Kingdom of Wyvern
Koninkrijk Wyvern (nl) Kingdom of Wyvern (eng) Regnum Vivernus (lat) | |||||||
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: Vivernus Est Imperare Orbi Universo | |||||||
| Anthem: Conquest of Paradise | |||||||
| South Holland, Netherlands | |||||||
| Capital | Vivernus | ||||||
| Largest city | Oranja | ||||||
| Official languages | Dutch, English | ||||||
| Demonym(s) | Wyvernian, Wyverner | ||||||
| Government | Federal Monarchy | ||||||
• King | King Quentin I | ||||||
• Prime Minister | Bradley of Dullahan | ||||||
• General-Admiral | Bowie | ||||||
| Legislature | Statenraad | ||||||
| Establishment | 27 October 2009 | ||||||
| Population | |||||||
• Census | 27 | ||||||
| Currency | Kans (de facto Euro) | ||||||
| Time zone | (UTC +1) | ||||||
Website Official Website | |||||||
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Wyvern, officially known as the Kingdom of Wyvern and formerly known as the Kingdom of Snakia and the GSC Territory, is a micronation located in the Netherlands, of which it is a macronational enclave, and by which it is landlocked. It is comprised of multiple states (some of which are exclaves) in relatively close proximity to each other. The Kingdom is a member of the Holy Roman Empire.
History
When the Kingdom of Wyvern was founded, the current government had already been in charge of multiple micronational entities. The members of the government did not know about micronationalism at the time, and assumed that their sector was the only sector of 'nationhood' that existed. They considered their projects, politics and military unique in the world. The micronations that they had were very developed even for modern micronational standards around 2006–2007, having a working economy, multiple businesses, relatively advanced weaponry and an internal 'network' called the SKNET.
In October 2009, King Quentin I started reading articles about micronations. Apart from his past experience, he had gained some experience in the art of geofiction, which to this day is still considered separate from micronationalism by the Wyvernian government. After reading the article on Wikipedia and looking at some news articles about well-known micronations, he started talking to Bradley and decided to create a micronation. They thought for about an hour about the former flag, the motto, national anthem and, most importantly, the name of their new micronation. Using a fantasy name generator, Quentin came up with Wyvernwick. After some deliberation, Bradley suggested the name 'Wyvern' and Quentin I of Wyvern agreed to be its king. A few days later, Wyvern was officially declared independent from the Netherlands.
Wyvern was accepted in the intermicronational community reasonably well, especially by Dutch speaking nations, although it was very obvious that it was new to foreign affairs, leading to some questions by politicians in Flandrensis regarding the annual 'fireworks war' with the Netherlands. It quickly developed some competence in politics and presentation and joined the Organisation of Active Micronations. Soon after joining the OAM, it had its first political conflict, with then-Foreign Affairs minister Bradley of Dullahan entering into a heavy argument with Mark Dresner, leading to some OAM members calling for the removal of Wyvern from the OAM. However, when Bradley was replaced by King Quentin I of Wyvern, these opinions lost their main motivation. The government of the Kingdom of Wyvern started two websites, one in Dutch and one in English. The Dutch version was quickly declared unnecessary and closed, while the English version was used until the summer of 2010. In December 2009, the King decided to include more and more states, until the Kingdom of Wyvern had become over twenty times as big as it was when it was founded. The population more than doubled.
The King was embarrassed by the UUS War Attempt. Because of the alliances that then-minister of Foreign Affairs Bradley of Dullahan had accepted soon after Wyvern joined the community, the government decided to join the war, although it was apparent that no-one wanted to join it. Wyvern was left by its allies, most notably the Republic of Secundomia, soon after joining the war, leading to an emotional appeal by the King in a government meeting to refuse new alliances, an appeal supported by other politicians, months later. The decision for this was taken in May 2010, with existing alliances being reformed to friendships in August.
From the moment of the war on, the Kingdom of Wyvern has put its time, money and effort into development into an innovative micronation, with a large role for information technology and many symbolical government agencies and measures and also increasing its technology for weapons and building up its military ranks and military structure.
Government & Politics
Wyvern is a constitutional federal monarchy, with the king serving as the country's head of state, he appoints the 'minister-president' (Prime-Minister).
Head of State
The King is the Head of State of the Kingdom and is part of the Government. The King appoints the members of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kingdom and can fire them. The King must sign all laws before they go into effect, he can refuse to sign and use a legal veto. He is also responsible for calling elections, disbanding the legislature and lead or aid in the formation of coalitions. The King resides in the Royal Residence in the capital city of Vivernus in the Crownlands, also known as Wyvern-state.
