Sannlibo

Sannlibo (Sannligs: Sannligbod, from sannligrbiǫð, lit. meaning Fairfields), officially Republic of Sannlibo (Sannligs: Republikken Sannligbod), is a northern country in central Artemia. The Country has a population of 25,060,440 people as of 2016 and an area of 203.966 km². The population density measures 122.87 inhabitants per km². Sannlibo is bordered by Gardarike and Ostboland. The Capital, as well as the economical and political center of the country, is the city Eridlo, which lies in the south-west, cornering the Kapenbjergs.

Sannlibo is a parliamentary democracy with a mixture of a representative and plebiscitarian system. The head of state is called the governor general, currently this is Martin Frijlikken (SDP). Prime minister and thereby the head of government is Maria Hjannson (PPS), she is also the first female in this position.

Due to the geographical conditions the economy is centered around heavy industry and high technology, complemented with significant mining, fishing and forestry sectors. The economic system is a free market economy with a high emphasis on social welfare. The state also owns parts of key sectors which are considered critical pieces of the infrastructure.

The coastline lies completely at the Boreal Ocean and also marks the northern border of the country. The Climate there is mostly rough and cold, even in summers it rarely climbs over 20°C. Also the Boreal Sea there is frozen for a third of a year. Generally the winters in Sannlibo are usually considered as quite harsh, especially in the north, while in the southern reaches the winter is more mild and has continental influence. Most parts of the country are covered with large forests, grasslands and lakes. Also the largest share of the country is flat, with the Kapenbjergs mountain range making an exception in the southern flank.

Kingdom of Sannlibo
The Kingdom of Sannlibo was founded in 803 by the merger of 7 monarchies which previously formed the Commonwealth of Sannlibo, founded in 706. During the latter period the Kings of Eridlo placed their sons on three of eight thrones, annexed two states and enacted pressure on the remaining reigners, so they would all agree on merging the commonwealth into a new kingdom.

Ringerikan Dependency and Great Dominion Crisis
At some point between the 9th and the 13th century, the sannlig realm would fall under ringerikan control and become a dependency of the former. With that the Dominion of Sannlibo got the present borders and was a part of the Later Absolute Monarchy of Ringerike. Followed by the beginning of the Nyttmann’s Rebellion in 1673 an Independence Movement, the so-called Free Sannlig, formed and rose to power. This was the beginning of the 11 year-long Great Dominion Crisis, which resulted in the death of approximately a third of the population. Following the Free Sannlig’s rise to power, independence from Ringerike was declared, which resulted in a 2-year long war between Free Sannlig and the absolute monarchy and ended with Nyttmann coming into power. Latter was allied with the Free Sannlig and both needed each other's good will to succeed with their plans. Sannlibo then could finally secede from Ringerike for the first time. This led to conflicts with neighboring countries, who feared that Sannlibo could become a threat to them. Also there were disputes in their own country, since the Free Sannlig established a centralized and unitarian state, while most regional lords, who also gained power during the revolution, preferred a federal system. Also these regional lords had to sort out territorial disputes with each other, which led to further battles. On the other Hand there were the radicals of the New Sannlig who wanted the Free Sannlig to give more power and rights to the people, which the latter refused. This led to further uprisings and, combined with the overall situation, even resulted in a massive civil war, which would take until 1679. Only with Nyttmann’s support the Free Sannlig was able to retain its power and to win the civil war at great cost. As a consequence they began to turn into a dictatorship and turned in every possible enemy within the state. Victims were the regional lords and their supporters, supporters of the ringerikan monarchy, members of the New Sannligs and their allies, but also key individuals of the Norsk ethnicity.

With the re-establishment of the Ringerikan Monarchy, the Great Dominion Crisis found its end in 1684, after the Ringerikes regained control over Sannlibo and drove the Free Sannlig out of office.

New Dependency and Autonomous Region
After the Ringerikan Monarchy introduced a constitution and re-established its power in Sannlibo, they made the constitution also valid for the sannlig lands. In 1706 Sannlibo was granted a low level of autonomy and got a persistent representative of the Ringerikan King, the Governor General of Sannlibo.

Furtherly, the Sannlig Fleet and the Sannlig Brigade were established in 1717 as subordinate units within the Ringerikan military, with their soldiers being professionals and volunteers recruited from the sannlig population. In addition the Governor General was granted limited command authority over the Sannlig Fleet and the Sannlig Brigade in 1735, but still remained subordinate to the King.

