Moon Island


 * Not to be confused with the future Republic of Moon Island.

Moon Island (Typhoonian: Mŏn Eland; Chinese: 彎月島, Freezestonian: Kuu saar), officially The Semi-Autonomus State of Moon Island, is a state of Shops Island far northeast of the Shopper mainland. Moon Island is known across Shops Island for its rich history and for its diverse and unique culture, which is nothing like anything else within Shops' vast empire. The state is also known for being highly independent from the federal government, collecting most of its tax revenues internally and often bypassing the lawmakers in Shops City, doing things itself instead.

Early Periods
The earliest history of Moon Island can be traced back to the New Stone Age. Historians find evidence of indigenous penguins residing in the Island after archaeologists announced the discovery of fossils, ancient heritage and antiques, mainly in the eastern part of the country away from Shops Island. It is generally believed that Moon Island's ancestors are tribal penguins who hunted for a living, and have been living in the Island since Early New Stone Age.

The first known permanent settlement of Moon Island is in a place called Mid-moon (Typhoonish: Mŏt Mŏn, Chinese:滅月) located some 100km south of the current capital, Dancing Penguin City. Most penguins living there are indigenous Moon Islanders, with a few migrated from nearby islands. Moon Islanders are believed to have continued this way of living for the next thousands of years, and there were few evidence of communication with the outside world.

Kingdom Era (1915 - 2005)
According to official records, in 1914, Dps the Great (1880 - 1951) led a troop of "thousands of soldiers". They easily annexed the Island from the tribal penguins, and the Kingdom of Moon Island was officially set up on January 1, 1915, with Dps the Great becoming the first emperor of the Kingdom. At first, the Kingdom was not welcomed by the exiled Tribal penguins, and conflicts between the tribal penguins and the monarchy is very common in the early years. It is believed that Dps the Great adopted a High-handed policy and various members of the opposition were arrested, some even killed.

Shortly after the setting up of the monarchy, in March 1915, Dps the Great proclaimed Kingdom City (now Moon Island City) on the Western Coast of the Island to be the kingdom's royal capital, and the construction of the Monarchy Palace in the city to honour himself. Official records indicate that up to thousands of the population are forced to do labour work in the city, which may be up to half of the population of the Island at that time. In 1920, Dps the Great's wife gave birth to their second son, whom he proudly named Dps the Second (1920 - ) (Their first son, Dps the First (1913 - 1951) was named by Dps the Great as the sole legitimate heir apparent of his Kingdom.)

Having ruled the Kingdom for over 35 years, Dps the Great died in 1951 and Dps the First, his eldest son, took his place at the age of 38. However, he only ruled for a few months before his sudden, unexpected death, and was successed by his younger brother Dps the Second. Unlike his father, Dps the Second was welcomed by the majority of the population. He relinquished the high-handed policy adopted by his father for over 30 years, and instead encouraged socio-economic development within the state. Within 10 years, employment rates improved and the GDP of the country grew dramatically. Because of this, Dps the second is often credited with The Founder of Modern Moon Island (Typhoonish: FaDa de Mŏn Eland, Chinese:彎月島之父).

Dps the second ruled the country for almost 50 years. In 1999, his son Dps the Third (1949 - 2005) rose to power after overthrowing him in a palace coup. The coup succeeded, which resulted in the almost 80 years old Dps the Second sent into exile. Dps the Third was considered a revolutionist in the country, who introduced trading to Moon Island, further improving Moon Islander's quality of life. He was known as The Reformist within the Island.

Under Rockhopper Administration (2005 - 2012)
In October 2005, Captain Rockhopper accidentally navigated his ship the Migrator to the Island and thus discovered it. He found the moon excpetionally bright and round as viewed from this Island, so he named the Island Moon Island. After staying in the island for several days, he led a troop of citizens rebelling against Dps the third. The revolution succeeded, leading to the Death of Dps the Third and he formally annexed the island and declared it part of "the vast Rockhopper Empire" (which actually only included Moon Island and Rockhopper Island). The history of Moon Island as a "colony" under the "Rockhopper Empire" thus began.

Captain Rockhopper appointed his cousin, "colonial administrator" Stonehopper to be in charge of the island's administrator. At the first days of his administration, Moon Island has a population of less than 55,000. Under Stonehopper's Instruction, to encourage population growth, a new city was built in the West Coast of Moon Island not far from Kingdom City, and named it Stonehopper City, which today is part of Moon Island City. He also announced social welfare plans and certain infrastructures to be constructed over the Island. All these policies successfully boosted the population, and by 2009, when he decided to retire, the population emerged to a massive 350,000 - over 6 times the population as of 2005.

