Seal Islands

The Seal Islands ( /siːl ˈaɪ̯lənds/ ; Dutch: Zeehondeilanden [ˈzeɪɦɔnt ˈɛi̯.lɑnde], pronounced zei-hont ei-lande) or the Seal Archipelago, officially The Federal Republic of the Seal Islands, is a federal parliamentary republic. The nation consists of 14 constituent states, covering a total of 349,823 square kilometres, with almost 15 million penguins between them. The Seal Islands' capital and largest metropolitan area is De Groot. Other major urban areas include Droomen and Hailsink among others.

Various tribes have inhabited the islands for some 2,000 years, including High Penguins. Several villages and towns that had been established on the islands have been documented as early as 200 AD. Earliest traces of penguins were discovered in northern Suome in 1978, which date back at least 1,800 years. From the 6th and 7th century, penguins have been forming country-like civilisations on the islands. In the 11th century, the Kingdom of the Four Islands was established, which fell to the High Penguin Confederacy in the 12th century.

The nation was re-established as the Kingdom of the Sealettes in 1503, before reforming into the Confederacy of the Seal Islands after a brutal civil war in the 1753. The Confederacy however, fell to and was colonised by Batavia in 1717. Batavians occupied the islands until 1948, after which the country declared independence. It is important to note that while most of the islands fell to Batavia, other constituent states remained independent and didn't join the federation until 1964, after all countries in the Sealien Sea had joined the newly independent state, under the 1964 Treaty of Hailsink.

In the 21st century, the Seal Islands are considered a secondary power and are a thriving, democratic country, boasting a large GDP and extensive civil, political and economic freedoms. The Seal Islands are a highly developed country with a very high standard of living, upholding the principles of welfare, education and healthcare to the benefit of its citizens, leading to a skilled and productive society and workforce.

The nation, consisting entirely of islands, is located north of the Asiapelago. The Seal Islands also own an extraterrestrial colony, with construction of the first extraterrestrial hotel, Hotel Moon Zeehondeiland being expected to finish in 2017.

The Seal Islands are a member of the UAN, SATO and the Free Republic Union. The nation also maintains good relations with both the Axles and the Western Union. All constituent states under the Seal Islands still own a large amount of freedom from the central government, with some participating in pan-Antarctic organisations, such as the ABU and the Boltic Council.

Etymology
In 1422, the colony of the Four Islands (Vier Eilanden) was reorganised to the colony of the Seal Islands by the High Penguin Confederacy, this was due to the High Penguin Confederacy discovering new islands near the earlier Four Islands. The newly discovered islands featured an abundance of seals, and the name stuck. In 1503, when the Seal Islands declared their independence, the name Sealettes (Zeehondentje) was adopted, as the name Seal Islands was considered a symbol of High Penguin overrule and didn't sit well with the populace. After the civil war however, the name had been adopted once again, and has stayed unchanged since then.

The common abbreviations for the nation's name is "SeIl"; until the late 2000s "SI" was also widely used, however, this has largely fallen out of use after the rise of Shops Island.

The standard way to refer to a citizen is as a "Sealien".

Early discovery (11th century)
The first penguins to migrate to the islands did so approximately 2,000 years ago. Advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies were established in many areas, different artefacts and ruins have been discovered on multiple islands. After Antarctic mainland explorers and traders made the first contacts, the native population fell into a significant decline as the decades went on, this is largely attributed to imperialistic ideals of the mainlanders and possibly diseases brought over to the archipelago.

In the early days of discovery many settlers were subject to shortages of food, disease and attacks from natives. The natives were also often at war with neighbouring tribes and some even allied with the mainlanders during tribal wars. The natives and mainlanders however, soon learned to accept and trade with each other, especially during winter months. Natives taught many settlers where, when and how to fish and cultivate different plants.

Several islands currently under the control of the nation remained untouched for millenia after the Seal Islands had first been inhabited; Ðo'rland wasn't inhabited until 1398, when the High Penguin Confederacy colonised it. Smaller islands within the Sealien archipelago also remained untouched for a long while.

