Ostrobia

The **Ostrobian Federation** is a federal parliamentary republic situated in northern Europe, bordered by the North Sea, which separates it from the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The capital and largest city is Treien. The main part of the country consists of two islands, the North Island and the South Island, with some offshore areas, most notably the Archipelago of New Camberra, existing as well.

The Federation has a population of ?? million, one of the largest in Europe. It is a democratic government, with the head of state and government being the Prime Minister, which since 1 September 2017 is Alexandria Zwanskee. It is divided into 12 states and 2 special territories.

Ostrobia has a rich cultural history spanning from the Hunnic Empire. Ostrobia was relatively isolated from the rest of Europe except for Scandinavia due to the mountain ranges in the South Island, however few trading cities from the Saxons and the Hanseatic League was created. Ostrobia was ruled by different kingdoms until the late 1500s when the Dutch managed to cross the South Island and began trading and eventually colonising the land. The Dutch Golden Age developed Ostrobia in to a model nation, until the First Anglo-Dutch War, which made the Netherlands give up Ostrobia. England and Scotland began colonising Ostrobia in 1654. The British created new settlements around the west coast of Ostrobia and it was the first colonial power to extend its influence in Eastern Ostrobia as the Stratoherran Empire began to fall during the mid-1700s.

By 1790, Ostrobian nationalists began to surge and demand independence from Britan, inspired by the American Revolution. In 1848, Ostrobia gained independence from Britain after a series of revolutions that sparked across mainland Europe in 1848. During the years of 1848-1852, Ostrobia fell in civil war but by 1855, Ostrobia was united under a federal government and the Ostrobian Industrial Revolution occured and by 1890s, the Ostrobian Golden Age occured after a stable, independent government was established. In 1914, Ostrobia fell to another civil war again, part of World War I, however a Second Ostrobian Golden Age occured during 1920 towards 1929, before the Great Depression. During 1929 - 1940, a Great Exodus occurred, as the people went out of the countryside and inside cities to look for jobs. World War II, saw the destruction of major Ostrobian cities, however the Nazi regime could not make it towards Ostrobia because of the Ostrobian mountains and heavily fortified seawalls. During the 1950s to the 70s, Ostrobia's economic growth has exploded, however an invasion of Stratoherra in 1972 caused the government to fall in to disarray which lasted until 1974. In 1982, Ostrobian joined the European Union and agreed to the Schengen Area, but not the Eurozone.

Today, Ostrobia is a developed country, with a high per-capita GDP and Human Development Index. It has been a member of the European Union since 1982 and is also a member of the Commonwealth, G20, NATO, and OECD. It maintains a globalist outlook on world matters, with maintaining secure trade links with other countries always a high priority. The official languages are English and Ostrobian.

## Name

The exact origin of the name 'Ostrobia' is unknown. Most probably, the modern form of the name came from the Dutch word of **oester'***-'***rijk** (eastern realm).

Before the Dutch, however, Ostrobia or Oesterijk did not exist and separate kingdoms ruled the land. The whole archipelago was named **Vetiti Terra** (**Land of the Forbidden** in Latin - referring to the isolation the island had over mainland Europe). The Scandinavians called it **Lure** (**Wonder**). The British had called the entire island **Britanniam Secundo** during the Middle Ages and **New Britain** during the early years of colonisation, before the *Oesterijk* and then *Ostrobia* name solidified across Ostrobia.

The Hyenian name for Ostrobia is a direct translation of the words eastern realm.

## History

The earliest evidence of human habitation in Ostrobia is dated to approximately 9000 BC, during the Mesolithic period. It is unknown what prehistoric culture or ethnic group they were in fact associated with, and some theorise that they spoke a pre-Indo-European language (similar to Basque). Remains of their settlements have been found in a variety of places, in Grijndervet in southern Maine (now a notable tourist attraction), as well as in Heblo and South Central especially. As compared to its neighbours in continental Europe, Ostrobia's prehistory is very vague and uncertain as to the culture and lifestyles of these inhabitants.

During the Iron Age, Celtic peoples from northern France took over the southern part of the islands, establishing their culture firmly (this is in fact confirmed: especially after DNA testing proved that even some modern inhabitants of the south of the country have some degree of Celtic ancestry) and while the Romans attempted interest in the islands, similarly to their invasion of Britain, during the first century AD, they were quickly driven out. It was a previous hypothesis that Romans did in fact settle in Ostrobia, but this was disproved by scientific analysis.

The next culture to make their mark on Ostrobia was the Huns in the 6th century, who essentially took over the existing Celtic culture, however a unified Hunnic culture did not exist for very long, with them breaking off and forming small tribes. The existence of these early tribes is one theory to explain the Hyenian culture and language, which is distinct from any other in Europe. The tribes that *are* known were the northerly 'Menns' or 'Mennise', who gave their name to the state of Maine, as well as the southerly 'Stratohesk', giving their name to Stratoherra. The Stratoheskat were quickly succeeded by the Danes and Saxons, who essentially formed their own unified ethnic group.

