United Provinces of Columbia
For other uses of the word "Columbia", see Columbia (disambiguation).
United Provinces of Columbia Províncias Unidas de Colúmbia | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Motto: "Bello Vel Pacci" War or Peace | |
| Anthem: Hail Columbia! | |
| Capital | Albany |
| Official languages | English Portuguese |
| Demonym(s) | Columbian |
| Government | Autocratic monarchy |
• Monarch | Caio de Taxus |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Formation | |
• Idealization | 27 June 2020 |
• Foundation | 7 November 2021 |
| Population | |
• 2021 estimate | 8 |
| Currency | Columbian Dollar (C$) (de jure) Brazilian Real (de facto) |
| Time zone | (UTC -5) |
| Date format | mm/dd/yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +1 |
Columbia, officially United Provinces of Columbia (Portuguese: Províncias Unidas de Colúmbia) was a North American micronation, an enclave in the city of Albany,_Georgia, United States, founded by the Brazilian-born micronationalist Caio de Taxus, claiming as territory the house where he lives with his father and other family properties. Its capital and most populated city was Albany. Portuguese was the national and most spoken language, while it holds English to be the official language. The country was an autocratic monarchy.
In discussion since mid-2020, Columbia finally emerged in the micronational scenario of the Brazilian Sector in late November 2021. In early December, Caio de Taxus decided to terminate this micronational project.
History
Columbia was idealized by Caio de Taxus, an experienced micronationalist and Karno-Ruthenian noble. The history of Columbia begins to be written in mid-2021. Caio de Taxus remained uncertain about the idea of carrying out an authorial micronational project, but he began to sketch some initiative that resulted in the first major project that took his signature as the main one.
The main motivation for him to finally make a decision was the freedom to put into practice one of his micronational maxims: the search for representation. After three years of micronational activity, being licensed from his most recent micronation, the crowned head of Columbia devoted himself exclusively to creating his own project, but Columbia was not his first idea.
Duchy of Daugavia
In early December 2018, the Treaty of Ephigeniastadt was signed. Among its signatories, Duke Ulli of Daugavia and Emperor-King Oscar of Karnia-Ruthenia. This treaty initiated the first attempt at an authoritative micronational project, albeit under the domains and assistance of the Empire of Karnia-Ruthenia.
During this project, which lasted about 2 years, all the support necessary for the development of the duchy and its internal policies was provided by the Karno-Ruthenian Empire. It was a period of intense activity in the Empire's politics, in which the Duchy was eventually neglected in order to be officially integrated into the Empire of Karnia-Ruthenia.
At the end of December 2020, the Imperial Circle of Karnia-Ruthenia, deciding on territorial issues, dissolved the Duchy of Daugavia. The Duke of Daugavia had a little more than two years of Karno-Ruthenian citizenship and a close friendship with the Emperor-King, which allowed the title Duke of Daugavia to be used by Caio de Taxus after the dissolution.
Mirzam
Mirzam, officially known as Mirzam's Burgraviato, was the first conception of an authorial micronational project and it differed from what Columbia was in many ways. At the time of its idealization, Mirzam was clothed in social and behavioral characteristics of times that preceded it. Pervaded among the citizens, known as Mirzanenses, the collective, unconscious, feeling of denial of modernism and of an adjustment to norms and standards of a higher and nobler character, worthy of previous times. The clothing in which the Mirzanense society was portrayed was one of the greatest demonstrations: top hats, tails, petticoats, crinolines, corsets, among others. The customs also differed from the time of their creation, molding themselves more to the formal and inflexible character of the Portuguese language, official in the micronation.
However, the project was never really developed and didn't even leave the field of ideas, being reduced to just a few advertising pieces, falling into a proactive and intellectual stagnation that would decree its end before it even started.
Columbia
The United Provinces of Columbia, formerly known as the Union of Columbia Provinces, came into being in 2021. Commonly referred to as Columbia, or UP Columbia by its citizens, it carried in its development the mark of being one of the micronational projects that most integrated women. The number of blacks that made up its society was also high, characterizing them as the largest ethnic community within Columbia.
Columbia was an American-inspired micronational project, born in the heart of the Brown family. The family's properties in Dougherty County were the territory under which Columbia was officially created. The House of Taxus is the Brazilian-American branch of the Brown family that ruled Columbia, and is considered a cadet branch.
