New Duveland

New Duveland is an Island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country comprises of 4 main islands with numerous smaller islands. New Duveland is situated within the Tasman Sea, some 450km away from Australia, but same islands, especially within Lapérouse are immediately south of New Caledonia. First settled by Melanesians and then lated Polynesians and Europeans it was one of the last major landmasses to be inhabited by Humans. New Duveland developed a distinctive biodiversity of animal and plant life; most notable are the large number of unique bird species. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions.

Melanesians settled New Duveland in 1400 BC and developed a distinctive culture, followed by Polynesians in 1450. The first non-Māori contact with New Zealand happened when Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted the island in 1642 CE.

New Duvians enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world in the 1950s, and continued see high standards well into the late 20th century. The majority of New Zealand's population is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Melanesians and Asians. English and French are the official languages, with English predominant. Much of New Zealand's culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. Early European art was dominated by landscapes and the portraits of Māori. A recent resurgence of Māori culture has seen their traditional arts of carving, weaving and tattooing become more mainstream. The country's culture has also been broadened by globalisation and increased immigration from the Pacific Islands and Asia.

New Duveland is organised into 6 provinces and 1 territory. Nationally, executive political power is exercised by the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. Queen Elizabeth II is the country's head of state and is represented by a Governor-General. New Duveland is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Commonwealth of Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and the United Nations.

Early History
New Duveland was first settled by Melanesians coming in through New Caledonia into what is now Lapérouse at around 1400 BC, settling and spreading out to all of New Duveland’s main islands from the provinces of Norfolk (northern island) to Capricornia.

Polynesians arrived in ND from New Holland around 1450 CE, also spreading throughout the country, peacefully interacting with the already established and flourishing Melanesian population.

European Discovery
The Dutch Explorer Abel Tasman first discovered the islands in 1642, calling the islands New Duveland, after the northern area of Zeeland. The islands remained unexplored until Captain James Cook returned to the islands and mapped all of them after he had mapped New Zealand and New Holland. The North coast of Lapérouse was explored by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, where he then disappeared into the Lapérouse wilderness.

Settlement and Early History
Settlement was commenced in early 1832 along with NZ and NH. Even though New Holland was far more successful than New Duveland, the ND colony had a larger population, having a population of around 50,000 by the end of 1840 but was mostly poor farmers from Europe as the fertile land was ideal for farming conditions with most of the wealthier settlers moving to New Holland. This resulted in both colonies being economically locked to each other, with New Duveland supplying food for New Holland, while New Holland supplied technological and banking services. This is still evident today, with both nations being heavily economically locked to each other to this day. By the time New Holland was classified as a different colony from New South Wales in 1851, New Duveland, along with Lapérouse became independent as well. Lapérouse was claimed as a French colony along with New Caledonia. The Colony was organized into 5 provinces, each keeping order over the province and of their settlements.

Gold Rush
Gold was discovered over vast areas in the Mirani and Abel provinces, causing enormous growth in Plymouth, Seatown, Aurora (Then capital of Cooksland) and many other cities across New Duveland. Much of the profits where put into Plymouth, which then accelerated population growth across the region. Large-scale shanty housing were popping up across the gold fields, which lasted for 15 years, promoting large scale movements of people to the colony, mainly from the UK, Ireland, France and the U.S. This sparked a building-boom in many cities.

Lord Howe Federation
The Lord Howe Federation aimed to restore a strong central government in the colony, This was achieved in 1897 when they signed the Treaty of Victoria (1897). The federation was short lived, only lasting until 1903 as the government was very unstable and could never come to any agreements.

Dominion of New Duveland
As the Lord Howe Federation split back into the original 3 colonies, all three become a Dominion under the British Commonwealth, resulting in the first Prime Minister of New Duveland being elected, Robert Stevens, in 1903. The capital was selected to be Auroa and a new territory was formed around the peninsular.

Dissolvent of Diemen
Due to the devastating earthquakes of 1904, the Diemen government was forced to ask for assistance from New Holland. During the Conference of Cambridge (1904), It was decided that the Colony would be absorbed into NH, angering the New Duvian Government, deciding to wade in but New Holland refuses.

