Your Nation's Fact of the Week

[Free Arctic Territories]

Gunnbjorn Fjeld Northern Summit:
Gunnbjørn Fjeld, the tallest mountain in the Territories, is also the world's largest winter warfare training grounds. One of the most popular events held there each year is the Northern Summit, in which 17 nations and countless other paramilitary groups and Private Military Companies participate in a massive high altitude mountainous five day war-game. National armies are organized into two opposing sides, OPFOR and BLUEFOR, and PMCs and paramilitaries can choose to attach themselves to either side or attain their own specific set of objectives. Various scenarios, such as a terrorist insurgency, limited border skirmishes, recovery of sensitive strategic assets, and full scale invasions are chosen each year, and the two sides are allowed to organize into their own independent command structures and are given a period of a month to plan out their strategies. Once the Fjeld is prepared and cleared, OPFOR and BLUEFOR forces are assigned their bases and objectives and given a week to do in depth reconnaissance. The next five days are then given for the soldiers to fight and complete their objectives. Drones and security cameras monitor the hundreds of square kilometers of tundra and mountains where the Summit takes place to ensure that nonlethal and simulated weapons are used only, and that all casualties are medevaced and treated as soon as possible. In the end, the side that completes it's objective first wins, and special awards are given to the units that served with the most distinction. Internationally famous for it's sheer scale and the inhospitable terrain in which it takes place, the Northern Summit is one of the Territories' most popular military events.

[New Visayan Islands]

Rumors surrounding the events of the Confederation's 30th Independence Day range from the mundane to the bizarre; talks of the 30th being celebrated with a Naval Review are the most persistent.

[Dequarmi]

The United Federal States does not possess biological weapons, due to Article 87 of the Dequarman Constitution. However, nuclear weapons and other WMDs are allowed by the Constitution, and so the reason for the ban on biological weaponry is unknown.

[Persagonia]

Persagonia is one of the only few Middle Eastern country to legalize gay marriage and allow gay pride parades to take place.

[Dragonisia]

The death sentence for capital crimes is carried out by the sitting Emperor devouring the criminal. Prepared and cooked if they had disease, whole and alive if they are verified healthy. The sentence is frequently televised and is credited for keeping rate of capital crimes extremely low in the nation. It also allows the Emperor to grant a last minute pardon if merited.

[Jagiellonia Miedzymorze]

The Jewish population of Miedzymorze, though once numerous and granted privileges beyond any other non-Christian religious group, has since largely emigrated out of the empire. The majority have gone to the Jewish State of Israel, a Jewish nation-state created in the territory in-between the Syro-Anatolian Crusader States and the Caliphates of Egypt and Arabia to serve as a non-Christian non-Muslim custodian of Jerusalem that could be trusted to act neutrally towards both larger faiths.

The Christian population of what is now Israel were relocated to the Crusader States of Lebanon and Damascus, while the Muslim population were relocated to the Arabian or Egyptian Caliphate depending on whether they were, respectively, Sunni or Shia. Most of the resettled populations were already clustered around the borders of the states they were relocated, and Israel itself was formed from the primarily-Jewish and heavily mixed regions, so the change wasn't that extreme. Indeed, many relocated Christians and Muslims still commute to neutral Israel for work, though all non-Jews are barred from land ownership in Israel through an agreement signed by all the major Crusader Lords, the Pope, the Jagiellonian Emperor, and the two Caliphs. This agreement also mandated that all holy sites in Israel be open to pilgrims of all three Abrahamic faiths.

[Naxera]

During the independence day military parade has been the first time the Sabre III 6x6 APC has been seen in public. The Naxeran army has ordered 176.

[The Etheri]

Today marks People's Day, a major holiday among the lower castes.

[Eisenbirge]

The official motto of the Kingdom of Eisenbirge is "Muoter und Meri" which loosely translated as "Mother and Sea".

