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 #+setupfile: ../headers
 * The Country of Eittland
-** Eittlandic Geography
+This page was moved to [[https://wiki.phundrak.com/s/eittland][its dedicated wiki]].
 Eittland is an active volcanic island. In its centre we can find the
 most active volcanoes, surrounded by glaciers and some regular
 mountains. It is surrounded by some taiga, taiga plains covered mainly
 by ashen pines (/pinus fraxinus/), and a large cold desert covering most
 of the centre of the island and its northern eastern part. Outside
 this largely unpopulated region, Eastern Eittland mainly consists of
 grasslands with some temperate rainforests on its southern shores as
 well as some occasional wetland and marshes. On the other hand,
 Western Eittland has a lot more temperate deciduous forests, temperate
 rainforests and some more wetlands and marshes still. Three small cold
 deserts spawn in Western Eittland, including one north-east of
 Đeberget not far from the city. More details can be found in the map
 below. Overall, the southern and western parts of Eittland can be
 compared to Scotland in terms of temperatures, or a warmer Iceland.
-#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-biomes.png">Biomes of the Eittlandic Island</ImgFigure>
+https://wiki.phundrak.com/s/eittland
 Eastern Eittland is also recognizable by its great amount of flat
 shorelines, especially in its northern and eastern parts which are part
 of the more recent paths of lava flows. On the other hand, its few
 fjords and the numerous fjords found in the western part of the island
 are characteristic of much older parts of Eittland. The Fjord
 themselves were formed during the last ice age, while the smoother
 shore lines formed since. Western Eittland also has two main bays
 which are two very old caldera volcanoes. It is not known whether
 they will be one day active again or not.
 ** Culture
 The Eittlandic people share a common basis for their culture which
 remained rather conservative for much longer than the other Nordic
 people due to its resistance towards Christianity conversion. The
 number of people adhering to Norse beliefs remained very high through
 the ages and only recently began declining, going from 93% of
 Eittlanders declaring themselves follower of the Norse Faith in 1950
 to 68% in 2019. This decline is also due to either people converting
 to a religion or due to the immigration boom from the last seventy
 years, though the main reason is the decline in people identifying to
 any faith at all --- the number of atheists went from only 2% of
 Eittlanders in 1940 to 15% in 2019. The evolution of the religious
 population is shown in the chart below, and a geographical
 distribution of these in 2019 can be found in the map following the
 chart --- note that only the main religion is shown in a particular
 area and religions with fewer people in said area are not shown. You
 can also see on said map the population repartition of Eittland.
 #+headers: :cache yes :exports none :eval no-export
 #+begin_src gnuplot :file img/eittlandic/religions.png :var data=eittland-religions
 set title "Religions in Eittland since 1950"
 set title boxed offset 0,0 font ",15"
 set key invert reverse Left outside
 set yrange [0:100]
 set grid y
 set ylabel "Percentage"
 set border 3
 set style data histograms
 set style histogram rowstacked
 set style fill solid border -1
 set boxwidth 1
 plot data u 2:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Norse Faith', \
     data u 3:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Atheism', \
     data u 4:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Church of Eittland', \
     data u 5:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Christianity', \
     data u 6:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Buddhism', \
     data u 7:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Other'
 #+end_src
 #+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/religions.png">Religious Evolution of Eittland Since 1900</ImgFigure>
 #+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-religion.png">Religious population of Eittland in 2019</ImgFigure>
 There is also a regional cultural difference between Western, Eastern,
 and Southern Eittland marked with some differences in traditions and
 language. There is currently a nationalist movement in Southern
 Eittland to create a new state within the Kingdom of Eittland. The
 repartition of the different eittlandic cultures is shown in the map
 below.
 #+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-cultural.png">Cultural Map of Eittland</ImgFigure>
 Standard Eittlandic is a relatively young language, created in the
 1960s by the government in order to create a standard dialect to
 facilitate communications between Eittlanders and make learning the
 language easier. Standard Eittlandic is now enforced as the /de facto/
 legal language of the High Kingdom of Eittland, used by its
 government, schools, and universities, but the local dialects are
 still widely spoken privately and in business which remains regional.
 They still have a strong presence in popular media and are still
 spoken by younger generations, however, a decline has been registered
 since the 90s among young people living in cities, speaking more and
 more in Standard Eittlandic instead. Dialects are also rarely used on
 the internet outside private conversation. An estimate of 17% of
 the Eittlandic population younger than 25 in 2017 do not speak any
 dialectal Eittlandic outside of Standard Eittlandic, although only 2%
 of them do not understand their family’s dialectal Eittlandic.
 Standard Eittlandic also became the default dialect for Eittlandic
 communities living outside Eittland --- in these communities the
 inability of speaking other dialects rise to 61% while the ability to
 understand them rises to 25% among Eittlanders younger than 25 in 2018
 and who still have Eittlandic as their mother tongue.