First World War
New Duveland joined in the war in Europe. New Duveland joined in alongside New Holland army troops, forming the Lord Howe Army Corps (LHACs) and were sent to Gallipoli, the first major engagement in the war by New Duveland. Remaining troops were sent into Neu Westfalen, a German colony, which took place on the 2nd of June 1916. The goal was to take the island quickly with little causalities, but was met with great German resistance. There were over 8,000 New Duveland, 8,500 New Holland and 10,000 Neu Westfalen casualties reported. Along with this, and the landing at Gallipoli, national pride swept the nation. Neu Westfalen was given to Lord Howe as a mandate colony.

Post WWI
With great influence from New Holland, new Duveland had gained a Liberal approach to affairs and security. A large amount of Europeans fled war-torn Europe and settled in many of the large cities, especially Plymouth and Auroa. When the Great Depression hit New Duveland, the Government established many strategies to overcome the rising unemployed, creating the Tasman Freeway Network, connecting all the east coasts of Mirani, Abel and Cooksland with ferry services connecting the gaps between the islands as well as creating a vast train network for Plymouth, Auroa and Seatown.

Second World War
As the second world war fell upon Europe, New Duvian forces were send to Europe to support the British, along side the New Holland troops in Crete and in the Western Desert Campaign. After Japan entered the war, New Duvian troops were brought back to their home soil to help defend New Duveland from Japan’s increasing presence in the Pacific. As the Japanese forces entered Papua New Guinea, they then launched a successful invasion of New Duveland on the 15th of August 1942, occupying the entire country, presumably to have closer forces to attack and occupy Australia. Much of Plymouth, Seatown and Auroa was bombed, destroying much of the city centres. Less than a month later, the then invaded New Holland. The United States, along with New Zealand and Australia seny massive forces to help push Imperial Japan out of New Duveland and New Holland to a full success in just less than 3 months. Troops were sent to Neu Westfalen to secure order as the war ravaged around the neutral country.

Post WWII
After the war, New Duveland signed the ANDNZUS treaty and joined the United Nations in 1948. A great influx of European migrants fled to New Duveland from France, Germany, The United Kingdom and many other eastern European countries. During this time, many civil rights for native Maori and Melanesians were brought up, they were deemed to be New Duvian citizens and were put in the constitution that they were the first official citizens of New Duveland. And were given the right to vote shortly after.

Lapérouse Act
The French Oversea territory of Lapérouse joined the rest of New Duveland, becoming the 6th province on the 2nd of November 1949. The new province provoked some issued, such as what would happen to the French speaking community and the identity of the Lapérousians. The New Duvian Government settled this by making French, along with English to become New Duveland’s second national language. French was to be taught in all public schools and all public signs to be in both English and French in all provinces.

Late 20th century
The economy of New Duveland continued to explode, starting a huge building-boom across the country. Many large banks, mining and other companies established their provincial HQs in the capital cities.

21st Century
Many natural disasters occurred in this time period, such as in 2003, a devastating earthquake hit Portsmith. It destroyed much of the cities infrastructure, homes and businesses. It has gone through a large reconstruction phase, in which, the city was built in a modern style. The New Duvian government is now trying to lower the urban population, and move more people into the countryside to increase agriculture production and also the densification of the biggest cities, centralizing the population growth in the city centres and surrounding areas.

Government
New Duveland is divided into 6 provinces and 1 territory, being a Federal Parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, sharing a Monarch with the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Realms. Elizabeth II is the current Monarch. The Governor-General who is appointed with the Prime Minister’s advice represents the Queen. The Governor-General can review cases of injustice and make appointments of ministers, ambassadors and other key public officials, and in rare situations the Governor-General may use reserve powers (e.g. the power to dissolve Parliament if the country is in a state of emergency) The powers of the Queen and the Governor-General are limited by constitutional constraints and they cannot normally be exercised without the advice of Cabinet. The current prime minister of New Duveland is Steve Rodgers. Everyone is allegeable to vote, if they are registered and over the age of 18. The current Prime Minister of New Duveland is Steven Williams.

When citizen reach the age of 15, they are allegeable to legally work if they wish. At 16 citizens can go for their learner licence (Cars only), and also make their own decisions if they want to stay in or leave school early. At the age of 18, citizens can vote, and go for their "P" driving licence, and their Learner motorbike licence. At the age of 20, they can be allegeable for a aeroplane licence and also at the legal age of consuming alcohol. This is much later than Australia (18), and is mainly due to health issues, knowing that our brains do not fully develop until we reach 20-21 years of age.