Insecurity and uncertainty marked the first steps of Columbia, which could have come into being quite a while earlier. Still, Caio de Taxus, advised by nearby micronationalists friends, dedicated himself to creating the foundations of this project.
Establishment and inactivity
Columbia then established itself as a micronational project by the end of 2020. In the process of organic growth, this was the phase when Columbia received help from outside sources in its construction, such as that of Oscar I of Karnia-Ruthenia, acting almost collectively with Caio de Taxus, providing advice and mentoring on technical aspects whenever consulted.
In its first months, however, Columbia suffered from instability in its web services, disappearing completely after a failure due to an attempted cyber invasion. This situation again created some insecurity about the continuity of the project, taking some time for its conclusion and solution. Anyway, the instability was solved, with the recovery of part of the web services that Columbia had and total loss of the remaining functionalities, which had to be recreated.
First restructuring
Taking advantage of the occasion, Caio de Taxus decided to cause more changes in the Columbian structure. It would remain a monarchy, no longer constitutional, but autocratic. The name would also change. The decentralized structure of Columbia's administration remained, with the Crown performing such functions, delegating certain duties to immediate citizens.
The choice to maintain the decentralized administrative structure was attributed to two basic principles that have always been linked to Columbia's history, since before its foundation: representativeness and organicity. The whole Columbian project was built on representativity, where every citizen, in order to better perform their duties and be a full, conscious and willing citizen, needs to see themselves represented in their choices, opinions, desires, and needs. Organicity was there to maintain the natural, organic progress of things. As needed, allied with availability and proactivity, Columbia's organic growth was planned.
Columbia was a signatory member of the Conference of Santiago and was part of the Brazilian Sector of micronationalism.
Geography
Columbia was located in North America, as an enclave in the United States of America. It’s capital was Albany, the same name of the city surrounding the micronation, since it was decided that the land should keep its former name.
Climate
The majority of the nation was primarily a humid subtropical climate. Hot and humid summers were typical, except at the highest elevations. It receives moderate to heavy precipitation, which varies from 45 inches (1143 mm)[1] to approximately 75 inches (1905 mm).[2]
| Climate data for Albany, Columbia (2021–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 83 (28.3) |
86 (30) |
93 (33.9) |
97 (36.1) |
102 (38.9) |
106 (41.1) |
107 (41.7) |
104 (40) |
106 (41.1) |
99 (37.2) |
90 (32.2) |
88 (31.1) |
107 (41.7) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 59.5 (15.28) |
63.8 (17.67) |
70.8 (21.56) |
77.6 (25.33) |
84.8 (29.33) |
89.3 (31.83) |
91.6 (33.11) |
90.6 (32.56) |
86.8 (30.44) |
78.7 (25.94) |
69.3 (20.72) |
62.3 (16.83) |
77.1 (25.06) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 48.4 (9.11) |
52.2 (11.22) |
58.5 (14.72) |
65.2 (18.44) |
73.1 (22.83) |
79.3 (26.28) |
81.9 (27.72) |
81.1 (27.28) |
76.9 (24.94) |
67.4 (19.67) |
57.1 (13.94) |
51.2 (10.67) |
66.0 (18.89) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 37.3 (2.94) |
40.5 (4.72) |
46.2 (7.89) |
52.8 (11.56) |
61.5 (16.39) |
69.3 (20.72) |
72.2 (22.33) |
71.7 (22.06) |
67.0 (19.44) |
56.1 (13.39) |
44.9 (7.17) |
40.1 (4.5) |
55.0 (12.78) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 1 (-17.2) |
11 (-11.7) |
10 (-12.2) |
27 (-2.8) |
39 (3.9) |
46 (7.8) |
57 (13.9) |
56 (13.3) |
37 (2.8) |
28 (-2.2) |
14 (-10) |
6 (-14.4) |
1 (−17.2) |
| Average Precipitation inches (mm) | 4.78 (121.4) |
4.72 (119.9) |
4.88 (124) |
3.92 (99.6) |
3.03 (77) |
5.24 (133.1) |
5.50 (139.7) |
5.69 (144.5) |
4.03 (102.4) |
3.04 (77.2) |
3.04 (77.2) |
4.68 (118.9) |
52.55 (1,334.8) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 9.6 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 7.0 | 6.2 | 11.7 | 11.8 | 12.2 | 7.6 | 6.1 | 6.6 | 9.1 | 105.3 |
| Source: NOAA[3][4] | |||||||||||||
Politics
Columbia was defined as an Autocratic Monarchy. As its first configuration, the micronation bestowed all powers on the monarch. The establishment of a parliament was planned to occur together with the internal development of Columbia, in an organic way.
