South St. Maarten

**South St Maarten**, officially the **Constitutional Monarchy of South St Maarten**, is a country on the island of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. It is bordered on the north by North St. Maarten. Although only encompassing 50 miles, South St Maarten has a population of 301,391. The nation is divided into 7 regions and the capital city, New Amsterdam, which is a Federal District.

South St Maarten is a developed country, with a national GDP of $361,112. The per capita GDP of $71,012 ranks highly in the world, and the country also ranks highly in income equality. The economy is booming and is at an all time high. A main contributor to that is the removal of socialism in December 2017. South St Maarten now has a capitalist economy. South St Maarten also ranks highly in civil rights. South St Maarten is a formidable power, and while small in size, has a big international heavyweight. Therefore, the nation is a member of several international organizations, including the military alliance ESTO.

## Etymology

Sint Maarten means Saint Martin in Dutch. The island was named after him when it was discovered. South St Maarten rules the south side of the island.

The standard way to refer to a citizen of South St Maarten is as a "Maartenian."

## History

The Kingdom of the Netherlands dissolved itself on 14 March 1973, with the monarchy being abolished. All four republics (Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, and the Caribbean Netherlands) became independent. The first president of the new Republic of Sint Maarten (the south) was Francis Whiteman, who spend two four-year terms as president. On 17 April 1981, the major parties in the nation broke up due to power struggles, and 39 candidates ran for President. The winning candidate was Herbert Shnell, only getting 4.45% of the vote; he immediately abolished the republic and invited the heir to the Austrian throne, Otto Von Habsburg, to lead the country.He became HRH King Otto I on 1 January 1982 and created the Kingdom of Sint Maarten as a Constitutional Monarchy, ruling for 18 years.

Meanwhile, the French side of Saint Martin (the north) declared independence from France on 15 August 1991 as a republic. However, the government was corrupt, and by 1996 the government abolished all personal freedoms. On 16 November 1997, a gardener from Barbados rose to power and declared the new Dictatorship of the Caribbean, declaring war on the Kingdom of Sint Marten and the Republic of Dominica. The Great Martinian War lasted 2 years and ended with the dictatorship's defeat, with King Otto I annexing the nation and Dominica getting its military.

On 2 January 2000, King Otto I abdicated in favor of his son, who became King Edward I and led the country until 11 November 2020 when he was assassinated by a Jamaican man. His wife then married Willem Alexander of former Kingdom of the Netherlands' royalty. Edward's cousin, also named Edward, became King Edward II. His first move was declaring war on Jamaica, and his popularity swiftly declined. A civil war ensued and on 30 May 2003 he abdicated.

In the power struggle, a man from the north side of the island named Nicholas Sama proclaimed the Dictatorship of the Maartinians. He was a cruel tyrant and in August 2015, the south side of the island declared independence. After a long war, independence was achieved on 12 April 2017. The Constitutional Monarchy of South St. Maarten was created with a temporary government. On 1 May 2017 King Edward III (the son of King Edward I's wife and Willem Alexander) was crowned, and Prime Minister James Kiribatii winning the election. On 16 August, the archipelago off Sint Maarten was given a higher level of autonomy as a puppet nation, Coastal St Maarten. On 1 October, Dutch Reformed Protestant was declared as the national religion and the monarchy line of succession was established.

## Geography

South St Maarten's land area is 50.99 mile² (82.1 km²). The landscape is very simple, with there being long beaches on the sides of the island, rolling hills in the middle, and a few valleys in the north.

## Government

The King has full executive discretion, but is advised by a group of 20 politicians known as the Monarch House. It is unclear whether they are appointed or elected. If they unanimously vote to veto a law passed by the King, and the House (see below) votes at least 65%, then the law is vetoed.

The House Of Democratic Maartenians is the fully democratic legislative branch of the government, comprised of 100 seats. Every year, 20 seats are up for election, and one term is five years.

The Prime Minister can be considered as member 101 of the House Of Democratic Maartenians and member 21 of the Monarch House. He or she is one of the elected House Of Democratic Maartenians members selected by the Parliament to represent the government in international affairs. He/she gives up their seat upon taking the role of Prime Minister. The Prime Minister does not regularly vote on laws, but acts as a tiebreaker for both the House Of Democratic Maartenians and the Monarch House.

### Foreign Relations

South St Maarten takes a very active role in the world diplomatic stage. The country is part of the military alliance ESTO, and fought a brief overseas war with Poland against Germany before withdrawing from the conflict. It also participated in the 2020 Swedish Crisis. South St Maarten has state embassies in more than 30 countries around the world, and visa-free entry is granted to all citizens of countries we have embassies with, and vise versa. The country is also a member of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). South St Maarten is furthermore a member of the 6 Continents United Treaty, a treaty between small nations on each of the six continents to encourage diplomacy around the world. The members are South St Maarten (North America), Peru (South America), The Netherlands (Europe), Kazakhstan (Asia), Togo (Africa), and Vanuatu (Oceana).

## Military

The South St Maarten armed forces is made of three parts. They are the army, navy, and air force. The South St Maarten Army Consists of about 20,000 men and women. Many of them are from the Maarten Liberation Army, which freed the south from the north in early 2017. Lately, 1,000 Troops have been deployed in ESTO Countries to help keep peace. As an ESTO nation, if a fellow member nation is attacked we will immediately send troops. The Navy Of South St. Maarten is one of the best in the world. Being an island nation, the navy is vitally important. Not only does it act as a coast guard, it also transports planes, tanks, and troops to other fronts, and engages in naval warfare. It is based in Cole Bay. There has never been any naval battles up to this point. The Air Force was created in July 2017. It started with 100 planes leased from UKCS, but after four months all those planes have been returned and South St Maarten has a small air force. The main job of the air force is to protect the island from above. Conscription for the armed forces is always illegal. The South St Maarten armed forces will continue to protect the nation for years to come.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "History of South St Maarten" by South St Maarten
2. ↑ "Overview Of South St Maarten" by South St Maarten
3. ↑ 4 January 2020 edition of the Konungariket Herald
4. ↑ 13 January 2020 edition of the Konungariket Herald