Another major change happened in 1870, when the Second Constitution of the Kingdom of Ringerike was introduced. It granted Sannlibo the status of an autonomous entity of Ringerike.

The 1870 constitution also reformed the Sannlig Govenor General's office and introduced legislative, judicative and executive bodies for the Dominion of Sannlibo, though their power has been quite limited.

Steps to Independence and the Treaties of Skagerrak
After the Grand Campaigns Sannlibo and Ringerike were both reigned in a union by the King of Ringerike and Sannlibo as a common state of two autonomous entities, according to the First Treaty of Skagerrak of 1926, with each having a Governor General as well legislative, judicative and executive bodies. This so-called Union of Ringerike and Sannlibo itself was reigned by the King, and had also its own Parliament, Government and High Court.

In 1949 the Union then split up and Ringerike and Sannlibo became formally two Independent Nations. Each one retained its own political bodies, while the political bodies of the Union were dissolved. Only the King maintained his position as Head of State for both nations, but his title was reduced back to King of Ringerike.

This went even further with the 3rd Treaty of Skagerrak in 1963, when Ringerike and Sannlibo agreed on Sannlibo to become a Republic and the King of Ringerike thereby giving up his position as Head of the Sannlig State. The Governor General of Sannlibo then became the Head of State, which remained until today.

In the following years the already very modern and liberal democracy of Sannlibo was reformed several times. With the First Constitutional Reform of 1970 the parliamentary system was reformed to strengthen the Lower House of the Parliament at the expense of the Upper House and the Prime Minister in 1972.

In the 1993 Constitutional Reform the Upper House then was completely abolished and the Lower House abolished the major vote system and introduced a proportional representation system instead.

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Political Bodies
Sannlibo is a unitarian parliamentary democracy. The Head of State is the Governor General (Republikken Statsguvernoren), who only holds representative functions. He is elected for a term of five years by the Great Assembly (Republikken Storting), a joint meeting of the National Parliament and the Administrative Councils (Kantonsråtens) of the Cantons (Kantonen).

The Executive Power is hold by the National Government (Republikken Ministerrådet), comprised of the National Ministers (Republikken Ministers) and the Prime Minister (Republikken Statsminister), with the latter being the Head of Government and presiding over the National Government. He is elected along with his proposed government by the National Parliament until the next parliamentary election. In Addition the Prime Minister is allowed to be elected two times only, according to the 1993 Constitution.

The National Parliament (Republikken Folketing) is the legislative body of the sannlig state. Since the Constitutional Reform 1993 it is an unicameral system, with the members of the parliament being elected every 5 years via a party list proportional representation. The meetings of the parliament are presided by the Parliamentary President (Tingspresident). He is elected by an absolute majority of the parliament until the next general election.

At last there is the National High Court (Republikken Hogsterett) as the judicial body. It is divided into three chambers, being responsible either for constitutional, civil or criminal law. Every chamber consists of five justices, one of them being chairman of the chamber. The three chairmen then represent the court's presidency, with one of them being the president and the others being the vice-presidents.

Political Parties
There are currently six major parties, which are also all represented in the Republikken Folketing. The Governing Parties are currently the two centre-left parties Sannligs Demokradig Partiet (Sannlig Democratic Party, SDP) and Progresive Partiet og Sannlibo (Progressive Party of Sannlibo, PPS). The Opposition is currently consisting of the left-populist Socialiste Miljopartiet (Socialist Environmental Party, SMP) and the center-right to right block, consisting of the center-right Konservative Folkepartiet (Conservative People's Party, KFP) and Republikken Centerpartiet (Republican Centre Party, RCP), and the right-wing Nationale Traditionspartiet (National-Traditionalist Party, NTP).

Administrative Divisions
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Foreign Relations
Sannlibo historically shares very good relations with the Kingdom of Ringerike. Despite the formal split of the two countries, they maintained a close relationship and signed several political agreements. Also Sannlibo shares good and healthy relationships with its neighbours Gardarike and Ostboland, with which Sannlibo also has singed trade and other political agreements. In Addition Sannlibo is a Member of the Northern Coregnacy.

