Factbook of the Dangish Empire (+Q&A)

[Dungeyland]

The Office of the Secretary of Culture
On Behalf of His Majesty the King
The Dangish Empire

My Government, Queen and Parliament has requested that I launch a small but dedicated team towards the task of compiling the information about the Dangish Empire into a concise Factbook. This Factbook is the latest of two attempts to compile the history, culture and data about our great nation, but this is the first under my leadership as Secretary of Culture.

The previous two factbooks have all failed in their goal because there was no independent leadership to it. Now, with the position of Secretary of Culture established, I guarantee you that this Edition of the Factbook of the Dangish Empire shall be a roaring success. Furthermore, we have decided to offer the opportunity for any questions on the Empire to be answered, and this Factbook shall double as a Q&A.

Sincerely,
Baron Ashcroft
Secretary of Culture

[Dungeyland]

General

The Dangish Empire, often called Dungeyland (despite Dungeyland being just one dominion within the Empire), is a sovereign state within the Haven. It is made up of a number of dominions, principalities and colonies, with the original nation being the Kingdom of Dungeyland. The Dangish Empire is a imperial federal state with a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The Monarch is Her Majesty, Ellen I, Queen of Dungeyland and the Dominions beyond the Sea. The Head of Government is the Rt. Honourable President, John Clarke, the Baron Clarke of Quessex.

The Dangish Empire is a global power, with a population of 546 million over a territory of over 16 square miles. It is often said that the "sun never sets on the Dangish Empire" due to the effect of time zones. The Dangish Empire is run in a federal system - each dominion elects a Prime Minister to represent it, and the Empire as a whole elects a President.

During the 1940s, the Dangish Empire grew at a very fast rate, spreading it's reach across the globe. The Empire saw the effects of successful education policies and laisse-faire economics, and as a result was the world's foremost economic power. The Empire soon had a massive economic lead, maintained today, in a number of sectors, including aerospace, services, finance and other industries.

The Dangish Empire is united by one currency - the Pound Sterling. The Pound is a floating currency, but due to the Empire's economic standing is a globally used reserve currency. The Pound is maintained by the Royal Bank of the Dangish Empire, which regulates financial markets and is Her Majesty's Government's Treasury.

Her Majesty's Government today is led by the Conservative and Monarchist Party, with a minimalist policy in government and a wish to maintain the Empire's global standing, as well as laisse-faire. The Conservative and Monarchist Party has dominated Dangish politics for a century, with the biggest contender (the Liberal Party) quite far behind.

The Empire in general is not religious; it is estimated that between 80 and 90% of the population believe that religion should pay no role in government, and more than 50% define themselves as atheist. The population is often described as socially new (liberal), economically old (liberal). The Dangish Empire maintains universal healthcare through the Imperial Health Service, individually run in each dominions but regulated by the Imperial Government.

[Dungeyland]

History

Prehistory

Little is known about the prehistory of Dungeyland, and lot of the information we have is based on tales told by mouth, modified by religion and morphed into "old wives tales". One such piece of information is a story which goes as follows:

Five Men walked about
Pune's Peninsula, it splashed mestout*
Then out came, a monster blue
And with a crash, it killed them pu**

*Mestout is a word in Old Dangish which fell out of use before it could be translated. It is a topic of much argument in Dungeyland, and the best theory is that it meant "alot".

**Pu is another word in Old Dangish, which fell out of use before it could be translated. It is not however, well known even in Dungeyland, as invaders from Rolamec wiped it out by executing all who said it, as it is an Old Rolamecian Curse.

The Five Cities of Dungeyland, and Unification

In around 950 BCE, five cities emerged in what is now Dungeyland. They were called: Intel, Clover, Lustren, Jaffa and New London. In 850 years, those five cities had turned into five small kingdoms (of which Intel was the largest) who were constantly fighting for power. In 97 BCE, the King of Intel died, and passed the throne onto his younger sister - Princess Eleanor. Queen Eleanor was a disasterous ruler, and within fourteen years, New London's Army had reached Intel's border. Queen Eleanor abdicated, and her general, Maximus declared Intel a Republic. Democracy was set up, and this is stated to be the birth of Republicanism in Dungeyland.

