Viceroyalty of Nutca

Viceroyalty of Nutca
*Virreinato de Nutca* (Spanish)
Viceroyalty of Nutca Virreinato de Nutca (Spanish)
	Flag
	Motto: Utraque Unum "Out of two (worlds) one"
	Anthem: Marcha Real; (English: "Royal March");
Status	Active
Official languages	English, Spanish
Recognised regional languages	Nuu-chah-nulth
Ethnic groups (2023)	95% White; 5% Indigenous;
Religion (2023)	85% Roman Catholicism; 15% Other;
Demonym(s)	Nutcano
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Felipe VI
• Viceroy	Marcus Salsbury
Legislature	Council of the Indies
Independence from Canada
• Declared	6 March 2023
• Constitution ratified	10 March 2023
Area
• Total	0.101 km2 (0.039 sq mi)
Population
• 2023 estimate	13
HDI	0.936; very high
Currency	Nutcano Peso ($)
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+1
Internet TLD	.ca

Nutca, officially known as the Viceroyalty of Nutca (Spanish: Virreinato de Nutca) or St. Lawrence of Nutca (San Lorenzo de Nutca), is a micronation located on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It claims to be a revival of the Territory of Nutca, a territory of New Spain that was claimed but not physically controlled by the Spanish Crown from 1789-1795. Nutca was founded in early 2023 by Canadian micronationalist Marcus Salsbury, and its government has formally declared its independence as a sovereign state. Nutca is not currently recognized by the United Nations or the government of any United Nations member state, but maintains diplomatic relations with other micronations and independence movements.

The Viceroyalty of Nutca is governed as a constitutional monarchy and recognizes Felipe VI of Spain as its ceremonial monarch and head of state. It considers itself to be a continuation of New Spain, citing the papal bull of 1493 and the following Treaty of Tordesillas as justification for its territorial claims.

Internationally, Nutca promotes the various cultures of the Pacific Northwest and the Spanish, British and Indigenous history that shaped the identity of the region, specifically that of the Nuu-chah-nulth whose traditional home in on the west coast of Vancouver Island first visited by European explorers explorers in the 18th century.

Etymology

Nutca is the Spanish spelling of the word Nootka, relating to Nootka Island and the adjacent Nootka Sound separating it nearby Vancouver Island.

Europeans named the island after a Nuu-chah-nulth language word meaning "go around, go around". In March 1778, Captain James Cook of the Royal Navy may have misunderstood his conversations with local Indigenous peoples trying to explain to him that he was on an island (itchme nutka, a place you can "go around"). Both the English and the Spanish applied the name Nootka (Nutca) to the island as well as the sound, and it later became a common name on charts and maps to describe the entire coastal region of what would later become British Columbia.

History

The Nootka Crisis of 1789 almost led to war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Spanish Empire concerning overlapping territorial claims and rights of navigation and trade in the area. Between 1790 and 1794, the Nootka Sound Conventions took place, and the subsequent negotiations resulted in Spain abandoning their claims in the Pacific Northwest.

In January 2023, 229 years after the final negotiations were settled, aspiring statesman Marcus Salsbury began considering the possibility of reviving the Territory of Nutca (now part of Canada and the United States respectively) as a sovereign nation. On 6 March 2023, the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Nutca was formally declared. Using the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire (such as New Spain) as a model of government, the two men set out building the framework of a functioning nation state. A written constitution was completed over the following days, and officially ratified on 10 March 2023. The initial population of the fledgling nation quickly grew from 2 to 13, with Garcia being appointed as the country's first viceroy. The Nutca government also drafted its first passport design and opened accounts on several social media platforms in the first days of its existence. To date, Nutca's physical territory is limited to two small enclaves in the city of Nanaimo and the small settlement of Yuquot on Vancouver Island. Yuquot is the modern-day location of Santa Cruz de Nuca, the only Spanish colony to be established in what is now Canada, as well as the first European colony in what is now known as British Columbia.

Politics and government

The Viceroyalty of Nutca is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch and a unicameral parliament. Along with the judiciary, they collectively make up the Government of Nutca.

Monarch

The Spanish monarch, currently Felipe VI, is recognized within Nutca as the country's King and head of state. This claim is not acknowledged by the Monarchy of Spain, as Nutca is an unrecognized and self-proclaimed nation-state. Therefore, the king does not perform any executive duties within the viceroyalty, and instead serves a purely ceremonial role.

Viceroy

The Viceroy of Nutca acts as the nation's head of government. Historically, viceroy's of the Spanish Empire were appointed by the King of Spain and acted as his direct representative within their territory. The Viceroy of Nutca is elected by the Council of the Indies, and can hold office for an indeterminate length of time so long as he/she has the confidence of the council. A motion of no confidence can be called at any time a majority of the council votes in favor of it, at which time a new election can be called.

Council of the Indies

The Council of the Indies is the unicameral parliament of Nutca, and is partially modeled after the Spanish Empire's council of the same name. It has been appropriately adapted to function as an elected legislature. All citizens who have reached the age of 18 and have held citizenship for at least one month before an election can vote, and all eligible voters can run for office.

Law and order

Military

Nutca maintains a small military force called the Nutcano Armed Forces. The combined force consists of army, air force and navy branches responsible for Nutca's national defense. They also promote the country's wider interests, support micronational peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.

Ministries

The Government of Nutca has nine active ministries:

Ministry of the Viceregal Household
Ministry of State
Ministry of Foreign Relations
Ministry of War
Ministry of the Interior
Ministry of the Treasury
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Public Health
Ministry of the Environment

Foreign relations

Unilateral recognition

Recognition refused

Transnistria

Geography and climate

Nutca nominally claims a vast swath of North American territory that incorporates the Alaskan panhandle, most of mainland British Columbia including its adjacent coastal islands, as well as the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming in the contiguous United States. Nutca maintains no physical control or legal authority over this territory, such was largely the case with New Spain, and insists that its territorial claims to the area are merely symbolic in nature.

Nutca maintains jurisdiction over two small enclaves on Vancouver Island, which make up the de facto sovereign territory of the country. These land claims are owned and inhabited by the founders of the viceroyalty, with the geography consisting of semi- rural properties and small residential structures. Yuquot (Santa Cruz de Nuca) is considered the honorary capital of Nutca, but all administrative and diplomatic operation is conducted in the city of Nanaimo.

Like its surroundings on central Vancouver Island, Nutca has a Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and mild winters with high amounts of precipitation. Spring and fall can also see heavy rain and occasional wind storms.

Climate data for Nutca
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	6.4 (43.5)	7.4 (45.3)	9.6 (49.3)	12.9 (55.2)	16.6 (61.9)	19.8 (67.6)	22.8 (73)	22.7 (72.9)	19.0 (66.2)	12.9 (55.2)	8.5 (47.3)	5.9 (42.6)	13.7 (56.7)
Average low °C (°F)	1.4 (34.5)	1.2 (34.2)	2.5 (36.5)	4.6 (40.3)	8.0 (46.4)	11.1 (52)	13.3 (55.9)	13 (55)	9.9 (49.8)	6.0 (42.8)	2.9 (37.2)	0.9 (33.6)	6.2 (43.2)
Source: www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca (archived data from 1981–2010)

Economy

Culture

Holidays

Date	Name	Remarks
1 January	Unix Epoch Time day	A day honoring Unix time since the beginning of the Unix epoch on 1 January 1970.

References

External links