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806 lines
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Org Mode
#+title: The Country of Eittland
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#+setupfile: ../headers
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* The Country of Eittland
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** Eittlandic Geography
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Eittland is an active volcanic island. In its center we can find the
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most active volcanoes, surrounded by glaciers and some regular
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mountains. It is surrounded by some taiga, taiga plains covered mainly
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by ashen pines (/pinus fraxinus/), and a large cold desert covering most
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of the center of the island and its northern eastern part. Outside
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this largely unpopulated region, Eastern Eittland mainly consists of
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grasslands with some temperate rainforests on its southern shores as
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well as some occasional wetland and marshes. On the other hand,
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Western Eittland has a lot more temperate deciduos forests, temperate
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rainforests and some more wetlands and marshes still. Three small cold
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deserts spawn in Western Eittland, including one north-east of
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Đeberget not far from the city. More details can be found in the map
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below. Overall, the southern and western parts of Eittland can be
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compared to Scotland in terms of temperatures, or a warmer Iceland.
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#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-biomes.png">Biomes of the Eittlandic Island</ImgFigure>
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Eastern Eittland is also recognizable by its great amount of flat
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shorelines, especially in its northern and eastern parts which are part
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of the more recent paths of lava flows. On the other hand, its few
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fjords and the numerous fjords found in the western part of the island
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are characteristic of much older parts of Eittland. The Fjord
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themselves were formed during the last ice age, while the smoother
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shore lines formed since. Western Eittland also has two main bays
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which are two very old caldeira volcanoes. It is not known whether
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they will be one day active again or not.
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** Culture
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The Eittlandic people share a common basis for their culture which
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remained rather conservative for much longer than the other nordic
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people due to its resistance towards Christianity conversion. The
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number of people adhering to Norse beliefs remained very high through
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the ages and only recently began declining, going from 93% of
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Eittlanders declaring themselves follower of the Norse Faith in 1950
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to 68% in 2019. This decline is also due to either people converting
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to a religion or due to the immigration boom from the last seventy
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years, though the main reason is the decline in people identifying to
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any faith at all --- the number of atheists went from only 2% of
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Eittlanders in 1940 to 15% in 2019. The evolution of the religious
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population is shown in the chart below, and a geographical
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distribution of these in 2019 can be found in the map following the
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chart --- note that only the main religion is shown in a particular
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area and religions with fewer people in said area are not shown. You
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can also see on said map the population repartition of Eittland.
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#+headers: :cache yes :exports none :eval no-export
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#+begin_src gnuplot :file img/eittlandic/religions.png :var data=eittland-religions
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set title "Religions in Eittland since 1950"
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set title boxed offset 0,0 font ",15"
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set key invert reverse Left outside
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set yrange [0:100]
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set grid y
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set ylabel "Percentage"
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set border 3
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set style data histograms
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set style histogram rowstacked
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set style fill solid border -1
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set boxwidth 1
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plot data u 2:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Norse Faith', \
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data u 3:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Atheism', \
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data u 4:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Church of Eittland', \
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data u 5:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Christianity', \
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data u 6:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Buddhism', \
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data u 7:xticlabels(1) axis x1y1 title 'Other'
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#+end_src
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#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/religions.png">Religious Evolution of Eittland Since 1900</ImgFigure>
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#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-religion.png">Religious population of Eittland in 2019</ImgFigure>
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There is also a regional cultural difference between Western, Eastern,
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and Southern Eittland marked with some differences in traditions and
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language. There is currently a nationalist movement in Southern
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Eittland to create a new state within the Kingdom of Eittland. The
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repartition of the different eittlandic cultures is shown in the map
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below.
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#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/map-cultural.png">Cultural Map of Eittland</ImgFigure>
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Standard Eittlandic is a relatively young language, created in the
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1960s by the government in order to create a standard dialect to
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facilitate communications between Eittlanders and make learning the
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language easier. Standard Eittlandic is now enforced as the /de facto/
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legal language of the High Kingdom of Eittland, used by its
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government, schools, and universities, but the local dialects are
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still widely spoken privately and in business which remains regional.