However, it was not to be. New London's Army was still on Intel's door, and on the 5th March 83 BCE, the Army broke in. The Army hid beneath the many bushes which surrounded Intel (Intel is Dangish for Thorns), and "President" Maximus declared that the doors should be opened. At night, in a similar theme to Troy, the New London Army crept into the city. But instead of murdering civillians, the King of New London was called for. On March 7th, he gave a speech in City Square, saying:

People of Intel. You may know me as the King of New London. Well today, that is NOT me. I am the King of Intel. No more shall you suffer. No more shall you feel pain. Under my leadership, we shall be strong. I hereby establish the United Kingdom of New London and Intel. God Save the King!]

He was met by cheers, and was a popular ruler. Obviously, the combined might of the two cities was a powerful and dangerous force. So without any fuss, King Henry I conquered, in order: Jaffa then Lustren. However, they were to be met with a challenge when it came to conquering the mountain-city of Clover. Clover had an excellent army, but were mainly supported by their position in the Clovest Mountains (which gave the city its' name). The two armies seemed set for a fight to the death, until suddenly the new King of New London (King Henry II) married the daughter of the King of Clover (Princess Beth).

The two Kingdom's were then united under the King of New London, as Princess Beth was an only child and the King of Clover died. By 63 BCE, the two Kingdoms declared themselves one, in the United Kingdom of New London, Intel, Jaffa, Lustren and Clover. While it wasn't the catchiest name possible, it stuck for many years, albeit with the abreiviation "New London". New London now governed all of Dungeyland.

At this point, Dungeyland was not known as Dungeyland. In fact the word "Dungeyland" was brought over by the Rolamecians hundreds of years later.

The First Dangish Empire

The United Kingdom of New London, Jaffa, Lustren, Intel and Clover rested after 63BCE, the year of unification for a long time. Indeed, little is known about history then for it was destroyed by the events that occurred later on with the invasion of Rolamec. In the year 16 CE, King Michael I died, and left the throne to his son, Prince Michael (who took the name of King Michael II.) Michael II began a campaign known as the First Imperial War. Michael began by invading the bordering nation of DiCinnoa. The DiCans fought hard, and so did the Dangish, but in the end, New London won the battle.

DiCinnoa was set-up as a state of Dungeyland, with its own King. However, King Michael II took the title Emperor Michael I, and each state of Dungeyland was given a King. This political system was known as the Imperial Federative System. DiCinnoa was not happy about its take-over. However, the Dangish Army was mighty, and DiCinnoa failed to survive as an independent state. On the 4th February 17 CE, the DiCans in the south-west of DiCinnoa (furthest from Dungeyland) staged a revolt, and considering its distance from New London, they won.

For three years, New London fought to maintain control of DiCinnoa. Their attempts were a mixure of success and failures, but in 20 CE, New London forced its way to the capital of the self-proclaimed Independent Republic of DiCinnoa. There, New London set-up an independent state under the control of New London, in a similar fashion to Vichy France. It was called the Independent Kingdom of DiCinnoa, with Louis Bitton declared King. This would cause problems later.

In 22 CE, Emperor Michael II decided it was time for New London to return to its conquests. He called upon his military advisor, Shen Shyen, who, according to myth and legend, was greeted in his sleep by Pholtus, and told to invade Mohawk and Towret at the same time. This was mainly the start of the Imperial Orthodox Church in New London, although it is still a superminority today.

New London sent its armies, and began to invade. However, Mohawk and Towret decided to form an alliance against the New London Empire. This was called the Pholtus' Knights, nicknamed by the Dangish Phellars. The Phellars sent 10,000 troops to the River Sesq, which is a river which borders the east of New London with Mohawk in the north and Towret in the south.

The Phellars passed the river, taking towns, including Intel, which wouldn't return to prosperity until the Industrial Revolution. Eventually, the New London Army returned, with much haste and embarrasment, and fought the legendary Battle of Sesq. The Dangish Troops were outnumbered by 4,000, but with their military skill and tactics, they managed to win the battle. The Phellars mostly drowned, as most had not experienced the perils of the River Sesq. They surrendered completely, and Dungeyland stretched its Empire across these nations.

