Principality of Caudonia

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Principality of Caudonia
Fürstentum Kaudonien (German)
Motto: "Quod Unitatis Pace"
"Unity is Peace"
Anthem: "I Vow to Thee, My Country"
StatusActive
CapitalSalisbury
Official languagesEnglish
German
Ethnic groups
(March 2020)
97.8% White
2.2% Southeast Asian
Religion
(March 2020)
  • 56.5% Christianity
  • 15.2% Paganism
  • 2.2% Other
  • 26.1% Irreligious
Demonym(s)Caudonian
GovernmentParliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
• Prince
Prince William I
• Prime Minister
Alexander Ainsley (interim)
LegislatureParliament
None (formerly the Senate)
House of Assembly
Establishment
• Established
5 July 2019
Population
• December 2021 estimate
50
• March 2020 census
65
CurrencyDe facto: United States Dollar, Euro
De jure: Caudonian Pound (CAP)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)
UTC-4 (EDT)
Observed between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
yyyy-mm-dd
Driving sideright
IMSO 1 codeCAU

Caudonia (/kˈdniə, kɔː-/), officially the Principality of Caudonia (German: Fürstentum Kaudonien) was a micronation claiming to be a sovereign state located in North America and Europe, currently consisting of lands in Ohio, and Stockholm County, thus making it an enclave of the United States and Sweden.

The nation was currently reigned by Prince William I, who has reigned since the nation's foundation. The nation falls under classification 6 on the Boodlesmythe-Tallini Classification, making it a 6th world nation.

Etymology

The name is derived from the Latin word for "tail." Tail in this context refers to Lake Erie, which was named by the Erie people, an indigenous tribe who lived along its southern shore. The tribal name "erie" is a shortened form of the Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning "long tail".

History

Although the Principality of Caudonia was technically established on the 5th of July 2019, the 2nd of December 2018 is considered the founding date as it was the founding date of Vryland, the nation's first predecessor. Following the dissolution of New Albion, Vryland's successor state, the Prince initially decided he would take a break from the micronational community or even leave it, but advisors convinced him otherwise and he established Caudonia on the 5th of July.

Eras

The history of Caudonia can be divided into various eras. Caudonia was in the Era of Reconstruction. This era had been characterised by a moderate increase in activity and the removal of over a dozen inactive citizens.

Era Length of Era Notes
Foundation Era 5 July 2019 - 23 November 2019 141 days The first era. Headed for the most part by Andrew West, this era was the beginning of Caudonia. The core tenets of Caudonia's system of government were established. This era ended following the November 2019 general election, which saw a sharp increase in activity.
Era of Prosperity 24 November 2019 - 12 September 2020 293 days The second era. Headed by various politicians, this era was characterised by sharp increases in activity and the influx of many new citizens. It is considered by many to be Caudonia's prime. Following the May 2020 general election, the growth seen in the early part of the era began to slow and by the September election, the beginnings of the Era of Stagnation were starting to show.
Era of Stagnation 13 September 2020 - 19 August 2021 340 days The third era. Headed by various politicians, this era was characterised by a sharp decrease in activity the leaving of well-known politicians, such as Andrew West and Andrew Szemere, and ordinary citizens alike for nations such as Gwladcoeden and Wynnland.
Era of Reconstruction 20 August 2021 – present Ongoing The current era. Headed by Robert Smith II so far, this era has been characterised by a moderate increase in activity and the removal of over a dozen inactive citizens. During the initial part of this era, citizens of Gwladcoeden were barred from entering Caudonia's new Discord server because of their inactivity and out of fear for foreign influence in politics, however the ban is slowly being lifted. The most prominent Gwladcoedeg to return has been Ned Fram.

Government and politics

Main articles: Government of Caudonia, Politics of Caudonia

Caudonia was a semi-constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, similar to that of Liechtenstein and Monaco. Prince William I is its prince and thus the head of state. The prince can exercise his princely prerogative powers, such as appointing and dismissing government ministers and judges, issuing princely decrees, commanding the nation's defence forces (the police), granting assent to legislation, summoning and dissolving parliament, and calling for elections and referendums. As Caudonia has a form of mixed constitution, the prince can and often does exercise his powers at his discretion, as opposed to only exercising his powers with the advice of ministers as in other countries that use the Westminster system.

The Parliament of Caudonia holds legislative power, along with the prince who may propose bills to parliament. Parliament consists of a single house called the House of Assembly, however, until May 2020, it was known as the Legislative Assembly. It also included two separate upper houses, one called the Legislative Council which was established in October 2019 and subsequently abolished later that year, and another called the Senate which was established in May 2020 and abolished in March 2022. Parliament generally has supremacy over other government institutions, although, the judiciary has some limited powers for judicial review and the prince can theoretically refuse to assent legislation. The House of Assembly is democratically elected under a system of proportional representation, and a government is formed from the political party or coalition of political parties with the majority of seats. If no majority is formed, a minority government can be formed if support from other parties during confidence votes is assured. The prince appoints ministers typically on advice of the prime minister, who is by convention the parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition, though, he can appoint them at his discretion. The Cabinet of Ministers, formed by ministers and led by the prime minister is the highest body in government and is responsible for deciding major governmental actions and policy. Cabinet makes major decisions collectively and is therefore collectively responsible for the consequences of their decisions.