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They still have a strong presence in popular media and are still
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spoken by younger generations, however, a decline has been registered
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since the 90s among young people living in cities, speaking more and
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more in Standard Eittlandic instead. Dialects are also rarely used on
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the internet outside private conversation. An estimate of 17% of
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the Eittlandic population younger than 25 in 2017 do not speak any
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dialectal Eittlandic outside of Standard Eittlandic, although only 2%
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of them do not understand their family’s dialectal Eittlandic.
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Standard Eittlandic also became the default dialect for Eittlandic
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communities living outside Eittland --- in these communities the
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inability of speaking other dialects rise to 61% while the ability to
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understand them rises to 25% among Eittlanders younger than 25 in 2018
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and who still have Eittlandic as their mother tongue.
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It is estimated only 0.05% of people living in Eittland do not speak
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any Eittlandic dialect, all of them being immigrants or children of
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immigrants. It is therefore safe to say Eittlandic is still going
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strong and does not face any risk of disappearing anytime soon,
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although we might be at the start of the decline of the historical
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dialects of Eittland in favor of Standard Eittlandic.
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In this document, you will see references to both Standard Eittlandic
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and Modern Eittlandic. Although some people use the terms
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interchangeably, they are not. /Standard Eittlandic/ refers to the
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official dialect described above, while /Modern Eittlandic/ refers to
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all modern dialects of Eittlandic. This document focuses on Modern
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Eittlandic in general, and when details about specific dialects are
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given, the name of said dialect will be shared.
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** Name of the Country
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The origins of the name of Eittland are unclear, two main theories
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exist regarding its etymology.
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The first theory says the root of the name of “Eittland” is the
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accusative of /einn/ (Old Norse /one/, /alone/) and /land/ (Old Norse /country/,
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/land/). This is due to how remote it seemed to the people who
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discovered, before Iceland and Greenland were known. Hence, a possible
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translation of “Eittland” can be /Lonely Land/. The term “Eittlandic” is
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relatively transparent considering the term “Icelandic” for “Iceland”
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and “Greenlandic” for “Greenland”.
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However, the second but least probable theory is the island is named
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after /eitr/, a mythical poison from which the first Jøtunn Ymir was
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created. Eittland’s waters near the volcanoes containing high amounts
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of sulfur, a poison, could be what named the island. This association
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with poison, as well as the association to the place where it was
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found, /Ginnungagap/, could have acted as a deterrent to prevent people
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outsiders from coming.
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This last theory’s first recorded mention is from the 18th century,
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while the first theory appears to be much older, and therefore much
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more likely. It is possible the latter was thought of as a way to
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re-invigorate Eittland’s identity as a pagan country unlike its other
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Nordic counterparts, maybe even as a fearsome country.
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Although the country is known as Eittland, the island itself bears a
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few other names. Early records show the island being referred to as
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/Vestrheim/ by early settlers, meaning /West Home/, and its inhabitants
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being referred to as /Vestrheiming/ and /Vestrheimingjar/ (singular and
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plural respectively). Around the same time, settlers living closer to
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the mountains would also call the inner lands /Fjallheim/, meaning
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/Mountain Home/, which stuck until now as a name for the Northwestern
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peninsula of Eittland. Lastly, the name /Eldøy/, /Fire Island/, was used
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to refer both to Eittland and Iceland due to their volcanic activity.
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Nowadays, the name morphed into /Eldfjall/ to refer to the volcanic
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cluster at the center of the Island.
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** History
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*** Early Eittlandic History (late 8th century - 14th century)
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According to historical records, Eittland was first found in 763 by
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Norwegian explorers. Its first settlement appeared in 782 on its
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eastern shores with hopes of finding new farmland. The population grew
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rapidly after the discovery of the southern shores, and in 915
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Eittland became self-governing with Ásmundr Úlfsonn declared the first
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Eittlandic king. However, in order to avoid any unnecessary conflicts,
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the new king swore allegiance to the Norwegian king Harald I
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Halfdansson. Eittland thus became a vassal state to the Norwegian
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crown while retaining autonomy from it, which was granted due to the
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distance between the two countries.