Head of Government
The Prime-Minister is the Head of Government of the Kingdom of Wyvern. He is responsible for leading the Cabinet of Ministers and informing the King on decisions made by the Cabinet. The Prime-Minister also nominates ministers to be appointed by the King. The Prime-Minister is responsible for the actions of the King, this is called ministerial responsibility.
Cabinet of Ministers
The members of the Cabinet of Ministers are named by the King. The Prime-Minister nominates his ministers and His Majesty appoints them. The ministers are responsible for their designated departments and report to the Prime-Minister.
The current departments are:
- Department of General Affairs
- Department of Internal Affairs
- Department of Foreign Affairs
- Department of Finance
- Department of Defense
- Department of Economic Affairs
Legislature
The Statenraad (Council of States) is the unicamical legislature of the Kingdom of Wyvern. It currently has five seats based on the number of states, these states elect their own representative. After each election the Statenraad advises and nominates the King on who the next Prime-Minister should be.
The Kingdom of Wyvern has the following political parties who are active in the Statenraad:
- The Wyvernian Liberal Party, a right-wing classical liberal party. It is headed by His Grace Duke Bradley of Dullahan and it leads the current coalition government.
- The People's Party, is a conservative party, formally headed by the King and now headed by the King's Mother. Its a junior partner in the current coalition government.
- The Labour Party, is a centre-left party founded by the governor of Marine State. It was founded during the elections in 2010 and it managed to gain a Senate seat for some time. However, it lost the seat during the next election.
- The non-serious Communist Party of Wyvern, is a communist party headed by Soviet Bear.
States
The States are responsible for their own governance and how their government looks. The state's autonomy in structuring itself is limited by the constitution. The head of the state is always a noble appointed by the King. For example, the Duke of Dullahan is the head of state of the Duchy of Dullahan, a state in the Kingdom of Wyvern.
Judicial
The judicial branch of the Wyvern Government is relatively developed compared to that of other micronations. Each state has a judge which is responsible for judging cases in his or her state, when a case is based on federal law, the state is sued or someone appeals the judgment of the state courts the case will come before the High Judge. He is in charge of judging actions according to the constitution and according to Dutch law. There have been some court cases, but none have been serious enough to be transferred to Dutch authorities. In extreme cases, the judge can sentence a criminal to a small amount of time in a building in Fort Wyvern designated as a prison. When Wyvern was still the Kingdom of Snakia, insurgents were locked up there for a few minutes when they had tried to create a civil war. The High Judge is always the reigning monarch, unless the monarch appoints someone else to the position.
Defence and Armed Forces
The Kingdom of Wyvern has a standing army of three to four people and a dog, depending on the time of year and their personal lives. It also has a suspended conscription, meaning that every man has to defend his home if someone attacks it. Compared to recognized nations, it does not spend a lot of money on its armed forces. Relatively, when the total budget is viewed, a large part of the annual budget is spent on the armed forces.
The Wyvern Army, which is the general name for the armed forces, is ceremonially headed by General-Admiral Bowie of Wyvern, the royal dog, because of his victories over other dogs that attacked him. However, on a day-to-day basis, the army is divided into three separate entities that are generally controlled by the Senate or the governor of a relevant state. The Wyvern Infantry (WIN) is in charge of actually defending the Kingdom of Wyvern from intruders, violent civilians or foreign forces, which has often been the case. The Wyvern Navy (WN) and the Wyvern Air Force (WAF) are mostly ceremonial, although projects to give them some sort of military capability have been undertaken.
The Wyvern Army has some restrictions as to its weaponry and use of force. Dutch law, for example, prohibits airsoft or any deadly-looking weaponry. Because of this prohibition, the Wyvern Army is restricted to home-made crossbows, fireworks (the heavier kind generally being only used on December 31) and vehicles. Currently, the Wyvern Infantry has a shopping cart which is in the process of being modified to make it a tank and some home-made crossbows that usually fire non-deadly nails. The Wyvern Navy currently does not have any ships, although there have been ideas to buy a radio-controlled battleship. The Wyvern Air force currently flies a radio-controlled aircraft, the WAF-01, and has a space program directed by the Royal Wyvern Space Agency (RWSA). It has a rocket that bears the name WSS-01 Karr, named after the shopping cart that played an important role in Wyvernian history.