In February 2009, Rockhopper appointed Stonehopper's eldest son, Jumphopper to replace the retiring Stonehopper. Widely considered a maverick political figure, he attempted a few new policies in Moon Island, some even without approval from Rockhopper, such as the construction of a island-wide railway system and several reclamation projects along the eastern coasts. This angered Rockhopper, with pressure from him leading to Jumphopper's resignation less than a year after he took the post. To meet with independent demands within the Island, Rockhopper made a concession, and instead of appointing members from his family, he appointed Dps the Fourth (1981 -, often simply as Dps04) , a Moon Island-born Citizen and son of Dps the Third to take up the job. As a result, Dps04 became the first and only Moon Island born governor of Moon Island Under Rockhopper Administration. He served in this post from December 2009 until the independence of Moon Island two and a half years later.

As part of Shops Island (2012 - 2027)
As demands from pressure groups for independence and self-govern arise, Rockhopper finally gave in and allowed Moon Island to be a semi-autonomous state after May 1 2012. This is an important milestone in the decolonization process of the Rockhopper Empire, and marked the decline of the Empire. After independence, the post "Governor of Moon Island" was abolished. Democratic elections were held in Moon Island City, and Dps04 was elected as the Mayor of Moon Island City. Moon Island City became the de facto capital of the Moon Island from May 2012 until July 2012. This means that Dps04 continued to serve as the actual head of the island.

Under Dps' Administration, more new infrastructure were built. Dps04's decision to join Shops Island in May 2012 marked a milestone in the history of Moon Island. The joining of Shops Island increased the communication of Moon Island with the outside world, and skyscrapers are rapidly introduced to the Island. In one months' time, various new structures were built in Moon Island City.

After the construction of a new city in the Northeastern Part of the Country, Dps04 announced it to be the new capital, replacing Moon Island City, with him resigning the post of the Mayor of Moon Island City (succeeded by Djf1107 up until today) and becoming the first (and so far, only) Mayor of Dancing Penguin City. The reasons for the move of capital, as said by Dps04, is due to it being "better-planned and farther away from Shops Island".

Ever since the move of Capital, Dancing Penguin City improved dramatically and exceed Moon Island City in every aspect except population. In October, the Typhoon Mall was set up on it, and remains opened up till present.

In early 2015, Dps04 was voted out of office and replaced with the first non-Dps governor in history: David Franklin. The mayor of Wizzint strongly condemned this replacement of Dps04.

Republic of Moon Island (2027 - onwards)

 * See main article: Republic of Moon Island

The Republic of Moon Island was the state that would come after Shops Island's dissolution in the aftermath of the Shops Civil War. It would be the most powerful country of Shops' former empire and became a pinnacle of technology, democracy and prosperity in post-Shopper Antarctica. During this time period, Moon Island veered further from the Dps Dynasty, electing many different presidents.

During President Dps04's administration, Moon Island was an isolationist country which wasn't too involved in Antarctican politics, and it didn't even join the UAN until 2035 when Penstubal became president. The country's economy was small but it was pretty stable. In 2035, Penstubal got elected on the platform of increasing Moon Island's presence worldwide, increasing military spending and decreasing social spending and taxes on the middle and the poor. President Stubal found important partners in the Ninja Archipelago, especially Snowzerland, although the relationship was bitter sweet. He remains pretty popular at the end of his second term, with people who support his party and support his reforms trying to promote him as the greatest politician in Moon Island history, although his opponents believe he is far from that.

Dps05 was elected president in 2043, succeeding former president Stubal. He promised a return to isolationist politics and warned against too much entanglement in Antarctic politics, believing that could cost Moon Island its nation.