The monarch acted as the Head of State and Government. In order to exercise its government functions in the best of interest of the people, the monarch ruled through departments, in turn, headed by secretaries of state, acting on behalf of carrying the policies of each secretary they were responsible for, in accordance to the guidelines established in the Constitution and internal related documents and regulations.
Departments
The list below contains the first created Departments:
- Department of State: responsible for the nation's international relations;
- Department of Country Affairs: responsible for conducting policies for internal processes and development.
- Department of Justice: responsible for law enforcement and administration of justice;
- Department of Defense: responsible for coordinating and overseeing all government agencies and functions directly relating to national security and its armed forces.
The departments mentioned above were permanent members of the Columbia Government Cabinet. The Columbia Government Cabinet was the monarch's consultative body for assistance and advice, summoned exclusively by him. It was expected that more specific sectors be created organically, under the supervision of the departments or eventually becoming departments themselves.
Foreign Affairs
The body officially responsible for conducting the foreign policies was the Department of State. Its main task was to work on the foreign policy in all its phases, from theorization to implementation and conduct in face of the international community. In practice, foreign policy was implemented and updated under constant observation of the Crown, and it was conducted by the monarch or an accredited authority designated by him.
Internal Affairs
The body officially responsible for conducting the domestic policies was the Department of Country Affairs. The main task of this department was the internal development of Columbia in many different areas. It was this department that dealt with citizenship issues, that regulated about territories and internal divisions, that provided for internal development initiatives of its regions, among many other tasks.
Justice
At first, the aspects involving the legal system in Columbia were built collaboratively. The Columbia Constitution had the guidance and legal assistance of Oscar I, Emperor-King of Karnia-Ruthenia. In fact, Oscar I was often related to the development aspects of Columbia in its initial phase, especially the legal system, tutoring its construction, appointing changes and shaping its contents to a more accurate legal code.
The Supreme Court of Columbia was the highest court in Columbia, sitting at the top of the Government's Judiciary Branch. It had the supreme legal authority within the country to interpret and decide matters relating to the Constitution and all of Columbia's legal apparatus. The Supreme Court dealt with minor and most common cases under advisability of an Associate Justice, but its main attribution was to deal with cases involving national/international interest.
The Court of Appeals of Columbia was the first tribunal where conflicts, mediations and trials were held. Here, with supervision of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Columbia, the most common cases were judged and the sentence, in most cases, could be appealed. However, it was one duty of the Associate Justices to advise about the admissibility of the trial by the Supreme Court.
Defense
Unlike other countries, Columbia had a defense department that acted to protect its assets in a practical way, through its preventive and reactive intelligence system. The main threats to the country's sovereignty were attacks directed at Columbia's official Internet sites and vandalism of its logical functional and heritage structures, as well as vilification of its national symbols or representations, even if unofficial, related to the country. On the other hand, even if it was a remote possibility, there were non-mandatory training programs for the personal safeguarding of Columbia citizens and their personal properties.
Demographics
Columbia had English and Portuguese as its official languages. All official processed should be done in English, in all possible ways of communication. It was also allowed, in everyday use, the Portuguese language, but it should never be used in dealing with foreign authorities, unless stated otherwise. The micronation did not have an official religion as the State remains secular, but respected all religious practices, private or public.
Culture
The culture of Columbia was heavily based in the American culture. Its main cultural activities were music, operas, arts and plays. A lot of historic places also surrounded the capital Albany.
National Holidays
| Name | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mother of the Nation’s Day | 8 October | Mother of the founder's birthday |
| Caio de Taxus’ Day | 18 December | Birthday of the founder of Columbia. |
| First Lady’s Day | 31 December | The final day of the Gregorian year celebrated as New Year's Eve, but also birthday of the Queen Consort. |
See also
External links
References
- ↑ Monthly Averages for Macon, GA The Weather Channel.
- ↑ Monthly Averages for Clayton, GA The Weather Channel.
- ↑ "NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ↑ "Station: Albany 3 SE, GA". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 24, 2021.