Factbook: The Shambles (Shambolicuen) [Very much WIP]

[The Shambles]

[small]The national flag symbolises the interplay between the people and the geography.[/small]

Whilst officially a Dominion, it would be more appropriate to call The Shambles a bureaucracy, a nation whose isolation has fostered a sense of business (and busyness) by paperwork and politicians. Its population is hard working and sound, though aware that a lot is discussed and never achieved by a ruling class which consider it necessary to report, rule and reorder as and when they find a gap in their schedule. Each region of the country was once an autonomous district, and this word 'district' is now used as the official term for them. Each district has its own council, is divided into 'wards' or 'divisions', and for national and local election each district is further divided into constituencies. For an island so small, the joke is that there would be 1,000 islands were the lines on a map ever made in real life.

The national parliament is The Senate, elected by a mix of voting systems (intended to ensure no single party rule, though the most recent election saw the Social and Democrat Party win an overall majority.) Members of the Senate represent single member constituencies, which are formed by combining ward together. Additionally, a number of Senators represent district-wide 'lists', which often helps smaller parties to be elected as single member constituencies tend to be fights between the main three parties.

Each district's own council is directly elected too, although the constituencies here are the 'wards', and although councils retain power in education, transport, health and many other policies, turnout has never been particularly high, resulting in a greater mix of smaller or extreme candidates being elected. Uniquely, the district of Savicue is run at local level by a majority Christian Party administration, the only district in which the party has taken hold.

This FactBook will endeavour to explain the history of the country, its political structures, its economy, language, and main towns and cities. Each district will also have a brief overview.

It is very much a 'work in progress' (or, indeed, 'laso tané a salz' to use the native language, of which, more later....)

[The Shambles]

The Shambles is an island country at the confluence of the North Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. As might be assumed, the country is a remote and largely mountainous one, marked most notably by some of the largest and most active volcanoes in continental Europe.

The island is divided for administrative purposes into eight semi-autonomous regions, known as 'districts'. Each of these have their own distinct geography and geology, with the eastern districts amongst the most isolated in the developed world. Across the south-central of the island, spanning the entire width of Tripoli district at its widest point, is the Sundfelf National Park, home to the largest volcano in the country, and the most active. There is no permanent population in this part of the country - indeed, there is only one road connecting the southern communities of Ygli Tent district to remote communities in Savicue.

There are considered six major volcanoes across the Shambles, regarded as those which retain activity in living memory. The reality of living in a country with these geological unpredictabilities requires special attention from Government and NGOs. As can be imagined, the major cities are formed on the fringes of the country, and as such nature dictates where and how man can build homes, businesses and transport. As the most remote district of all, Savicue has developed a series of 'integrated communities', creating townships which run into each other rather than true 'independent' areas. There is only one main road - running through mountainous areas - connecting the northern Savicue town of Dín Mos to the southern town of Lanfrom.


The strength of nature dictating those who wish to live amongst it can be seen across the capital city Macedon and the district of the same name. Macedon sits on a landscape marked by the onslaught of earthquakes, lava, and glaciers. It is sometimes regarded as 'The Capital Among Islands'. Low lying, barely above sea level, two constructed Bays - Est Bol and Apanadon - reclaimed land for the construction of the buildings which would turn into the Senate and machinery of government. Macedon has - and continues to - suffer from rising sea levels. On two occasions, the Senate building has been flooded in this way.


Four of the six most notable volcanoes are stratovolcanoes, distinctive for having flat 'dome' style tops and exceptionally steep sides. Although all four have erupted at some point in the past fifty years, these have been limited and not threatened public life or property.

These four have two names - English names used in official records, and ancient names which have been passed through history from earliest settlement to contemporary times with only minimal changes in spelling. These names are brought from long lost languages which bare almost no resemblance to modern Shambolique or minority dialects. As a result, the 'official' name bares no relationship to the ancient name


The Great Old Man (Lot Lel Biryi)
Elevation - 1985m
Location: Within the Dízá division of Tripoli

Wing-Tip Mountain (Giz Senp Senp)
Elevation - 1920m
Location: Within the Dízá division of Tripoli

Half Fall (Topos Quo Dosco)
Elevation - 1760m
Location: Within the Pant Fír division of Tripoli

Dame Gold Caves - Stridehill Mountain (Cojathan Ryf Daddyth)
Elevation - 660m
Location: Within the Strum Vó division of Albania

The two other notable volcanoes are classed as 'Tuya', a broad 'topped' peak type which are subglacial volcanoes made with distinctive horizontal beds of basaltic lava.

