Republic of Zivenzia Factbook

[Zivenzia]

Full official name: Repubblica di Zivenzia
Common name: Zivenzia
Landlocked?: No
Bordering nations: Texarnica, Graustark
Male population: 47.6%
Female population: 52.4%
Head of state's title: Doge
Head of states name: Paolo XVIII Lucio Anafesto
Standard term in office for head of state: Hereditary, for life
Head of Government's Title: Primo Signoria
Head of Government's name: Alfredo lo Grato
Standard term in office for head of government: 6 Years, limited to 2 terms
Legislative Bodies: Consiglio dei Pregadi, the upper house consisting of 60 members appointed by local and regional commissions, term of office is 8 years; Maggiore Consiglio, the lower house consisting of 240 members elected from electoral districts based on population, term of office is 4 years.
National currency: Soldi, divided into 100 Denari (since 1972) Prior to 1972 the Soldi was divided into 24 Lira which was then divided into 12 Denari
Death penalty?: Yes, for major capital crimes and for treason
Abortion legal?: yes
Gay rights?: Yes
Population: approx. 5,420,000
Capital city: Zivencia (pop. 330,000)
Other major cities: Dapua (pop. 390,000), Lepanto (pop. 267,000), Istria (231,000), San Bertaccio (195,000), Porto Mazzia (184,000), San Benneto (146,000)
Emigration allowed?: Yes
Immigration allowed?: Yes
Multipartism?: Yes. 2 major political parties, Sapientes (Moderate conservative) and Popolare Liberale (Liberal).
National Language: Zivencian (an Italic dialect)
National Religion: no official religion, but the majority of the population is Catholic (74%). Other religions are Protestent (16%), Pagan (6%), Other (4%)
Official three-letter abreviation for international sports competitions: ZIV
Carplates: yes, with a 7 number/letter code
Internet suffix: .ziv
Internet allowed: Yes
Fully independent?: Yes

Zivencia is a republic.

The Head of State is the Doge, a hereditary title and position which, since 1736, has been a largely ceremonial position. The actual power of the Doge began shifting away as early as the 16th century, culminating in the "Revolution of 1736" where the 2 legislative bodies finally assigned all real governing power to the Primo Signoria, who had been the leader of the Upper House and to the 2 legislative bodies.

The Head of Government, since 1736, is the Primo Signoria. He is elected by an at-large elction throughout the Republic every 6 years.

The 2 legislative bodies are:
Consiglio dei Pregadi - 60 members appointed by Local elected Regional Commissions based on a regional system and largely based on population. Each member serves an 8 year term. There are no term limits
Maggiore Consiglio - 240 members elected by direct popular election from Consiglio Districts. There are 4 Consiglio Districts for each of the 60 Regional Commissions. Members serve a 4 year term, and there are no term limits.
The Pregadi and Maggiore share power equally.


Information about Alfredo lo Grato, Primo Signoria of the Republic, shortened popularly to Primo Signoria
Political Affiliation: Sapientes Party

lo Grato is nearing the end of his first term in office, having been elected in 2003 and taking office in January of 2004. His term expires in January 2010, with elections to be held in October 2009.

Personal Information. Alfredo lo Grato was born 9 September 1956 in the Brato District of the City of Ziivencia. He graduated in 1978 from San. Il Guillermo l'Università Cattolica with a degree in Political Science, and was awarded his Doctorate in 1981. From 1981 until 1988 he served in the Republican Navy as an Officer, achieving the rank of Primo Tenente di Vascello (Senior Lieutenant, O-3). Upon discharge from the Navy in 1988, he began teaching Undergraduate Political Science at L'università di Zivencia, where he stayed until 1994 when he was elected to the Maggiore Consiglio from the Zivencia City 3rd District.

[Zivenzia]

COINS AND BANKNOTES OF THE REPUBLIC

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Flags and Arms of the Republic



PROVINCIAL ARMS

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UNIFORMS AND RANK INSIGNIA OF THE REPUBLICAN ARMY

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EQUIPMENT OF ESERCITO ZIVENZIANO





USSARO LIGHT SCOUT VEHICLE
SP ANTI-AIR GUN
PRIMARY CARGO TRUCK

ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

ORGANIZATION CHART OF THE ARMY

The Army has a current active duty strengh of 26,000, with a further 18,000 reservists.

BRIGADE GARRISONS

Zivenzia City Barracks - Army High Command, Guards Brigade, Reserve Command
Dapua Barracks - 2nd Brigade, 8th Brigade (Cadre)
Bassano Barracks - 1st Brigade, 9th Brigade
San Paulo Barracks - 4th Brigade, Training Regiment
Istria Barracks - 6th Brigade
Lepanto Barracks - 5th Brigade, 10th Brigade (Cadre)
San Vitti Barracks - 3rd Brigade
Asturias Barracks - Forze Speciali, Signals Regiment

Reserve Headquarter cadres are garrisoned at specific Barracks, however, individual units from Company through Battalion size are local garrisons. 8th Brigade is recruited from the mainland, and 10th Brigade is recruited from the peninsulas.

