State of Hamsterland

State of Hamsterland Staten Hamsterlandet
Flag
Motto: "Hamstrar skall styra världen" "Hamsters shall rule the world"
Anthem: "Bamses March"
A picture of the residence of the chief hamster
Status	Active
Capital	Luddestad
Official languages	Hamster language
Recognised national languages	Swedish
Ethnic groups (2020)	60% Swedes 40% Hamsters
Religion (2020)	55% Christianity 45% Unaffiliated
Demonym(s)	Hamsterlandian
Government	Unitary semi-presidential republic
• Chief Hamster	Gizmo
• Deputy Chief Hamster	Vacant
• Defender of Hamsterland	Timothy
Legislature	Congress of Hamsterland
• Upper house	Hamster Senate
• Lower house	Chamber of Hamsters
Independence  from Sweden
• Independence	17 March 2018
Area
• Total	001 km2 (0.39 sq mi)
Population
• 2020 estimate	74
Currency	Swedish Krona
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.hm

The State of Hamsterland, more commonly known as Hamsterland, is a micronation in Sweden. It was founded in 2018 and has since been ruled by a line of Chief Hamsters appointed by the Defender of Hamsterland. The micronation is based around the hamsters that inhabit it and makes a big deal out of them. Hamsterland is a semi-presidential republic were most of the power rests with the Chief Hamster who is appointed by the Defender. The Defender position itself is hereditary. There is also the position of Deputy Cheif Hamster. This position is elected by the Chamber of Hamsters and is in case of the Defender not appointing a prefered succesor first in line to become Chief Hamster or at least temporarly acting Chief Hamster.

Hamsterland has diplomatic ties to no other nation or micronation at the moment but it does have the ability of establishing it using the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Until such a connection is created Hamsterland will remain diplomaticly isolated.

Etymology

The name itself does not have any real meaning not already made clear in it's name. The State of Hamsterland was chosen since it sounds better then: The State of the land of Hamsters would sound.

History

Hamsterland was founded in March 2018 when Ludde was proclaimed the first Chief Hamster by Congress. Following this the nations small territory was made clear by a declaration of sovreignity issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ludde was despite being viewed as Hamsterlands great founding father not really a good leader. He was known to have a bad temper sometimes attacking the Timothy, the Defender, biting his fingers before running into his residence refusing to leave. His behaviour got so bad that the Chamber of Hamsters launched a vote of impeachment against him which after reaching the senate was approved. This caused him to be breifly be sent of to the animal store from which he first had come to recive treatment for his anger issues. After this he returned home. He was now a lot less hostile against the humans around him and started to actually do his job through preforming ceremonies and delivering speeches. Ludde suffered two minor assination attempts during his reign. Both involved people that were carrying him dropping him on the floor. To everyones suprise and joy he survived both. Ludde was the Chief Hamster that started the tradition of during cleaning of his cage using the bathtub as a temporary home. He died at almost 2 years old on November 5, 2019 after struggling with sickenss for a short while. The same day his funeral was held in the gardens of Hamsterland.

Ludde was shortly after his death succeeded by Teddy. Teddy was much more playful then Ludde and loved his family. He was active and this led to him during the summer of 2020 starting the tradition of Chief Hamsters spending parts of summer running around the gardens under close watch of the Defender. Teddy did a good job handeling Covid-19 considering 0 people within Hamsterland got the virus during his reign. Teddy would not suffer any attempts on his life but would instead grow fond of a rather dangerous activity: Climbing around the top of his cage. This activity the Defender tried to stop, but in vain. Teddy was found with a broken leg in May 2021 after having fallen down while climbing. Congress quickly assembled and decided it was best to let him be euthanized after seeing he did not get better. That evening Teddy was put to rest next to Ludde.

After Teddys death Bamse was made Chief Hamster. He was the youngest hamster to hold the position. Bamse was a lazy but loving hamster that reigned in times of stability. The most exiting thing to happen during his watch was in 2022 when government moved its work to the residence due to renovations being carried out at Government house. Bamse with this created the tradition of using IKEA boxes as temporary cages when staying outside Government House. In early 2023 the position of Deputy Chief Hamster was created for Dolly when she moved in. Dolly was Bamses opposite in some regards, likte in the fact that she had endless ammounts of energy to use. She took up residence in a new cage constructed just for her.Bamses health would deteriorate during the summer of 2023 and in August he fell ill. On the 11th of August 2023 he passed away. His funeral is planned for the 13th of August and he is to be put to rest with his 2 predecessors.

