City (New Eiffel)
In the context of the government of the Principality of New Eiffel, a city was an administrative division which possessed its own city council and some powers of self-governance, similar to a municipality. New Eiffel had three such cities—the largest and only permanently populated New Leeds; Plitvice; and the capital Új Repülő. Because of the small size of the principality, the three cities covered all of New Eiffel's landmass and de facto acted as provinces. Each city had an elected mayor, elected every three years via a public vote, who chose the members of their respective city council. All three cities were founded at the same time under different names on 2 March 2018, in the Republic of New Finland—a distant predecessor state to New Eiffel. New Leeds was known as Smithington, Plitvice as Smithton, and Új Repülő as Hardwork Village Outback; they were all renamed by at least 8 September. New Eiffel dissolved on 1 November 2020 following an almost year-long crisis, and all three cities were subsequently dissolved.
Governance
A city was an administrative division which possessed its own city council and some powers of self-governance, similar to a municipality. New Eiffel's three cities covered all of its landmass and de facto acted as provinces. Cities were entitled to a flag, coat of arms (or seal) and council logo. Each city had an elected mayor, elected every three years via a public vote, who chose the members of their respective city council. Prior to December 2019, the mayor was chosen directly by the government. The mayor used the style "His Excellency". Each city had a unique two-letter abbreviation, Mail Code given by His Royal Mail Service of New Eiffel, and vehicle registration plate code given by the Ministry of Transportation.
History
There were three cities throughout most the Principality of New Eiffel's existence, and their areas remained largely unchanged. The Republic of New Finland—a distant predecessor state to New Eiffel—was established on 31 December 2017, and laid claim to territory in the United Kingdom on 4 January 2018. On 2 March, the three cities were founded—then called Smithington, Smithton and Hardwork Village Outback. Created by then-President Zabëlle Skye, the first two were named after the Smith surname which all five residents of the micronation possessed. The etymology of Hardwork Village Outback is obscure, but the name may have been associated with the labour industry of the area, and "outback" could be referencing the city as being the furthest city away from the only permanently populated city of Smithington. As the only populated city, Smithington was chosen to be the capital.
The Kingdom of New Finland succeeded the republic on 4 June, and all three cities remained completely unchanged. However, one of the cities is briefly mentioned in a video tour of the kingdom by then-Prime Minister Skye on 6 June. New Eiffel succeeded the kingdom on 11 August, and all three cities were renamed by at least 8 September—Smithington to New Leeds, Smithton to Plitvice and Hardwork Village Outback to Új Repülő. Új Repülő became the new capital due to its large number of structures. The earliest surviving record for these names is a map of the cities' boundaries on 8 September, though the name changes may predate this. Skye again chose the names for the cities. New Leeds was possibly named after the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England; Plitvice was named after Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia; and Új Repülő is Hungarian for "New Flying," a name randomly chosen by Skye as he admired the Hungarian language.
In late December 2019, it was announced that elections for mayors of all three cities would be considered sometime in 2020. On 26 February 2020, elections were officially announced as set to take place on 29th. Mayoral candidate Janus Smith proposed abolishing Plitvice and merging its territory into the other two cities, while candidate Skye suggested demoting Plitvice from city status as a compromise. Nevertheless, these elections ultimately never occurred. New Leeds and Új Repülő were entered into the GUM Sister Cities Program on 26 January 2020; New Leeds was twinned with three cities and Új Repülő with two. On 9 February, Storm Ciara hit New Eiffel, and a severe weather warning was issued. The storm caused mild damage to multiple buildings in Új Repülő from flying debris, making it the city that was most effected by the storm. Neighbouring city Plitvice suffered little damages, whilst New Leeds was only mildly effected.
New Eiffel dissolved on 1 November 2020 following an almost year-long crisis, and all three cities were subsequently dissolved.
List
There were three cities throughout New Eiffel's entire existence, and their areas remained largely unchanged throughout the micronation's history. They were each founded on 2 March 2018, and subsequently renamed by at least 8 September. Only New Leeds had a permanent population—five. Új Repülő was the capital. Cities were entitled to a flag, coat of arms (or seal) and council logo; only Új Repülő's council had a logo, however. By size, New Leeds was the largest city with an area of 257 m2 (2,766 sq ft). Plitvice had an area of 192 m2 (2,066 sq ft), and Új Repülő, the smallest city, was 173 m2 (1,862 sq ft) in size.
City | Code | Size | Mail Code | Flag | Coat of arms |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Leeds | NL | 257 m2 (2,766 sq ft) | 001 | ||
Plitvice | PV | 192 m2 (2,066 sq ft) | 002 | ||
Új Repülő | UJ (rarely ÚJ) | 173 m2 (1,862 sq ft) | 003 |