[Zivenzia]

AIRCRAFT STRENGTH OF THE REPUBLICAN AIR FORCE OF ZIVENZIA

1st Squadron - Foscari Air Base (Asturias) - 15 F-20 Tigre
2nd Squadron - Chavalerio Air Base (Istria) - 12 MB339 Spirito
3rd Squadron - Foscari Air Base (Asturias) - 12 MB339 Spirito
4th Squadron - Cigogna Air Base (Cigogna) - 15 F-20 Tigre
5th Squadron - Chavalerio Air Base (Istria) - 15 F-20 Tigre
6th Squadron - Volpe Air Base (San Bertaccio) - 18 C295 Fornitore
7th Squadron - Rambaldo Air Base (Asturias) - Training Sq, 75 various aircraft for both basic and advanced flight training. Also includes La Squadra di Dimostrazione di Volo di Gryphon Dorata (The Golden Gryphons), our flight demonstration team and their 9 aircraft
8th Squadron - Cigogna Air Base (Cigogna) - 12 MB339 Spirito
9th Squadron - Foscari Air Base (Asturias) - 18 Various light & medium transport aircraft
10th squadron - Volpe Air Base (San Bertaccio) - 18 C295 Fornitore
11th Squadron - Chavalerio Air Base (Istria) - 18 C295 Fornitore
12th Squadron - Cigogna Air Base (Cigogna) - 18 Various light & medium transport aircraft
13th Squadron - Foscari Air Base (Asturias) - 15 C/B-01 Valc (currently forming, pending sale of aircraft)
14th Squadron - Chavalerio Air Base (Istria) - 15 C/B-01 Valc (currently forming, pending sale of aircraft)
19th Squadron - Foscari Air Base (Asturias) - 6 S-100B Argus AEW, 6 Liason Aircraft

Squadron Insignia and National Markings of the Zivenzian Air Force.




Republican Air Force Fighter/Interceptor and Ground Attack aircraft







C-295 Fornitore of 11 Squadron


The standard Army attack helicopter, the A129 Mangusta




The AEW Electronics and Radar aircraft of the Air Force, the A-100 Argus. 6 of them are assigned to 19 Squadron to keep a watch on the skies over and the borders of Zivenzia.



UNIFORMS AND RANK


Pilot Wings

[Zivenzia]

Cities of Zivenzia

Zivenzia - The Capitol of the nation, it was the frist city founded. Located on an island at the mouth of the Priuli River, it has long been the center of Zivencian culture and politics. In 1872 the mainland city of Priuli, which had long been associated with Zivenzia, was annexed by the City. In 1884 the Asturias county and city was also annexed, but remained autonomous from the Zivenzia city government. The Capitol District (Distretto di Campidoglio) was formed from this territory in 1890. Zivenzia is home to the headquarters of Zivenzia Airlines (Linee Aeree di Zivenzia - LAZ), the National Museum of Art and Culture (Il Museo Nazionale di Arte e la Cultura), The Military Museum (Il Museo di Esercito), The Seafaring Museum (Il Museo Marinaro), and the Zivenzia National Symphony and Ballet (Lo Zivenzia la Sinfonia Nazionali ed il Balletto). In sports, it is the home of Aquile Potentementi, a member of the National Football (soccer) Association (L'Associazione di Football Nazionale or LFN).

Dapua - Dapua's growth is a direct result of their being at the crossroads of trade routes from both Texarnica and the German Nations into Zivenzia. They have developed into a center of Trade and Finance and is the home of the National Stock Exchange (Borsa Valori Nazionale) and is the Headquarters of the National Railroad (La Ferrovia Nazionale di Zivenzia - FNZ). Dapua is also home to the National Museum of Science and Industry (Il Museo nazionale di Scienza e l'Industria). Dapua's team in the LFN is Guerrieri di Montagna.

San Bertaccio - San Bertaccio is the Industrial heart of Zivenzia, where the majority of the heavy industry is located. Because of this they have long bore the nickname "La Città Nera (The Black City)" from the smoke and coal dust. Their LFN team has embrassed this nickname and call themselves Il Nero (the Blacks).

Porto Mazzia - Porto Mazzia and her sister city across Mazzia Bay, Porto Canal, are the main ports for import and export in Zivenzia. Porto Mazzia has the largest container trans-shipment facility on Gratia, with a correspondingly large amount of shipping in and out of the facility. Porto Canal also handles an extraordinary amount of shipping, if somewhat less than Porto Mazzia. Porto Mazzia is also home to one of the main shipbuilding yards in Zivenzia.