States
The Kingdom of Wyvern is a federal monarchy which comprises five different states. The states are autonomous administrative divisions within the federal monarchy. The head of each state is appointed by the King and the title is either given as a hereditary title or as a non-hereditary title. The states are comprised of territories which are further divided in provinces. The states are allowed, within the bounds of the constitution, to design their own governmental structure. The Kingdom used to have eight states until they were downgraded to territories or merged with other states, this was done because the old system was deemed bureaucratic and needlessly big.
Crownlands of Wyvern
Wyvern is both politically the most important state of the Kingdom of Wyvern. It consists of the Royal Residence, both of its gardens and its surroundings, especially 'Het Pleintje', a small and historically important square where military exercises, experiments and talks with Dutch citizens are sometimes held. Wyvern is home to the government headquarters, comprising the computer that runs the server for the virtual state of New Xtabay, the Royal Central Bank of Wyvern and the living spaces of the Royal Family. Pictured to the right is Fort Wyvern, one of the royal gardens in the State of Wyvern. The King rules the Crownlands himself as one of the five states in the Kingdom, but has delegated most powers and responsibilities to the Queen Mother, who has been named Govenor of the Crownlands. Wyvern's territories: North-Wyvern, Fort Wyvern, Snakia, Zuid-Wyvern & Sae
Duchy of Behemoth
Behemoth is mostly a residential state, but it is also known for its technological superiority to many other states in terms of information technology and knowledge. It is home to Ossie of Behemoth, a member of the Statenraad. Xtabay, a territory of the Duchy of Behemoth, is a training ground for the Wyvern Army. It is often used to test weaponry, especially for the Wyvern Air Force. For example, the WAF-01, some bottle rockets and water rockets were tested there. Otherwise, it has played a marginal role in Wyvernian history, because it was only added to the Kingdom of Wyvern after it was named that in 2009. Before that, it fell outside the Kingdom of Snakia and the GSC Territory. Behemoth's territories: Barony of Behemoth, Barony of Xtabay.
Burgravate of Marine-State
The Burgravate of Marine-State (NL: Burggraafdom Marinestaat) is ruled by the Burggraaf (Burgrave). The title and function as head of state is non-hereditary and upon death, dismissle or abdication the King appoints a new Watergraaf. The state was created out of the separation of Marine-state into two new states. Marine State has played a significant role in the development of Wyvern, especially when it was still the Kingdom of Snakia. It was a preferred battleground that the Snakian Army brought its enemies to before fighting them, as it was a large open space where their enemies couldn't hide and strike. Also, the first ship, a Playmobil pirate ship of the Snakian Navy, was lost in Marine State. It capsized, could not be reached for a day and was subsequently stolen. It remains unknown who has stolen the ship.
Burgravate of Waterland
The Burgravate of Waterland (NL: Burggraafdom Waterland) is ruled by the Burggraaf (Burgrave). The title and function as head of state is non-hereditary and upon death, dismissle or abdication the King appoints a new Burggraaf. The state was created out of the separation of Marine-state into two new states.
Religion
Although Wyvern is a secular state, recent research uncovered that a large percentage of Wyvern has a belief or is religious. Wyvernians are generally not actively religious as they don't participate in the churches, neither visit them or doesn't believe in going to churches.
Religions in Wyvern:
Atheist: 39%
Protestant: 22%
Spiritual: 13%
Catholic: 4%
Humanist: 4%
Buddhist: 4%
Unknown: 13%
Foreign relations
Foreign relations are maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Wyvern maintains a unique foreign relations policy. The department welcomes most requests for diplomatic relations, but has some issues that need to be taken care of. Other micronations that seek foreign relations with the Kingdom of Wyvern cannot claim any territory claimed by the Kingdom of Wyvern, need to prove at least to some degree that they actually exist and have to contact the Kingdom of Wyvern through an appropriate channel.
Alliances are always refused following the UUS War Attempt around May 2010, in which the Kingdom of Wyvern was apparently forced to enter a pointless war, only to be left by its allies when it finally entered the war. The Kingdom of Wyvern deems it unnecessary and dangerous to enter any new alliances and has reformed its old alliances to official friendships in August 2010, following another piece of legislation. For a short period of time in late 2010 and early 2011, Wyvern took a break from the OAM to prevent certain conflicts from escalating and to use the time needed to maintain its OAM affairs. It has since rejoined the OAM.