There were several more successive waves of invasion onto the islands, namely the Franks (850-930), the Vikings (910-1000) and in 1002 were succeeded by the Holy Roman Empire and Christian autonomy, which was not well maintained in Ostrobia and the status of subject collapsed within half a century. The problem of anarchy and the lack of continuous, stable rule was quite evident: some of those descended from pairings between the various cultures such as Vikings, Saxons, and the Stratoheskat themselves, by now had something of a shared identity as 'Ostrobian', and formed the Kingdom of Ostrobia in 1071, with ??? as its first leader.

At this stage, 'Ostrobia' did not have its current areas, it essentially consisted only of the western side of North Island. It was countered by the force of Stratoherra, who formed their own autonomous kingdom in 1080, headed by ???. These two kingdoms, despite occasional periods of conflict, managed to coexist for some three-and-a-half centuries. During this time, many Ostrobian cities were founded, such as Treien which King Gaine I founded in 1123 to serve as permanent royal capital.

This all changed, however, with King Osteksa coming to power as king in 1463. He prompted the Stratoherran Kingdom (at that point stretching from modern Seblo to Aranley) to become expansionist and take over Ostrobian-ruled areas, spreading the Stratoherran language to replace their use of Middle Ostrobian (a language derived from German and Dutch). This led to what was often referred as the 'Age of Strife', which roughly spanned from 1470 to 1666. During this time, there were many conflicts between the two kingdoms, based on imperialism, religious and linguistic concerns.

Around the sixteenth century was a religious revolution in Ostrobia, when news from Germany that Martin Luther had published his Ninety-Five Theses arrived on the islands, the idea of the Protestant Church took off, which was considered dangerous by the Stratoherrans, who were primarily Roman Catholic due to Holy Roman Empire influence. Despite the fact that the Empire itself (which the Stratoherrans based their legal code on) began to recognise the Calvinist branch of Protestantism in 1555, the Stratoherrans never did so and tried to enforce religious law on their controlled territories. As a result, the persecution of Protestants was common and tension ran high between the two kingdoms with respect to religion. (The most notable matter was when a group of Protestant-majority villages in modern Heblo state were burned to the ground by Stratoherran military forces in September 1594, leading to the Ostrobians sending their own forces to attack the city of Aranley.) Meanwhile, recognition of religious freedom became a mark of Ostrobian identity to some degree.

Throughout this period, it was known for many raids by the Stratoherran Empire on Ostrobian cities (Ghruk Bay in 1567 and Serbeig (modern Helen Hozacky in 1602 are notable examples) and subsequent Ostrobian counterattacks. This eventually led to the largest raid of them all, an attempt by Stratoherrans in 1666 to overthrow the Ostrobian royal family. It ended up that the Western Castle was attacked with cannons, and King Sabjeke III and almost all of his family were killed. With Ostrobia left leaderless, a high-level military commander, Wilem Navier took power several days later, turning into an autocracy. During this time, Navier challenged the Stratoherrans and declared war on them. Following ??? number of casualties, it was decided in 1672 that neither side was truly in the right, and the Ostrobian monarchy was essentially disbanded. The Stratoherran monarchy continued to exist, but was greatly reduced in its power and territory, retreating to its capital city and the surrounding area.

In 1720, the British decided to impose their colonial interest on Ostrobia: following the destruction of the two rival kingdoms, it was considered as a weak target with no true leadership. Following this, from 1726-1734, they sent many ships to raid cities on the west coast of Ostrobia, and used this opportunity to assume control of Ostrobia and form the Ostrobian Free State: a royal subject of the United Kingdom.

Life under the Ostrobian Free State was peaceful compared to the previous few centuries, but many Ostrobians were unhappy with their imperial treatment: the British encouraged the use of English as an official language in business and government, and Ostrobian was discouraged. Matters became intense when the local leader Musse Gradsteen encouraged his followers (many of them businessmen and farmers from surrounding towns) to vandalise British property in order to make a statement against the Free State. However, some of them had formed a small army and in 1761 attempted to put the Colonial Governor ??? on trial. They were executed for attempted crime against their colonial overseers.

The movement of Ostrobian Nationalism became quite pronounced during this time and from the 1780s onwards, Ostrobian nationalists began to demand their independence from Britain, in an addition to the age of revolutions around the world during that time. ... and on May 25, 1848 (now celebrated as Ostrobia Day), the British were forced to hand Ostrobia its independence.

While Ostrobia was independence, there was a large amount of tension based on how the country would be ruled. One group of nationalists wanted a monarchy similar to the old Ostrobian monarchy, whereas the others wanted a republic with fully elected government. This led to four years of civil war, with...

In the end, in 1855 the Ostrobian Federation was established as a republic, with all territories becoming states under the State Plan. However, in Hyenia, this led to much trouble as the Hyenian system of government was essentially suppressed under the federal system... and in 1868 Hyenia was given the status of 'autonomous region' with its autonomous and legislative principles being slightly different.