A parliamentary general election must be called no later than four months after the previous election. All general elections have been held under a party-list proportional representation system which utilizes closed lists. Since June 2020, by-elections with three or more candidates have been held under ranked choice voting.

Until early 2021, elections were dominated by two political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the Caudonian Front. Since the demise of the Caudonian Front in early 2021, the Social Democratic Party, now known as the Social Democrats, has been cemented as the main governing party, with it winning the most seats in seven out of nine general elections.

Caudonia's judiciary, headed by the chief justice, includes the High Court, Princely Court, and various subordinate local courts. Judges and judicial officers are appointed non-politically and are legally required to act independently in the course of their duties.

In 2021, the nation was ranked 12th on the Micronational Democracy Index with a score of 8.2, meaning it was a full democracy, although, according to a poll performed by the Caudonian Broadcasting Corporation, most citizens considered it to be a flawed democracy.

Governmental departments

The following governmental departments are considered ministerial departments:

  • Department of Communications, Media, and the Environment
  • Department of Finance, Education, and Culture
  • Department of Foreign Affairs
  • Department of Home Affairs
  • Department of Justice and Democracy

The following governmental departments are considered non-ministerial departments:

  • Civil Registry Office
  • Health and Social Care Office
  • Heraldry and Vexillology Commission
  • Human Rights Commission
  • Language Commission
  • National Archives
  • Princely Affairs Office

The following governmental departments are defunct:

  • Department of Energy and Development (dissolved)
  • Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (merged into Department of Communications and Media)
  • Department of Finance (merged into Department of Education and Culture)
  • Department of Food and Agriculture (dissolved)
  • Department of Transport (dissolved)

Foreign relations

Caudonia does not maintain many diplomatic relations. For years, its official diplomatic policy was isolationism. It was an official member of the United Sovereignties, however due to hostile relations with other members, the nation withdrew. During its period of isolation, Caudonia did not maintain official diplomatic relations with any nations, however, it maintained unofficial relations with various different nations. Since ending its isolation, Caudonia has reached out to several nations to form diplomatic ties and has signed a treaty with Elysium.

Caudonia also has an official policy against micronational warfare. This makes Caudonia de-facto a neutral state. Despite this, however, Caudonia used to have negative and hostile relations with the UCSR and the United Sovereignties. This period has been called the Caudonian Crisis. These hostilities have long since been resolved.

Law and order and defence

Law enforcement was carried out by the Caudonia Police. As Caudonia does not have a formal military, defence is the duty of the Caudonia Police.

Local government

For the purposes of local government, Caudonia was divided into regions, territories, districts, and municipalities.

Regions

There are currently three regions: Canland, New Rutland, and Olbialand.

Name Coat of arms Area Population Population Density Date Founded Capital Location Notes
Canland 1.59 Hectare (3.92 acre) 23 May 2020 None (administered directly by the central government) Canfield, Ohio Created by the merger of Parnia and Ludusia.
New Rutland 0.12 hectare
(0.30 acre)
3 5 July 2019 Salisbury Youngstown, Ohio Where the Prince's Palace and central government are located.
Olbialand 1.81 hectare

(4.47 acre)

5 254.7/km2 25 April 2019 Brugge Massillon, Ohio

Territories

There is currently one territory: Törland-Björnö.

Name Coat of arms Area Population Population Density Date Founded Capital Location Notes
Törland-Björnö Unknown 11 25 April 2020 West Björnö Stockholm County, Sweden The territory consists of three separate parcels of land located in Stockholm County, Sweden.

Economy

The economy of Caudonia has never been properly developed.

Demographics

The March 2020 census enumerated a total population of 65, an increase of around 166 percent over the first population count in July 2019.

Date Population Population change % change
6 July 2019 25 Steady 0 Steady 0.0%
5 October 2019 35 10 40.0%
10 November 2019 46 11 31.4%
18 January 2020 52 6 13.0%
16 February 2020 63 11 21.1%
7 March 2020 65 2 3.1%
11 April 2020 50 15 27.1%
8 May 2020 74 24 48.0%
9 June 2020 89 15 20.2%
16 July 2020 74 15 16.8%
29 October 2020 80 6 8.1%
15 February 2021 71 9 11.2%
31 May 2021 80 9 11.2%
29 August 2021 57 23 28.7%
19 December 2021 49 8 14.0%
22 January 2022 47 2 4.1%
26 February 2022 43 4 8.5%
19 March 2022 41 2 4.7%
2 July 2022 39 2 4.9%
17 September 2022 37 2 5.1%
26 November 2022 35 2 5.4%
3 December 2022 35 Steady 0 Steady 0.0%

Geography and climate

Geography

Climate

New Rutland, the administrative division in which the capital of Caudonia was located, lies within a Humid Continental (Dfb) climate zone under the Köppen climate classification system. Because of this, the nation shares a climate with much of the Midwest and Southern Canada. These climate zones are characterized by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers with high humidity and cold to severely cold winters. Precipitation is usually well distributed through the year. As New Rutland lacks weather monitoring equipment, the weather box below lists climate data from the nearest major weather station.