After this, the New London Empire expanded greatly. By 30 CE, it covered all of New Earth, bar the Eastern Strongholds of Rolamec, and the Kingdoms behind it. The Empire was set, and would last for a great 1200 years. Great technological improvements were made, democracy was planted and culture sprouted. However, by 1200 CE, cracks had appeared in the Empire's walls. Indeed, Rolamec saw this as a perfect opportunity to invade. In 1252, Rolamec seized the outer provinces of Chaosbull, in a sudden invasion.

Emperor Henry and his President decided to pursue a policy of appeasment, but alas, it did not work. By 1321, Rolamec's army reached New London City. Emperor Heften X declared New London to be a territory of Rolamec, non autonomous and ruled straight from Rolamecsburg. New London was to be called Dungeyland, Rolamecian for "Western Territory".

Rolamec and Republics

Dungeyland was ruled by Rolamec for 326 years, until 1647. The Rolamecians destroyed much of Dungeylands' history, culture and technology, and claimed some of it for themselves. Little is known about the period of Rolamecs' rule, but what is known is that it was a harsh time for all in Dungeyland. In 1632, a key group was launched, called the The National Organization for the Removal of the Rolamecians from Dungeyland.

The Group, more commonly known as NARRD linked with other organizations across New Earth to form the International Society for the Removal of Rolamecians from New Earth. This group, known commonly asw ISRRNE (pronounced Is-wren-e) fought heavily against Rolamec.

Many losses ensued, but with strong espionage, and banana munching Guerrilla warfare (pun intended), Dungeyland and New Earth was free from Rolamec. Dungeyland was declared a Republic, with a capital in New London.

So in 1647, Dungeyland was a Republic with a Presidential System. The system did not work, with corruption in politics, and a huge failure of the Government to ail Dungeyland's problems. In 1772, the President of Dungeyland, Matthew Begoin declared himself King of Dungeyland.

Dungeyland did not react in the way that you'd expect a Republic turned Monarchy to react. Instead, the news was welcomed as Begoin was one of the best Presidents Dungeyland has seen. Begoin pledged to rule Constitutionally (well, without a codified constitution), and reform politics. This was the start of the Golden Age for Dungeyland.

The Sun Never Sets on the Dangish Empire

Parliament was formed, to be consisted of Commoners and Lords. Almost immediately, the Dangish began to look outside their nation, at foreign affairs. Their neighbours were strong, military folk, and Dungeyland simply could not afford to fight them. Despite this, the Dangish were a proud folk, and under the governance of the Rt. Honourable President Kenneth Clarke MP, the Dangish Empire was formed.

Initially, the Empire consisted of Dungeyland and Varrockia, as it had always done. Slowly but surely, however, it expanded. First came the discovery of Kanstada, a large, cold province across a vast ocean. Then came Austrestia, a vast archipelago of islands, centred around a continent. Third came Nashensteg, a sizeable province in the sun. After Nashensteg, Dungeyland didn't acquire new territory at such a rate, but was still gaining land, sea, and air. There was one large province for which Dungeyland had her eyes on: Qualsta.

A large, secluded continent, Qualsta was a remnant of the Rolamecian Empire. After their ousting from New Earth, Rolamec moped around, politically and militarily. It had been in charge of Qualsta for over two hundred years, and wasn't planning on ceding it after the humiliation of New Earth. Rolamec itself was a large nation with a small population; a good quarter of the Rolamecian Armed Forces were placed on Qualsta. In numerical terms, this was not very much, and Dungeyland was prepared to take that risk. The Qualstans themselves hated their cruel, Rolamecian overlords, compared to the civil Dangish.

With a difficult battle, Dungeyland succeeded, and won Qualsta. Dungeyland now entered an imperial age, with a massive economic, social and political lead over other nations. And so, the Dangish Empire was formed.