 It is estimated only 0.05% of people living in Eittland do not speak
 any Eittlandic dialect, all of them being immigrants or children of
 immigrants. It is therefore safe to say Eittlandic is still going
 strong and does not face any risk of disappearing anytime soon,
 although we might be at the start of the decline of the historical
 dialects of Eittland in favour of Standard Eittlandic.
 In this document, you will see references to both Standard Eittlandic
 and Modern Eittlandic. Although some people use the terms
 interchangeably, they are not. /Standard Eittlandic/ refers to the
 official dialect described above, while /Modern Eittlandic/ refers to
 all modern dialects of Eittlandic. This document focuses on Modern
 Eittlandic in general, and when details about specific dialects are
 given, the name of said dialect will be shared.
 ** Name of the Country
 The origins of the name of Eittland are unclear, two main theories
 exist regarding its etymology.
 The first theory says the root of the name of “Eittland” is the
 accusative of /einn/ (Old Norse /one/, /alone/) and /land/ (Old Norse /country/,
 /land/). This is due to how remote it seemed to the people who
 discovered, before Iceland and Greenland were known. Hence, a possible
 translation of “Eittland” can be /Lonely Land/. The term “Eittlandic” is
 relatively transparent considering the term “Icelandic” for “Iceland”
 and “Greenlandic” for “Greenland”.
 However, the second but least probable theory is the island is named
 after /eitr/, a mythical poison from which the first Jøtunn Ymir was
 created. Eittland’s waters near the volcanoes containing high amounts
 of sulphur, a poison, could be what named the island. This association
 with poison, as well as the association to the place where it was
 found, /Ginnungagap/, could have acted as a deterrent to prevent people
 outsiders from coming.
 This last theory’s first recorded mention is from the 18th century,
 while the first theory appears to be much older, and therefore much
 more likely. It is possible the latter was thought of as a way to
 re-invigorate Eittland’s identity as a pagan country unlike its other
 Nordic counterparts, maybe even as a fearsome country.
 Although the country is known as Eittland, the island itself bears a
 few other names. Early records show the island being referred to as
 /Vestrheim/ by early settlers, meaning /West Home/, and its inhabitants
 being referred to as /Vestrheiming/ and /Vestrheimingjar/ (singular and
 plural respectively). Around the same time, settlers living closer to
 the mountains would also call the inner lands /Fjallheim/, meaning
 /Mountain Home/, which stuck until now as a name for the Northwestern
 peninsula of Eittland. Lastly, the name /Eldøy/, /Fire Island/, was used
 to refer both to Eittland and Iceland due to their volcanic activity.
 Nowadays, the name morphed into /Eldfjall/ to refer to the volcanic
 cluster at the centre of the Island.
 ** History
 *** Early Eittlandic History (late 8th century - 14th century)
 According to historical records, Eittland was first found in 763 by
 Norwegian explorers. Its first settlement appeared in 782 on its
 eastern shores with hopes of finding new farmland. The population grew
 rapidly after the discovery of the southern shores, and in 915
 Eittland became self-governing with Ásmundr Úlfsonn declared the first
 Eittlandic king. However, in order to avoid any unnecessary conflicts,
 the new king swore allegiance to the Norwegian king Harald I
 Halfdansson. Eittland thus became a vassal state to the Norwegian
 crown while retaining autonomy from it, which was granted due to the
 distance between the two countries.
 Shortly after however, the beginning of the Christianisation of the
 Nordic countries and especially of Norway created a new immigration
 boost in Eittland with Norsemen seeking a pagan land untouched by
 Christian faith. In 935, a year after Haakon I Haraldsson became king
 of Norway and began trying to introduce Christianity to its people,
 the newly crowned king Áleifr I Ásmundson of Eittland adopted a new
 law forbidding the Christian faith to be imported, promoted, and
 practised in Eittland. This decision forever weakened the alliance
 between the two countries and deteriorated their relationship.
 As more and more people in Eittland were moving to its western part
 due to larger opportunities with its farmlands, king Áleifr I chose in
 936 to move the capital of Eittland from Hylfjaltr to Đeberget and
 split in half the country. He appointed his brother Steingrímr, later
 known as Steingrímr I Áleifsbróðr, as his co-ruler and gave him
 authority over Eastern Eittland while he kept ruling himself over
 Western Eittland. This choice is due to the difficulty of going from
 one side of the island to the other by land --- lava often flows from
 volcanoes to the shores and destroy paths joining the two parts
 together. This gave birth to the two states of the Kingdom of Đeberget
 (also called the /Western Eittlandic Kingdom/) and the Kingdom of
 Hylfjaltr (also called the /Eastern Eittlandic Kingdom/). More on that
 in [[file:country.md#Political-Organization][Political Organization]].