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Shortly after however, the beginning of the christianisation of the
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nordic countries and especially of Norway created a new immigration
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boost in Eittland with norsemen seeking a pagan land untouched by
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christian faith. In 935, a year after Haakon I Haraldsson became king
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of Norway and began trying to introduce Christianity to its people,
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the newly crowned king Áleifr I Ásmundson of Eittland adopted a new
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law forbidding the Christian faith to be imported, promoted, and
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practiced in Eittland. This decision forever weakened the alliance
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between the two countries and detariorated their relationship.
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As more and more people in Eittland were moving to its western part
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due to larger opportunities with its farmlands, king Áleifr I chose in
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936 to move the capital of Eittland from Hylfjaltr to Đeberget and
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split in half the country. He appointed his brother Steingrímr, later
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known as Steingrímr I Áleifsbróðr, as his co-ruler and gave him
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authority over Eastern Eittland while he kept ruling himself over
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Western Eittland. This choice is due to the difficulty of going from
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one side of the island to the other by land --- lava often flows from
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volcanoes to the shores and destroy paths joining the two parts
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together. This gave birth to the two states of the Kingdom of Đeberget
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(also called the /Western Eittlandic Kingdom/) and the Kingdom of
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Hylfjaltr (also called the /Eastern Eittlandic Kingdom/). More on that
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in [[file:country.md#Political-Organization][Political Organization]].
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*** Crusades and Independence (13th century - 1400)
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As soon as the 13th century, and through the 14th century, the
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Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order, backed by the Holy Roman
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Empire, proposed crusades against Eittland to get rid of its norse
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faith. However, these never came to be due to the distance between
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Eittland and mainland Europe, despite the papal authorisations in
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1228, 1257, 1289, 1325, and 1367.
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In 1397, the creation of the Kalmar Union kicked a new crusade, this
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time backed by the Union itself as well as the Teutonic Order --- Eric
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of Pomerania aimed to unify his country both religiously by getting
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rid of the norse faith in Eittland and politically by getting rid of
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its established monarchy. A contingent sailed to Eittland to submit
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the island, however they were met with fierce resistance by the locals
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on arrival. Estimates show that while some 2,400 Eittlandic people
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died during this first invasion, most of the 3,000 men sent were
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either killed or taken prisoners.
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In 1398, a new contingent of 12,000 men landed in Eittland. This time,
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a much more prepared army of 14,000 men faced them on a battlefield
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east of the eastern capital of Hyfjaltr. This resulted in an
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Eittlandic victory, however the Monarch of Hylfjaltr Eiríkr IV
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Ásgeirsbróðr lost his life during the battle. Coincidentally, the High
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King Ásgeirr I Biœrgson died of unknown causes around the same time.
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Historians still debate whether it is due to the ongoing conflict, and
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if it is by whom. Theories range from poisoning by spies from the
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Kalmar Union, to assassination by the next rulers, to a much more
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simple, unknown health condition which coincided with the ongoing
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events.
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During the same year, the Althing elected Arvid I Geirson as the new
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High King who nominated his brother Havardr I Arvidbróðr as the
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Monarch of Hylfjaltr. While the previous monarchs took a more
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defensive approach, they chose to become much more aggressive,
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striving for independence. After demands were sent to the Kalmar
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Union, Eittland began a series of raids on its territories, ranging
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from Iceland to the Faroese Islands to even two raids in Norway and
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Denmark. These raids only aimed trade and military ships but severely
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handicaped the Union’s marine.
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On September 17th, 1400 High King Arvid Geirson of Eittland and King
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Erik of the Kalmar Union met in Reykjavík to sign the Treaty of
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Reykjavík, during which the Kalmar Union recognized the independence
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of Eittland and renounced its claims to the island. On the other hand,
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Eittland ceeded its Greenlandic colonies to the Kalmar Union. Both
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parties agreed to end the hostilities towards one another.