## Geography

The total area of Ostrobia is approximately 231,000 square kilometres. Most of the land area is divided in between North Island and South Island. Most of the land in the north is flat, with a few hills, most notably the Western Ranges and the Derildra Region. The South Island is more mountainous, including the Noel Ranges, containing the country's highest mountain, Mount Takely at 1504 metres.

### Climate

Ostrobia's climate is cool and temperate. Temperatures are usually mild due to the North Sea influence. The highest temperature ever recorded in Ostrobia was 39.2°C (102.5°F) recorded in Delacombe, South Central and the lowest was -20.7°C (-7.2°F) recorded in the Mount Canfield reserve in Holboken.

## Politics and government

### Administrative divisions

Ostrobia has three levels of government: federal (situated in Treien), state or territory, and local. Local government is highly complex, with many cities being in fact not one city, but divided into multiple local government areas. (As of 22 January 2016, Treien is divided into 31 LGA's) Most rural areas are designed as shires, or farmwoods (generally with only small towns and little population).

As a federation, Ostrobia is divided into 15 federal subjects, and furthermore these subjects are separated by type. Ostrobia has:

* 11 states - the most common federal unit. These all have regional parliaments. These institutions are unicameral (except for the bicameral parliament in Alnet) and exercise their own power over state-related matters. They are governed by a Premier. The states are: (note, population is unknown)

* 2 autonomous regions: Hyenia and Stratoherra. Both were originally a state after the State Plan but following protests, they were forced to grant a different level of independence to Hyenia. In 1974, the Stratoherran Peace Plan was decided upon by the Ostrobian Government, Stratoherran National Party and Nationens Sværd (paramilitary wing of the Stratoherran National Party). This allowed Stratoherra to become an autonomous region. There are calls from the Prethenian autonomous party - Parti de Pretheniqué to turn Prethenia into an autonomus region, however only 35% of Prethenia's population is French-speaking and French along with English is the co-official languages of Prethenia.
* 2 unitary territories: the National Territory and Seblo Integrated State, both of these surround the country's two largest cities.
* 1 external region: New Cambera, which is similar to a unitary state however it does not have any state-level legislation, all of this is achieved from a specific council of Federal Government.

### The legislature

Parliament is the primary legislative body of Ostrobia, located in Treien. It has two houses, the upper house Federal Council and the lower house Federal Chamber.

### The judiciary

The Ostrobian federal court system (except for Hyenia and Stratoherra) is divided into multiple levels: the Magistrates' Court, the County/District Court, the Supreme Court (located in all federal subjects *with the exception of New Cambera*) and the High Court of Ostrobia in Treien. Hyenia's system is different, *will be elaborated on later*.

## Languages

    Ostrobian has five official languages: English, Ostrobian, Stratoherran, Hyenian & French, which corelate to the five main ethnic groups, English Ostrobians, Ostrobians, Stratoherrans, Hyenians and Prethenians.

According to Census 2011, 94% of Ostrobians speak English at home & work, 2% speak Stratoherran, 1% speak Ostrobian, 1% speak French & 1% speak Hyenian. Although English is the dominant language of Ostrobia, Ostrobian education system dictates that English and an official Ostrobian language should be taught. According to a survey between 18 to 60 year olds, 81% of English Ostrobians can understand Ostrobian.

## Culture

Ostrobian culture can be described as a fusion of Anglo-Celtic, Nordic and Dutch culture. Culture varies from state to state however the western states are highly influenced by British culture due to its close proximity with British and Irish ancestry. Western Ostrobia can be described as "Little Britian" due to its resemblance. British influence can be seen in greater life such as the parliamentary system, left hand driving and English spelling.

Dutch influence is strongest in the east, especially in the state of South Central, where 82% of the population has Dutch ancestry and universal understanding of Ostrobian, a Dutch sister language, similar to Afrikaans. Old Ostrobian city centre architecture is based of Dutch architecture, an example would be Treien. The Dutch Reformed Church has a strong presence in Ostrobia.

Nordic influence is strongest in Northern Ostrobia and Stratoherra. Hyenia is an isolate culture, most similar to Finland and it grew its own cultural identity however it is tied to Nordic influence.

### Arts

The most renouned artist in Ostrobia is Hivert Van Naucht which was born in 1685. He was known for his renaisance arts and created about 1,000 artworks that has links to Dutch Golden Age painting.

### Cuisine

Ostrobian cuisine is described as being the "melting pot of Europe" due to a fusion of English, Dutch, German and Scandanavian food. English influence includes Sunday roast, Ostrobian day breakfast, meat pies, Ostrobian mac & cheese and Bsu sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce however sweeter). Dutch and German influence includes Hego bangers, Aranleger cheese, Dazalumer beer and Hundserkraat sauerkraut. Scandanavian influence includes fishgraut, Tenarite salad, pickled potaats, offal pate, crabeepatty (fish sandwich) and fruitkraaker (pancakes topped with strawberries or lingonberries).

## Ethnicity

    According to Census 2016, 93% of Ostrobians has European ancestry.