Four Island Republic (1076 - ~1200)
The Four Island Republic was declared as an independent country in 1076, through a compromise between outside settlers and the natives. Later logs and documents from the time have revealed that the country was mainly run by outside colonisers and aristocrats, and the native population faced harsh discrimination from the government. Despite being called a republic, the government consisted largely of unelected officials, as elections proved extremely difficult to hold between multiple islands at the time.

The nation was, however, governed rather loosely, with each of the islands being significantly different in terms of politics, living standards and citizens' rights. This led to multiple rebellions on all four islands, however, none of them succeeded in overthrowing the nation's government. The native Sealien population would often emigrate to other, more promising nations in Antarctica. It is not known how many emigrated, or how large the population was at the time, as emigration was largely undocumented and most emigrants failed to reach their destinations.

Colonisation by the High Penguin Confederacy & War of Independence (~1200 - 1503)
In the early 13th century, the High Penguin Confederacy successfully annexed the republic and all other islands near the country. Under the newly established Confederate rule, living conditions for citizens of the islands didn't improve and emigration continued. More than a million penguins supposedly emigrated throughout the Confederacy's rule, though from about the mid-14th century, more penguins hatched than emigrated or died, which led to rapid population growth until the end of the High Penguin rule.

Eventually, the living conditions of the populace started improving and the Confederacy placed serious efforts into establishing proper infrastructure in the colony. As access to education and healthcare improved for even the lower class, more and more people became aware of their roots and wished to establish their own cultural state. Several failed attempts of overthrowing the High Penguin rule followed, continuing throughout the 15th century. Through the rebellions, the populace was granted more and more rights by the Confederacy in order to keep the rebels at bay.

In the early 16th century, a rebel group known as the Sealette Monarchists took control, either by force or economic means, of a large part of the territory on several Sealien islands, and declared independence as the Kingdom of the Sealettes on July 31st, 1501. This led to the High Penguin Confederacy declaring war on the Sealettes on September 2nd, 1501, known as the Sealien Revolution or Sealien War of Independence.

The Confederacy had never placed large military forces into the colony, as no large-scale war was to be expected and smaller rebellions could be easily deterred with the current amount of forces on the islands. Because of this, and due to good war planning by the rebels, it became apparent the High Penguin Confederacy could not win the war against the rebels, after the inflow of supplies was stopped when the Sealettes conquered all land in Suome. The Confederacy effectively retreated onto Pengmark, but after losing the siege of Coopenhogen in June 1503, accepted a peace treaty, known as the Coopenhogen Peace Treaty, by the Sealettes, which would grant full independence to not only the Sealettes, but also Suome and Pengmark. It should be noted that Ðo'rland stayed under the control of the Confederacy until its demise in 1912.

Kingdom of the Sealettes and further expansion (1503 - 1753)
The Kingdom of the Sealettes was officially established after the Coopenhogen Peace Treaty was signed in June 1503, granting independence to the nation, as well as Suome and Pengmark. The kingdom was established as an absolute monarchy, ruled by King Gunther I, who had also been a lead figure within the Sealette Monarchists. Gunther I would go on to rule for 7 years, before dying of unknown causes, causing his son, Gunther II to take the crown in the year 1510. This period is regarded as a general period of peace and prosperity in the history of the Seal Islands, as no major conflicts or political events took place in this time period.

Many new islands were discovered by explorers during the kingdom's 250 year existence, the majority of these discoveries being made during the "great age of colonisation", when explorers from the Sealettes landed and claimed a total of about 200 different islands, including Pengvia-Frosthuania.

Confederacy of the Seal Islands (1753 - 1717)
The Confederacy of the Seal Islands is the first time the name Seal Islands is recorded in history. It was a nation created after the Second Sealien Revolution. In 1805, the islands were attacked by the Osloven Empire, due to low military efforts in the early beginnings of the nation, it was forced to surrender and most of it was then colonized by the Empire. The government then retreated to Rivier Island and Lange Jaar Island, located in the northwest of the Archipelago. 2 years later, in 1807 the military forces of the confederacy attacked Verbazend Island, causing a naval battle between the Oslovens and Sealien. After 12 days of battle on sea, the Oslovens retreated, this day, April 12th is celebrated in the Seal Islands as a Victory Day.