 *** Crusades and Independence (13th century - 1400)
 As soon as the 13th century, and through the 14th century, the
 Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order, backed by the Holy Roman
 Empire, proposed crusades against Eittland to get rid of its Norse
 faith. However, these never came to be due to the distance between
 Eittland and mainland Europe, despite the papal authorizations in
 1228, 1257, 1289, 1325, and 1367.
 In 1397, the creation of the Kalmar Union kicked a new crusade, this
 time backed by the Union itself as well as the Teutonic Order --- Eric
 of Pomerania aimed to unify his country both religiously by getting
 rid of the Norse faith in Eittland and politically by getting rid of
 its established monarchy. A contingent sailed to Eittland to submit
 the island, however they were met with fierce resistance by the locals
 on arrival. Estimates show that while some 2,400 Eittlandic people
 died during this first invasion, most of the 3,000 men sent were
 either killed or taken prisoners.
 In 1398, a new contingent of 12,000 men landed in Eittland. This time,
 a much more prepared army of 14,000 men faced them on a battlefield
 east of the eastern capital of Hyfjaltr. This resulted in an
 Eittlandic victory, however the Monarch of Hylfjaltr Eiríkr IV
 Ásgeirsbróðr lost his life during the battle. Coincidentally, the High
 King Ásgeirr I Biœrgson died of unknown causes around the same time.
 Historians still debate whether it is due to the ongoing conflict, and
 if it is by whom. Theories range from poisoning by spies from the
 Kalmar Union, to assassination by the next rulers, to a much more
 simple, unknown health condition which coincided with the ongoing
 events.
 During the same year, the Althing elected Arvid I Geirson as the new
 High King who nominated his brother Havardr I Arvidsbróðr as the
 Monarch of Hylfjaltr. While the previous monarchs took a more
 defensive approach, they chose to become much more aggressive,
 striving for independence. After demands were sent to the Kalmar
 Union, Eittland began a series of raids on its territories, ranging
 from Iceland to the Faroese Islands to even two raids in Norway and
 Denmark. These raids only aimed trade and military ships but severely
 handicapped the Union’s marine.
 On September 17th, 1400 High King Arvid I Geirson of Eittland and King
 Erik of the Kalmar Union met in Reykjavík to sign the Treaty of
 Reykjavík, during which the Kalmar Union recognized the independence
 of Eittland and renounced its claims to the island. On the other hand,
 Eittland ceded its Greenlandic colonies to the Kalmar Union. Both
 parties agreed to end the hostilities towards one another.
 While the Union no longer launched any crusades against Eittland, the
 Teutonic Order attempted to land again in 1407 with 4,000 men.
 Although the Kingdom of Hylfjaltr took a devastating blow during the
 initial days of the crusade, loosing well over 6,000 men, the invaders
 were ultimately defeated thanks to reinforcement from the Kingdom of
 Ðeberget. This marked the end of crusades in Eittland.
 *** The Absolute Monarchy (1400 - late 1700s)
 Once independent, Eittland quickly became isolated among the European
 nations due as it was perceived as a pagan nation by the rest of the
 continent. For over a century, the country had to be almost entirely
 self-sufficient. This lead to a more in-depth survey of the resources
 of the land launched in 1421. Large quantities of iron were discovered
 in 1432 in Western Eittland in the geologically older parts of the
 island as well as copper and some gold.
 Unfortunately for the island, no coal deposit ever got found, the
 islanders turned to charcoal instead. During the following century, an
 important deforestation of Eittland took place until the royal decree
 of 1542 was proclaimed in order to protect the forests. It ruled that
 for each tree felled in the next hundred years, four shall be planted,
 and only one once the period ended. The only exceptions were for
 creating new pastures with the condition of the request being
 submitted and accepted by the local Jarl and its government.
 The discovery of important marble deposits in the geologically more
 recent parts of the island in 1512 was the event that reopened trades
 with the continent. England was the first country to openly trade with
 Eittland, swiftly followed by states from the Holy Roman Empire and
 other protestant countries. The country became famous for its pure
 white and green marble, which became its emblem. Walking in the
 streets of major cities today, we can still see most of the monuments
 and buildings from during that era made of marble. It is particularly
 the case in Hylfjaltr, known by the nickname of “The White City” due
 to the sheer amount of monuments made out of this material.
 It is around this time religious wars broke out in mainland Europe,
 and war refugees coming at first from Scandinavia and soon enough from
 all Northern and Western Europe came to Eittland to seek refuge. They
 were accepted on the condition never to try and spread their religion
 on the island with the risk of expulsion back to continental Europe.
 At the time, the influx of refugees represented around one percent of
 its total population, with about two thirds of it being protestants
 and the rest Catholics. The local protestant population officially
 founded in 1587 the Church of Eittland.
 You can find in the chart below a breakdown of the various countries
 and regions religious refugees came from. Although Scandinavia was one
 of the first regions to take refuge in Eittland, most refugees came
 from the Holy Roman Empire and from France where religious wars were
 particularly violent. It is estimated most of the Protestant
 population of Eittland are mainly from French descent, while the Holy
 Roman Empire and Scandinavian population came with mixes of Christians
 and Protestants. On the other hand most, if not all, of the English
 population was Christian.
