New Holland

New Holland (Dutch: Nieuw Holland), officially the Commonwealth Realm of New Holland (Dutch: Gemenebest rijk van Nieuw Holland), is an island country in the northern Tasman Sea. The country comprises of three main landmasses ‒ that of Pickard Island, or Gilsemans' Eiland, Adriaan Island, or Adriaan Eiland and Diemen's Island, or Van Diemen Eiland ‒ and numerous smaller islands.

Government
New Holland shares a Monarch with Britain and the other Commonwealth Realms. The current Monarch is Elizabeth II. The Government of New Holland is a Federal parliamentary democracy under constitutional monarchy, divided into seven provinces.

Foreign policy and relations
New Holland enjoys positive relations with most nations around the world, especially nations in the Alliance of Independent Nations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains the high commissions, embassies and consulates of New Holland.

Provincial Government
New Holland is divided into seven provinces, plus two semi-autonomous territories. They are each government by Provincial legislatures who control the interpretation of education, intra-provincial transport (such as urban transit), fire safety and taxation.

Geography
New Holland is situated in the Tasman Sea. It is made up of 3 Main Islands on which 97% percent of the population is located. The rest of the country is made up of over 50 smaller Islands in the Tasman Sea. The Main Island is mostly useful land for farming for settlement. The south of the Island is Covered in Mountains as part of the Trent Range.

Economy
The Economy of New Holland focuses on exports of Produce and manufacturing. Business is also an integral part of the economy. Financial services in Oceania are centered around New Holland. Many large banking firms have offices in New Holland and these buildings dominate the Albany skyline.

Transport
Transport in New Holland is a extensive, well maintained network. Centered mostly on road and highway networks, most people own personal cars. Rail is a large part of urban transit and Intercity express transit. Ferry Transport is also a large part of the transport infrastructure, with international and domestic services.

The major roads and highways of New Holland are maintained by the New Holland Transport Authority. The National Arterial Network connects all of the major towns and cities of New Holland. The roads must meet a certain grade and receive funding according to importance and traffic volume.

New Holland Rail operates all long-distance rail services in New Holland. The railway network is an integral part of New Holland's transport infrastructure. There is over 10,000 km of railway in New Holland, over 1,000 km of which is electrified. The major rail services in New Holland operate between the main centres. These are high-speed inter-city trains specialised for quickly moving passengers between cities. The most active line in the country, the West Coast Trunk Line, runs the length of Adriaan Island from Victoria to Cambridge, via Albany. Urban and Short distance Transit is more utilized than Intercity. All of the major lines are electrified by overhead lines. Freight Rail in New Holland is one of the mainstays of the economy. It is the main transporter of goods from factories to export facilities. Most of New Holland can be accessed by Freight rail, making it a suitable option for transport. The Overland trunk line, from Albany to Milford, travels around some of New Holland's highest peaks, making it the highest railway by altitude in Alliance of Independent Nations, it is frequently the source of incidents on the network.

The New Holland Government is investing over NH$3 billion into the nations rail networks. The first major project was the Albany-Victoria express line. When opened, it will be the fastest line in the country and one of the biggest engineering feats in New Holland's history. It will have 20 tunnels, 5 viaducts and 32 bridges cutting through the challenging terrain of the Trent Ranges. It will be a electrified relatively straight line which is expected to promote rail travel in New Holland. The line will run new, specially engineered Jiantou Jiantou 200+ from Okatabawashi.

All passenger train sets in New Holland will progressively be replaced in the next 5 years. Several deals have already been signed with Jiantou Technologies and CARTERrail in supplying these replacements. Recently, a new factory was opened in Seddon by CARTERrail of Kingston and Boyce. It will produce new freight sets for the New Holland and Oceania market.

Demographics
The population of New Holland is approximately 4.8 million. New Holland is a predominantly urban country with 70 percent of the population living in the 20 largest urban areas and 50 percent living in the three largest urban areas of Albany, Seddon, Cambridge and Victoria. New Holland cities rank highly on international livability scales. For example, Albany was ranked the world's 3rd most livable city and Victoria the 5th, by the Mercer Quality of Life Survey.