Present era (2004 - present)
Seal Islands has ever since it became independent chose not to interfere with great power politics and not to interfere in lesser countries businesses either; the president of Seal Islands proclaimed neutrality and kept its politics at home.

The first major war the Seal Islands were involved in was the Great Snowzerland War VI. They were on the Allied side and fought Snowzerland; and they only joined because of Snoss brutal actions against Sealien merchant shipping.

Seal Islands has, however, around 2013 gotten a bit more involved in global politics. It forged a defense alliance with the United Provinces (Snowiny), committing each other to defense in case of an attack on each other's soil (and ONLY in case one of the two are attacked). However, the Sealiens only allied with the Snowinians so they get secured in case Shops Island, Snowzerland or any other major power nation decided to attack them. Seal Islands desperately continued to remain neutral, as well as non aligned when the Axle Powers and Circular Powers were founded in 2014. Despite heavy pressure from both sides, Seal Islands managed to stay put and stay out of both of the two blocs.

In early 2015 Seal Islands experienced its very first major terrorist attacks. President van Guilera declared a state of emergency, and in an address to the Senate and the Parliament announced Seal Islands will join the Snowinn-led coalition in a war against global terrorism. With the support of Frankterre and the United Provinces, the Sealiens carried out air raids all over the terrorist controlled regions in Antarctica; Penland, parts of Margate, Slumolia and so on (they mostly bombed the terrorist-occupied parts of Nexon). The Seal Islands have, however, refused to send ground troops over to those areas and stated they will fight solely with air raids; resulting in sharp criticism from quite a few Antarctic nations who actually struggled to stay alive fighting the terrorists.

Large amounts of investors from the USA, Frankterre, the United Provinces, Shops Island, and UnitedTerra resulted in a booming Sealien economy. Life was happy for most Sealiens and unemployment was very low (around only 0.9%). The Sealiens provided free healthcare to its citizens and minimum wages, as well as unemployment subsidies.

Subdivisions
The Seal Islands have a total of 17 subdivisions, 11 states and 6 colonies. The states are a part of the main archipelago, and while they're self-governing to some extent, the federal government has the right to override their decisions. The remaining colonies are divided into incorporated and unincorporated colonies, incorporated colonies can be seen as an extension to states, while unincorporated colonies are a step below being their own country. Unincorporated colonies have their own parliaments and laws, which the federal government can still override, but generally this doesn't happen as often as it does with states or incorporated colonies.

Geography
The total area of the Seal Islands is 349,823 km2. The islands lie in the Sealien Sea, and are rather isolated from the rest of Antarctica, located just north of the Asiapelago.

The Seal Islands are a low-lying country for the most part: in the main archipelago, elevation ranges from just over 1,200 metres in northern Suome to mere metres above sea level in most of the archipelago. Outside the main archipelago, Ðo'rland contains the twelve tallest mountains of the country, reaching up to 2,110 metres for Lundarbrekka, the tallest mountain, located just off the coast in southern Ðo'rland. The islands in the main archipelago are largely dominated by coniferous forests, but mixed coniferous and broad-leaf forests also exist. Deciduous forests are not found anywhere in the country.

Significant natural resources found in the country include iron ore, gold ore, coal, timber, lignite, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land and water.

Climate
Most of the Seal Islands fall under a subarctic climate, characterised by long and cold winters and short cool-to-mild summers. Winds generally blow from the east, with the polar easterlies being the dominant force driving the winds. The Seal Islands receive an average of only 100-200 mm (4-8 in) of precipitation per year, with most of it falling in the spring and autumn, the summer and winter see little-to-no precipitation and are generally very dry.

Temperatures in the Seal Islands never reach above 15 °C (59 °F), the winters are cold and the summers are cool. Temperatures differ by area as well, Ðo'rland receives constantly colder temperatures than the rest of the islands, as it's located closer to the mainland.

Government
The government of the Seal Islands is a democracy, parliament electives are selected by the citizens and the previous parliament, the previous parliament cannot give a vote to themselves and must vote for someone from a different party. The government is divided into 2 categories, the regular parliament and the upper parliament (senate). The upper parliament consists of 8 ministers, while the regular parliament consists of 51 people from different parties.