These are both within the St Gregóz district in the north-east of the country.

Farhill (Kop Wat Toi)
Elevation: 700m
Location: Within the Sud district of St Gregóz

South Park (Buc Bar Fan Plas)
Elevation: 850m
Location: Within the Traw Bram district of St Gregóz

[The Shambles]

Politics and Political Parties

If one characteristic sums up the Shambles, it's bureaucracy driven to its natural conclusion. The island was formed on the basis that every district would be awarded autonomy within a larger structure, and that the national parliament would hold sovereignty over the devolved councils. Without a President - the head of state is the Prime Minister of the day - this structure would soon fall apart. As a consequence of devolved councils wanting to strengthen representation to their own towns created a mess of wards, divisions and constituencies. With such a small population, it's no wonder it's often said the country has more rules than rulers and more rulers than ruled.

The country is a parliamentary republic, with a unicameral Senate elected by all citizens over the age of sixteen. The voting age was set at this level from 18 in 1965, and from 21 in 1950. Women were given the vote in 1901, one of the earliest years of any countries in Europe. The successful way in which the country formed itself in the 1920s into the form it largely retains to this day was used as a major influence for other countries to follow its lead. The Shambles would take itself from an isolated island divided between disparate groups to a thriving and lively democratic nation. That it seems on the surface to have been largely peaceful in its transition from says a lot more about the manner with which a small population was unable to generate protests which caused massive loss of life or extreme levels of damage. Protests against the perceived unjust nature of the state in its transition period were recorded by the newspapers of the time, described as 'lively'. 'of great temper' and 'virile'. Within this period of transition from a fractured state to a secure parliamentary democracy marked the era of official party political formation, the period when the inevitable coming together of political and pressure groups across the nation resulted in consolidation and compromise.

As can be expected from a small nation, there exists a limited number of political parties. Those represented in recent parliaments are:

*Social and Democratic Party {broadly of the centre-left}
*Peoples' Voice {broadly of the centre-right}
*Liberal and Radical Alliance {broadly socially liberal although by the nature of its creation has a wide 'umbrella' of members, though largely in the John Stuart Mills liberal tradition}
*Socialist Party {Trotskyist at birth, significantly less stringent than in its past}
*Grup Vred Shambolicue/Shambles Green Party {centre-left and leftist agriculturist/social-liberal party}
*Christian Party {Christian Right/social conservatism}

These party labels mask the tumultuous birth of the organisations which lay behind them, and those individuals who formed them into the parliamentary parties which took the formation of a single country into a mature, settled democratic state.

The smaller parties are assisted by the "top up" electoral system, which gives sixteen seats across the country on a broadly proportional system (although over 40 of the 61 Senate seats are elected by First Past the Post constituencies, largely stifling the power of parties beneath the "main three"). Parties which consistently fight general elections without much success include the far-right Tradition and Justice Party [which often fights under the Shambolicue language name "Grup Traceveld aç Ystís"], the social conservative Island Democrats, and the Communist Party.

Beneath the Senate is a structure which allows all districts to administer their own District Councils, directly elected, under which are elected Parish Boards. This level of democratic structure for a small country inevitably requires members to 'double up' in some cases, and a tradition of part-time representation at local level remains today. The benefit of this has seen something of a barrier against the cynicism against political processes which has infected other developed countries.

General Election 2013

Senate (summary)

[The Shambles]

Currency

The national currency of The Shambles is the cymraeg (pron kəʊmreɪɛɡ), divided into 100 centos (kɛntɒs).

When the country was united in 1928 the urgent need of a single currency was amongst the first of the matters which began in the years before unification and appeared to continue long afterwards. Although the name and its value in relation to international currencies was relatively easy (the name used in the eastern states from an ancient word referring to a bartering system), the matter of printing enough notes and minting enough coins for the entire population plunged into acrimonious sniping the four-man committee tasked with managing the transition.

By the mid 1930s agreement was reached on three main matters: currency would be printed within The Shambles until the cost, inflation factored in, rose to 10% more than its 1928 base level; coins would be minted until the cost, inflation factored in, rose to 5% more than its 1928 base level; and a panel would meet every five years to consider matters of design, delivery to remote communities and other practical matters.

Today the National Bank (Çentralbanc) controls many budgetary and economic decisions which have been fully devolved from the Treasury. Additionally the three-man panel which created the national currency remains in place, albeit as a seven-member panel including three women (the absolute minimum of women members permitted by law). This panel retains the right to decide on the design and security features of the banknotes and coins minted each year, often above 400 million cymraeg each year being put into the system via banks, businesses and government transfers.