Istria - Istria has long been home to many industries, most related to the sea. The Istrian fishing fleet is one of the largest in the region, and most canneries are also located in or near the city on the Istrian Peninsula. Istria also has the 2nd largest shipbuilding facility in the nation.

Lepanto - Lepanto is the main port of call in and out of the Lepantian Peninsula. Lepantia (Lepanto, Cigogna and Mosenigo Provinces) is primarily agricultural and has many of the food packing industries of the nation, so many that the agricultural products from the mainland are sent here for processing. The Port of Lepanto is second only to Porto Mazzia in traffic.

[Zivenzia]

The Zivenzian Post Office was formed in 1609 as a courier service for the government. Prior to that time all communications were carried by private couriers, most generally merchants who would carry lettres from town to town for a fee. A more convenient method of moving important government documents was needed, so an official governmental courier service was established.

The service was opened up to private individuals in 1657 who could send their own packages and lettres along with the government dispatches. It wasn't until 1742, however, that standardized routes began to be established instead of the former system of dispatching couriers to various locations on an 'as needed' basis.

It was in 1768 that regular postal routes to neighboring coutries were established, generally to the largest town near the border, where the local postal system there would take charge of the lettres to their final destination.

Lettres sent useing the Post were either marked or hand-stamped "PAGATO" when the lettre was put pre-paid into the system, or could be marked or hand-stamped "RACCOLGA" if the lettre was to be collect on delivery. The first postage stamps were issued in 1840 by Grays Harbor, and the Zivenzian Post Office kept a close watch on how this developed. When they determined that small gummed labels were indeed an efficient method to denote prepayment of postage, and more efficient than merely stamping Pagato on a lettre to ensure that the correct fee's had been paid, they determined to issue stamps of their own. The first issue was a pair of stamps in 1848 1 Lira (1/24th Soldi) and 3 Lira (1/8th Soldi) denominations. Three additional denominations were issued in 1849 to cover other postal rates, with another pair in 1851. These, when used in combination, could show prepayment of nearly all mail.

FIRST STAMP ISSUE


ISSUES FOR 2008
1ST QUARTER
2ND QUARTER
3RD QUARTER
4TH QUARTER

ISSUES FOR 2009
1st quarter
2nd quarter
3rd quarter

[Zivenzia]

SHIPS OF THE ZIVENZIAN NAVY

combat vessals
support vessals

[Zivenzia]

Examples of merchant vessels of Zivenzia.

There are currently 14 major registered shipping companies under the Zivenzian merchant ensign. All major and minor companies combine for 400+ vessels of varying sizes and types. Major shipping companies have 12 or more vessels of 4,000 tonnes displacement. Shipping companies in Zivenzia are divided into 3 categories for tax purposes, Two International Trade categories; Major and Minor, and a Local, for ships which trade within Zivenzian waters and Fishing vessels.

There are 3 major and 5 minor shipyards in Zivenzia which build commercial shipping. The vessels listed below all come from the 3 major yards; Graffaro Shipyard of Porto Mazzia, Viccenzo Shipbuilders of Porto Mazzia and Muazzo Shipyard of Lepanto.

[Zivenzia]

Like many modern nations, Zivenzia counts its beginnings from the ancient Barencia lands (what is now called North Baren), and has a distant cultural heritage with several modern nations including Vassfforcia and Los Paises Lejanos.

The earliest settlers in what is now Zinevzia were the Mazzian peoples, an Italic-German group of tribes on Gratia. They had gradually been pushed towards the southeastern portions of the small continent by the more numerous and aggressive Prussian tribes, finally settling in the mainland region of modern Zivenzia in the 7th century. There they began to build communities and farm. Some of the oldest vinyards in present day Mazzia and Canal Provinces date from this time, in the 9th and 10th centuries. next came the Iberic Barencians. Their part in the history of Zivenzia begins in August 1235, when Admiral Divaldus Zivenzo organized a small fleet of carracks, 14 all together, and set out from Barencia on a trade mission to the south.

As so often happens at sea prior to satellite weather monitering, they were caught by a hurricane. The Admiral managed to skirt the edges of it due to his extraordinary navigational and seamanship skills, but in doing so he was thrown drastically off course, forced to go around the northern edge of caritas instead of south between Prudentia and Caritas. Three of his ships had been lost to the reefs and rocks near Domination Island.