 #+header: :exports none :eval no-export
 #+header: :file img/eittlandic/religious-refugees.png :cache yes
 #+begin_src gnuplot :var data=nationality-religious-refugees
 set title "Country of Origin of Religious Refugees"
 set title boxed offset 0,-3 font ",15"
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 set xtic rotate by -45 scale 0
 plot data u 2:xtic(1)
 #+end_src
 #+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/religious-refugees.png">Breakdown of the country or region of origin of religious refugees in the 1500s</ImgFigure>
 With the beginning of colonization of Northern America, Eittland
 became a naval hotspot. Its position allowed ships to cut in half
 their journey if necessary and replenish their supplies. England and
 the Netherlands were the first countries to halt in Eittland for such
 reasons, participating in an important economic boom in the early 16th
 century on a national scale. France later joined this trade route
 starting in 1619 when going to their colonies in modern-day Canada.
 On the 30th of March 1775, England demanded from Eittland a port to be
 used as a military port as part of their war effort during the
 American revolution. Eittland refused these demands, invoking a
 neutrality concerning the ongoing conflict. In response, England sent
 an ultimatum, asking the port of Vátrsteinn to be their military base.
 On Eittland’s second refusal, England declared war and launched a land
 invasion of the island. The general in charge of the invasion, Sir
 Andrew Sapping, decided to avoid landing in fjords, judging it too
 risky and prone to ambushes. Instead, English troops landed in the
 flatlands west of Vátrsteinn. While Eittlandic troops were massing in
 the nearby town of Vestrferðaróss, a volcano erupted into a
 pyroclastic flow. The English landing site being on its path, half of
 the invading English forces were immediately wiped out, and two thirds
 of their vessels were badly damaged or destroyed. Immediately after
 this, Sir Sapping surrendered to the Eittlandic troops which were
 captured as prisoners of war. Due to this defeat and the sudden
 reduction in available men and ships in the English army, the Treaty
 of Hylfjaltr was signed on the 25 of May of the same year. While
 England recognized its defeat, Eittland promised not to intervene on
 any side in the current rebellion of the American colonies (which was
 not the intent of Eittland in the first place).
 After the independence of the United States of America, Eittland not
 only retained its status as a maritime hotspot but also boomed as one
 between Northern America and Europe. Its ports of Kóparváll and
 Tvinnár, near Ðeberget and Hylfjaltr respectively, became the two
 major ports in Eittland, with Tvinnár generally favoured by ships
 coming from Europe and Kóparváll favoured by ships coming from
 Northern America.
 *** Industrial Revolution and Constitutional Monarchy (18th century)
 By the beginning of the 18th century, Eittland begins to heavily
 industrialize out of a need for larger and more effective ports,
 requiring themselves lots of various machinery and base materials.
 Mines in Western Eittland became much more active, extracting primary
 resources such as iron, aluminium and other precious metals.
 Due to a lack of coal in the Eittlandic island, the country had to buy
 it from other countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States
 or modern-day Canada. Coal stayed the primary source of power in
 Eittland for most of the century up to around the 1880s when Eittland
 found deposits off its Eastern coast. Oil extraction remains to this
 day a significant part of the Eittlandic economy, although in decline
 due to the deposits progressively drying up.
 Industrial development mostly happened in Eastern Eittland due to its
 flatter terrain compared to Western Eittland. Primary resources
 extracted from Western Eittland were primarily brought to factories by
 boat; although the country pushed towards building train tracks, the
 eastern and western parts of the country remained separated due to the
 frequent eruptions of the volcanoes in the central part of the island
 cutting off any attempt to link the two regions.
 Fishing also developed as a significant activity in Eittland, most of
 its products was sold within Eittland for its people and only a small
 portion became available for international market. Nonetheless,
 Eittlandic fish slowly built a reputation of quality and became sought
 after by Northern American and Western European elites. In 1895, fish
 and seafood exports represented 35.3% of Eittland’s exports.
 In 1826, the country underwent a change in its government, going from
 an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. More details in
 [[file:./country.md#constitutional-monarchy][Constitutional Monarchy]].
 *** 20th Century, World Wars, and Europe
 At the turn of the century, Eittland became an important hub of
 commerce between Europe and Northern America with its two major ports,
 Kóparvall and Tvinnár.
 **** Women’s right to vote
 On August 22nd 1902, a bill written by the House of the People led by
 the Labourer’s Party is ratified by the High King. It gives women the
 right to vote in any election open to the Eittlandic people. On March
 15th 1915, a second law written by the Labourer’s Party is ratified by
 the High King, giving women the right to be elected at the House of
 the People while noblewomen got the right to inherit the title of
 Jarl, making them eligible to the House of the Land. Quickly after,
 Kari Nialsdóttr became the first woman ever elected to the House of
 the People during the general election of September 1905, while Ása
 Sigríðsdóttr became the first woman to enter the House of the Land
 in 1934.