Military
Sannlibo also has a standing military force, Rthe epublican Defense Forces (Sannligs: Republikken Forsvaretsmarkten), mainly consisting of professionals and volunteers. The Conscription has been abolished after 75 years in 1989. The sannlig military is divided into the following main arms:

Land Forces
The Land Forces (Landvarets) are the most important arm of the sannlig military and responsible for ground based warfare. They are consisting of one mechanized Division and three separate brigades. The separate brigades are the Airmobile "Jaeger Brigade", the Special Forces "Kommando Brigade" and Joint Service Support Brigade, latter being tasked with specialized engineering, logistics, signal, EW and NBC missions.

Naval Forces
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Air Forces
The Air Forces (Luftvarets) are tasked with aerospace security and aerial force projection, supporting tactical and strategic expeditionary missions and providing joint fire support and long-range ground-based air defence for ground forces. It currently operates 96 fighter jets in four squadrons, 44 tactical transporters, 24 special mission aircraft and a large amount of different helicopters.

Guard Forces
The Guard Forces (Gardevarets) have very diverse tasks. One part are the Territorial Support Forces, which are regiment-sized reserve forces in each canton. Their task is the territorial defence and assistance of security forces in wartimes and the support of civil protection and disaster relief in peacetimes. Also the Guard Rangers Regiment (Gardejaeger Regiment) is a part of the Gardevarets. Their task is the protocol and the honouring of state guests. In wartime they also coordinate the defence of the capital Eridlo. At third there is the Mounted Guard (Hastgardet), which portrays the military police force.

Basic Information
The Sannlig Economy is based around a free market economy, though there are limitations through high social and ecological standards on the one side and state-owned enterprises in critical sectors on the other.

Core sectors of the economic system are the high technology and heavy industrial sectors on the one side and the mining industry and the fishing and forestry industry on the other. But also the service sector became increasingly important through the years.

Geographically the economic centers are the cities of Eridlo and Vakkersholm north of the Kapenbjergs and the City of Vakkerak, lying at the mouth of the Vakker river into the Hagerrak Bay. Other centres are the cities of Fageholm and Vindjald which, like Vakkersholm, lie along the Vakker river and are bordering neighboring countries, such as Ostboland.

Also the economy is reliant on international trade, with the manufacturing sector having a large output of export goods, while most parts of grain and fuel need to be imported due to geographical limitations. Additionally fish, seafood and timber are exported in considerable numbers, while the service sector is also offering its services in many other countries too.

State-Owned Enterprises
The Sannlig state owns a couple of enterprises in certain sectors, which are considered critical for the security of the country. Currently these are the following:


 * Transport Infrastructure (Sannligs Transnet AB)
 * Railway Services (Sannligs Statsbaner AB)
 * Energy (Sannligs Energi AB)
 * Internet and Communication (Sannligs Telekom AB)
 * Aerospace, Defence, Electronics and Marine Systems (Sannsystems AB)

Transport Infrastructure
Sannlibo offers a highly developed transport network. It relies mostly on railway infrastructure, but also provides a dense network of streets, especially highways and motorways, while waterways are considered less important. Also Sannlibo provides a fairly large account of airports, as every larger city has one. The largest and most important airport is the Eridlo International Airport, which is also the only international airport of Sannlibo and the only one to provide intercontinental flights. In recent times new railways have been built along already existing motorways, being four tracks wide, so they can feature both high-speed and cargo services at once, without having them to interfere with each other.

The motorways and the newly built railways are sorted along the following axes:


 * North-South (Vakker River): Vakkerak - Vakkersholm with a diversion to Eridlo
 * North-South (Hyggelig River): (Hyggerak - Eridlo)
 * Ellesholm - Holmgard: (Section Vakkersholm - Eridlo and the Kapenbjergstunelen)

In addition to the Axis Ellesholm - Holmgard, there are also international connections connecting Vakkersholm and Vakkerak to the Skagerrak Tunnel. The Kapenbjergstunelen (Kapenbjerg Tunnel) is also the largest and most expensive investment into infrastructure in recent years. This 57 km long tunnel is built as a base tunnel, featuring 4 single track tunnels, 2 for cargo and 2 for high-speed services, and 2 two-lane single-direction street tunnels. It connects Sannlibo with Gardarike by passing through the Kapenbjergs and is part of the Axis Ellesholm - Holmgard. It also directly connects to the Eridlo City Tunnel and the underground Eridlo Main Station, which also opened recently.



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