Government
The Moon Island adopts a unique government system, often dubbed as the Mayor-Republic System. Until 2013, it does not have a de jure head of state. As such, the Mayor of the capital city Dancing Penguin City usually acts out the duties of the head of state, and is widely considered as a de facto president of the Island, while the Mayor of Moon Island City, the country's most populous city, acts as a de facto vice president. In 2013, the Constitution of Moon Island was amended and the President of The Democratic Industrial Island of Shops became the de jure Governor of Moon Island. As of 2013, all mayors are appointed instead of directly elected. Moon Island City has 3 mayors in its history: Dps04 (May 5th 2012 - May 19th 2012), Rockhopperfan (May 20th 2012 - July 1st 2012) and David Franklin (July 2nd 2012 - ), while the first and only mayor of Dancing Penguin City is Dps04 (23 August 2012‎ - ). Although Moon Island is a semi-independent state, it still has to abide by Shopper law and its system of government, and thus is a member of the Shops Island Council and the Common Legislature.

Currency
The official currency of Moon Island is WikiBucks (WB$). A new currency, namely Dancing Penguin Dollars (DP$) was once proposed, but later abolished.

Demographics
As of 2012 census, the country has a population of 612,550, 70% of which are native Moon Islaners, 10% of the population comes from the nearby Freezestonia to the south of the State, about 5% comes from the remaining parts of Shops Island, whilst the remaining portportion of the population comes from other countries like United States of Antarctica, Zhou, Japaland and so on.

Only around 40% of the population lives in urban regions, one of the lowest among the Shops Island. The most populous city is Moon Island City, with a population of around 148,000, followed by Dancing Penguin City, the capital with a population of around 98,000.

Language
Moon Island has four official languages, Typhoonish, English, Cantonese and Mandarin, making it the country with one of the most official languages. Among these languages, Typhoonish is by far the most common, spoken as a first language by 60% of the population. Citizens from the Northern Parts of Moon Island (including Dancing Penguin City) speak the language with a Northern Dialect, whilst citizens from the Southern Parts of Moon Island (including Moon Island City) speak the language with a Southern Dialect. In addition to these four languages, Freezestonian, Marweeish are also widely spoken, especially in the southern parts of the Island nearer to Freezestonian where there are significantly larger population of immigrants from Freezestonia.

Moon Island is also home to a feel so-called endangered languages, including the Moonian Language, Central Crescent Language and so on. It is estimated that less than 3% of the population knows these languages as of 2012.

Education
Owing to Moon Island's relatively stable economy and small population, the government currently provides free primary and secondary education to all permanent residents of Moon Island, up to 12 years. Primary and Secondary education is compulsory. In 2012, state spending for education amounted to roughly 4% of the GDP. Due to the increasing population of Moon Island this figure is expected to rise gradually.

Moon Island has one institution which provides tertiary education - Moon Island Institute of Education. The main campus is located at Moon Island City which a small branch in Dancing Penguin City.

Healthcare
The Moon Island Constitution guarantees free, universal health care for all its citizens. This policy is further backed up by the universal system of healthcare which is promoted throughout Shops Island and its territories.

Order of Precedence
The following is the Moon Island Table of precedence, which establishes the most powerful and influential people in the state of Moon Island.


 * 1) President of Shops Island (Lavender)
 * 2) Governor of Moon Island (David Franklin)
 * 3) Mayor of Dancing Penguin City (Dps04)
 * 4) Mayor of Moon Island City

Political divisions
Based on Moon Island's Constitution, Moon Island is divided into two states: Northern State and Southern State. Curiously, for demographic purposes, the Northern and Southern states are considered as separate entities by the Shopper census bureau, and as such are given separate data rankings in all official government reports. The statistics given for Moon Island as a whole at the top of this page are an aggregate of both states' statistics over the years.

Excluding F.A.R.. The Full Name for F.A.R. is Freezestonian Autonomous Region. To reduce space, it is simply referred to as F.A.R. Techically, F.A.R. is NOT a state. It is a de facto independent region under the Southern State. The Country Capital.

There were no political divisions in Moon Island prior to 2012, during Rockhopper Administration. The Political Division System was implemented on May 1 2012, the day when Moon Island gained independence from Rockhopper Empire, and is believed to be proposed by Dps04. According to Moon Island's Constitution, the boundary between Northern and Southern State are along the Moon Island mountain Range, which includes the highest peak of the country, Mount Moon (3011 m). As of 2013, this political division system is still in effect.

Moon_Island_Flagnorth.png Northern State


Bordered by the Mountain Range at the south, the Northern State has an area of roughly 4,510 km2 (1741.3 square miles). Compared to The Southern State, The Northern State is significantly smaller than Southern State in size, population and population density. In 2012, some 239,920 penguins reside in the State, amounting to a population density of 53.20 penguin / km2. Known to Islanders as Moon Island's Back Garden, most of the State comprises of country parks and prairies - a great contrast with the Southern State. The Island's largest country park, Moon Island Country, is located at the Northwestern part of the state, and has been a popular tourists destination for Moon Islanders and tourists from Other Country alike.