International Relations
New Duveland has many excellent relations with many countries, particularly strong relations within the AIN. Currently, New Duveland has no hostile relations with any other countries. New Duveland has also several embassies all across the world, with the strongest relations being with New Holland.

New Duveland has signed many international treaties, such as: The Geneva Protocol, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling and also the Alliance of Independent Nations as well as many more. New Duveland is a member of the United Nations, the Pacific Forum and several other international organisations. New Duveland has always had a huge opposition to nuclear power and was met with large public backlases when the nation proposed to construct a plant in Norfolk.

LGBT Rights
By 2011, New Duveland passed a law allowing all homosexual citizens to be allowed to get married, adopt and in doing so, became the first country in the Asia/Pacific region to do so, 2 years before New Zealand. Prior to the passage of this law, the government was in full support of passing the law and as was the rest of the country. The law passed in parliament with only 12.5% disagreeing to the law. Many celebrations occurred across the nation in all capital cities, with people lining up to get married hours after the law had passed.

Customary authority
New Duveland allows citizens from other AIN countries whom have good and excellent relations allegeable for a 2-3 month free visa respectably. Citizens of Neutral countries will receive a 2-4 week visa. Citizens from strained AIN nations relations will have to go through a small series of checkpoints to be able to get into Mirani. Rules are even tougher for AIN countries that have hostile relations with Mirani will not be able to enter the country unless they go through a long series of questions, this stops potential dangerous personal to get into the country. Citizens travelling domestically do not need a passport, only needing a small proof of identification. All citizens travelling abroad need passports to leave and enter the country, and in some circumstances, they might need another source of photographic identification, like a drivers licence.

Military
New Duveland has an active military enrolment of 50,000 troops who can be called up by the New Duvian Government. Many troops were sent to aid Australia and other nations against the war of terror in Afghanistan. To this date, no New Duvian soldiers have been killed in combat, but 72 have been injured and returned back for medical treatment. The remaining troops will be recalled by the end of 2013, ending New Duveland’s involvement in the war.

Provinces
New Duveland is divided into 6 provinces and 1 territory. The provinces each have their capitals.

Geography
New Duveland lies on the Zealandia continental shelf and is comprised of 4 main islands with numerous smaller islands. The larger islands are relatively close to each other, similar to that of New Holland, with the Tasman Friendship Bridge, connecting New Holland and New Duveland across the Lancaster Strait. New Duveland has a total area of 246,345 km2 and has extensive marine resources. Abel island is the largest island within New Duveland, having just under 3/4 of the total land mass, having an extensive mountain range along the east coast, with 30 mountain peaks over 3,000m, the highest of which being Mount Abel at 4,125 metres. The steep eastern mountain range, The Great Tasman Ranges hosts a large number of fresh water lakes in high-altitude lakes which form from high rainfall and occasionally snow in the winter months. The other major islands all hold smaller mountain ranges, no taller than 2,500 metres. The mountains of Diemen Island, where New Duveland shares a border with New Holland is also quite high. Many volcanos are spread across the islands, mostly concentrated along the eastern coast of Abel Island. The country's largest lake, Lake Cook in the province of Cooksland holds the largest amount of Freshwater in the country, being below sea level and surrounded by mountainous land. This varying topography is due to the boundary along the New Zealand and Australian plates. Many deep trenches lie off the east coast of Abel Island.

Climate
New Duveland's has a predominately a subtropical maritime climate, with annual temperatures ranging from 10 °C in the south to 25 °C in the north. Historical maxima and minima are 40.3 °C in Tenjioria, Abel and −16.6 °C in Kingsville, Norfolk. Conditions vary sharply across regions from extremely wet on the east coast of Abel Island to temperate and dry around Portsmith. Of the twenty largest cities, Portland is the driest, receiving on average only 710 millimetres of rain per year and Colline Ville the wettest, receiving almost thrice that amount. Plymouth, Auroa and Seatown all receive a yearly average in excess of 2,000 hours of sunshine. The province of Norfolk has a cooler and cloudier climate, with around 1,400–1,600 hours; the southern areas of Abel Island are the sunniest areas of the country and receive approximately 2,400–2,500 hours.[152] The general snow season is about early June until early October in the Norfolk, with occasional snow falling along The Great Tasman Ranges within the same months. It is extremely unlikely for snow to fall anywhere outside these regions, even in the winter months.

