St. John

St. John
Co-official flags Coat of arms
Motto: "Caritas – Pax – Libertas" (Latin) "Love – Peace – Freedom"
Anthem: Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a
St. John territories (in purple) within Indonesia
Capital	Vredesstad (executive) Grand Haven (legislative)
Largest city	Vredesstad
Official languages	Indonesian English
Religion	Christianity (official)
Demonym(s)	St. Johnian
Government	Unitary semi-presidential republic
• President	John Gregory
• Vice President	Vacant
• Prime Minister	John Gregory
• House Speaker	John Gregory
• Chief Justice	John Gregory
Legislature	House of Representatives
Established
• Foundation of Santos	6 June 2011
• Foundation of St. John	20 December 2013
• Re-establishment of St. John	20 December 2017
Area
• Total	0.66531 km2 (0.25688 sq mi)(2021)
• Water (%)	±0
Population
• 2022 census	2
Currency	None (de jure) Rupiah (de facto)
Time zone	UTC+8 (St. John Time)
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy (English) dd/mm/yyyy (Indonesian)
Driving side	left

St. John, formerly the Republic of St. John (Indonesian: Republik St. John), is a geopolitical entity and a self-proclaimed micronation which was founded on 20 December 2013. St. John is a presidential republic with the President as the head of state and head of government, assisted by a cabinet of ministers. The territory of St. John consists of three administrative provinces and one provincial-level city, all of which located in Indonesia. The largest province by land area is the Vredesstad Metropolitan Area, which comprise about sixty-five percent of land area.

Throughout its history, St. John is the fourth incarnation of the micronation project created by John Gregory since 2011. St. John trace its roots back since the founding of the Federal Republic of Santos. After Santos became inactive, Santos were replaced replaced by the Kingdom of William Ranger. After William Ranger changed its form of government and name into New Santos, the nation were dissolved on May 2013. In December 2013, the establishment of the Republic of St. John were announced until one and half year later St. John went inactive on July 2015. On 20 December 2017, St. John were re-established by the former leaders of St. John.

History

Pre-St. John era

The history of St. John has gone back since the founding of the United States of Santos (later renamed the Federal Republic of Santos) by John Gregory which established on 6 June 2011. The nation gained attention of most of Indonesian micronations and later joined Association of Indonesian Micronations (AIM). In December 2011, the Los Bay Petrosian government and Indokistani government declared an embargo to Santos due to "disrespectful acts and plagiarism made by [the government of Santos]". This caused the Santos government to be inactive.

On 30 April 2012, the Kingdom of William Ranger was founded as de jure successor of the inactive Santosian government. Gregory, the former President of Santos, declared himself as the King of William Ranger. William Ranger existed for a year before it was finally replaced by the Republic of New Santos on 7 April 2013. New Santos was established as an attempt to restore the government of the Federal Republic of Santos. However, the attempt was ultimately a failure and New Santos were dissolved one month after its establishment.

1st Republic era (2013 - 2015)

Williamgrad, the capital of St. John during February to March 2014

On 20 December 2013, six months after the dissolution of the Republic of New Santos, Gregory proclaimed the establishment of the Republic of St. John and set Vredesstad as the capital of St. John. In February 2014, the capital of St. John moved from Vredesstad to Williamgrad. In the end of March 2014, Vredesstad and several small provinces were merged into one province. This led to the capital of St. John moved back to Vredesstad. In April 2014, St. John joined the Association of Indonesian Micronations (AIM) as an observer. On 5 June 2014, the government of St. John started a religious debate in the AIM Quorum that caused St. John membership as an observer at AIM was revoked and the diplomatic relations between St. John and Indokistan ended.

On June 6, 2014, St. John underwent a political and governmental reform, which changed the system of government from presidential system to the federal system. The provincial administration system was replaced by an administrative republic and the title of the head of state "President" was replaced with a new title named "Chairman".

In October 2014, St. John established a puppet state named Pyeonghwaloun. After the founding of Pyeonghwaloun, several puppet states were established by St. John, namely Nightingale, Hiroshi (Shima), and Torishima. All these puppet states were short-lived and dispersed because of the lack of support from the government of St. John, although Pyeonghwaloun later re-established as an independent state. In April 2015, the government of St. John became inactive for two months. After a period of inactivity, John Gregory, the Chairman of St. John declared the dissolution of St. John on 14 July 2015.

2nd Republic era (2017 - present)

On 20 December 2017, Gregory, the former Chairman of St. John and Indra H., the former Prime Minister of Santos, proclaimed the re-establishment of the Republic of St. John on Vredesstad. On 23 January 2018, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 struck Vredesstad and several micronations located on western Java. There was no damage nor any casualties or injuries in Vredesstad. On 19 June 2018, the government of St. John decided to change the time zone of Vredesstad from UTC+7:0 to UTC+07:30, effective 20 June 2018. As of July 2018, there is no official explanation given regarding the time zone change.

Government and politics

St. John is a presidential republic with a non-partisan system. St. John is led by a president, the head of state and government. The president is assisted by a cabinet of ministers, also led by the President. According to the constitution, the president may serves of five-year terms and can and be elected again. The President is elected directly by the people.

