SPF Factbook

[Shrillland]

I am currently building an NSWiki page for Shrillland. As such this is somewhat out of date.




The Shrill
Pony Federation


overview

The SPF is a Pony-led Democracy. The leader is Rarity, Princess-President of Shrillland.
The official language is English, dating back to the days of the Shrill Empire.


Embassies will still be built in the Capital City of New Maxia. Any Applications would be greatly appreciated, however the Government reserves the right to refuse embassies.

The USSS currency is the Cookling, the National Animal is the Black Cat, Celestianism is the State Religion, and Football(Soccer) is the National Sport.

[Shrillland]

Geography

The SPF is in the Northeast area of the region of Pony Lands. We have a mountainous topography, with some hills further inland, and a large and long coastline, as we are on a peninsula. Our endangered Species list is low, thanks to our strict conservation and anti Climate-Change laws. Summer is usually when most Precipitation falls, and Temperatures can reach as high as 40 Celsius. Winter is drier and can reach as low as -30 Celsius.

Economy

The Shrill Labour Force is now 45% Service, 30% Manufacturing, 15% Construction and 10% Agriculture. Unemployment among Ponies is at 6% while amongst other peoples it is at 11%. Unions are allowed and Companies can face strict penalties for trying to suppress them.

[Shrillland]

Government

The SPF is currently classified as a Civil Rights Lovefest.
We have 12 States: Alnoc, Cernal, Equinia, East Fornax, West Fornax, Hipro, Jameson, Lastal, Opro, Rigdak, Upsilol, Vankro
Our Capital and Largest City is New Maxia.


The Nation is currently being run by a 9-pony Executive Council, which has the final say over all Legislation, and appoints it's members for life. The Princess-President is Princess-President of the Executive Council, and upon his or her death the Executive Council chooses another leader from it's own.

The Legislature is the House of Advice, elected by Proportional Representation. It's powers are, as the name implies, Advisory in nature, however it can expel members of the Executive Council if the Prince or Princess-President sends an expulsion motion to the House. The House is Governed by a 24-member House Presidium, which the Prince or Princess-President presides over. The House Presidium decides which motions are carried, and can expel members without consent of the whole house. Only people who worship the State Religion, Celestianism, can run for any public office.

The My Little Pony Party(MLPP) is the sole legal Political Party, though other candidates may run as Independents. Suffrage is Universal to all peoples over Age 18 within these confines.

[Shrillland]

Military

The Shrill Armed Forces consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. There are 400,000 Active Duty soldiers and 600,000 Reservists. Conscription is allowed during wartime to all peoples of all genders over age 18. No discrimination of any kind exists in the Armed Forces.

Communications


The SBC(Shrillland Broadcasting Cooperative) is now back up and running. It is a state-run network with no Government interference apart from enforcing decency standards during daytime hours. Free Speech and Free Press are in the Constitution. Most Shrills have a TV and a Radio, in addition 85% of the country now has a cell phone of some kind in their homes.

[Shrillland]

Health

The USSS life expectancy is rather high, thanks to comprehensive Health Education, and Universal Healthcare since the Revolution. Life expectancy is 79.6 for men, and 83.1 for women. There are 816 Hospital Beds per 1,000 People. The birth rate is Moderate, and the Infant Mortality level has dropped to 1.1% as of January 2010.

Education

Education is free and Compulsory for all children 6-18. Homeschooling is allowed, with regular state-required exams upon entering Grades 7,10, and 12. Other than that, there is no State interference in Education. Tuition at Universities and Community Colleges under the supervision of the Government are free, and people can get vouchers for most private Schools and Universities. The Literacy rate is 100%. Pony schools are considered to be better than schools for other Peoples however, as schools for Humans and Kemonomimi have seen their funding cut.

[Shrillland]

Transportation

72% of the population has at least one car. There are 16,218 miles of Paved Road in the nation, and 14,310 miles of Railroads in the USSS, all of which are used for Bullet Trains. There are 4 Airports in the Country, 1 Internationally used. 3 Major ports are used for ships, Nasde City, Rainbow Port, and New Carlisle.

Religion

Freedom of Religion is guaranteed by the Constitution, and the State Religion is Celestianism. No person may hold Public office who does not worship this Religion. Since the Pony Revolution 27% of the people are Celestians(Nearly all of them Ponies), 24% Belong to the Church of Shrillland, 15% are Lutheran, 10% are Jewish, 7% are Muslim and 17% are Atheist or Agnostic.

[Shrillland]

History

The first settlers to enter what would become Shrillland arrived circa C.E. 370. They were Farmers and Hunters originally, but as time went on they started learning more Trades to insure their survival. For the first 300 years they were slowly developing, until hordes of Barbarians from the Western Islands came to the land in 672, destroying most of the villages and crops that they didn't take for themselves.