Putting into an isolated harbour in Clearwater, they managed to repair their ships and restock on water, and salted meat and fish. After consulting with the other ships captains, Admiral Zivenzo decided on a course that was southwesterly, along the west coast of Caritas in order to better map that portion of the continent. Setting back out in October of 1235, he began doing just that, making their way slowly along the western shores of Caritas, mapping out its contours and marking where they encountered other peoples and cultures.

Hearing stories from several of the settlements along the coast of a group of islands far out to sea, in early December he set 10 of his ships on a westerly course, dispatching one back to barencia with copies of the charts they had made and with a report of his voyage so far, for the benefit of his benefactors and investors back home.

In January of 1236 he encountered the island group, what is now Taibei. He traded with the local rulers, attempting to set good relations for future visits and potential trade. He also procured Taibeian charts of the islands, some of which showed more lands further to the west. Zivenzo, ever the explorer, determined to continue the voyage instead of returning home with what they had. March 1236 saw them depart Taibei. By late April they had made landfall on what is now the north-central coast of Texarnica. Moving south along the coast, he continued with his charting and trading with the locals.

By June of that year he had made it as far south as the Lepantian Peninsula, trading with the Lepantian villages along the coast. The Lepanto people, it was determined later, were a branch of the Mazzic family of peoples who had settled the east coast peninsulas of the region, along what is now the Gulf of Zivenzia, in the 8th and 9th centuries.

His ships, beginning to show the effects of the long voyage, were put up in stocks near the present day city of Naxos in northern Lepanto. From there Zivencos sent out one or two ships at a time to explore the islands and peninsulas of the gulf. September 1236 saw the first meeting between Zivenzo's men and the mainland Mazzian peoples. The Mazzian population was relatively small oweing to centuries of pressure and skirmishes with their Prussian neighbors, estimates vary but it is widely accepted that there were no more than 40-50,000 Mazzians by this time spread out among the mainland areas and the peninsulas. The land was fertile, the game plentiful, and the harbours many.

In the spring of 1237, Admiral Zivenzo dispatched 3 of his ships back to barencia with a full report of what they had found. The return voyage was much quicker, taking the southern trades which carries them around the south of caritas then up the Prudentian coast. The Investors were naturally quite excited about the news of new and virtually unclaimed lands to explore and hopefully occupy. The investment group, with the blessing of the Crown, began to organize a second, much larger, fleet of ships, drawing on the resourses of all of them. They were aware that while this expedition would be very costly, the potential rewards were even greater if all of Zivenzos reports rang true, and theybelieved they did as the old Admiral was not given to excessive hyberbole. If anything, he was known for his chronic understatement of any given situation.

The next 6 months were a frenzy of activity as they and their agents went about the task of organizing the expedition, preparing the ships for their long voyage, recruiting families, laying in of supplies and all other sundry items neccessary for the long voyage and settlement. The majority of the families recruites were peasant farmers from the estates of the investors, people neccessary for the growth and well being of any settlement, but the number also included a healthy percentage of tradesmen and craftsmen and their families. One thing the investors insisted on, this being a long term endeavor, was that those going as settlers were families. Single male adventurers were discouraged from applying, although a few were accepted as soldiers to to be the guard force for the settlement. Families were seen as the future of the settlement for it to succeed and be profitable.

In february a fast ship was dispatched to Gratia to apprise Zivenzos of the settlers and ships coming. All was ready by early spring of 1238 and the fleet of 28 ships set sail. The voyage was projected to take 3½ months, not as long as the initial voyage, but they had the benefit of the charts made as well as knowing their final destination as opposed to a purely exploratory voyage. They knew they would be arriving too late to begin planting this season, but enough provisions were stocked so that they could last until the following season. Besides, it was figured that some time would be expended in building the settlement itself.

Meanwhile, back in the Mazzian lands, the officers and men of Zivenzos ships were making themselves quite at home, some even marrying local women. Three of the ships, once repairs and restoration had been concluded, began plying the local waters as traders, moving goods between the mainland and the various islands and peninsulas. The mazzians Italic-Germanic language and the explorers Baric language were similar enough so that they could understand the basics of what each other were saying, but a "trade" language quickly began developing melding the two languages, what was the beginnings of modern Zivenzian.

The carpenters from four of the ships had entered a partnership, once securing their discharge from their service to the Admiral, where they set up a small shipyard and began constructing smaller versions of the carracks that had brought them there. The mazzians, beyond small oared fishing craft, had no real seafaring heritage, but many took well to a life of local merchant crews. Within just a few months they had constructed several small craft which other Mates from the Admirals ships purchased and subsequently crewed and fitted out, starting a long and profitable history of Zivenzian merchant ships. The Mazzian town on the site of modern Porto Mazzia began to expand, and a new settlement called Nuova Barencia was founded on the site of what is now the City of Zivenzia.

Things were looking good.