 **** World War One
 When World War I started, Eittland stated their neutrality regarding
 the matter and continued business with any country willing to do so.
 The only Eittlandic deaths recorded were three voluntary men of German
 descent who went to mainland Europe in order to fight on Germany’s
 side. Two of them died during the battle of the Somme while one died
 of an unspecified illness.
 **** 1920s and 1930s
 As it was largely unaffected by the Great War, Eittland became an
 important economic partner of the European countries affected by the
 war, especially in terms of reconstruction. This further cemented
 Eittland’s place in European economics. However, the country became
 affected by the Great Depression too. Some twenty thousand Eittlanders
 left Eittland at the time, fifteen thousand of them went to the
 United States while five thousands left for European countries such as
 Norway, Germany, the UK, or France. To this day, Chicago (Michigan,
 USA) is known for hosting the only significant Eittlandic population
 outside Eittland, and second-generation Eittlandic immigrants
 retained their Eittlandic nationality despite most of them never going
 to Eittland.
 **** World War Two (1940-1944)
 In the years leading up to World War Two, Nazi Germany spent great
 efforts to develop a positive relationship with Eittland, mostly due
 to their fascination for ancient Nordic culture and Eittland being the
 only still pagan Nordic country. Eittland’s location would be also of
 great strategic importance in the Atlantic with such a central place,
 with the ability of acting as a relay between Northern America and
 Europe, or as a base of operations allowing for a much greater range
 of action. However, Eittland reaffirmed several times their will to
 remain neutral in any conflict. After war broke out in mainland
 Europe, the United Kingdom, fearing Eittland joining the Axis, offered
 Eittland on January 23rd 1940 to join the Allies in order to not only
 benefit themselves from Eittland’s geographical advantages, but also
 avoid Germany to benefit from it. This proposal was once again
 refused, yet again due to Eittland’s will of staying neutral.
 However, on April 3rd 1940, Germany launched a surprise naval invasion
 of Eittland, landing South of Hylfjaltr. This triggered an immediate
 military response from Eittland, fighting back as they could the
 German army. On the same day, Eittland called for help and joined
 almost immediately the Allies. Three days after the beginning of the
 invasion, British troops and ships arrived in Eittland, attacking the
 German army from the sea while Eittlanders attacked from land. The
 last German soldier surrendered on April 14th, eleven days after the
 beginning of the invasion. Eittland became then a base of operations
 of the Allies in the Atlantic, strengthening their position against
 German U-boats and other warships.
 Fearing a similar fate awaited Iceland, Eittland suggested to the
 United Kingdom a preemptive occupation of the country by themselves.
 Thus, on May 10th 1940, the British and Eittlandic navies invaded
 Iceland, violating their neutrality. However, aside from diplomacy,
 this went without any incident, and while the British army left
 Iceland a year later, the Eittlandic army stayed for protection of the
 country.
 Eittlandic ports played an important part in bringing US warships and
 war material to Europe, especially in the months leading up to D-Day
 and the different landings in the Mediterranean Sea.
 **** Eittland-Iceland Alliance (1948 - present)
 When the war ended in Europe and Iceland gained its independence, a
 referendum was held in both Eittland and Iceland on January 10th 1946
 regarding the potential unification of the two countries, as both were
 already close to one another both geographically and culturally. This
 however never came to pass. In Iceland, 54% of voters voted against
 the unification, while 64% of Eittlandic voters also answered “no”.
 The two countries still entered a close alliance in February 1948,
 Iceland relying on Eittland for military protection while an economic
 alliance was made between both of them. While it evolved in the
 following year inspired by the organizations that preceded the
 European Union, some of its aspects later inspired the creation of the
 Schengen Area some decades later. Iceland and Eittland integrated each
 other’s economy tightly, while their industries interacted with one
 another without any restrictions due to borders or customs. The
 distinction in nationality also became largely irrelevant between the
 two countries: only a few select governmental positions are still
 reserved to the citizens of their birth country, generally linked to
 high military ranks or secret services. It was thus possible for
 citizens of both countries to move freely between Iceland and Eittland
 and live in either country as any of its citizens would while goods
 could also be freely exchanged.
 Thus, in 1965, Páll Jónsson became the first Icelandic citizen elected
 to public office as the Town Master of Eldheim in Western Eittland. In
 May 1982, Bárður Márusson became the first Icelandic citizen to be
 elected to the House of the People, while Valgeir Þórinnson became the
 first Eittlandic citizen to be elected to the Icelandic parliament in
 April 1983.