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While the Union no longer launched any crusades against Eittland, the
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Teutonic Order attempted to land again in 1407 with 4,000 men.
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Although the Kingdom of Hylfjaltr took a devastating blow during the
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initial days of the crusade, loosing well over 6,000 men, the invaders
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were ultimately defeated thanks to reinforcement from the Kingdom of
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Ðeberget. This marked the end of crusades in Eittland.
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*** The Absolute Monarchy (1400 - late 1700s)
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Once independent, Eittland quickly became isolated among the European
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nations due as it was percieved as a pagan nation by the rest of the
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continent. For over a century, the country had to be almost entirely
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self-sufficient. This lead to a more in-depth survey of the resources
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of the land launched in 1421. Large quantities of iron were discovered
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in 1432 in Western Eittland in the geologically older parts of the
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island as well as copper and some gold.
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Unfortunately for the island, no coal deposit ever got found, the
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islanders turned to charcoal instead. During the following century, an
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important deforestation of Eittland took place until the royal decree
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of 1542 was proclaimed in order to protect the forests. It ruled that
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for each tree felled in the next hundred years, four shall be planted,
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and only one once the period ended. The only exceptions were for
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creating new pastures with the condition of the request being
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submitted and accepted by the local Jarl and its government.
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The discovery of important marble deposits in the geologically more
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recent parts of the island in 1512 was the event that reopened trades
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with the continent. England was the first country to openly trade with
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Eittland, swiftly followed by states from the Holy Roman Empire and
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other protestant countries. The country became famous for its pure
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white and green marble, which became its emblem. Walking in the
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streets of major cities today, we can still see most of the monuments
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and buildings from during that era made of marble. It is particularly
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the case in Hylfjaltr, known by the nickname of “The White City” due
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to the sheer amount of monuments made of ouf this material.
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It is around this time religious wars broke out in mainland Europe,
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and war refugees coming at first from Scandinavia and soon enough from
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all Northern and Western Europe came to Eittland to seek refuge. They
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were accepted on the condition never to try and spread their religion
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on the island with the risk of expulsion back to continental Europe.
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At the time, the influx of refugees represented around one percent of
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its total population, with about two thirds of it being protestants
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and the rest catholics. The local protestant population officially
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founded in 1587 the Church of Eittland.
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You can find in the chart below a breakdown of the various countries
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and regions religious refugees came from. Although Scandinavia was one
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of the first regions to take refuge in Eittland, most refugees came
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from the Holy Roman Empire and from France where religious wars were
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particularly violent. It is estimated most of the Protestant
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population of Eittland are mainly from French descent, while the HRE’s
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and Scandinavian population came with mixes of Christians and
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Protestants. On the other hand most, if not all, of the English
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population was Christian.
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#+header: :exports none :eval no-export
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#+header: :file img/eittlandic/religious-refugees.png :cache yes
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#+begin_src gnuplot :var data=nationality-religious-refugees
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set title "Country of Origin of Religious Refugees"
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set title boxed offset 0,-3 font ",15"
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set style fill solid border lt -1
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set style textbox opaque noborder
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set boxwidth 1.0 absolute
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unset key
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set yrange [0:45]
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set grid y
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set ylabel "Percentage"
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set border 3
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set style data histograms
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set style histogram cluster gap 1
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set style fill solid border -1
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set boxwidth 0.9
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set xtic rotate by -45 scale 0
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plot data u 2:xtic(1)
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#+end_src
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#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/eittlandic/religious-refugees.png">Breakdown of the country or region of origin of religious refugees in the 1500s</ImgFigure>
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With the beginning of coloniolization of Northern America, Eittland
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became a naval hotspot. Its position allowed ships to cut in half
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their journey if necessary and replenish their supplies. England and
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the Netherlands were the first countries to halt in Eittland for such
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reasons, participating in an important economic boom in the early 16th
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century on a national scale. France later joined this trade route
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starting in 1619 when going to their colonies in modern-day Canada.
