillian, 2.5% Wolfgalian, and the other 0.6% are classified as "other".

Languages

West Beldonia has 2 official languages; English and Creole. Beldonian Creole is a mix of the old Beldonian language and English, brought to the islands by Shadowveilian and Azillian settlers and conquerors. It is used by the vast majority of the population and in official business, though English is widely spoken as a second language.

Religion

The 2018 census 71% of people responded they followed any sort of Beldonian Pantheism, 24% athiest/nonreligious, and 5% other.

Beldonian Pantheism is the main religion of West Beldonia, and has roots dating back to ancient times. The religious is mostly based around the ideas of spiritual essence of all-encompassing, immanent god. The religion saw a decline during the period of Aziallis rule, but later saw a revival in the 1980's with the Beldonian Spiritual Revolution.