In the 1970s the Bank signalled its intention to abandon the centos as its value was decreasing rapidly in relation to inflation and the cost of living. The 1 and 2 centos coins (that is 0.01 and 0.02 cymraeg) were demonitised by 1976, followed within ten years by the others, leaving the currency as one where the smallest denomination was 1 cymraeg, 100 times more in value than the smallest coin. This policy was partially reversed with the re-introduction of a 0.25 and 0.50 centos value coin in the 1990s to address concerns about the cost of items such as energy, fuel and food for children. In most circumstances the cost of domestic items are rounded up or down to allow for the rarity of the 25c. and 50c. coins.

Banknote design

Banknotes exist for the 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 250, and 500 cymraeg denominations. Their designs are modernised on an approximate rota basis of between five and fifteen years.

Each design shows on the obverse the Albania Hills and Macedon Palace, the Senate building, whilst the reverse features details from across the island.

*5 cymraeg note. Predominately blue and cyan. Reverse shows details from Fláv District, including the working communities of the eastern fringes and the Bul Od Bridge.

*10 cymraeg note. Predominately red, ochre and brown. Reverse shows details from Ygli Tent District, including the cliffs on its southern edge, children playing in the Brant Forests and the Town Hall building.

*20 cymraeg note. Predominately orange and yellow. Reverse shows Albania District, including the district's flag and 'arumbi' birds with a backdrop of the Stridehill Mountains

*50 cymraeg note. Predominately dark blue and purple. Reverse shows Tripoli District, including farmers and farm equipment, and a backdrop of the Wing-Tip Mountain

*100 cymraeg note. Predominately green. Reverse shows St Gregóz District, including fishermen and trawlers and details of the capital city.

*250 cymraeg note. Predominately grey and silver with gold/yellow details. Reverse shows Banc District, including a women wearing the distinctive headscarves, examples of local bread and baked goods and the brewing process of local drinks.

*500 cymraeg note. Predominately pink and light red with yellow details. Reverse shows Savicue District, including the 'Shambles Dray' cow and farmers and a sunset over a traditional building.

[The Shambles]

How to count in Shambolicue

0 - 10

nul, un, dö, tren, pedren, fenv, seç, sebna, octa, nön, dezem

(approx. /nʌl/ /ʌn/ /ˈdaʊ/ /trɛn/ /ˈpɛdrɛn/ /fɛnv/ /sɛts/ /sɛbna/ /ɒktə/ /naʊn/ /dɛtʃ'ɛm/, )

11 - elum [elʌm]
12 - dónum [dɔːn'ʌm]
13 - trendem [trɛn-dɛm]
14 - pedem [pɛd-]
15 - fendem
16 - sezdem [sɛtʃ-
17 - sebdem
18 - oçdem [ɒts-]
19 - nódem

20 - dónudez
21 - dónudez-un
30 - trenudez
40 - pedudez
50 - fenudez
60 - sezudez
70 - sebnudez
80 - octudez
90 - nónudez

100 - hondra
110 - hondra dezem (or) hondra aç dezem
150 - hondra fenudez

200 - dö hondra (or) döndra
300 - tren hondra (or) trendra
400 - pedren hondra (or) pendra
500 - fenv hondra (or) fevdra

etc

1,000 - sent
2,000 - dösent

10,000 dezemsent

[The Shambles]

Divided and United

The island of The Shambles was united as a single republic in 1928, following centuries of disagreement and occasional violent skirmishes between settlements in the east and west. The division was regarded by early political leaders as "the least suitable and most stubborn disagreement in world history."

History teaches us that Proto-Gandvian groups had spread across Northern and NorthWestern Europe by 300 BCE and by the first century ACE had settled and cemented a social and linguistic identity. Although historic records held in Macedon, The Shambles, show that settlers had discovered the island before the first century, these may not have necessarily travelled directly from Gandvik. What is certain, however, is that in 400 ACE a damaging split amongst settlers forming communities across the island had caused a period of severe and devastating violence, not least amongst those who had founded towns in the east under Hvalnkír, angered by reports of wasted resources in the pursuit of lands beyond the island. "We have set down our peoples once, and here shall they like plants and legends grow" is the celebrated--albeit often liberally translated--message delivered across the islands to those who had continued to navigate across the island to find suitable areas in the west on which to found settlements.

The division was instigated for unusual and unexpected reasons; tribal and community leaders comfortable with settling in the eastern areas of the island, which was considered more stable and suitable for planting crops and building small towns; against those who considered the western half to be more conducive to a maritime and oceanic-based culture.

{{{WIP}}}