While the parliament deals with governmental issues, there is also the president, currently Christina van Guilera. The president is more of the representative person for the country, but still gets to decide on very important issues within the country.

Parliament elections happen every 4 years on the 8th of December. Citizens cast their vote to one party or an independent candidate either at voting stations or on the internet. Voting requires an ID-card so 1 person can't vote twice. To vote, the person has to be at least 18 years of age, however to be a candidate for the parliament, one has to be at least 21 years of age. The citizens votes + the old parliaments votes are put together to create the new parliament. The leading party gets to form a coalition with any other parties that got into the parliament and any independent candidate that got into the parliament. But at least 2 parties must be left out of the coalition to form an opposition. If the coalition should step down from the upper parliament, the opposition takes over, if the opposition steps down as well, a new election is held.

Presidential elections happen every 5 years in May. Citizens votes are, again, merged with the parliament's votes to see a winner. If the voting is tied, all votes are reset and voting begins again on the next day.

Island elections happen every 4 years on the 5th of March. In these elections all citizens of the islands and cities vote for their favourite party, they can vote only in the division they're written into statistically. They may ask to be rewritten to another division before the vote. The party which gets the most votes in that division gets to rule over that division. The party can decline their rule over it though, in that case, the division will be ruled by the party which got the 2nd place in the voting.

Parties
Both the senate and parliament have a plural, multi-party system, with multiple parties elected into both, during separate elections. Elections for senate occur every 4 years, while elections for parliament occur every 5 years.

National
Parties represented in the senate or parliament.

The party popularity was last quizzed on May 1st, 2015.

Other
Other parties that have no seats in the senate or parliament, but may have seats in regional politics.

Relationships with other nations

 * USA - Good - The Seal Islands gets around good with the USA. They have an embassy and have diplomatic connections to the USA at times. But they don't engage diplomatically most of the time.
 * UnitedTerra - Great - Seal Islands and the UTR agree on many topics, they are trading partners and allies and both have embassies in the other nation.
 * Calada - Decent - Their relations are decent, they engage in some smaller trade and get along pretty good.
 * Shops Island - Excellent - The two nations are allies, and actively engage in trade with each other.
 * Batavia - Terrible! - Even though most of the Seal Islands' population is of Batavian origin, their relations became extremely severed after Batavia declared war on the Seal Islands.
 * Zhou - Unknown - The Seal Islands have declared themselves as sworn enemies of the Zhouese people, that's probably because of the high rate of immigrants from Zhou. Zhou hasn't given a position on this statement. Their relations seem to have gotten better.
 * Snowiny - Great - The Seal Islands and Snowiny get around good and are trading partners.
 * Penguio - Decent - The Seal Islands approve of Penguio but don't engage in trade or any political matters.
 * North Joseon - Terrible! - The Seal Islands despise North Joseon for their propaganda and communist ways. The Archipelago doesn't recognize North Joseon as an sovereign nation.
 * South Joseon - Excellent! - The Seal Islands are allies with South Joseon, and along with them don't recognize North Joseon.
 * The Melodeeves - Horrible! The Seal Islands despise any communism, as mentioned above. They recognize the Melodeeves as an independent nation only because of tourism.
 * Margate - Excellent! - Margate and the Seal Islands have an excellent relationship with each other, even when not taking Margatian membership in the Circular Powers into account. Margate is the first nation to issue an official recognition of Seal Islands' sovereignty and independence, which is published in January 23, 2002. They are both diplomatic and trade partners. The two nations also offer student transfer programs to the other nation. Most of Margate's upper-middle class drive around in a Sealien car, while it is not uncommon to find Margatian furniture inside a Sealien house.

Military
The armed forces of the Seal Islands consist of 3 branches – The Sealien Navy, The Sealien Army and the Sealien Air Force. Lots of their equipment is outdated at the moment, but the islands are updating and upgrading their army as much as possible, as they are maintaining larger and larger grounds all the time. The army is currently rated number 18 in the Top Militaries of Antarctica, just above East Pengolia and North Joseon but below Amataria and Malesia.