 **** Computer Sciences Pioneering
 Out of personal interest, the then Co-King of Ðeberget Ragnarr
 Sigurðsbróðr asked the Dean of the Royal University of Eittland
 (/Konunglig Eittlandsuniversitet/) to open as quickly as possible a lab
 focused on the development of computers and computer sciences. While
 the Co-King holds no power and is purely a ceremonial title, the Dean
 obliged and founded the first Eittlandic computer science laboratory,
 the /Konunglig Eittlandsuniversitetitsvétalsráðuneyt/ (litt. “Royal
 Eittland’s University’s Computer Department”), or /Vétalsráðuneyt/ for
 short. This accompanied a new law raising the annual budget allocated
 to universities in Eittland to 9% of the nation’s GDP. As the first
 lab grew in size and became more and more prominent internationally,
 even becoming one of the leading laboratories along with MIT, Bell
 Labs and CERN, numerous other laboratories both public and private
 appeared in Eittland. Nowadays, the /Vétalsráðuneyt/ is still regarded
 as one of the top research laboratories and university department in
 Eittland, and the /Konunglig Eittlandsuniversitet/ often ranks in the
 top five universities in the world regarding computer science.
 What is now known as the Internet is born of a mix of ARPANET, the
 American standard, and Skruggmál, the Eittlandic standard. Eittland
 also became the first country off the coast of the United States to
 become connected to the American continent. It also became the main
 relay between mainland Europe and Northern America with one third of
 internet connections between the continent going through Eittlandic
 servers in 2015, although this number is slowly getting lower, as new
 direct lines between Northern America and Europe are being laid.
 Eittland became one of the first countries to pledge on a national
 level in 1989 to conform to the Unicode standard when it would be
 ready, which came in effect on the publication of the first version of
 its standard on October 1992. The Teknikráðuneyt, the Eittlandic
 Technology Ministry, remained a full voting member of the Unicode
 Consortium from 1991 to 2006 and from 2015 until today. It is through
 its lobby that the first version of the Unicode standard integrated
 runes, Eittland’s official alphabet, and compatibility with the
 =ISO-EI-1a= through =ISO-EI-5c= encoding systems as well as various
 non-standard encoding systems used by minor Eittlandic operating
 systems.
 *** 21st century
 **** Eittland and the European Union (1994-present)
 Although it never applied for membership in the European Union,
 Eittland is still part of the European Economic Area as well as the
 Schengen Area, making it easy for European citizen as well as
 Eittlandic citizens to move freely in Europe. It joined these two
 organizations on their creation, in 1994 and in 1995 respectively,
 after signing both in 1992 and 1985 respectively.
 In 2008, due to the economic crisis and instability of the Eittlandic
 Krúna (*EIK*), discussions opened with the European Parliament to adopt
 the Euro. Brussels accepted the application in 2013 and the Euro
 became the official Eittlandic currency in 2015. Eittlanders have a
 ten years window to convert their Eittlandic Krúna in Euros, which
 will become the sole currency accepted in Eittland starting January
 1st 2026.
 EU membership became an important debate topic in politics after the
 2013 in the Eurozone, however the government sent no official
 membership application to the European Union. Poll estimates paint
 mixed feelings from the Eittlandic people with only a thin margin
 putting either "yes" or "no" in front of the other when asked if
 people would like Eittland to join the EU, as seen below.
 |      |  Yes |   No | Do not know |
 |------+------+------+-------------|
 | 1995 | 40.6 | 34.2 |        25.2 |
 | 1998 | 41.2 | 36.3 |        22.5 |
 | 2001 | 42.3 | 38.9 |        18.8 |
 | 2005 | 43.0 | 40.1 |        16.9 |
 | 2009 | 39.5 | 41.3 |        19.2 |
 | 2010 | 43.4 | 44.3 |        12.3 |
 | 2013 | 45.6 | 44.7 |         9.7 |
 | 2015 | 46.4 | 45.9 |         7.7 |
 | 2020 | 41.5 | 41.7 |        16.8 |
 #+TBLFM: $4=100-($3+$2)
 **** Internet and Computer Boom
 Eittland is home to some of the largest websites in the world,
 considered the European counterpart to the United States’ Silicon
 Valley. Some of its best known websites are Raustr, a podcast and
 blogging platform often compared to a Facebook or VK alternative, as
 well as Sønmek, a video streaming and sharing platform compared to
 YouTube and Twitch.
 An entire governmental department of the Teknikráðuneyt got assigned
 to developing and auditing the Linux kernel in 2011. Although it has
 no official name, it is often referred to as the *pengvinsstyrsamhald*,
 or *Penguins’ Battalion* in English. It was later integrated in a larger
 department dedicated to open source software in general.
 In 2014, the Eittlandic government announced fully switching to free
 and open-source software on all levels of government. This became
 fully effective in 2016, with all software developed for the
 government changing their licence to the GPL-3.0 or AGPL-3.0 licences
 and their source code available on the Teknikráðuneyt’s website.