Biodiversity
New Duveland's geographic isolation for millions of years and island biogeography is responsible for the country's unique species of animals and plants. They have either evolved from Gondwanan wildlife or the few organisms that have managed to reach the shores flying, swimming or being carried across the sea. About 76 percent of New Duveland's indigenous vascular plants are endemic, covering 1,632 species across 61 genera. The total number of animal and plant species is unclear, with many new species still being discovered today, an estimated 2000 species are yet to be discovered. The two main types of forest are those dominated by broadleaf trees with emergent podocarps, or by beech in cooler climates. The remaining vegetation types consist of grasslands. Before the arrival of humans an estimated 85% percent of the land was covered in forest, with only high wet, infertile and volcanic areas without trees. Massive deforestation occurred after humans arrived, with around half the forest cover lost to fire after Polynesian and Melanesian settlement. Much of the remaining forest fell after European settlement, being logged or cleared to make room for pastoral farming, leaving forest occupying only 35% percent of the land.

The forests were dominated by birds, and the lack of mammalian predators led to many flightless birds like the Moa, and also the Haast's Eagle. The arrival of humans, associated changes to habitat, and the introduction of rats, ferrets and other mammals led to the extinction of many bird species. Other indigenous animals are represented by reptiles (tuataras, skinks and geckos), frogs, spiders, insects and snails. Several species of bats were the only sign of native land mammals in New Duveland until the 1998 discovery of mouse-sized bones at least 10 million years old. Marine mammals however are abundant, with almost half the world's cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and large numbers of fur seals reported in New Duveland waters. Many seabirds breed in New Duveland, a third of them unique to the country. Many penguin species are found in New Duveland, having the 2nd most after New Zealand. Since human arrival almost half of the country's vertebrate species have become extinct, including at least forty two birds, five frogs, two lizards, three freshwater fish, and one bat. Others are endangered or have had their range severely reduced. However, New Duveland conservationists have pioneered several methods to help threatened wildlife recover, including island sanctuaries, pest control, wildlife translocation, fostering, and ecological restoration of islands and other selected areas. New Duveland is considered a "strong performer" in environmental protection, ranking 12th out of 133 assessed countries.

Demographics
The population of New Duveland (as of 2013) is 6,231,243, the highest in Oceania outside Australia. The highly urban population with 74% living in urban areas.

A city in New Duveland is defined by the following, it must be larger than 30,000 people. Currently 74% of the people in New Duveland live in urban areas. This is slowly rising as more and more people are moving into the capitals, as quality of life is much easier in the cities and citizens have access to many more things than those living in the country side.

Ethnicity and immigration
In the 2011 census, 69.2% of the population identified ethnically as European, while 14.1% identified ethnically as Māori or Melanesian. Other major ethnic groups include Asian (10.2%) and Pacific peoples (5.1%) and 1.4% identified with other ethnicities. While the demonym for a New Duveland citizen is New Duvian, the informal "Mao" is commonly used internationally and locally.

The Melanesians were the first people to reach New Zealand, followed by Māori and then early European settlers. Following colonisation, immigrants were predominantly from Britain, Ireland, France and Australia due to restricted immigration policies similar to the white Australian policies. There was also significant Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, and German immigration, together with indirect European immigration through Australia, North America, South America and South Africa.The Great Depression allowed the strict policies to be relaxed and migrant diversity increased. In 2009–10, an annual target of 70-80,000 permanent residence approvals was set by the New Duveland Immigration Service, allowing for more than one new migrant for every 100 New Duveland citizen. Twenty-seven percent of New Zealand's population were born overseas, most of which live in the Plymouth region. While most have still come from the United Kingdom and Ireland (26%), immigration from East Asia (mostly mainland China, but with substantial numbers also from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and Hong Kong) is rapidly increasing the number of people from those countries. The number of fee-paying international students increased sharply in the early 2000s, with more than 30,000 studying in public tertiary institutions in 2005.