Economy
The Seal Islands has a partially regulated economy. The country is the 14th largest economy in Antarctica, according to GDP. Most of the GDP is made up by the service sector, the other part is made up by tourism, agriculture and other similar activities.

The automotive industry is a big part of income for the Seal Islands, as a few car brands originate from here. Though cars are banned in some parts of Antarctica, the rest of Antarctica has praised the automotive industry of the nation.

The agricultural industry is also a pretty big part for income. It is highly mechanised. About 75% of it is made up by livestock, the other 25% by arable crops. The Seal Islands also maintains a large fishing industry.

The mining industry is not huge in the country, but still notable, as some of the islands are rich in materials including coal, oil shale, uranium, iron, gold, salt, clay and natural gas.

Currency
The currency of the Seal Islands is the Seal Archipelago Dollar or the SAD. It has 2 forms, a coin and a dollar, usually these are marked as &#162; and $. There smallest coin is a 5&#162; coin, then comes the 10&#162; coin, the 20&#162; coin, the 50&#162; coin, the 1$ coin, the 2$ coin and the 5$ coin. The smallest bill is a 1$ bill, then there's a 2$ bill, a 5$ bill, a 10$ bill, a 25$ bill, a 50$ bill, a 100$ bill, a 250$ bill, a 500$ bill and a 1000$ bill. The last 'normally in circulation' bill is the 100$ bill, all over that are rarely found in circulation, as such big money is kept on bank cards.

Transportation
There is all kinds of transportation on the islands.

Air
There's an airport in all of the large cities of the archipelago, and both, domestic and international flights happen.

Flag-Carriers

 * Sealien Airlines
 * easyAir (Low-Cost)

Airports

 * De Groot Luchthaven/De Groot Airport
 * De Haven Vliegveld/De Haven Airport
 * De Vroome Luchthaven/De Vroome Airport
 * De Kloet Vlieghaven/De Kloet Airport
 * De Witte Vlieghaven/De Witte Airport
 * And others!

Sea
There's a seaport in all cities connected with water, for ease of getting around domestically. Although, from De Groot, there are also cruises to the Asiapelago. But none of them go further than Malesia.

If there are smaller distances to be passed, for example the distance between Rivier Island and Zomer Island, smaller boats are used. These boats usually don't fit more than 20 people in them, but there are exceptions.

Train
Trains are a fast way of connection between a lot of places. Tickets cost a lot, up to 250$, depending on class, how long the ride is and train type. There are 3 classes, The regular class, II class and I class. The regular class is just soft seats where you can sit on. The II class seats can be adjusted so if the ride is longer, they can be used as beds. The II class also has tables in between the seats. The I class has free wireless internet connection and a bar. If you have a II class ticket, you're allowed to buy things from the bar as well, while regular class can't buy anything from the bar.

Monorails & Subway
Getting around big cities has been made easier with monorails and subway. Both of which don't affect traffic on land at all, since monorails are above the streets and subways below. Both are very common ways of transport.

Public Transport
There are public transport systems in many cities. It is a cheap way of transportation, as a ticket for city public transport ranges from 2$ to 5$. There are 3 types of public transport in the Seal Archipelago. Buses, trams and trolley buses. Buses and trams exist in every city, while trolley buses have only been seen in a few places. There are also buses connecting cities with each other, on these, tickets cost a lot more, depending on how long your ride is. If you ride the whole way from one city to another, it could cost you as much as 60$.

Taxis are also used in big cities like De Groot or De Haven. Although they cost a lot more. 1 hour of riding on a taxi costs up to 200$, sometimes even more. Visitors should beware of fake taxis. Fake taxis are taxis which don't have a taximetre/have a 'fake taximetre'. In real taxis, the taximetre gives out a check with a bank account number on it, so you don't have to pay your bill instantly, but the fake taxis don't give out a check and want your money instantly. Any person can apply to run a taxi with their own car, although that is rarely done anymore, since there are taxi companies all around the archipelago, in which you can apply to have a job. Some taxi companies will want you to allow them to paint your car into their colours, while others have enough cars for all taxi drivers.

