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Motto: "Hope for the future" | |||||
Anthem: "Rhodea's March" | |||||
Capital | Bradford | ||||
Largest city | Clayport-Moor | ||||
Official language(s) | English | ||||
Demonym | Rhodean | ||||
Government President
Vice President |
Federal republic William Pierce Tom Harper | ||||
Area | 3,144 km² | ||||
Population (Feb. 2008) | 197,821 | ||||
Currency | Rhodean Dollar1 (RHD )
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Time zone | GMT –5 | ||||
Internet TLD | .rh 2 | ||||
Calling code | +2
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1 Enieo will be adopted as the sole currency from May 1 2 Used alongside the .cofr domain |
Republic of Rhodea is a federal republic located at the American East Coast. The small country is surrounded by the United States of America, which Rhodea refused to be a part of in 1776. Rhodea broke out from the British Empire in 1775, and fought together with other states for independence. When the American Consitution was signed in 1776, Rhodea formed its own federal republic, on the same basis as its big brother in north. Rhodea has refused to be an additional state of USA several times, but maintains a strong and friendly relationship to the States. Rhodea is member of the United Nations, NATO and COFR.
History[]
Colonization and independence[]
The area was colonized in the last part of the 17th century and onwards. In 1710 there was a population of a few hundred people, settled in small villages along the coastline. The first real cities didn't show up before the 19th century, so Rhodea was in fact a rural area when it contributed with its own resistance force in the American Revolutionary War. When the war was won by the Americans in 1783, representatives from Rhodea decleared that Rhodea did not wish to become the 13th state of the United States of America. Practically the representatives were the nation of Rhodea; the people of Rhodea did not have any common heritage, language (though English was dominant) or goal.
The representatives returned to Rhodea, and created an national assembly, Supreme Assembly of Rhodea, to govern the newest country in the world. The assembly was meant to be a temporary solution, but lasted longer than expected. The assambly consisted of the largest landowners of the country, as these still were the richest because there still weren't any big industry in the cities. In addition, there were some known city people: In the first session (1784–1788) there were twelve landowners/farmers, three former soldiers, two merchants and one doctor.
National institutions created[]
In 1802 the members of the Assembly of Rhodea signed the Consitution of Rhodea. It disbanded their own power from 1804, and gave the power to the three branches of government: The Senate (elected), the President (elected) and the courts. At the same time, the country was divided into states, that also were used as electoral districts. Every state elected 2 senators and a X number of representatives (the same number as the number of electoral votes in presidential elections). The President was elected based on number of electoral votes gathered (a win in a state resulted in all of the electoral votes; "the winner takes it all"), and not by popular vote like today (the elections to the Senate is also changed). Elections for state governor and legalisatures were determinated of the respecitive state's election laws. Bradford became capital in 1891, succeeding Clayport, after becoming the largest city in the country.
The "Youth Senate" was created in the 1890's as a link between the youth and the Senate. The members were from 16 to 25 years old (at the age of 25 they could stand for a senate seat). The Youth Senate did not have real political power, but got heavily involved into high stage political work in the country, and many of the members did later become notable politicians and even presidents. The Youth Senate was firstly elected in the same way as the Senate, but with one youth senator from each state (and one extra from the capital, Bradford).
World Wars[]
Recent history[]
Politics and government[]
The legislative power of Rhodea is in the hands of the Senate. The Senate is unicameral, and consists of 200 senators, elected as independent members from the sole constituency: Rhodea as whole. The senators are elected every fourth year, usually at the same time as the federal presidential election occurs. The voter's choice of presidential candidate doesn't affect the election of the Senate members, so the voters will have to fill out two votes to vote for both a presidential candidate and a senator. Senators being in the same party are put at the same list, but the voter can still only vote for one senator. Independent candidates are put on a "Independent" list. The system means that well-known candidates from large cities are easily elected compared to less known candidates from smaller (often rural) areas. For the commune elections, each commune decides how the election is conducted: Some have candidate elections, while others have parliamentary system with different parties (often local ones).