Many Asylum Seekers have made the trip to New Duveland, with 10 boats arriving in New Duveland in 2011 alone, and this is expected to rise as the Government has so far done nothing major to stop them.

Education
School is compulsory for kids aged 5 to 18. Starting in kindergarten at age 4, moving to primary school the next year. Year levels in primary school go from Prep and then Grades 1 through to 6. Students then move to High school to complete years 7 to 12. Subjects are evenly distributed through the year, with English, Maths, History, Geography, P.E, Science and 2 languages. French is taught from kindergarten to the end of high school in a majority of public schools. Other languages are taught, which varies from school to school. Students can choose a language to study after year 8, the most popular language taught are French, Spanish and German. Up to year 8, subjects are give to students, when they reach year 9 they can choose from a range of subjects which the school can provide. There are many compulsory subjects which students have to learn, including English, Maths, Language and History. These subjects will allow students to get into any university of their choice if they pass over 70% of their final scores in that subjects. Any religion is banned from being taught in all public schools. There is a variety of different schools, public, private and religious. Public schools are available for any students to go to, if they are inside the given area code. Private schools can be a mix, or single gender schools.

There are many universities in New Duveland, the most notable being the University of Plymouth, University of Mirani and Abel University. Each building in a campus may be dedicated to a group of similar subjects, such as Arts (Includes Fashion, Architect, web design), Industry (Manufacturing, heavy industry etc..) and more. The first year of university for all students is government funded, giving students a better start to life.

Health
Mirani has one of the highest life expectancy in the world. Life expectancy in Mirani in 2011 was 77.4 years for males and 79.2 years for females, with a national average of 78.3. Mirani has a high rate of skin cancer, one of the highest in the world, while cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease, responsible for 6.2 per cent of the total mortality and disease. Total spending on health is around 9.9% GDP. Mirani introduced a universal health care in 1973. Known as Helth'i'care, it is now funded by an income tax surcharge known as the Helth'i'care levy, which is currently set at 1.6 per cent. The states manage hospitals and attached outpatient services, while the Commonwealth funds the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and general practice.

Smoking is banned in public places across the country, and people born born after 1994 cannot legally purchase cigarettes or any other smoking form. The goal of this is to have a smoke-free nation within 80 years or less. Mirani is one of the first countries to put this in place, and it will supposedly bring a much healthier environment for everyone.

Languages
English is the predominant language in New Duveland, spoken by 72% of the population, French comes in at 20%, Maori at 6% with the reaming 2% being other languages. New Duveland English is similar to Australian English and many speakers from the Northern Hemisphere are unable to tell the accents apart. After the Second World War, Māori were discouraged from speaking their own language in schools and workplaces and it existed as a community language only in a few remote areas. It has recently undergone a process of revitalisation, and may be declared to be one of New Duveland's official languages as it is spoken by 6% of the population. There are now Māori language immersion schools and three Māori Television channels. Many places have officially been given dual Maori, French and English names in recent years. New Duveland Sign Language is used by approximately 35,000 people and was declared one of New Duveland's official languages in 2006.

French is the official language of Lapérouse, which used to be a French overseas territory before joining New Duveland in 1949. 98% of the population in Lapérouse speak French, but is also common in rural areas of Abel, Mirani and Cooksland.

Religion
Christianity is the predominant religion in New Duveland, although its society is among the most secular in the world. In the 2006 Census, 52.3% of the population identified themselves as Christians, while another 38.7% indicated that they had no religion (up from 27.3% in 2000) and around 7% affiliated with other religions. The main Christian denominations are Anglicanism, Roman Catholicism, Presbyterianism and Methodism. There are also significant numbers of Christians who identify themselves with Pentecostal, Baptist, and Latter-day Saint churches and the New Duveland-based Rātana church has adherents among Māori. According to census figures, other significant minority religions include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

Economy
Mirani has the largest economy in the oceanic region, (Excluding AUS, NZ, NH & QLD). With a GDP of US $31.8 billion. The nominal GDP per capita was US$28,188 in 2011. Much of the wealth is centred in the 3 largest cities, Crestview, Seatown and Shoreline. The currency Mirani uses is the Miranian Dollar (MND), buying at a rate of $1 MND to $1.04 USD.