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On the 30th of March 1775, England demanded from Eittland a port to be
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used as a military port as part of their war effort during the
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American revolution. Eittland refused these demands, invoking a
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neutrality concerning the ongoing conflict. In response, England sent
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an ultimatum, asking the port of Vátrsteinn to be their military base.
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On Eittland’s second refusal, England declared war and launched a land
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invasion of the island. The general in charge of the invasion, Sir
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Andrew Sapping, decided to avoid landing in fjords, judging it too
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risky and prone to ambushes. Instead, English troops landed in the
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flatlands west of Vátrsteinn. While eittlandic troops were massing in
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the nearby town of Vestrfjoðarkjapt, a volcano erupted into a
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pyroclastic flow. The English landing site being on its path, half of
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the invading English forces were immediately wiped out, and two thirds
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of their vessels were badly dammaged or destroyed. Immediately after
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this, Sir Sapping surrendered to the Eittlandic troops which were
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captured as prisonners of war. Due to this defeat and the sudden
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reduction in available men and ships in the English army, the Treaty
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of Hylfjaltr was signed on the 25 of May of the same year. While
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England recognized its defeat, Eittland promised not to intervene on
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any side in the current rebellion of the American colonies (which was
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not the intent of Eittland in the first place).
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After the independence of the United States of America, Eittland not
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only retained its status as a maritime hotspot but also boomed as one
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between Northern America and Europe. Its ports of Kóparvall and
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Tvinnár, near Ðeberget and Hylfjaltr respectively, became the two
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major ports in Eittland, with Tvinnár generally favoured by ships
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coming from Europe and Kóparvall favoured by ships coming from
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Northern America.
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*** Industrial Revolution and Constitutional Monarchy (18th century)
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By the beginning of the 18th century, Eittland begins to heavily
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industrialize out of a need for larger and more effective ports,
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requiring themselves lots of various machinery and base materials.
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Mines in Western Eittland became much more active, extracting primary
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resources such as iron, aluminum and other precious metals.
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Due to a lack of coal in the Eittlandic island, the country had to buy
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it from other countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States
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or modern-day Canada. Coal stayed the primary source of power in
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Eittland for most of the century up to around the 1880s when Eittland
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found deposits off its Eastern coast. Oil extraction remains to this
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day a significant part of the Eittlandic economy, although in decline
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due to the deposits progressively drying up.
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Industrial development mostly happen in Eastern Eittland due to its
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flatter terrain compared to Western Eittland. Primary resources
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extracted from Western Eittland were primarily brought to factories by
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boat; although the country pushed towards building train tracks, the
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eastern and western parts of the country remained separated due to the
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frequent eruptions of the volcanoes in the central part of the island
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cutting off any attempt to link the two regions.
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Fishing also developped as a significant activity in Eittland, most of
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its products was sold within Eittland for its people and only a small
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portion became available for international market. Nonetheless,
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Eittlandic fish slowly built a reputation of quality and became sought
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after by Northern American and Western European elites. In 1895, fish
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and seafood exports represented 35.3% of Eittland’s exports.
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In 1826, the country underwent a change in its government, going from
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an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. More details in
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[[file:./country.md#constitutional-monarchy][Constitutional Monarchy]].
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*** 20th Century, World Wars, and Europe
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||
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 Niallsdóttr 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 Kindom, 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 Atlandic, 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 Mediteranean 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 organisations that preceeded 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 largly 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 firts 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 proeminent 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
|
||
organisations 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’ Sillicon
|
||
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 developping and auditing the Linux kernel in 2011. Although it has
|
||
no official name, it is often referred to as the *pengvinsstyrsamhald*,
|
||
or *Penguins’ Batallion* 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 license to the GPL-3.0 or AGPL-3.0 licenses
|
||
and their source code available on the Teknikráðuneyt’s website.
|
||
|
||
** Political Organisation
|
||
*** 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 Eittlands 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 internrational
|
||
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 IX’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 center 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 anymore. 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 Eyvindor 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 organisation 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 Siv I 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 |
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| Holy Roman Empire | 24 |
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| Scandinavia | 22 |
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| United Kingdom | 14 |
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| Others | 4 |
|