There is no political message that the Kingdom of Wyvern wants to carry out in the community. Despite accusations of being a 'conservative' micronation, the Kingdom of Wyvern has maintained that its government operates using different macronational ideologies that meet on micronational level because they themselves are responsible for what happens. The Kingdom of Wyvern does not have any official interest in or encouragement towards any organisation and the Minister of Foreign Affairs believes that 'aggressive neutrality' - being neutral but critical of most conflicts - is the best way to get through conflicts unharmed.
The Kingdom of Wyvern automatically recognises all micronations unless stated otherwise or due to overlapping claims, although it prefers official recognition and micronational friendship. These are the nations Wyvern has foreign relations with and the nature of the foreign relations.
Former Allies
Zonian Confederacy
Royal reformed States of America (defunct)
Secundomia (diplomatic relations ceased)- Federated Republics of A1
Federal Republic of Los Bay Petros
Prometheus
BlueSkies
Secundomian Dependent Territory of the Sandbars
Friendly Nations
Nemkhav Federation - Since November 2009 | suspended in 2010 | reinstated in 2011.
Qootärlænt
Flandrensis 
The Zealandian embassy in Wyvern-Stad - Kingdom of Lacia
- Zya-Vulturia
Angador
Kingdom of Wilcsland
Kazzardist Republic of Anpix
Kingdom of Zealandia
Federal Commonwealth of Sirocco
Valnor
UfKpR Schwanensee - Treaty signed on April 30, 2012.
Empire of Nedlando-Khorașan
Formally Recognised
Federal Republic of St.Charlie - since 12 April 2012
Kingdom of Lutherania
Parliamentary Republic of League of Legends Fart Poopoo
Community of Landashir
Libertas
Shorewellese Empire
Geography and Climate
Wyvern is located in the Netherlands. More specifically, just south of Rotterdam. The climate is relatively mild and there is a lot of rain. Because it is located in a crowded part of the Netherlands, there are no large areas of nature, elevation or water. It has a high degree of developed land and there are no significant physical agricultural areas.
The Kingdom of Wyvern is arguably one of the geographically lowest micronations in the world, possibly being below sea level, only protected from the sea by the Dutch system of dykes. Some people have also argued that soil in the Kingdom of Wyvern is bad. In the past, rusted metal objects such as keys and nails have been found in Fort Wyvern.
The climate in the Kingdom of Wyvern is very mild. According to the Köppen climate classification, Wyvern has an oceanic climate. Rain is very common in the Kingdom of Wyvern and average temperatures throughout the year do not differ as much as the average temperatures in inland areas. Snow is not very common throughout the year; a few days of proper snow is considered special. However, natural disasters or even serious problems regarding the weather are very rare as Dutch authorities have a proper way of managing water levels and infrastructure to protect the Kingdom of Wyvern from any real danger.
Economy
The Kingdom of Wyvern has almost no natural resources, and its main form of income consists of its highly developed service industry, which contributes to the Dutch economy. Most of the jobs that are
actually located in Wyvern are with the government. Most internal economic activities are also service-oriented, although the Projects Department uses citizens to carry out small improvement projects. All economic activities are centered around the State of Wyvern and the State of Dullahan. Behemoth's contributions to the Kingdom of Wyvern usually take place in the State of Wyvern.
Official economic developments take place using the Royal Central Bank of Wyvern (RCBW), founded in 2010, which is the central financial institute. This institute, the president of which is H. of Wyvern, is in charge of government finances and has taken over responsibilities from the Finance Department, which was abolished earlier. It keeps track of companies in the Kingdom of Wyvern and gives foreign aid to the Netherlands, thus indirectly to many developing nations. There is a voluntary tax that is only called for when the voluntary payers agree that something needs to be bought.
The official currency in the Kingdom of Wyvern is the Wyvern Kans (WK), the successor to the Snakian Kans and the Wyvern Dollar. It is a symbolic currency that was designed in late 2010, but based on the design of the earlier Wyvern Dollar. It is never used and no Wyvern Kansen have been issued because they are generally not used.
There is some virtual tourism in the Kingdom of Wyvern. If tourists want to visit the state of New Xtabay, they have to buy Minecraft, which is a successful indie game designed by a Scandinavian game developer. Once a tourist has bought Minecraft, the tourist is free to contact the Kingdom of Wyvern and visit its Minecraft server. In New Xtabay, many monuments can be seen and there is some infrastructure that tourists can use to get from one part of the state to another.
