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The Principality of Sil Dorsett
CAPTIAL: Norvalle
LARGEST CITY: Norvalle (335,681)
ANTHEM: Land of Our Fathers
POPULATION (2021): 2,093,405
DENSITY: 77.04 inhabitants per sq. km
AREA: 27,172 sq. km
DEMONYM: Silien
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Santonian (Silienne dialect)
OTHER RECOGNIZED LANGUAGES: Mercanti
GOVERNMENT SYSTEM: Semi-constitutional monarchy
HEAD of STATE: Princess Claidie
HEAD of GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Madeline Ellison
LEGISLATURE: The Chamber of Law
JUDICIARY: The High Court of the Principality
CURRENCY: Sil Dorsettian Livre (SDL)
CAPTIAL: Norvalle
LARGEST CITY: Norvalle (335,681)
ANTHEM: Land of Our Fathers
POPULATION (2021): 2,093,405
DENSITY: 77.04 inhabitants per sq. km
AREA: 27,172 sq. km
DEMONYM: Silien
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Santonian (Silienne dialect)
OTHER RECOGNIZED LANGUAGES: Mercanti
GOVERNMENT SYSTEM: Semi-constitutional monarchy
HEAD of STATE: Princess Claidie
HEAD of GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Madeline Ellison
LEGISLATURE: The Chamber of Law
JUDICIARY: The High Court of the Principality
CURRENCY: Sil Dorsettian Livre (SDL)
Sil Dorsett, officially the Principality of Sil Dorsett (Santonian: Principauté de Sil Dorsett) is a country in southeastern Craviter. The principality is home to approximately two million one-hundred thousand residents. The official languages are Mercanti and a local dialect of Santonian called Silienne.
With an area of 27,172 square kilometers, the principality is one of the smaller nations of the world. With a population density of 75.5 inhabitants per square kilometer, the Sil Dorsett is a moderately populated area nationwide, although the density varies from being sparsely populated in the western half of the nation, to being crowded in the east, especially around the capital city.
Sil Dorsett is governed by a co-monarchy. Officially, Princess Claidie is recognized as the senior princess and head of state, with her sister Princess Alice serving as a junior princess. Despite this distinction and slightly differing roles, Claidie and Alice both have considerable and comparable political clout. Although technically considered constitutional monarchs serving mostly symbolic roles, they are not widely considered to be only symbolic monarchs. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Madeline Ellison, who is in her second term.
The name of the nation and many of the political and governmental aspects are directly named after the ruling Dorsett family; the government is referred to as the Dorsettian government, and the nation's first currency was the Setti before renaming it to the Livre in the mid-1800s. Other aspects refer back to the people of the Duchy of Sillanais, which was once a constituent part of the Kingdom of Saintonge until the year 1583. The people are referred to as the Silien people, and their language is the aforementioned Silienne.
Early History
This section needs expansion with: history from 1601 to 2016. (July 2023)
Main article: Saintonge and the ruling family of Sil Dorsett
The principality formed out of the Sillanais Trading Scheme, which established a trading post city in Craviter called Norvalle in the year 1505. Following the loss of the the city of Bâle in 1583 in the Bastard's War to King Francis II, Duke Jean-Philippe of Sillans refused to recognize Francis II as king and fled to Norvalle, later receiving letters patent from his cousin, the deposed King Archambault V, naming him as Regent of Saintonge with the title of Prince. Prince Jean-Philippe would remain loyal to Archambault's line all the way to its extinction and his own death. His son, Martin, would assume the title of Prince and declare the Norvalle trading post and surrounding areas under his family's control as an independent nation in 1601.
Government
Sil Dorsett has been governed by a monarchy since its formation as an independent country in 1601. The head of state is the senior[1] Princess of Sil Dorsett, who until 2017 effectively ruled as an absolute monarch. Following the 2017 political reforms, the monarchy was converted into a co-monarchy, with two individuals sharing political power, and their rule being less absolute.