 ** Political Organization
 *** Kingdoms and Monarchy
 While Eittland is a single country, it hosts two kingdoms: the Kingdom
 of Đeberget in the western part of the country, and the Kingdom of
 Hylfjaltr in its eastern part. This is due to a separation of the
 country in two halves during the reign of Eittland’s second king
 Áleifr I when he realized the difficulties he and the following
 monarchs of the island would face trying to rule the country alone
 while the latter is almost always split in two by active volcanoes.
 Thus, while the two kingdoms operate very independently of each other
 --- each have their own policies on economics, education, industry,
 and so on --- they also operate in cooperation as the Eittlandic High
 Kingdom with the king of Đeberget at its head when it comes to common
 policies, such as military decision and international affairs.
 #+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-political.png">The Two Eittlandic States</ImgFigure>
 This means that while both governments are independent of each other
 and are legally equals to each other, the western monarch is the one
 with the authority to decide on national actions after negotiations
 between them and the eastern monarch. This is reflected by the throne
 rooms found in official buildings such as the royal palaces where
 three thrones can be found: a central, very large throne surrounded by
 two other identical thrones, the right one for the monarch of
 Hylfjaltr and the left one for the king of Đeberget. Most of the time,
 both monarchs sit on their side throne, including when they meet each
 other as the monarchs of Hylfjaltr and Đeberget. However, when the
 monarch of Đeberget is meant to act as the High Monarch of Eittland,
 they step up to the central throne and then represent the country as a
 whole.
 At the end of the reign of the High King, either through abdication or
 their death, his successor is enthroned within a month. Then, within a
 year, the new High King has to appoint a new monarch for Hylfjaltr.
 Traditionally, the new co-ruler is a brother of the current High
 Monarch, however history showed it could be sometimes an uncle, a son,
 a sister or even sometimes a daughter. When the eastern monarch either
 abdicates or dies, the High Monarch has a month to designate a new
 one.
 Up until the 14th century, the monarch of Hylfjaltr was rarely the
 successor of the High Monarch. However, High King Ólafr I changed this
 tradition and created a new one. He named his brother and co-ruler
 King of Eittland and his son Prince of Eittland. From here on, the
 King (or occasionally the Queen) of Eastern Eittland was meant to
 become the new High Monarch of Eittland and make the Prince (or
 occasional Princess) the ruler of Hylfjaltr. Then, once the reign of
 the King ends, the Prince becomes the new High King and nominates a
 new King and a new Prince. This was done to ensure the upcoming High
 Monarch would be prepared in ruling the whole country by first ruling
 the state. If anything were to happen to the Prince or Princess of
 Eittland while the King or Queen of Hylfjaltr is on the throne, they
 would have to nominate a new heir among the other possible heirs
 possible for the late High Monarch.
 When the High Monarchs steps up to the central throne, they may
 designate someone to fill in the role of the monarch of Đeberget for
 the time being. They can also authorize the monarch of Hylfjaltr to do
 so in case they are unavailable and someone needs to represent the
 country in front of foreign representatives. The last example was
 during the two last years of Eríkr V’s reign from 1987 to 1989 when he
 could not act as High King due to his illness. While he did not
 abdicate, he authorized king Harald III to act as High King while he
 appointed his daughter and present-day High Queen Njall III as the
 acting monarch of Đeberget.
 *** Regions and Jarldoms
 While each kingdom is ruled by a monarch and the country is ruled by
 the High Monarch, the kingdoms are divided into several kinds of
 subdivisions. The most common one is the jarldom, historically ruled
 by and still represented by a jarl during ceremonies. “Jarl”
 translates as “Earl” in English, and they were the nobles in charge of
 managing parts of the land in the name of the ruler.
 #+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-provinces.png">Eittlandic Provinces</ImgFigure>
 Some parts of the land are directly under the control of the crown,
 such as the districts of Đeberget and Hylfjaltr, which the ruler ruled
 without intermediaries. They are the private possessions of the family
 of the rulers.
 On top of this the centre of the island is divided in territories, one
 administered by the government of Đeberget and two by the government
 of Hylfjaltr. These territories are supposedly not inhabited by anyone
 and are currently natural parks. This is mostly where you can find the
 mountains and volcanoes of Eittland as well as its cold deserts.
 Due to the Last Royal Decree of 1826, jarls no longer rule their
 jarldom themselves any more. Instead, a local elected government takes
 care of this role now.
 *** Governments
 **** Monarchy and Things
 The first form of government created in Eittland revolved around
 Things (/þing/ in Eittlandic), assemblies of varying size occasionally
 created at various levels of the state to decide on important matters,
 with the Althing being the highest Thing to exist in Eittland. The
 Things allow at first any adult man to participate, but as the
 population grew some restrictions were put in place in order to limit
 the amount of participants. Only one man could represent a household
 starting from 982. Then, starting from 998, only jarls were allowed to
 the ruler’s Thing, and only ten jarls from each kingdom, elected among
 all the jarls from the same kingdom, would be allowed to attend the
 High Monarch’s Thing. These jarls would then act as representatives of
 the kingdom to the High King and his counsellors.