Upon the death of Bamse Dolly became the 4th Chief Hamster of Hamsterland and the first female to hold the office. On September 30th she appointed Gizmo as the nations second Deputy Chief Hamster. Gizmo himself became Chief Hamster on 5 February 2024 after Dolly passed away.

Politics and government

The most important branch of Hamsterlands government is the executive branch. It is headed by the Chief Hamster who serves as head of state with many powers and ceremonial duties, like that of signing laws, formally appointing governments and opening new sessions of Congress every year. The Chief Hamster can themselves place a Veto on laws which can only be overturned by both houses of Congress voting to do so with a 2/3 majority. They can also propose laws to Congress. The Deputy Chief Hamster and Government also is a part of this branch. The Deputy Chief Hamster serves as head of government and appoints secretaries. The Deputy Cheif is elected by Congress and serves for life, resignation or accension as Chief Hamster. They can also with a 2/3 majority be removed from office by the lower house. Both houses can in the same way impeach the Chief Mouser. The Defender is also a position here. They appoint the Chief Hamster and serve for life. No one can remove the Defender but neither can the Defender interfere with the governing of the state if not Congress of the Chief Hamster asks for it.

The legislative branch consists of Congress two houses. The Senate is appointed by the Chief Hamster and the Chamber is elected by the people. In both houses individual members can change party once a year íf they want. The Chamber is responisble for voting on most of the bills put foward, elect a Deputy Chief and government. All bills that pass the Chamber goes to the Senate. The Senate then has to approve the law before the Chief Hamster is allowed to either Veto or approve it. The Senate and Chief Hamster can also propose laws but they all start of in the Chamber. The Chamber is elected by proportional representation once a year. Speaker of the Chamber is a honorary position which rotates between representitives each year. President of the Senate is a position held by a Senator appointed to the job by the Deputy Chief and serves for the duration of a Congress session.

The judicial branch is the smallest consisting of 1 judge responsible of making sure all bills put foward in Congress and all decisons made by the Chief or Deputy are constitutionally acceptable. The judge is appointed by the Chief Hamster and serves a 6 year term before a new one is appointed or the old is confirmed to remain. The judge can dissmis government secretaries and members of Congress if they do something unconstitutional.

Political parties

Explain the background or history of the political parties in the state, and any guidelines or regulations regarding them. For the table, you can add or remove as many columns for the number of seats as needed. It is advised that you sample the colors for the table from the party logo.

Name		Party Leader	Ideologies	Chamber	Senate	Government
	Moderate Party	Martin	Conservative	4 / 20	12 / 20	0 / 5
	Socialist Party	Johan	Social Democratic	6 / 20	3 / 20	0 / 5
	Liberal Party	Henrik	Liberal	0 / 20	0 / 20	0 / 5
	Libertarian Party	Anna Eriksson	Libertarian	10 / 20	5 / 20	5 / 5

Military

Hamsterlands military consists of 44 active duty soldiers. These are all part of the Chief Hamsters Company which is further divided into 4 Squads. These are: The 1st and 2nd Life Guard Squads along with the Sentinel Squad and 1st Infantry Squad. For ceremonial occasions such as State Funerals and inaugurations a special State Guard can be called in usually consisting of 4 soldiers from the 1st or 2nd Life Guard Squad, an exception was during the State Funeral of Bamse when the State Guard consisted of 12 Soldiers from both the 1st and 2nd Life Guard Squad.

Departments

In government there are 5 departments. When a candidate for Deputy Chief is nominated they have to nominate members of government to run these departments. To make sure the Chamber approves them these secretary positions may be handed out to congressman from different parties. The 5 departments are those of: Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Housing, Security and Sports. The highest ranking of these being the one for Foreign Affairs since they are 2nd in line to become Chief Hamster. The most powerful however is the one for Internal Affairs.

Geography and climate

Hamsterland only occupies Timothys house and garden giving it no real geography and it's climate is really the same as that of Sweden with cold winters and often mild summers allowing the Chief Hamster to venture out into the garden which houses: A shed, a small hut and a planter for strawberries.

National Holidays

Hamsterland has the same National Holidays as Sweden with only 2 current exeptions:

Date	Name	Remarks
5 November	Founder Remembrance Day	A day for honoring the death of the First Chief Hamster Ludde in 2019
16 August	Chief Hamsters Day	A day that always shall correspond with the incumbent Chief Hamsters birthday and is to be used for celebrations of them.