The GPD grew rapidly once oiloil and natural gas was discovered and exported. All oil and natural supplies all of Mirani's oil and gas needs, and produces more than the country can handle. This results in large amounts of exports and little imports of oil and natural gas. The oil is some of the finest quality in the world, being imported to all corners of the globe.

97.6% of Miranians are employed, 2.4% are unemployed. Taxes are raised and unemployed citizens receive $300 a week and live in public housing supplied by the government. There are services for the unemployed, where they can go to receive free meals and education to find jobs. There are generally no homeless people on the streets, as if one is found they are imediatly put into multi-story public housing.

Few areas are suitable for agriculture, only areas on some smaller islands and coastal regions of the big island which results in 23% of all imports being food. Mirani is one of the largest producers of Sugar Cane, Yams, coconuts and pineapples. Tourism is very heavy, the recorded amount of tourists in 2011 was just over 1 million. Many cities (other than crestview) tallest buildings are either resorts or hotels, many of these are along the coast which is why so many people live in coastal areas. Tourism makes up the most amount of Mirani's jobs.

The Crestview CBD holds the highest amounts of jobs available to Miranians, as citizens travel all over Capital Island and also from the Big Island to work, which causes major traffic jams on he city's highway network. The CBD is very dense for a city of it's size, as it land prices are very expensive, businesses will build up with large roof heights of around 3m. This creates cheaper skyscrapers with fewer floors than other buildings of the same height.

Tourism makes up a large amount of workplaces in Mirani, mostly in resort hotels and attractions.

Culture
Mirinioan Wood carving is a traditional tribal society which includes totems and masks. Kōpere, a sphere used to catch fish is hand crafted. Pūoro taonga, is a musical instruement used in religious ceremonies to community gatherings, but are only allowed to be played by men, this goes back to religious beliefs. The Miranian National Museum, designed by Australian architect Kyle Stephens, opening in 2001 is an icon of Mirinioan culture which also shows the history of the country. The Amīharo is local music, which is a mix of modern music and in some cases can use a Pūoro taonga for a beat.

Media
Mirani Daily is the only nationwide newspaper in the island nation, reporting major national and international news to every island in the nation.

There are 7 radio stations that broadcast throughout the nation: Radio Mirani, Triple S, Double Jay, In the Now, Till you drop, Broani and Vision. All these radio stations are broadcast to all islands except for Vision and Broani, which only operate in Crestview.

There are various T.V stations, the main news groups being Channel 49, Channel 3 and Channel 24. These station bring daily news. 24 and 49 report news every hour, 3 has news after 6pm to 6am, and in the midday there are kids shows. Other news channels are: Loopey, Kiriata, Taita and ōi. These channels broadcast movies, animated T.V shows, reality T.V and many more different types of shows. All T.Vs have been switched to digitalTourism and more 'sub' channels are planned for the future, including 3K, (3 for kids) a show entirely dedicated to Kids T.V shows, and will make 3 become entirely news.

The news shows are shown to be very free and not biased, always trying to show the full side of a story. (news channels)

Cuisine
Miranian cuisine in pre-colonial times consisted of vegetables and fruits as well as various land animals such as wild pigs and various birds. The coastal and riverian tribes would have had very much the same, but also had a large amount of seafood. More of these would have had herbsherbs and spices prepared in open wood fires. The cooking area in private homes were located against the wall of a home with a small chimney that could be shut on and off, depending if they want to keep the smell inside. There were often community bon fires, which were used for community events and festivals. This would consist of first placing down wood to be burnt and then placing rocks on top, wait for the rocks to become considerably hot with the fire still burning and then carefully lay down any food which needed to be cooked. Modern Miranian Cuisine is very diverse with great influence from European cuisines. It has come to mix with Miranian and European foods, creating a very interesting result. It is generally considered to be tropical flavouring, with many Miranian drinks and foods popular throughout the oceania region and with also worldwide with many resturaunts devoted to Miranian cuisine.

Music
The music of pre-colonisation Mirani consisted of various story-telling chants, often telling a story or information, passing to generation to generation, these songs often used various traditional instruments such as drums and hollow sticks. When European and Asian cultures were introduced to Mirani, the music evolved using european and other cultural methods to continue on with story telling. Local artists sometimes mix languages, Mirinioan, English and others, and also traditional instruments mixing with modern variations creating a very distinct form of music. The most popular Miranian music is a form of Jazz, recently modern electronic music is becoming popular.