Mother, because Eisenbirgean is known for their high respect for their mothers (based on mandate by King Liebhard II, in commemoration of his deceased mother)
Sea, because the Kingdom of Eisenbirge is located in the coastal area. Eisenbirgean is known for their expertise in sailing.

[ArstotzkaBestCountry]

To suggest that we of Arstotzka at any time or place can ever have enough Nuclear Weapons and other WMD's is tantamount to treason, and is punishable by single shot through the head on the spot.

[Bears Armed]

There is a widespread belief that "frisky bees make better honey".

[Gandoor]

The most recent Gandoorese Prime Minister to have served in the military was Reginald D. McFatton, Sr, who served from 1951 to 1961 and was our seventh Prime Minister from 1976 to 1982.

[New Visayan Islands]

Freedom of information laws in Mindoro make it easier for journalists to obtain information about arrests from law enforcement when compared to other provinces; this has made Mindoro Man the Visayan equivalent of Florida Man.

[BNL Corporation]

Public flogging has just been reinstated as an official punishment.
The last time a public and televised flogging occurred was in July of this year.
The next flogging will be in: December 21st, 3117.

[Menhavia and Notland]

The Menhavia and Notland Military is underdeveloped with most equipment being from the 1970's and 1980's.

[Weimarer Reich]

It's actually legal to show swastikas, just don't expect to be very popular.

[Welskerland]

Alex Linden, one of our former prime ministers, is a furry and actually gave a speech while wearing his fur suit, a light blue wolf with yellow eyes, and wearing a suit and tie.

[Elvectica]

Prostitution, Gambling, Homosexuality, Same-sex marriages, Multi-spouse marriages, Nudity and Public Nudity are all legal.
Prostitution is also subsidized and provided by the government, and applicants are subject to health inspections before being admitted.

[Socialist Union Of Deutschland]

The Messerschmitt HA-300 was a jet fighter and interceptor that was used by the Socialist Union's Air Force in the 1960's and the 1970's. It was designed by talented engineer Willy Messerschmitt, who also designed other fighter aircraft earlier in the 1940's.

The HA-300's design officially started in 1959. Its development started in testing facilities, workshops, and engineering offices. The first prototype flew on 07 March 1964. The Messerschmitt HA-300 first entered mainstream service in 1965, and was produced in massive numbers until 1973. Its length is 12.40 m, its top speed is approximately 2,100 kilometers per hour, and its highest service ceiling is over 18,000 meters. It can be armed with either two or four automatic cannons, and can be equipped with up to four infrared homing missiles.

[New Ciencia]

New Ciencia's political parties are extremely polarised, but not for the reason you would expect:
They almost all share the exact same views, but instead (the main parties being the Physics Party, Chemistry Party, and Biology Party) will spend more on their own science than on the others.
Prime Minister Andreas Geiger belongs to the Physics Party (the party in power).

[Autonomous Earth]

While we claim to be a human-run autonomous government, technically anything that a human member of government wants to change can easily be vetoed by the Joh'kl-ama Emperor.

[Aikoland]

Despite being a monarchy, an anti-monarchist party, the Aikoland Republican Party, has one seat in Parliament.

[Destructive Government Economic System]

We have officially finished our biological WMD files.

https://www.nationstates.net/nation=des ... /id=921981

[Independant Nations and Guilds]

The Confederacy loosely based its standard issue rifles off of popular hunting rifle designs of the time. The designs for many heavy-caliber hunting rifles designed for killing very large, dangerous game, such as basilisks, drakes, hydras, and chimeras. Eventually, this gave rise to the Model 1 and Model 3 rifles. The process then came full circle, with the Model 1 and Model 3 rifles becoming popular with hunters...

(This isn't that unrealistic. A lot of hunters use rifles that are military tech, or based on military tech, whenever it is legal to do so. It has been that way for about as long as there have been hunters and militaries.)

[Gandoor]

Despite being the capital of Freena Yon, which is known among Gandoor for being predominantly Russian speaking (out of the 44 million people living there, only about 5 million report speaking a language other than Russian at home), Nzardgrad is almost entirely English-speaking.