Cars
95% of people living on the Seal Archipelago that are older than 16 have car licenses and have passed their car driving exams. To pass your car exam you have to be at least 16 years of age. In most urban areas cars are the most common way of transport, as they're owned by the person driving them and a car can go almost anywhere at any time.

A survey in 2011 said that 40% of 18 year olds had finished their car exams, 20% were currently doing them, 30% were planning to do them in the near future, 5% were planning to do them sometime in the future, 4.5% weren't sure when they'll do them and if they'll do them and other 0.5% said that they will never do them.

Other
There are also other ways of getting around on land. Of course, by feet. But also by bicycle. 99% of over 10 year olds have a bicycle license. To pass a bicycle exam, you have to be at least 10 or turning 10 very soon. Bicycles are a very common way of transport in small villages where there's not much traffic and you want to get around fast.

Demographics
The population on the island is growing very fast, mostly because new and new areas are incorporated into the country, but also because of high immigration rates. Most immigrants come from Asiapelago countries and the USA, but there's also immigrants from the Ninja Archipelago and other places.

Of all of the population in the nation, 99.6% knew how to read and write. Of these 99.6%, 62.4% have an university degree, 21.1% have a high school second era degree and the rest 16.1% have only finished the first era of high school.

2.8% of the population is obese.

Language
The official languages of the Seal Island are Dutch, English and Sealien. Dutch is mainly used for all actions, while English is more of a commercial language. 87% of the Sealien population could speak fluent English during a test in 2011, and the rest could speak English, but not so fluently. Sealien is the traditional language of the island tribes and has been kept for traditional purposes. Only 8% of the Sealien population could speak Sealien fluently during the last test, and 19% answered that they know the most basic Sealien and would not get in trouble if they ever needed it.

Culture
The Sealien culture is has different classifications. The traditional culture is the culture of the people that lived there before the islands were discovered. It involves big festivals every May, the Féstivale fon Meider (English: Festival of May, Dutch: Festival van mei), which includes big feasts and traditional dance parties around a bonfire. The new Sealien culture, however, is much different. It is most probably inspired from the Batavian culture, as the islands were discovered by a Batavian explorer. There is also affections of different other cultures around Antarctica

Cuisine
The traditional foods of Seal Islands include Pashé, a kind of milk chocolate with nuts and berries in it, Manó, a porridge with cheese and butter in it and Mésdilla, potatoes fried with soybean oil. All of those are eaten at traditional Sealien festivals.

Arts
There is a big art museum located in De Groot, known as the ZEKM, or Zeehond Kunstmuseum (Seal Islands Art Museum), which has many Sealien and foreign artists work stored there. But, it's not only for Art as paintings or sculptures. It is also for music or literature. There is a soundproof room in the museum which is filled with all kinds of different music styles.

Architecture
The architecture of the Seal Islands, again, varies on the island. Some islands have more traditional building ways than the others. And different cultures have nothing related to the regular Sealien architecture. The Sealien architecture is most probably affected by the Batavian.

Education
On the Seal Islands, there are 5 forms of school. Kindergarten, which applies to kids who are under 5, elementary school, which applies to childred 5-10 years old, middle school, which applies to children 11-13 years old, high school which applies to children 14-16 (18) years old. The first era of high school ends when you're 16, but if you wish to, you can continue to the second era. Completing the second era is necessary if you want to go and study these careers in university: Medical studies, Juristic/Politic studies, Science and many others. If you only complete the first era of high school, you can apply for careers that require a lower knowledge of things, like a cook, a bartender or an artist. Many known artists living on the Seal Islands have only completed the first era of high school.

Flag
The flag of the Seal Islands is a tricolor, consisting of orange, white and irish green. The orange represents life, the white represents freedom, and the green represents the ground, as in the territory of the nation. There is also an anchor on it, representing the sea.

Motto
"Nooit willen gaan!"

- The National Motto.

(Translation: Never want to go!)

The motto of the islands, Never want to go! or Nooit willen gaan! has been the motto since June 2013, before it, the motto was You know it! or Je weet het!.

Trivia

 * Several uninhabited islands have been claimed by penguins to form micronations, but the government has ruined all attempts to start one.