It is believed that the ancient Moon Island Civilization originated in Mid-Moon, a region 100km south of Dancing Penguin City and is geographically part of today's Northern State, thou very close to the southern border. Today, this region is a recognized historical heritage and is visited by thousands of penguins annually.

The Capital of the state is the Dancing Penguin City, located some 120 km northeast of Mount Moon, and is also the capital of Moon Island. Having a population of 98,000 as of 2012, it is the largest city in the State and in the Eastern Coast of the Island, and the second largest city of the country after Moon Island City.

Moon_Island_Flagsouth.png Southern State


Southern State mainly comprises of region in the southeastern part of Moon Island. In contrast with Northern State, the Southern State has been a heavily industrialized zone since the Rockhopper Administatration era. The state's largest city, Moon Island City, is located in Southern State close to the State border. It is the largest metropolitan area of the state and is home to almost 40% of the population in the Southern State as of 2012.

Unlike Northern State, little historical heritages are found in the region as civilisation in Moon Island is believed to have started in Mid-Moon, a region in the Northern State. As a result, The Southern State is often dubbed as The Home of Modern Moon Island as it is concentrated with Modern developments, infrastructures and plans. In 2012, Southern State's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 140 billion Wikibucks, 1 trillion Wikibucks, and 1.5 trillion Wikibucks respectively. It has the highest GDP Per Capita in all of Shops Island and its surrounding states.

Far flag.png Freezestonian Autonomous Region (Part of Southern State)
Other than Moon Island City, Southern State is also known for its high proportion of Freezestonian immigrants, especially in the Southern regions of the state close to the main Island. As a result, besides Typhoonian, English and Chinese, Freezestonian and sometimes Marweeish are commonly spoken and are recognized as the state's regional languages.

Freezestonia has different cultures compared with Moon Islanders. To recognize the significance of the high Freezestonian population within the Southern Part of the state, The Southern State Legislature decided to set up a Freezestonian Autonomous Region with an area of approximately 1100 km2 in 2013. Although technically the region is still part of Southern State, it exercises laws unique to the region and are slightly different to that of Southern State and Moon Island. For example, events like Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day which are normally not observed in Moon Island are celebrated in the region, and it has a special education, social welfare, medical and health care system.

The Semi-Autonomous State of Moon Island (2012 - 2027)

 * ''Note: Prior to 2 February 2013, the constitution of Moon Island did not specify a governor for the semi-autonomous state of Moon Island. Hence, there was no de jure governor of Moon Island before 2013. By convention, the mayor of the capital city of Moon Island (before 23 August 2012: Moon Island City; since 23 August 2012: Dancing Penguin City) served as the de facto governor of the island state. Since 2 February 2013, the constitution was amended, and the President of The Democratic Industrial Island of Shops became the de jure Governor of Moon Island.

[1] Since February 2 2013, the Constitution of Moon Island states that the position of the head of state of Moon Island is reserved for the President of Shops Island. In spite of the president's role as head of state, Moon Island's governor is often more revered and respected by the local population.

Foreign Relations

 * Zhou- Good. They are active trading partners, and share cultural practices. Zhou and Moon Island often hold summit talks. Moon Island would often act as the mediator for relations between Zhou and Shops when their relations used to be poor.
 * United States of Antarctica - fill in!
 * Shops Island- Excellent. Shops Island is Moon Island's mother country and MI is a state of Shops. They have very strong trade, and Dps04 is a member of Shops' central government.
 * Freezeland- fill in!
 * UnitedTerra- fill in!
 * Castilla- Good. As a foreign country on the other side of the continent, Castilla and Moon Island are actively engaged in trade. The Castillans prefer building factories here instead of Zhou due to better use of materials.
 * Snowzerland- Decent. Even though relations between Shops Island and Snowzerland have greatly improved and are now friends, Moon Island remains skeptical of them.
 * Rusca-Decent. They communicate but not often. Rusca avoids them since Rusca hates Zhou.
 * Puffle'and-Strong. Puffle'and was the first to establish relations with the island when it gained independence.
 * Margate -Good. Margate and Moon Island have economic trades agreements, and supported their independence.