[Dungeyland]

Economy

Government Statistics
Income Tax Rate: 24%
Government Income (% of GDP): 25.1%
Private Consumption: $189,449 billion
Government Budget: $46,464 billion
Administration (0%): $0 billion
Welfare (0%): $0 billion
Healthcare (34%): $15,324 billion
Education (25%): $11,268 billion
Religion and Spirituality (0%): $0 billion
Defence (3%): $1,352 billion
Law and Order (27%): $12,169 billion
Commerce (6%): $2,704 billion
Public Transport (5%): $2,254 billion
Environment (0%): $0 billion
Social Equality (0%): $0 billion
Government Waste (3%): $1,394 billion

World Assembly Estimations
Exchange Rate: 1 Pound Sterling = $1.67
GDP Per Capita (Estimated): $31,503
Black Market (Estimated): 2.07%
Black Market Product: $4,013 billion
Black Market Breakdown:
Basic Necessities: 0.94%
Healthcare: 0%
Education: 0%
Transportation: 0.2%
Luxuries: 0.94%
Recovered Product: $1,051 billion
Worker Enthusiasm: 77%
Government Efficiency: 97%
Consumer Confidence: 68%
Unemployment: 3.59%
Population Growth Rate: 0.1%
Literacy: 100%

[i]The Economic Data is courtesy of SunsetRPG.com

[Dungeyland]

Demographics & Culture

Language

English - 94%
Dangish - 74%
German - 46%
Latin - 62%
Other - 17%

As a quad-lingual state, the Dangish Empire places language as a compulsory part of education. English is compulsory everywhere, and Dangish, German, Latin and other local languages in most other places.

Official Holidays

New Year's Day - January 1st
New Year's Eve (Dangish Calender) - February 28th (Dungeyland)
New Year's Day (Dangish Calender) - March 1st (Dungeyland)
May Day - 1st May
Summer Bank Holiday - 31st May
Monarch's Birthday - May 8th
Monarch's Coronation - September 24th
Christmas
Boxing Day
New Year's Eve

Cuisine

Cuisine in the Dangish Empire is a very varied thing. As a vast Empire, a lot of people eat a lot of different things. It is impossible to pin down the "Dangish taste", but it is very popular in foreign nations as a mixture of other cuisines with Dangish influences.

Sports

Sport is highly popular in the Dangish Empire. The most popular sports are rugby, tennis, squash and table tennis, followed by football.

[Dungeyland]

Government and Politics

Her Majesty's Government is elected by an Imperial Parliament, centred in Eastminster. Elections can occur whenever Parliament is dissolved, but must occur at least every five years. The Dangish Empire as a whole votes for 638 constituencies in the House of Commons, via First-past-the-Post in what are known as General Elections.

The Dangish Empire has a multi-party system, at present dominated by the Conservative and Monarchist Party, with the Liberal Party as the main opposition. Other major parties include the Dangish Unionist Party and the Co-Operative Party. At present, the President is the Rt. Honourable President, John Clarke, the Baron Clarke of Quessex. He was elected President with a parliamentary majority of 57 in the 2010 General Election.

The House of Lords is the upper house of Parliament, and is members are elected for life. Due to the nature of this, there are no general elections, only by-elections following deaths. Also due to the nature of this, majorities in the Lords lag behind the Commons, and as such the Lords can be seen as a sobering influence. The House of Lords has 438 seats.

The House of Commons of the 43rd Parliament

The Conservative and Monarchist Party regained its large majority in the House of Commons, increasing it by three seats. The Liberals were squeezed as they suffered a 2% swing to the Dangish Unionist Party, while the Co-Operative Party failed to meet their goal of securing key Liberal Marginals. The Conservatives have a working majority of 57, but with six by-elections coming soon in the recently-turned Conservative regions of Om (the east of Dungeyland is notoriously Liberal, while the west is staunchly Conservative), the majority could rise.

The House of Lords of the 43rd Parliament

The Conservative and Monarchist Party
The Liberal Party
The Dangish Unionist Party
The Co-Operative Party

In the House of Lords, the Conservatives continue to win the majority of by-elections that take place, but in the strong Liberal heartlands of Insta State, they fail to make any Lords progress. Due to the elected-for-life nature of the Lords, there is still a weak Conservative Minority, as most of the Liberals left over from Tony Benns' thirteen reign as President of Dungeyland, and "Liberal 2". The Conservatives are making progress towards towards the needed majority of 220 in the Lords, currently at 208.