The executive branch consists of the Prime Minister as the head of government, who presides over a cabinet of ministers. Prior to 2017, Prime Ministers served until either the death or abdication of the monarch, their own death or resignation, or their dismissal by the monarch. Today, Prime Ministers have a fixed six-year term and are directly elected by a nationwide plurality vote. Prime Ministers earn a yearly salary of 300,000 Livres (approx 130,000 IBU).
The legislative branch composition has changed rapidly in recent years. In 2017, the bicameral system was removed and a unicameral Chamber of Law (interchangeably referred to as Parliament) consisting of forty-one members was constructed, of which twenty-eight members were elected and thirteen members were hereditary peers who technically served at the pleasure of the co-Princesses, although more commonly for life. The twenty-eight elected members were chosen under mixed-member proportional rules, where fourteen won their seats by plurality vote in their legislative district, and the other fourteen being allocated their seats so that the overall allocation better resembled the nationwide votes for each party. In late 2023, the unelected peers were removed from the legislature, while the rest of the composition remained the same.
Under the 2017 princely decree that reformed the political system, legislation and decrees needed support from both the monarchy and the elected. Legislation or decrees required a majority of affirmative votes, with each of the co-Princesses holding one vote, the Prime Minister holding one vote, and the Chamber of Law as a whole casting one vote determined by a majority vote within the chamber.
In early 2023, this was updated so that the Chamber of Law was allocated a number of votes based on the margin of victory, with a simple majority being worth one vote, a two-thirds majority being worth two votes, and a unanimous decision being worth three votes, meaning that a unanimous decision by the Chamber of Law could stop a decree from the Princesses and the Prime Minister.
Months later, after the peers were removed from the Chamber of Law, passage by a majority of the Chamber of Law, the Prime Minister, and at least one of the two co-monarchs became necessary, though the Chamber of Law could override the veto of the Prime Minister and/or a co-monarch by a two-thirds majority. The concept of princely decree was abolished.
The co-monarchs generally pass legislation that made it through scrutiny by the Chamber of Law and the Prime Minister. While they do reserve the right to attempt a veto, it is not ordinarily exercised.
At the local level, each of the principality's seventy-nine townships are presided over by a mayor, and the manner in which the townships operate their own government vary.
[1]:The words "senior" and "junior" are not part of the title of the two Princesses of Sil Dorsett. They only distinguish between the individual with the longer tenure from the one with the shorter tenure.
Defence and Law Enforcement
The Sil Dorsettian Defence Force (Forces de Défense de Sil Dorsett) is the national military force of the principality, under the command of the senior Princess of Sil Dorsett. Sil Dorsett has an army of approximately 8,500 soldiers responsible for both land and air defense, and a coast guard of approximately 2,000 sailors. Both the army and coast guard rely heavily on purchases of surplus and decommissioned machinery, such as tanks and ships, from other countries. The coast guard's flagship, the SDS Solidarity, was previously the HMS Nordstrøm (FS 210) when operated by the Goyanean Navy. Small arms, such as rifles and handguns, are purchased from both domestic and foreign manufacturers, with the Andrennian-made Sprekker GS m/02 series favored amongst infantrymen.
The FDSD is supplemented by local chartered militia groups, of which membership in is highly encouraged and promoted. To maintain their charter, militias conduct monthly training drills under the supervision of an army officer. Survival training and gun safety courses are required for graduation from advanced education, and urban and asymmetrical warfare tactics classes are commonly offered to 17-18 year-olds and university students.
Law enforcement is the primarily the responsibility of various independent municipal police departments, who are supported by the National Police (Police Nationale), the latter of which is under the purview of the Ministry of Justice. While most municipalities have their own independent police force, the National Police patrols smaller communities that do not have them. The National Police are also responsible for patrolling, initiating traffic stops, and responding to emergencies and incidents on major highways. All police units are permitted to carry firearms, but only local police in major cities and the National Police themselves have sufficient funding for heavy assault and riot control teams.
