Leland

**Leland Island** or **Leland** for short is an island in the Western Outer Region bordering Layers Island to the west, Asauna to the north, Valentine to the northeast, Lepps Island to the east, Sorbet Island to the southwest, and Tangalu and Sandy Island to the southeast. It was established in 1918.

Explorers from the Yoshi States entered Leland and ended up colonizing it after discovering the island was never claimed by any nation at the time. It was eventually established as a separate country in 1918. During the early years, Lelandians primarily worked in carpet producing factories where they made carpets for newly built houses. Cotton farms also grew, and clothes were made using the cotton harvested from these farms.

Leland is home to marble-based architecture that is prominent across its capital city as well as the pink and green colored royal palace with floors made from polished coins and walls made of bright white marble. Strong sense of nationalism is prominent from outside of the royal palace, with murals of the island's past kings in display and the country's flags are mounted onto it. Green and Magenta lights often shine at night to show the country's flag colors.

Leland is a developing country, ranking 73rd in the Global Development Index. It scores a 71/100 on the freedom score as of 2022. It primarily exports marble textiles and crude oil.

Leland is considered to be an anocracy, which is a hybrid of a democracy and autocracy. The country has a unicameral legislature and the people elected are called representatives, and there are also lawmakers that pass laws, which are voted by representatives, but these laws must be approved by the king and the king has broad and unchecked powers that allow him to pass laws he pleases. The judiciary, while largely independent, has judges chosen or picked by the king. The king however exercises restraint and allows for vibrant and competitive elections for various government ministers, as well as representatives, lawmakers, mayors, sheriffs, sheriffs deputies, and other government officials, and freedom of the press is largely respected.

Lelandian government has historically been accused of gender inequality throughout its history, but in 1976 by pressure from various rights groups and even certain countries, Leland removed the law in the constitution.

Leland is one of only two countries in the alternate dimension world where their curfews expand towards the internet, the other is Tikal Island. It is also the only country in the western outer region that still actively uses the death penalty, and it is one of two countries in the outer region where the government has a legal system entirely based on christian law, the other one is Neopalita. Leland executes more people than the entire Yoshi States combined, with 52 executions in Leland in 2020 alone, compared to 17 executions in the YS that same year.

## History

Leland Island was established in 1918 by explorers from Layers Island, which have noticed the island for some time. It was colonized and it's founder, King Leland, became the island's king. King Leland died in 1920 and his son, King Leland II, succeeded him and ruled the country with an iron fist.

From 1920 to 1938 under King Leland II, the country became a totalitarian dictatorship that completely denied all political rights and civil liberties, severely restricted women's rights, banned all western forms of art, entertainment, and culture including but not limited to TV, cinema, books, radio, music, etc., outlawed all religions except Christianity, severely criminalized independent media, outlawed political pluralism and criminalized political dissent, and the only instrument that was allowed was the Harp. Even though the regime only lasted eighteen years, it was described as being one of the worst places to be during this time.

King Leland II would eventually be assassinated, and his regime would be overthrown by his son King Leland III in 1938. Under his reign from 1938 to 1964, many of his predecessor's laws and restrictions were lifted and western art and independent media was allowed once again, but the country would still restrict women's rights even though during this time women began to get many of the same rights as men, and they were allowed to walk on the streets alone again. King Leland III passed a law in 1939 that would automatically enact any law the Yoshi States made when it came to gender equality.

In 1964, King Leland IV became king and King Leland III's law passed in 1939 granting equal rights was abolished citing that the YS was starting to shift away from Leland's conservative views and religious beliefs. The country would still be reliant on foreign companies to conduct trade with them.

Being a descendant of the Yoshi States, the country's architecture and building style for many years was the same as its forefather country, and the country style culture also migrated, including country restaurants and country stores. Most buildings in villages and towns are the same as those of the Yoshi States, and the houses built were heavily based on that of its father nation. Meanwhile, the most urbanized areas, including the capital, had architecture similar to that of New York City and San Francisco from the 1920s, and many of those buildings still stand.

In the 1950s however, the country would cease to build American-style buildings because they started to go contrary to the brick-and-mortar buildings, and they would favor white marble for the construction of future buildings, with the modern glass buildings being restricted to only the most urbanized areas including the capital. In the early 1970's, Leland stopped building American style homes completely citing loss of quality and more foreign influence, and they would instead use the old-style architecture for homes. Starting in 1978 however, King Leland IV banned lead based paint and asbestos from being used in any further construction of homes.

In the 1990's, building new houses started to become more expensive, and the country had been hit by sanctions, which throttled any new building materials from being shipped by the Yoshi States, so locals had to use what they had. Even after the sanctions were eventually abolished, building any new modern homes was still difficult citing the country's poorer economy and smaller value of its currency (Lelandian Dollar). 21.7 Lelandian Dollars is equal to one Yoshi States Dollar (YSD).

## Rights

Leland scored a 74/100 on the freedom score as of 2021. Even though the country is under an anocratic government, citizens still have many of the same rights and protections as if they were in the Yoshi States. However, insulting the King is punishable by lese majeste, and the nation still continues to practice certain laws from the 1950's. The official state religion of Leland is Christianity, and the constitution states that Christianity is the country's main religion and laws must comply with Christian law. Protesting, while allowed, is sometimes repressed through violent means, especially if the protest takes place near the royal palace, even if it is done in a peaceful and law-abiding matter.

Leland is ranked as partly free on the women's rights index, scoring a 75 out of 144 in 2021. It ranked 90th on gender equality on the Gender Gap Index.

Freedom of Assembly, including the right to protest, is generally respected, but the government occasionally persecutes women's rights and LGBT rights activists by incarcerating them and/or placing them on house arrest, often times with internet access revoked to prevent them from starting any new protests. Protesting was historically illegal in Leland and those caught were persecuted, intimidated, or deported, but this has improved drastically since 1964 when King Leland IV was ascended to the throne.