The life expectancy of a New Holland child born in 2010 was 83.4 years for females and 79.2 for males. Life expectancy at birth is expected to increase from 82 to 85 years by 2050 and the infant mortality rate is expected to decline. The fertility rate will decrease further from 1.8 births per woman to 1.5 births per woman by 2050. Natural increase only accounts for a small proportion of New Holland's population growth, with the majority coming from immigration. This gives New Holland a large working age population (18-65), giving a median age of 35 years. New Holland's population is expected to reach 5.7 million by 2050, by then the proportion of the population aged 60 years and older will increase from 12 percent to 27 percent.

Ethnicity and immigration
In the 2010 census 79 percent of the population identified as ethnically European and 10 percent as Asian. Other major ethnic groups include Maori (5 percent), Mirinoan (5 percent), Pacific peoples (2 percent) and 1 percent identified as other ethnicities. Compared to the 1977 census, where 94 percent identified as European with Maori and Mirinoan with 2.5 percent each and Asians and Pacific minorities sharing the remaining 1 percent.

Melanesians were the first people to reach New Holland, followed by Maori and early European settlers. During colonisation immigrants were predominately from Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands. Along with significant Dalmatian, German, Croisian and Histalian immigration, together with indirect European immigration from Australia, North America, South America and South Africa. In 1910 policy regarding immigration was relaxed and migrant diversity increased. In 2010 an annual target of 100,000-120,000 permanent residence approvalswas set by the immigration service - more than two new migrants for every 100 New Holland residents. Twenty-seven percent of New Holland's population was born overseas, while most have come from various European nations (28 percent), a large portion have also come from East Asia and the Middle East. The number of fee paying international students has increased dramatically since 1985, with 50,000 studying in New Holland public institutions. There is also a large number of refugee students studying in New Holland, with 20,000 recorded in 2011.

Language
English is the predominant language in New Holland, closely followed by Dutch, together they are spoken by 100 percent of the population. New Holland English is similar to Australian, New Duveland and New Zealand English and many speakers from the northern hemisphere are unable to tell the accents apart.

New Holland Dutch is the second major language in New Holland and is an official language, since 1971. Many places have been renamed to their original Dutch names, or been given dual English and Dutch names. There is a Dutch version of most television channels and Dutch is a compulsory subject in all New Holland schools.

New Holland French, spoken in the Loisel Islands, is a recognised regional language of New Holland and official language of the Loisel Islands territory, spoken by approximately 5 percent of the population. Maori is also a recognised regional language, being spoken by 2 percent of the population, mainly in the southern Tasman region.

Education
Primary, secondary and tertiary education is compulsory for children aged 6 to 18, the majority attend at age 5. There are 14 school years and education is free to New Holland citizens and permanent residents from the ages of 6 to 20 when attending public schools. New Holland has a adult literacy rate of 99 percent, and 90 percent of the population aged 19 to 29 hold a tertiary qualification. There are five types of public tertiary institutions: universities, colleges of education, polytechnics and specialist colleges, alongside private training establishments, whose courses are mostly funded by the government and align with national qualifications. In the adult population, 24 percent have bachelor's degree or higher, while 67 percent have a first tier degree and only 12 percent have no formal qualifications. The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment ranks New Holland as the 5th best education system in the world, with students performing exceptionally well in reading, mathematics and science.

Religion
Christianity is the dominant religion in New Holland, although the society is largely secular. In the 2010 census 52 percent of the population identified themselves as Christians, while another 34 percent said they had no religion, another 3 percent affiliated with other religions. The main denominations are Anglican 15 percent, Dutch Reformed 14 percent, Roman Catholicism 13 percent and Presbyterian 10 percent. There is also a significant number who identify themselves with Penecoastal, Baptist and Latter-day Saint churches. According to census figures, other significant minority religions include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

Military
New Holland has 20,000 active personnel and 150,000 reserve. New Holland maintains several mutual defense pacts, including the New Holland-Neu Westfalen Pact and the Plymouth Accord, with New Duveland.

New Holland maintains a reasonably large military force for the region and its size. The Army is divided into Provincial Corps the largest being the Lancaster Corps, with 55,604 soldiers. The Army is equipped with a large amount of equipment and vechicles. The army receives research funds to design and produce new equipment and technology.

The Navy consists of 13 primary role vessels.

The Royal New Holland Air Force consists of 50 Squadrons. 10 of these Squadrons are F-18 equipped and maintain security in the Pacific and Tasman. The Air Force's primary role is to maintain security in New Holland and the surrounding region. It is also tasked with Search and rescue operations in the region.

The RNHAF has 4 Airbus A-400Ms on order due to replace the ageing Hercules C-130s currently used.