Demographics
The Kingdom of Wyvern currently has 23 citizens. Details of citizens are never released to the intermicronational community, but it has been noted that three to five of the Kingdom's citizens are politically active. All citizens held Dutch nationality before they took a double nationality in the Kingdom of Wyvern. The Kingdom of Wyvern's population has increased dramatically when multiple physical territories where citizens lived abroad were added to Wyvern's territorial claims. Most citizens of the Kingdom of Wyvern are ethnic Dutch, with other European ethnic groups being common in Wyvernian ancestry.
The Kingdom of Wyvern has a homogenous religious life, with most citizens reportedly being either atheist or Protestant, though some exceptions exist. These exceptions are spiritualism and humanism. Religions are generally tolerated and adhered, but not practiced intensively. Religion, although separation of church and state is not mentioned in the Constitution, does not currently have any place in politics, with all politicians being atheists or humanists.
Culture
Heritage
The culture of the Kingdom of Wyvern is mostly based on Dutch culture. It values effort, but not to a degree of slaving away for someone else. Wyvern's government and people are
relatively tolerant towards different opinions, although different opinions are often subject of humour. The culture in the Kingdom of Wyvern differs significantly from Dutch culture
because of the central position of prestige projects and the military. Wyvern's culture has been outspokenly militant in the past, with most of the government budget being spent on military projects and the army having a vivid history or conflicts, coups and even civil wars.
The Kingdom of Wyvern's citizens almost exclusively speak Dutch in everyday life, a West Germanic language. It is closely related to other West Germanic languages and also to North Germanic languages. Although they speak Dutch almost exclusively to each other, knowledge of English is very advanced and French and German are also spoken by many citizens.
Cuisine
Wyvern is in the slow process of developing its official cuisine. When it was still the Kingdom of Snakia, Ossie of Behemoth and King Quentin I tried to create a national dish made out of chocolate and peanut butter. This idea failed horribly, with the foul smell of molten chocolate bars and baked peanut putter haunting the kitchen, which was later replaced, for weeks. Since then, the development of an official cuisine has been brought to an almost complete stop, only to start again in late 2010. The politicians that are in charge of developing this dish, however, are not proper cooks and are not looking forward to the situations to come.
Seeing it from a global perspective, the Kingdom of Wyvern's citizens do not differ significantly from people who only hold Dutch nationality. Traditional Dutch dishes, such as stamppot, are sometimes served, although there are many foreign dishes that are served more often. Fast food is eaten relatively often in the Kingdom of Wyvern, as it is a developed nation.
National Symbols
The Kingdom of Wyvern has a special role for its national symbols. They serve to unite the Kingdom of Wyvern and to stress its difference from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Special care has been given to designing and using them. For example, a small flagpole carrying the national flag has been put up, with the flag being added when the weather improves.
The national flag has gone through some changes since the Kingdom of Wyvern was founded in October 2009. When it was first designed, late at night by two citizens who were talking over the internet, it was merely a transitional design. It was the first time a flag was designed for a micronation governed by these citizens, although an official logo had existed earlier. It contained a purple wolf on a black background with purple horizontal bars on top and at the bottom. Some time after, a second flag was designed, carrying the new coat of arms on a purple-white-black horizontal-barred flag. This design did not look good enough according to the Senate, so it was changed to the current version, with the coat of arms removed.
The national coat of arms has been subject of some debates. It used to be the current royal coat of arms, but it has later been changed to a new 'national' design. The King has opposed this on some occasions, but there was no other notable opposition, so the national coat of arms remains the official coat of arms in the Kingdom of Wyvern.
Media
The Kingdom of Wyvern relies on media to bring messages to the outside world. Media plays an important role in Wyvernian politics. In late 2009, a YouTube account was created, where the Kingdom of Wyvern could upload its videos and television programmes. The Kingdom of Wyvern also releases a monthly newspaper, the Royal Wyvern Gazette, which brings detailed news about the micronation. In late 2010, the Kingdom of Wyvern switched from a Wix website to a paid website, with a special page for the Wyvern Television (WTV) channel.
Transportation
Transport services in Wyvern are limited. There are some physical roads in the Kingdom of Wyvern for example; the roads in Midden-Wyvern, Noord-Wyvern. The physical streets of Wyvern were created in the 1960s and 1970s, and are generally paved. Officially, there is no physical railway yet, although it has been rumoured by some citizens that there is one in Rottum. Because there are no islands or maritime destinations in Wyvern, there are no commercial ships. The Wyvern Navy has used Marine State for testing its prototype rafts, but these have all failed to some degree.