Principality of Optima

Principality of Optima
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: De unueco venas komikeco (Esperanto: From unity comes hilarity)
Anthem: L'Internationale (provisional)
File:Adelaide, South Australia; Engadine and Sanctuary Point, New South Wales; London and Nottinghamshire, England
Capital and largest city	Prima
Official languages	Optiman English (based on Australian English)
Demonym(s)	Optiman (archaic: Optimiser)
Government	multi-head-of-state republic, nominal monarchy
• Prince	HRÜ Jeremy Oakes
• Chancellor	Reuben Howe
• Prime Minister	Brian Mounce (renaming of position in progress)
Legislature	Parliament
Establishment	2008
Population
• Census	8
Currency	Australian dollar
Time zone	Optiman Standard Time (UTC+9:30), Optiman Eastern Time (UTC+10), Barrettois Standard Time (UTC); Optiman Summer Time (UTC+10:30), Optiman Eastern Summer Time (UTC+11), Barrettois Quasi-Summer Time (UTC+1)

The Principality of Optima was a constituent nation within the Kingdom of Dranoria which claims land in South Australia, New South Wales, and England, and has one province close to the Republic of Cooriengah, part of A1. It was founded on the 20th of October 2008 by Jeremy Oakes, became active on MicroWiki in May 2010, and now has 8 citizens.

History

Pre-formation

Although Optima would not be formed for another three years, it was in late 2005 that the structures and attitudes that would come to shape Optima began to form. As part of a school project, Michael Sander was required to run a fantasy nation, called Ssink, for two and a half months. The next year, Jeremy Oakes and Michael Sander were placed in the same class at school and subsequently became friends. They, along with other members of the class (some of them would later become Optiman citizens), ran a number of fantasy nations through school, including the Cityworld, Gumnut City, 3D City, and Cityworld II. Following their transfer to a new school in 2007, however, little in the way of micronationalism happened until the foundation of Optima.

Formation

On October 20, 2008, Jeremy Oakes drafted a declaration of independence and a constitution (which, to this date, has not yet been completed) to create the Principality of Optima, with his house and yard as territory and he as the prince. Many of his friends signed up as citizens and some pledged their homes as territories.

The government structure would remain very undefined and provisional for the next two years.

Expansionist era

In September 2009, one of his friends, Brian Mounce chose to create his own micronation, Pimpleg. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the name "utterly stupid" and declared war. After Pimpleg's loss to Optima in a round of Rock-Paper-Scissors, it surrendered and ceded its territorial claims (a house in Adelaide, and Jupiter) to Optima.

In December of that year, two wars were declared against Australia in one night. They were both victories for Optima and resulted in annexation of 2 patches of land, leading to the creation of Graceland and Parklife, as well as expansion of the Garella National Park.

Several outer space territories were claimed around this time, in the spirit of the Aerican Empire's claims, although these have since been relinquished.

Ambitious projects such as RetCart were started in this era, many of which did not progress.

Entrance to MicroWiki

In mid-2010, after only having established relations with the Aerican Empire earlier, Optima first became active in the MicroWiki sector after Oakes found the website; the first MicroWiki nation contacted by Optima was the Colony of Iego, which borders Optima's Dayneville province. Membership in the Organisation of Active Micronations and treaties with the Federated Republics of A1 and Students' Isocratic Oligarchy of Yabloko soon followed.

Optima's population peaked at approximately 20 in early 2010, but several inactive citizens renounced their citizenship.

Citizens' Congress

"...[Optima] jumped to the other side of the ‘unworkable disorganisation’—‘unworkable bureaucracy’ continuum."

— Jeremy Oakes on the execution of Optima's political reforms, June 12 2011

By the end of 2010, Optima's government was very sprawling and disorganised. Oakes and Sander sought to define and reform the governmental structure, so, in a sudden action, Oakes called for a mandatory forum of all citizens, which would become known as the Citizens' Congress.

The congress resulted in several governmental functions being moved online, mostly for good record-keepings' sake and in preparation for Optimans moving to different schools in 2011, although Optima remains a primarily real-world nation. The time from November to December 2010 was marked by increased activity, though this slumped for reasons including Michael Sander's departure from Optima, summer holidays, and Optima's population spreading across different schools.

Dranorian merger

At the beginning of the 2011 school year, a classmate of several Optimans made his own micronation which was joined by several other students of the school, as well as Jeremy Oakes and Brian Mounce. Due to a crippling lack of activity (not helped by the sudden departure of Michael Sander), Optima sought to become a constituent nation within Dranoria and a treaty was soon negotiated, being signed on March 11. Due to Dranoria's lack of foreign relations at the time, Dranoria legally succeeded Optima in Organisation of Active Micronations and TASPAC membership, as well as in several alliance treaties.

Since most governmental functions were moved to the Dranorian government, Optima's government has become inactive, save for awarding several awards to foreign micronationalists.

Politics

Further reading: Politics in Optima

The Optiman Senate uses open party list proportional representation, elected in the same way the Australian Senate is, except without any constituencies. The Happy Party currently occupies all three seats.

Administrative divisions

Optima's main territorial divisions are provinces, duchies, counties, and cities, among other nobility- and feudal-style divisions. These have almost no legislative power and are mainly to distinguish geographical areas, but, as Optima is a unitary state, power can be technically devolved to these divisions.