 In 1278, the first formal ministry (or department) was created in the
 Ðeberget Kingdom, called a /Ráðuneyt/ (litt. “fellowship of
 counsellors”) with a /Ráðunautr/ at its head, to aid the King Hallþórr V
 Gunhildson’s in administering agriculture. The Hylfjaltr Kingdom soon
 followed, creating its own in 1283 by order of Eyvindr III
 Steingrímson. From then, ráðuneyts were created as needed with a
 growing number.
 **** Constitutional Monarchy
 In 1826, fearing the revolutionary climate in mainland Europe, Ólafr V
 passed the appropriately named “Last Royal Decree” in 1826. This act
 put in place a new form of government based on the British monarchy.
 The king transfers all the royal power from the rulers of Đeberget and
 Hylfjaltr to the House of the People and the House of the Land (the
 equivalent of the lower and upper Houses respectively). The House of
 the People is composed of men elected during general elections every
 eight years. It was decided for each jarldom and district, one
 representative would be elected plus another one for each percentage
 of the population of the kingdom the jarldom represents.
 A similar system was created for jarldoms in order to replace jarls
 with locally elected governments, as well as the organization of
 municipalities.
 At first only male landowner of the Nordic Faith could vote and could
 be elected. In 1886, all men of the Nordic Faith got the right to vote
 and be elected in the general elections. In 1902, women gained the
 right to vote, and they gained the right to be elected in 1915. The
 law that allowed women to vote also made the authorities stop
 enforcing the restriction on the faith of the participants --- while
 the original texts of 1826 and 1886 were clear on the fact only men of
 the Nordic Faith were allowed to vote and be elected, women had no
 such restriction making it unclear if it only applied to women or if
 this restriction was revoked for everyone. Organizers of the next
 elections in 1905 chose not to enforce this religious restriction and
 ever since then. In 1998, Queen Njall III exceptionally used her
 powers of High Queen to pass a law to clarify this issue and formally
 make Eittland a non-religious country. This also removed the long
 unenforced ban on other religions in Eittland.
 Note that while the rulers of Đeberget and Hylfjaltr have lost all
 their power with the “Last Royal Decree”, the High Monarch remained
 unaffected by the text though they act and are expected to act as if
 it were the case. To replace them, the eastern and western governments
 elect a single national representative meant to act as the head of
 both states instead of the High Monarch who now holds only a
 ceremonial position. However, it happens from time to time the High
 Monarch passes a law, although they only write down in the law already
 well established traditions, such as the ban on the religious
 restrictions for voters which had not been enforced for almost a
 century by that point.
 Today, Ráðuneyts still exist, but their head is no longer designated
 by the monarch but by the head of the House of the People. Here is the
 list of Ministries that exist in Eittland in 2022:
 - /Bærráðuneyt/ :: Agriculture Ministry
 - Dæmaráðuneyt :: Justice Ministry
 - Erlendslandsráðuneyt :: Foreign Affair Ministry
 - Fræðiráðuneyt :: Education Ministry
 - Heilsráðuneyt :: Health Ministry
 - Konungdómráðuneyt :: Kingdom’s Ministry (State Affairs)
 - Náttúrráðuneyt :: Nature Ministry (including ecology)
 - Rógráðuneyt :: War Ministry
 - Teknikráðuneyt :: Technology Ministry
 - Kaupráðuneyt :: Economy Ministry
 - Vinnaráðuneyt :: Employment Ministry
 With the separation of the State with its religious departments
 following the law of 1998, the /Heiðniráðuneyt/ (the Heathendom
 Department) became an entity separate from the Government. Its
 Ráðunautr used to be exceptionally appointed by the House of the Land,
 unlike the rest of Ráðunautrs.
 * Private Data                                                     :noexport:
 #+name: eittland-religions
 |    / |           < |         |                    |              |          |       |
 | Year | Norse Faith | Atheism | Church of Eittland | Christianity | Buddhism | Other |
 |------+-------------+---------+--------------------+--------------+----------+-------|
 | 1900 |          97 |       0 |                  2 |            1 |        0 |     0 |
 | 1950 |          93 |       2 |                  2 |            1 |        0 |     2 |
 | 1975 |          84 |       7 |                  3 |            1 |      0.5 |   4.5 |
 | 2000 |          76 |      12 |                  3 |            1 |        4 |     4 |
 | 2019 |          69 |      18 |                  3 |            1 |        6 |     3 |
 #+name: nationality-religious-refugees
 | Country           | Percentage |
 |-------------------+------------|
 | France            |         36 |
 | Holy Roman Empire |         24 |
 | Scandinavia       |         22 |
 | United Kingdom    |         14 |
 | Others            |          4 |