The legislative organ of St. John is the House of Representatives (Indonesian: Rumah Perwakilan) which serves as the legislative branch of the government. According to the Constitution, the members are appointed by the President. As of 2019, there are no political parties that is active. The last political party in St. John that was active was the National Development Party founded in 2014, reorganized in 20 December 2017 before being disbanded in 27 June 2019. The party held the Williamism, the official ideology of St. John.

Administrative division

According to the Constitution of St. John, St. John consists of administratives provinces, each had a local government and headed by a governor. The provinces are divided into cities, then again subdivided into districts. District is the lowest administrative government in St. John. Currently, there are three active provinces of St. John.

Flag	Name (in English)	Area (in ha)	Date established	Capital	Numbers of cities	Population (2021)
	Vredesstad Metropolitan Area	2014 20 December 2017 (current form)	43.276	Vredesstad	3	0
	Province of Bergstraat	20 December 2017	17.271	Walerua	4	1
	Province of West St. John	25 May 2020	5.984	Blumbang	2	1

Foreign affairs

Main article: Foreign relations of St. John

St. John had close diplomatic relations with several micronations; Nido was the first nation to recognize the sovereignty of St. John. The event occurred on December 2013. Since then, the number of micronations who have opened diplomatic relations with St. John had been growing since that time.

St. John is currently a member of the Association of Indonesian Micronations (AIM) from July 2019 as an observer. On 8 October 2019, the membership status of St. John was promoted to full membership. Prior to the membership acceptance, St. John was once an observer member of the until the status was revoked in June 2014. St. John also was the founding member of the short-lived International Micronational Society along with Shima on 19 December 2014. St. John was also the member of MASA St. John also involved in the 2014 Malindo Conflict, where St. John declared embargo to Malindo subsequent to the conflict.

Geography and climate

St. John has a total of two landlocked territories with each respectively located in Java and Sulawesi. About eighty percent of St. John is densely populated and full. As a result, St. John does not have enough land for regional development. The highest point of St. John is located in Walerua with an elevation of 153 metres (502 feet) above sea level and the lowest point is located in the district of South Vredesstad, Vredesstad with an elevation of 20 metres (66 feet) above sea level. St. John has several of water areas scattered across its territories, such as Lake Williamgrad in Williamgrad and Lake Vredesstad in Vredesstad.

Situated near of the equator, St. John has a tropical climate, with two distinct monsoonal wet and dry seasons. Mountainous areas especially in Bergstraat receive the highest rainfall. Humidity is generally high, averaging about 80%. Temperatures vary little throughout the year.

Demographics

Year Population 2013 1 2014 ±20 2015 ±27 2017-present 2

As of 2022, there are only two registered citizen of St. John. The society of St. John is culturally diverse, while it is linguistically homogeneous.

Religion

According to the Constitution, the official religion of St. John is Christianity. However, non-Christians may become citizens of St. John and may practice their faiths as long "the belief does not promote hatred and violence against Christianity". Previously, until May 2018, only Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Minahasan indigenous religion are recognized and permitted to be practised in St. John.

Culture

St. John shares its traditional culture with Indonesia. but both nation have developed distinct contemporary forms of culture since St. John were established in 2014. The cultures of St. John are a hybrid blend of various sources, incorporating elements of Indonesian and Western culture.

Art and literature

The art of St. John is, generally speaking, art made by the citizens of St. John. St. John arts has several influence of Western arts and Indonesian arts. St. John art is work of arts made by St. Johnian artist, or influenced by St. Johnian culture.

St. John literature is literature written by citizens of St. John. St. John literature is usually written on either Indonesian or English, though some are written in French. St. John literature is infulenced by French literature, Indonesian literature and Hebrew literature.

Cuisine

St. Johnian cuisine is the cooking tradition of St. John. St. Johnian cuisine is known for its rich variations in spices, and Western-influenced food. Rice is the main staple food and is served with meat. Spices (notably chili), fish and chicken are the crucial ingredients of St. Johnian cuisine. The district of New Vredesstad in Vredesstad is known as a popular culinary tourism centre of St. John.

National holidays

Date	English name	Indonesian name	201 dates
1 January	New Year's Day	Tahun Baru	1 January
6 January	Epiphany	Epifani	6 January
January–February	Chinese New Year	Tahun Baru Imlek	12 February
March–April	Good Friday	Jumat Agung	3 April
March–April	Easter	Paskah	5 April
May–June	Ascension of Jesus Christ	Hari Raya Kenaikan Yesus Kristus	13 May
May–June	Pentecost	Pentakosta	23 May
6 June	Anniversary of the Foundation of Santos	Hari Ulang Tahun Pendirian Santos	6 June
20 December	National Day	Hari Kebangsaan	20 December
25 December	Christmas	Natal	25 December
27 December	Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist	Hari Raya St. Yohanes, Rasul dan Penginjil	27 December

See also

• Indonesian sector

External links

• Official website of St. John (managed by the government of St. John)
• SJNC - government-owned English-language newspaper of St. John
• Official Twitter account of St. John (managed by the government of St. John)