Geography
This section needs expansion with: additional information on lakes and rivers (July 2023)
Sil Dorsett is a unitary state divided into thirteen cities and sixty-six townships, located on Argent Sea in Craviter. It is bordered by Arrandal to the southwest, Mintoria to the north, and the Argent Sea to the east. It has an area of 27,172 square kilometers, making it one of the smaller nations of the world. The country has a land border of approximately 680 kilometers and a coastline of 268 kilometers.
The highest point in the country is the peak of Mount Simca, located in Toules Township, just inside the border with Mintoria. The lowest point is the Argent Sea.
The thirteen cities and sixty-six townships are divided into fourteen administrative districts, with Norvalle having two districts, referred to as Upper Norvalle and Lower Norvalle, and each of the other twelve cities and their surrounding townships composing the other twelve districts.
Climate
Sil Dorsett has a temperate climate, with temperature extremes being rare. Summers are moderately rainy with temperatures in the high-20s °C (low-80s °F) to low-30s °C (high-80s °F). Winters are generally dry, with occasional rain or snow, with snow appearing more commonly in the western part of the nation, where elevation is higher, away from the coastline Temperatures in winter fall to -5 to +5 °C (high 20s to low 40s °F). Snowstorms generating more than 5 centimeters of ground cover are rare in the eastern third of the nation.
Economy
Sil Dorsett has an GDP nominal per capita at IBU 39,477. It has an unemployment rate of 6.3%. The western two-thirds of the nation consists mostly of farmland, forests, and a mountain range along the Mintorian border as well as in the center of the nation's territory.
The nation's top agricultural products are wheat, corn, cotton, and lumber. The mountains are rich in iron and copper ore, along with smaller amounts of gold and uranium, all of which are being extensively mined. The largest industries in the manufacturing sector are the automotive, pharmaceutical, and electronic component industries. Smaller companies manufacture various trade goods and luxury items, including furniture, designer clothing, cast-iron cookware, watches and jewelry. Near the coast and in larger population centers, the service sector is more prominent, with tourism, banking and insurance, and information technology being notable industries.
Gambling is legal and is a major source of income from tourism, with casinos both owned by private entities as well as the ruling Dorsett family, with revenue generated offsetting a small portion of needed tax revenue.
Income taxes are applied progressively across seven tax brackets, with no taxes being applied for the first 20,000 Livres earned per year, followed by brackets of 6%, 9%, 13%, 17%, 22%, and 28%. A 12% social insurance payroll tax is also applied to the first 250,000 Livres earned per year, half of which is paid by the employer. Sales tax is a flat 6% principality-wide, except for an additional 0.5% applied by the Norvalle city government. Corporations pay a flat 9% tax on revenue.
Population
Sil Dorsett's total population in 2022 was 2,093,405. A majority of the population is descended from trading post settlers from Saintonge, though the principality has a relaxed immigration policy intended to encourage heterogeneity and diversity. Citizens of Sil Dorsett are referred to as Silienne, and those descended from ethnic Santonians are also referred to as the same. Callisean expatriates make up a significant portion of the population, and other ethnic groups significantly represented include Esthursian, Mintorian, Arrandi, Shaddaist, Aydini, Avancenic, and Jin Arianese
The main languages of Sil Dorsett are Silienne, a dialect of Santonian, and Mercanti. Both are taught in equal levels in school, and both appear on government forms and road signage.
Religion
Sil Dorsett does not have an official state religion. As of 2022, 74% of citizens adhere to some religion. Messianists comprise the majority of religious adherents, with Courantism being the dominant denomination, especially in the east. A wide range of independent, non-denominational churches exist, especially in the rural west, and outnumber all other denominations besides Courantism. The Kamerite Church also has a significant presence in the nation and has two temples, the western temple in Landereau and the eastern temple in Norvalle. Shaddaism is the largest non-Messianist religious group, followed by Mehrabiism.
Sports
This section needs expansion with: additional information on Hockey and other sports not mentioned. (July 2023)
Motorsport is the most popular form of competition in the principality and includes a wide range of disciplines, including single-seaters, grand touring cars, and rallying. The Grand Prix de Norvalle, a street race in the Norvalle harbor district, is part of the IMC Grand Prix Championship Series and is held at the end of May. The Automotive Club of Sil Dorsett began the Silien Electric Racing Series in 2017 as a development platform for electrification of road cars and later hosted events outside of the principality, eventually becoming the IMC Electric Racing Series (colloquially known as the E-Series). The SERS would be reformed as a feeder series utilizing previous generation car design and technologies.
