United Republic of Air Kingdom and Kolili
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United Republic of Air Kingdom and Kolili | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| File:Antarctica and islands | |
| Capital | None, governed externally |
| Largest city | McMurdo Station |
| Official languages | English, Spanish, Korean, Russian |
| Demonym(s) | From the Air Kingdom |
| Government | Congress of the United Republic of Air Kingdom and Kolili |
| Legislature | Congress |
| Establishment | 2013 |
| Population | |
• (as of last census) census | 11 registered |
| Currency | Canadian Dollar |
| Time zone | Multiple |
Website No website yet, but the Constitution can be seen at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gX3R02DBQjb6XK9F-ZFx9E2gJabjdLPqn-OvkQ26fBE | |
The United Republic of Air Kingdom and Kolili is a micronation founded on July 19, 2013. It claims 271 831.6 km² of land, 271 000 of which are in Antarctica, and the remainder are scattered islands among the globe. It has 11 registered citizens. It has a Congress with currently two people, and in the past the Congress has had up to five.
Etymology
The name Air Kingdom came from a flash of inspiration in April 2013 when its founder-to-be and future president Cooper noticed a logo on an electric fan that said "Air King". This was when the country-to-be's name was undecided.
History
The Air Kingdom was founded on July 19, 2013 as a kingdom, with President-to-be Cooper in charge as King. It claimed about three-fifths of West Antarctica at the time. The country expanded rapidly over the next few months, claiming the entirety of Antarctica save a single island by November 2013. It had a war with the Kingdom of New Prussia on November 25–29, 2013, after both claimed Sandland within a few weeks of each other. The Air Kingdom claimed it first, and then After the war a communist system was put in place, replacing the king's title with President.
At its largest area in history (middle to late 2014), the country covered all of Antarctica except one island, Kolili, Vista, Mehetia, the Ed Rectangle, the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, Bouvet Island, the Prince Edward Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, the Heard and McDonald Islands, Macquarie Island, Isla de los Estados, the Crozet Islands, Kangiqsualujjuaq, and Sandland. This was due to the President at the time misunderstanding the concept of "disputed territory" and claiming vast areas on a whim, and most of the claims only lasted a couple of weeks before the government fixed it.
The Air Kingdom joined a micronational organization called the Grand Micronational Alliance. They remained there for months until the GMA's founder was shown to have broken multiple of the rules it had set in place for its member states. After it left the organization, it merged with the Republic of Kolili to form the United Republic of Air Kingdom and Kolili. At this point it established a mostly capitalistic system, but vestiges of the old legal system can be seen to this day.
On June 25, 2015, the leaders of various micronations contacted the Government of the Air Kingdom, advising it to revoke most of its territorial claims. It complied and divided its area by 50 and the number of people living inside its claims by 2 and a half. By then it was in its current geopolitical form.
Government and politics
The Air Kingdom is a democratic republic. It has a Congress with two people. The President is elected when the previous President retires, dies, or is deposed. There can be multiple Presidents, and they can have infinite terms, each of which lasts six years. There are 1996 people living inside the Air Kingdom's claims without their knowledge.
Law and order
The judicial system in the Air Kingdom is in development, and the defined parts are in the Constitution.
Foreign relations
The Air Kingdom currently recognizes all countries in the UN, Vatican City, Kosovo, Taiwan, Humanytaria, Montebello, Zenrax, Suthrig, the Phobos and Deimos Republic, and Abies. It was recognized by Humanytaria until September 14, 2015. It is allied with Abies.
Military
The Air Kingdom was demilitarized in February 2015 due to a seeming lack of threats. It is required by the Constitution that a military be formed in a time of war.
Geography and climate
The Air Kingdom covers 271 831.6 square kilometres of land, the vast majority of which is in the southern polar zone of Earth, and the remainder in the southern temperate zone. The country as a whole is mountainous where it isn't covered by a glacier. There are currently five states.
The most populous one, the State of McMurdo, has its state capital as McMurdo Station. Its southern boundary is the 79th parallel south, and its northern boundary is the 75th parallel south. Its western boundary is the 153rd meridian east, and it extends eastward until it reaches the ocean. The state's only other settlement is Scott Base. The climate here is generally sunny, very dry, with -50 degree Celsius winters (in the summer at the coast, it can be 2 to 5 degrees Celsius, but in the McMurdo Dry Valleys it can go up to 5 or 10 or, on one occasion, 15).
The State of Cape Adare lies directly to the north of the State of McMurdo. The only settlement is Zucchelli Station, which is its capital. The State of Cape Adare's western border is the same as the State of McMurdo's. It extends eastward toward the ocean. It borders McMurdo State to the south, and it extends northwards to the sea and claims all islands between its northern coast and the 60th parallel south. The climate here is essentially a warmer, wetter version of McMurdo's.
The second-most populous state is Rocahoa. It claims all the land inside the boundaries of a rectangle with corners at 69°S, 69.5°W and 60°S, 44°W. Instead of having one large settlement like McMurdo, it has many small towns dotting its coast, and the capital is Marambio. The climate is partly cloudy with -20 Celsius winters and 5-10 Celsius summers.
Kolili has two archipelagos. The southern one is entirely a national park. The climate here is cool, windy, and wet, with 6 (0 in the south) degrees Celsius winters and 15 (8 in the south) degrees summers. Northern Kolili is forested at lower elevations and Southern Kolili is tundra. Nobody lives here, although there's an automated weather station.
Vista is the Air Kingdom's oldest continuously claimed piece of land, having been claimed without disturbance almost since the country's founding. Consisting of a single island and some rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, it has a cool climate characterized by rainstorms and stable temperatures, never varying by more than 8 degrees Celsius throughout the year. Its population can be considered the smallest, with 11 residents in a weather station at the south end of the state.
The smallest state is Mehetia. Tiny, uninhabited, less than three square kilometres in area, yet it achieved full statehood through a legal loophole which no longer exists. At the time of its claiming, the law defined a state as a geographical area rather than a political one. Due to the Congress having overlooked the importance of legal documents at the time, the definition of a state was changed but Mehetia's status wasn't. The climate here is very warm, and even more stable than Vista's, with full sun and a constant temperature of about 27 degrees Celsius year-round. It is just to the east of Tahiti, from which it is visible. As is the case with Kolili, nobody lives here.
Economy
The main industry in the Air Kingdom is tourism. Particularly in Rocahoa, thousands of tourists come in cruise ships every summer, more than the micronation's population itself. In the past, before its founding, before the advent of micro nationalism, before the Antarctic Treaty System, the main industry was whaling and sealing. This was what first brought people to the region. The Air Kingdom has many thousands of dollars per year coming and going through its people, but the government doesn't own any of this wealth. There is a large oil field underneath the Ross Sea, and the nearby State of Cape Adare is so extensive compared to its population so that the Government can have part of the oil field inside its Exclusive Economic Zone. There are many research- and science-heavy organizations operating in the Air Kingdom.
Culture
The Air Kingdom has four official languages: English, Spanish, Korean, and Russian. These represent each ethnicity in the Air Kingdom with a population over 100, which the Constitution deems necessary. Other than this, the Air Kingdom doesn't seem to have a unique culture.
Media
The Air Kingdom briefly had a news channel on YouTube. However, this was not nationally televised and the program was cancelled quickly. There are multiple entities in the country that aren't owned by the Government, and offer news services, most notably "The Antarctic Sun" in McMurdo Station. In global media the land owned by the Air Kingdom is portrayed as always below zero (exaggerated), penguin-infested (greatly exaggerated), and melting (reversed from reality).