Heiban

Heiban (: 海傍, Hǎi Bàng), officially the Monarchical State of Heiban (海傍君主国, Hǎi bàng jūnzhǔguó), is a country in southwestern Kesh. It is bordered to the west by the Iapetus Ocean, to the south and east by the South Kesh Bay, and shares maritime borders with Ramay and South Kesh; covering an area of 929,097 square kilometers (358,726 square miles) and with a population of 97 million. The country is a.

Etymology
The official name of the country is The Monarchical State of Heiban (Gouyu: 海傍君主国, Hǎi bàng jūnzhǔguó); its shortened version "Heiban" derives from the Gouyu word Hǎi bàng (海傍, seafront), from hǎi (sea) and bàng (near)

Geography
Heiban is the seventh-largest country in Kesh, and seventeenth-largest in Anterra; bordering the Iapetus Ocean to the west and southwest, the South Kesh Bay to the east and southeast, and sharing maritime borders with Ramay and South Kesh. The Heibanese territory covers a total area of 929.097 square kilometers (358,726 sq mi).

Landscape
Heiban is also home to several rivers that feed into the many lakes in the country, particularly along the southern and western coast, among which is the Shèngshuǐ Lake (聖水), the largest body of water in the country, and, as of 19xx and by decree of the Royal Ministry of Environment and Landscape, a protected natural area and a no-disturb zone, with a set ratio around the lake where any form of alteration to the landscape is prohibited by law.

Due to its rugged coast, Heiban is subject to many major and minor peninsulas and bays, with about fifteen islands offshore, eight of which are currently inhabited.

Climate
Most of the country is classified as ’s, while a majority of the south, as well as the entire eastern coast, and part of the western coast have a majority climate. Along the northeastern border of the country, a sliver of land is also classified as having an and  climate.

Heiban comprises two main geographic regions. The north and east of the country is home to dry forest and savannas, while being the area with the highest elevation in the country, with the northeast being characterized by a portion of a massif, expanding into Heiban from neighboring countries. The southern region, particularly along the coasts, experiences a greater wet season in comparison to the rest of the country.

Government
Heiban is a unitary state under an absolute monarchy comprising eleven provinces. The country's and '  is the Monarch of Heiban, who holds the title of either Queen or King; the ' head of government is the Royal Council, formed by ten members directly appointed by the monarch and drawn from the. The Constitution of Heiban is codified and it states that all political power and decision making is to lie at the hands of the monarch, while also dividing the government into three branches that shall always answer to the monarch: the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

Executive
The executive power is vested in the Monarch of Heiban as the head of state, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Protector of the Faith and de jure head of government for life or until abdication. The title of King or Queen of Heiban is hereditary under a system of. The de facto head of government is the Royal Council, a ten-member body of government, appointed directly by the monarch for whom they work as advisors and counsellors. The members of the council will elect a Grand Secretariat amongst themselves, a semi-annual rotative position with the duty of overseeing government meetings and intervening in debates or ties in voting regarding different political matters. The Royal Council is renovated every five years - time by which all members would have held the position of Grand Secretariat.

Despite acting as the de facto head of government, the Royal Council cannot go against the Constitution of Heiban and will always hold less power than the monarch. In recent years, monarchs have passed executive decisions over to the council, which will then act through the monarch shaping certain aspects of government and politics. Nevertheless, the Monarch of Heiban ultimately holds power unbounded by the constitution, and is the only person in the country who can perform constitutional reforms, dissolve government, pass and veto laws, call for parliamentary elections, and declare war, among several other things.

The third and last entity in the executive branch are the ministries run by the ministers who are appointed by the Royal Council and must be approved by the Monarch. The ministers of Heiban are charged with the task of helping run the government by essentially dividing it into specific areas, known as ministries and secretaries. Like any other government official, the ministers of Heiban answer directly to the Monarch and must send weekly reports on their respective fronts; however, and by recent convention, the monarch will redirect said reports to the Grand Secretariat, oftentimes without reading them.

Legislature
The legislature of Heiban comprises a unicameral body that comprises the Parliament of Heiban, and meets in the Palace of Thảo Yến My. For parliamentary elections, Heiban is divided into counties, each electing a single member of parliament by single plurality, by all citizens over the age of 16 and with residence in the specific county. Some members of parliament can then be summoned to form the Royal Council by either former council members or the monarch themselves.

Parliamentary elections have a non-fixed six year term; this means that the monarch, despite being advised against it by the Royal Council, has the power to call elections whenever they see fit, whether it be before or after the six year period. Members of parliament can run for office a maximum of three consecutive times.

Judiciary
The highest form of authority in the judicial branch of government is His Majesty’s Court of Justice; judges for this court are called Ladies of Justice, of which there are nine, and it is the only position in government inaccessible to men, as stated in the Constitution of Heiban. Ladies of Justice are granted a lifetime tenure and are directly appointed by the Monarch of Heiban to form His Majesty’s Honorable Court, which is the name by which the Ladies of Justice are referred to collectively. HM Honourable Court is in charge of interpreting, defending and applying all law stated in the constitution and decrees made by the monarch across the entire country, as well as making sure all lower courts in Heiban follow suit.

The Judiciary of Heiban is a hierarchical system, atop which stands the Monarch of Heiban, followed in the descending order by HM Court of Justice, HM Courts of Appeal, the Province Courts, the Prefecture Courts and the Minor Tribunals or regular courthouses. All courts are classified into two types: courts of inquiry, which hear cases in the first instance, and courts of entreaty, which review specific contested decisions made by the courts of inquiry.

All courts of entreaty can be identified by the words “Her Majesty’s” or “His Majesty’s” (abbreviated to H.M. or HM) in their official names; no court of inquiry may include this designation as part of their name.

Administrative divisions
Heiban is divided into eleven provinces, all of which are subdivided into prefectures and furtherly into counties. Each province has its own capital and are usually geographically grouped together into three regions: the Borderlands, the Middle Lands, and the Peninsulas. The counties of Heiban act as the electoral districts for Parliament and are run under the jurisdiction of the prefectures they are a part of.