Climate data for Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 22
(72)
24
(75)
28
(82)
32
(90)
35
(95)
37
(99)
39
(102)
38
(100)
37
(99)
31
(88)
27
(81)
24
(75)
39
(102)
Average high °C (°F) 1.3
(34.3)
2.9
(37.2)
8.1
(46.6)
15.7
(60.3)
21.6
(70.9)
26.0
(78.8)
28.2
(82.8)
27.3
(81.1)
23.5
(74.3)
16.7
(62.1)
9.8
(49.6)
3.7
(38.7)
15.4
(59.7)
Average low °C (°F) -7.1
(19.2)
-6.3
(20.7)
−2.3
(27.9)
3.3
(37.9)
8.7
(47.7)
13.4
(56.1)
15.7
(60.3)
14.9
(58.8)
11.2
(52.2)
5.7
(42.3)
0.8
(33.4)
-3.6
(25.5)
4.5
(40.1)
Record low °C (°F) −30
(-22)
−27
(-17)
−23
(-9)
−12
(10)
−4
(25)
-1
(30)
4
(39)
0
(32)
-3
(27)
-7
(19)
−17
(1)
−24
(-11)
−30
(−22)
Average Precipitation mm (inches) 77
(3.03)
64
(2.52)
82
(3.23)
95
(3.74)
94
(3.7)
99
(3.9)
108
(4.25)
88
(3.46)
98
(3.86)
85
(3.35)
75
(2.95)
81
(3.19)
1,046
(41.18)
Average Snowfall cm (inches) 50
(19.7)
38
(15)
27
(10.6)
6.6
(2.6)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
1.8
(0.71)
11
(4.3)
38
(15)
172
(67.7)
Source: Department of Communications, Media, and the Environment

Culture

Main article: Culture of Caudonia

The culture of Caudonia is heavily based on that of anglophone countries, mainly the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

Cuisine

A piece of cornbread.

Caudonian cuisine has developed from various influences from around the world, most noteably the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Popular dishes in Caudonia include fish and chips, Sunday roast, Yorkshire pudding, poutine, butter tarts, hamburgers, and cornbread.

Also popular in Caudonia is the national drink, tea. Tea is a prominent feature of Caudonian culture and society much like in the United Kingdom. In Caudonia, like the United Kingdom, the drinking of tea is widely varied so it is quite hard to generalise. While the most common method of serving tea is with milk, it is not uncommon to drink it black or with lemon, with sugar being a popular addition to any of the above. Strong tea, served in a mug with milk and sugar, is a popular combination known as builder's tea. Tea is often accompanied with sandwiches, scones, cake and/or biscuits, with a popular British custom being dunking the biscuit into the tea.

Holidays

Date English name German name Meaning Type
1 January New Year's Day Neujahr Celebrates the first day of every year in the Gregorian calendar. Statutory
2 February Groundhog Day Tag des Murmeltiers Celebrates the the groundhog emerging from its burrow to announce the early spring or continued winter. Optional
Friday before Easter Good Friday Guter Freitag Commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. Statutory
Easter Easter Ostern Commemorates the ressurection of Jesus. Statutory
Monday after Easter Easter Monday Ostermontag Commemorates the second day of Eastertide. Statutory
5 April Prince William Day Prinz-William-Tag Commemorates the birth of Prince William I. Statutory
1 May May Day Maifeiertag Commemorates the Haymarket affair. Statutory
5 July Caudonia Day Kaudonia Tag Celebrates the establishment of Caudonia. Statutory
First Monday in September Labour Day Tag der Arbeit Celebrates economic and social achievements of workers. Statutory
11 November Remembrance Day Heldengedenktag Commemorates war dead and the armistice ending World War I in 1918. Statutory
Last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Erntedankfest Marks the end of the harvest season. Optional
2 December Foundation Day Gründungstag Celebrates the establishment of Vryland, the predecessor of Caudonia. Statutory
15 December Nicholas Randouler Day Nicholas Randouler-Tag Celebrates the life and achievements of Nicholas Randouler. Statutory
25 December Christmas Day Weihnachtstag Celebrates the nativity of Jesus. Statutory
26 December Boxing Day Zweiter Weihnachtstag Commemorates the second day of Christmastide. Statutory