Hockey is also popular in the principality, consisting of two leagues, the professional-level Silien Hockey Championship League and the amateur-level Silien Hockey Association. The SHCL consists of eight full-time mens teams, and the SHA consists of fourteen part-time mens and eight womens teams.
Association Football is governed by the Silien Football Federation (Fédération Silienne de Football). The federation does not have a national team competing in CEFA or Odinspyl events, although there is renewed interest following a 3-year hiatus. Clubs are primarily tied to major cities and their surrounding townships, counting twelve clubs fielding both male and female teams. Federation clubs are considered amateur-level, with players practicing part-time and often holding full-time jobs elsewhere. The few players who reach a level of play considered professional often travel abroad to play in foreign competitions.
Education
This section needs expansion with: additional information on universities. (July 2023)
Education in Sil Dorsett is divided into four stages: elementary education (éducation élémentaire), core education (éducation de base), advanced education (éducation avancée) and university (université).
The academic year is 180-days and spans over 11 months, with a summer break in August. Students attend classes four days out of the week, with a week off at the end of December, April, and May. The year is subdivided for progress reporting purposes. Elementary education is divided into trimesters. Core education is divided into quarters. The advanced education year is divided into semesters for class scheduling, with halves of each semester being reporting periods. University academic years are divided into semesters, with one reporting period covering the semester.
Students begin their education between ages 5 and 6 and remain in school until at least age 17. For the first five years of their education, students attend elementary school and are taught basic reading and writing in both Mercanti and Silienne (Santonian), mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts. Intermediate school, which provides the core education stage, follows for three or four years depending on the student's proficiency following elementary school and prepares students for the more advanced and focused classes in high school (lycée). High performing elementary school students may skip Core I, and all students must finish Core IV.
Following core education, students either attend high school or may attend a more specialized academy school (Académie)[2]. Both schools provide four or five years of education and, aside from required courses in language arts and mathematics, allow students to focus on specific subject matters of interest. Academy schools concentrate on specific disciplines, while high schools provide a broad range of electives. Students in high school may, in their third and fourth years, take vocational training for specific fields in construction and maintenance, automotive technology, culinary arts, etc. Students who skipped Core I attend a fifth year of high school to meet the mandatory thirteen years of education, even though most fifth-year students have already met all other graduation requirements. Fifth-years often take only elective courses.
Homeschooling
Homeschooling is legal in Sil Dorsett. However, it is heavily regulated to the point of being discouraged. Parents are required to notify the school district that their child would normally attend every year that the child is being homeschooled. The curriculum must meet certain government criteria to make sure what the child is learning is comparable to what is being taught in public schools.
Enforcement of educational standards is done through standardized testing supervised by school faculty. If the child is falling behind and failing standardized testing, the parents can be forced to discontinue homeschooling and send their child to a school, either public or private, although this is typically reserved for cases where it is clear that the parents are not providing the required lessons. In the majority of cases, parents are encouraged to spend additional time instructing their child in subject matters that they are struggling with.
[2]:Academy schools are comparable to Magnet schools in other jurisdictions.
Foreign Relations
The principality's government firmly believes in a diplomacy-first policy for resolving conflicts, relying on calm discussion and dealmaking over saber-rattling. It also prefers neutrality in conflicts between third-parties, and statements of support will routinely walk along the fence of both parties. The desire for neutrality limits defensive capabilities by being averse to joining collective defense organizations, although this prevents being dragged into third-party conflicts.
The nation also trends towards a national sovereigntist view of intergovernmental organizations and often rejects outright or attempts to find workarounds or opt-outs of international laws that directly conflict with standing Sil Dorsettian laws.
Despite this, the principality is a member of the Association of Nations, the Trillium Compact, and a signatory of the Savattenstad and Saintes Conventions.
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