Presidential election of 2005[]
- Main article: Rhodea presidential election, 2005
Party | Candidate | % | State | Running mate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Moderate | William Pierce | 50,7 | Ricksburg | Tom Harper | |
Social Democrat | Mike Curley | 48,3 | Clayport | Edmund L. Martins | |
Progressive | Alfred Spitz | 1,0 | Terrywood | Cynthia Leaf |
Communes[]
This statistic follows the defination "commune" (from Latin: public, common, root for community) from the Rhodean Bureau of Statistics (RBS), where a commune is an independent political unit with it's own mayor and city council (elected in different ways). While communes may include several (often smaller) towns and places, larger urban areas may be divided into several communes.
Commune | Population |
---|---|
Clayport-Moor | 56,556 |
Bradford | 46,514 |
Overley | 25,923 |
Fort Hebron | 25,601 |
Skerring | 15,190 |
Eastern Clayport | 6,913 |
Clement Hills | 6,795 |
Thurman | 4,303 |
Evergreen Valley | 3,307 |
Southside Clayport | 2,670 |
Pearl Straits | 1,303 |
Dayton | 902 |
Skerring Basin | 690 |
Wilke Valley | 672 |
Wick | 482 |
Rhodea | 197,821 |
Communication[]
The infrastructure of Rhodea is well-developed, and the communication goes easily; in the largest cities aswell as in the rural areas with several kilometers to the next house. Mobile phone signals are aviable all over the country, and few places are without access to wireless internet connection. Signal towers for mobile phones, internet, radio and television are found on strategical hilltops, and some of them got extremely powerful signals.
Highway project[]
The highway project "Bradford—Fort Hebron in ultraspeed" was finished in the beginning of 2009, after being in maintenance and construction since 2006. It is described as one of the biggest efforts by President William Pierce. After the project was finished, the it is possible to travel with bus or car from Bradford to Fort Hebron on highways, with few brakes, in just a couple of hours. During this tour, you also go through (and may drive into) Skerring. It is also possible to take sideways (also being highways) to Overley, Clayport (via Larrysburg), Moor and Evergreen Valley.
Train[]
Railways goes to all communes in the country, but they are a more important part of the infrastructure someplaces than others.
Airports[]
Currently, Rhodea got three airports:
- Rhodea International Airport in Moor (international)
- William Pierce Airport in Bradford (national)
- Skerring Airport in Skerring (national)
The fourth airport was located at the northernmost part of the Clayport Peninsula in Eastern Clayport. After the construcation of Rhodea Int., the activity decreased due to the short distance (just across the Clayport inlet). The airport was finally demolished in 2008, after not being used by regular air traffic since 2001. Between the remaining airports, there are routes between all, exept Rhodea Int. and Skerring because of the short distance. However, air traffic with human passageres is limited, as it takes you nearly longer time to fly than to drive the distance by car yourself. Therefore, flying with passageres is mainly a phenomena restricted to Rhodea International's flights to foreign countries.
Education[]
Type | Age | Equal to |
---|---|---|
Elementary school | 6–13 | Elementary school |
Youth school | 13–16 | Secondary school |
High school | 16–19 | High school |
College | 19+ | U. college/college |
University | 19+ | University |
The Rhodean government's vision for the educational system of the republic is that everybody should have the chance to get an education, not depending on social background, gender, religion or personal views. Elementary school and youth school are compulsory, while most students also attend at high school. Here the students will have to choose between specific vocational educations (lasting 2–3 years) or general studies (lasting 3 years). Compleated general studies gives a university admissions certificate, which is neccessary to take most types of higher education.
The colleges of Rhodea are more like university colleges, and supplies a wide range of educational choices, including university bachelor degrees, engineering degrees and professional vocations like teacher and nurse. The grade system is the same as it is for universities. The type of enrollment is the same as abroad. Universities are found in most of the large cities, and these mostly have exchange programs with foreign universities. Most foreign students in Rhodea comes from the United States and Western Europe, but the number of Asian and Australian students increases anually.