Flag	Name	Founded	Leader	Motto
	Prima	October 20, 2008	Jeremy Oakes	Semper ad libertatem contortio
	Contains Optima's capital, Prima City. It is an enclave of the Adelaide council area of Marion. It is home to landmarks such as Prima House, the Prince's former palace (formerly Parliament Shed), and the headquarters of the Royal Dranorian Military Corps.
	South Garella	c. October 2008	Michael Sander	Art nisi provideris testimonio estis res describere non est facta
	Originally named "Pepsi presents South Garella". Located just over 2 kilometres almost due south of Prima. Landmarks include the Optiman Aquatic Centre and the Garellan Space Centre. Its capital is Bacigalupi. It has a tradition of failed secessionist movements, the first having been founded in early 2009 in response to a drug deal gone wrong between Michael Sander and Jeremy Oakes.
	North Garella	c. 2008	Michael Sander
	North Garella is an noncontiguous territory, which originally consisted of an empty block directly south of South Garella, despite the naming (caused by the Garellan Secession Crisis in early 2009). It now has one part of land north of South Garella. In early January 2011, it was amalgamated with other nearby territories: Graceland, which consists of a park north of South Garella; Parklife, consisting of a park south of the original part of North Garella; and the Valley of Death, a large empty plot of land immediately south of Parklife. It features a walking trail, several trees, and the Cashew Military Barracks, a historical military facility.
	Hackett	c. 2009	Brian Mounce
	Another Adelaide enclave, Hackett consists of three roughly equal-sized parts, with the capital in what was formerly Muncia and an exclaves in what was formerly the entirety of Frankville and the newer acquisition Fort Fleming. It was renamed from Frankville following a suggestion by the premier that was assented to by the other citizen.
	Sherlock	c. 2009	Joshua Earle
	Sherlock is another enclave of Adelaide. It is the home of Chancellor Joshua Earle, and contains two houses. It also claimed the asteroid 5049 Sherlock before Optima relinquished all its extraterrestrial claims.
	Northern Territories	c. 2009	Jeremy Oakes
	The Northern Territories consist of several parks and unused areas north of Prima. Several expeditions were made into the area, mostly in 2009 and 2010.
	Dayneville	c. 2009	Dayne Mercer	All for one, one for all, and none for Scott Morrison
	Dayneville is a province split off from Prima on the 15th of May 2010. Its main sector is an enclave of the Sutherland Shire, in southern Sydney, Australia, close to the Republic of Cooriengah, part of A1. It is named after its first and only governor. It has other sectors in other parts of the Sutherland Shire, the Illawarra, and Jervis Bay regions of New South Wales.
	Barrett	c. 2010	Joshua Earle
	Named for Syd Barrett, whose deathday is the day the province was proclaimed, Barrett is a province containing two enclaves of England, one of London, called Mansfield, and one of Nottinghamshire, called Coppergton Gren.
	Altlebury	c. January 2011	Jarred Kelly
	Altlebury, formed in January is an enclave of Modbury, in Adelaide's north-east. It is divided into Altlebury, a house; Upper Altlebury, a vacant lot uphill from Altlebury; and Lower Altlebury, a wedge of land between Altlebury and the northern bank of Dry Creek.
	Grand Duchy of Mitchell Park	November 5, 2010 de jure	Sleiman Andary	You got no face, so shut your face (de facto)
	Crown Protectorate and former puppet state of Optima that claims a Catholic private school (formerly attended by many Optimans) as its territory, and all its students and staff as population.
	The Nameless Province	c. May 2011	Luke Thomas
	Originally a Lesser Dranorian province. Not etymologically related to the alias of Michael Sander.

Former divisions

• Several non-serious terra nullis and outer space claims were made in Optima's early days, though were relinquished.
• Kaynestown was an Adelaide enclave prior to its disestablishment on the 11th of January, 2011.

Culture

Language

There are several practices unique to English spoken by Optimans, including pluralised forms like boxen as opposed to boxes, and Pepsis Max as opposed to Pepsi Maxes, and loanwords such as zannen.

Religion

Optima's government is officially secular. Most Optimans are irreligious or follow nontheistic religions or philosophies.

Currency

In a previous attempt at micronationalism, Reuben Howe created the reuble, pegged to the Australian dollar (at a rate which has since been forgotten). During Optima's early days, several currencies were proposed, but not fully implemented. The Optiman dollar was pegged to the Australian dollar at a rate of O$0.50:AU$1; the xanthum was pegged to the price of bananas (in Australian dollars) at the Foodland near Sander's house at a rate of OPX1:0.5 kg bananas. The Austral, pegged to the Australian dollar at a rate of 0.05 AUD:1 OAU, was until recently Optima's official currency, but was not used often, and on the 19th of November 2010 was dumped in favour of the Australian dollar, which was already the de facto currency.

Infrastructure

Optima relies heavily on Australian (and in the case of Barrett, British) infrastructure. Dayneville and Prima have solar panels for peak electricity generation, and exports some electricity when it is not being used locally. Similar solar panels are to be installed in Hackett.

Prima Water

Prima Water was established when three rainwater tanks in Prima were nationalised in late 2009. Prior to this, the only utilities serving Optima were Australian companies SA Water, Sydney Water, and United Water, a French subcontractor of SA Water. Rainwater tanks in Altlebury and Dayneville have since also been nationalised.