Current Opinion Polls

The Conservative and Monarchist Party: 54%
The Liberal Democrat Party: 19%
The Dangish Unionist Party: 24%
The Co-Operative Party: 1%
Others: 1%

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The Executive

The current President of the Dangish Empire is the Rt. Honourable President, John Clarke, the Baron Clarke of Quessex. From the dominion of Dungeyland, he is a member of the Conservative and Monarchist Party, and a believer in laisse-faire. Born in the relatively deprived east end of New London, Clarke rose through the ranks of Parliament, being elected in 1998.

In 2002, he became Deputy Leader of the CMP, after the then leader John Cameros. Following an election victory in 2006, he became the Chancellor of the Exchequer, responsible for fiscal policy in the entire Dangish Empire. In late 2009, Cameros was assassinated, and Clarke was chosen as leader of the CMP. He subsequently called an election, which, in early 2010, he won with an increased majority.

The Clarke Ministry is as follows:

President: The Rt. Honourable President, John Clarke, the Baron Clarke of Quessex
Chancellor of the Exchequer: The Rt. Honourable William Osbourne MP.
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: The Rt. Honourable George Hague MP.
Secretary of State for the Colonies: The Rt. Honourable Ellen Mulroy MP.
Secretary of State for Justice: The Rt. Honourable Tom Tebbutt, the Lord Tebbutt
Secretary of State for the Home Department: The Rt. Honourable Joanna Kelm MP.
Secretary of State for Defence: The Rt. Honourable Stephen Cragg MP.
Secretary of State for Education: The Rt. Honourable Lewis Cromwell MP.
Secretary of State for Health: The Rt. Honourable Edward Taylor, the Earl of Kettering
Attorney-General: The Rt. Honourable Arthur Harwood QC, the Duke of Newmendy.

[Dungeyland]

Dominions

The Dangish Empire is composed of several self-governing dominions, partially self-governing principalities and centrally controlled colonies. These vary from dominions like Dungeyland itself to the Northern Principality to the Royal Colony of Dietta.

Dominions

Dominions are the most self-governing segments of the Dangish Empire, and there are seven to date. Dominions are large land-masses which have a population and economy sufficient enough to effectively self-govern, while remaining in the Dangish Empire. The seven dominions include: Dungeyland, Varrockia, Nashensteg, Qualsta, Imstia, Protelta and Testcria. At present, all dominions feature parliamentary democracies, and their respective Parliaments elect a Prime Minister as leader of that dominion. Dominions are self-ruling in all aspects except defence and foreign policy. The Monarch represents itself in dominions via a Governor-General. Dominions maintain their own devolved armed forces.

Principalities

Principalities are collections of colonies deemed unable to self-govern, and have the same rights of self-government as dominions. Principalities include many different colonies in the same geographical area, with the aim being that collectively, they can self-govern in the same way as a dominion can. The main difference between a principality and a dominion is that they have Governors instead of Governor-Generals. Governors have far more power than Governor-Generals, and can overrule policy decisions by a Principality's Parliament. Principalities also elect a Parliament, and by extension not a Prime Minister, but a First Minister. There are nine principalities, each containing seven or more former colonies: the Northern Principality, the Southern Principality, the Western Principality, the Eastern Principality, the Neodyan Principality, the Neanderan Principality, the Quessex Principality and the Falklands Principality. Principalities also don't maintain their own devolved armed forces, instead relying on the Armed Forces of the Crown.

Colonies

Colonies are centrally governed members of the Dangish Empire. They are small pieces of land deemed by Her Majesty's Government to be unable to govern themselves, and are therefore ruled directly by the Department for the Colonies and the Secretary for the Colonies. Colonies outnumber dominions and principalities, but are small in land mass to compensate. Colonies have an appointed Governor, who govern the colony on a day-to-day basis. There are 103 colonies.

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Q&A

We welcome your questions on the Dangish Empire. The best questions will be added into a specially created FAQ section.

[Vagabundas]

A very nice factbook indeed. I'm trying to write a big factbook of my country but I'm afraid people will never read it...