To insure greater peace and safety, the different peoples from the many corners of Shrillland formed the Shrillland Kingdom in 674. Stephan I was the first king of this new nation, which would last 600 years. During this time the Nation's great hero Queen Sonia V would become famous for routing invaders from neighbouring nations(now nonexistant nations) in 1023. After Sonia's death in 1041, the succeeding rulers annexed more areas of land, ruling from the Capital city of Maxia.

By 1290, the last King, Soren IV, decided the current system was too decentralised, as Dukes and Barons were asking for greater and greater Autonomy. So he reorganised the country into the Shrill Empire and named himself the first Emperor. The office of Emperor had almost absolute power until a Coup overthrew the tyrannical Louis IX in 1681, and replaced him with Selena I as the first Empress. Selena established several reforms, including Freedom of Worship, the nation's first Parliament, and Emancipation of the Serfs, which had been used as slaves since the days of King Stephan III(1046-1071). Selena's successor, her daughter Selena II abolished many of these reforms.

[Shrillland]

The Empire was not popular among it's own people, and from Selena II on there were countless attempts to overthrow it and establish a Republic, the most famous being the Black Sunday Uprising(1875). All of these attempts were crushed because of the lack of unity among the Republican groups.

The repressive policies continued into the 20th Century, including a deliberate holding back from technology, as the Emperor William IV feared the subjects would get too much power. The first car didn't come to the Shrill Empire until 1935, the first Radio in 1942, and the first Television in 1960. After William's death his son Archibald III succeeded him in 1974. He was the last emperor.

He continued the tradition of repression, and famously ordered 291 books banned from the country that he deemed subversive in 1979. In response to this, a small group known as the People's Revolutionary Party(PRP) became the main voice against the law, and hid as many of the books as they could find.

The PRP, a Marxist organisation with Republican sentiments, became popular amongst the lower and middle classes, intellectuals, and even some Aristocrats as the 1980's wore on. Other Republican groups with different politics joined forces with the PRP, many of which became the modern political parties of the USSS.

[Shrillland]

The people grew increasingly angry at the Emperor, especially after a tax-in-kind was enacted in December of 1990 which required the people to give food as a tax to the Aristocracy. On December 29, 1990 the nation exploded. Protests against the Policy led by the PRP turned violent. Archibald III sent the army to crush them, but was caught completely off guard when 60% of the dispatched forces joined the demonstrators. A brief civil war followed, and on January 9, 1991 the Imperial Palace was taken, and Archibald executed for crimes against the people on February 27, the same day the USSS Constitution was ratified. The USSS was born.

In the nation's first election on May 6, the PRP leader Sonia Savinkov became the first Chairwoman of the Council of People's Commissars. Savinkov was the one who introduced annual elections, "Because then the leaders can't hide behind votes from years ago" as she said. She also decided not to abolish other parties, or eliminate civil and Human rights, believing that Democracy and Liberty were too important and precious to throw away. Although she was known as promiscuous(It's believed she slept with 300 men and almost as many women in her time as Chairwoman) it's not believed to have affected her governing. She was Chairman for 10 1-year terms until she retired in 2001. She, along with many of the original revolutionaries, died in the Nuclear War of 2010. For 5 years the opposition National Heritage Party(NHP), a conservative party, ruled with distinction, then a Green Party-Moderation Coalition government was in power until 2008, and then the PRP was returned to Power for 2 years, and then in 2010 an NHP-MC coalition took charge, led by NHP leader Ellen Wythe.


Wythe was killed during a war with Forgotten America that involved WMD use from both sides, and New Maxia was destroyed, along with many other cities. 70,000,000 were killed, and the land will be devastated for many years. Her deputy, Hannah Mekronia became the first Neko to lead the Council. In 2011 the PRP was crushed in elections and NHP Leader Richard Blunt became Chairman.

[Shrillland]

The year 2011 also saw a new Revolution in Shrillland. The Ponies of the nation, which had been around for a few years and were originally part of the MC, formed the My Little Pony Party(MLPP) and merged it with the MC. The MLPP in late July called for snap elections, the first in the history of the USSS, and to the surprise of many the Resolution passed. Halfway through the elections, after accusations that Human-based Parties had rigged the vote(later proven false) The MLPP under Rarity seized power. After learning that the allegations were false, Rarity was going to allow other parties into the political process and free the leaders of the parties that were imprisoned. The Celestian Church responded by seizing power, and the short-lived Holy Celestian Dominion of Shrillland came into being.

Rarity fled to Crystal Spires and received asylum while the Church continued to consolidate power. The Church responded by issuing a Holy Crusade against Crystal Spires, which never achieved it's purpose, as Princess Luna denounced the power grab, and the Dominion after a brief but violent civil war was put down. The SPF now is rebuilding trust, infrastructure, hope and peace.