Architecture
In pre-colonisation Mirani, village buildings were very simple and practical, providing the physical and social of communal safety. Houses were square and rectangular in shape, with gently sloping, pyramid shaped roofs, walls and roofs were often made of various plants from a local supply and re-planted for future use near-by, each village had a community meeting house and a spirit house. The spirit house was always the tallest in the village, shaped into a pyramid shape with large rocks and dirt used to raise it off the ground, surrounded with lush vegetation, often ferns and bright flowers. The community meeting house would in the centre of the village, being the place where all the citizens could meet and discuss festivals and other parties.

Today, many houses have designs that trace back to these pre-colonisation houses, with gently sloping roofs. There are still community houses were citizens can discuss up coming events and other community events. Most modern buildings built, proposed or under construction today in Crestview are multi-story, and mostly painted white and other light colours. Skyscrapers are now almost completely covered in a glass facade, making the most of natural sunlight. Many new buildings are being proposed and built in the country, with the most noticeable being the Rōhi Tower, 222m (827ft) which would become the tallest building in Mirani when completed. It would be mainly used as residential and hotel and would instantly become an icon of the city. It is mainly focused on the Asian market, being sold internationally world-wide. It has been approved by the city council. Funding from New Holland and Theodoros plc, Cattala have agreed to fund the project and the construction is expected to commence by the end of the month.

Literature
Mirani's emergence to literature coincides with the country's independence in 1905. Emauha Kaihautu, as well known Miranian author wrote a series of books which where very popular when introduced to the public in 1914. This action-packed book, about a weary Mirinioan travelling the world trying to escape a dangerous set of events which doesn't seem to stop following him. This was produced into a movie in 2011, becoming an instant hit world-wide and boosting tourism in Mirani, mainly in Crestview and natural environments like: rain forests, rivers and mountains. Emauha wrote 5 more series in her lifetime, which will become movies overtime. There are also many popular Miranian children's books and comics.

Festivals/Holidays
There are many national festivals in Mirani, reflecting the country's cultural diversity. Each major religion in Mirani has a dedicated Public Holiday and is usually enjoyed by the nation as a whole as these days are usually those of sharing, giving and fun. Mirani's major cities and towns hold annual festivals which celebrate many different events, the major festivals/holidays in Mirani, in order of the year are: If a public Holiday falls on a Weekend, they are usually moved to either Friday of the preceding week or Monday of the following week, though they are celebrated on the true day.

Art
Many traditional Miranian artwork is shown in public art galleries throughout the country, most of the tradional artwork is a series or line drawings that tell a story of the life of a person or the events in a place or time.

Sports
Mirani has mainly four major sports, which are both heavily influenced by Australia and New Zealand. These are the Australian Football League (AFL), Rugby, soccer and Cricket. There are many large stadiums in Crestview and other large cities. Soccer is slowly growing larger and larger, and might soon take the lead with most participation per 1,000 civilians. There are regional events where people will compete for the best. The regional finals will be held in each division capital and then the final will be played in the capital. New stadiums and facilities for these sports are being built across the country, being either locally or governmentally funded to increase citizen participation in sport fields.

Mirani is quite well represented in international sports, a few times a year there are matches help between Mirani and Australia in Australian Rules Football, starting in 1992 and continues to this day. Mirani has several national teams, with the top 4 national teams versing the top 4 Australia. So far, Mirani has won 2, in 1997 and 2001. In the olympic games and the Commonwealth Games Mirani is the strongest in swimming, water sports and recently, volleyball. Winning gold or silver at least once since the XVI, 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The most succesful games were the XXIV 1988 Seoul Games, with 4 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze.

Mirani has a small Winter Olympic team which trains in New Holland and New Zealand, competing in bobsled and skiing.

Infrastructure
Mirani has a very high developed transportation infrastructure, much higher than other nations in the pacific area.

Vehicles
Mirani has a quite large range of cars, boats and planes.

The majority of automobiles are Holden, Ford, Mazda, Alexo, Mitsubishi and Toyota. Holden, Toyota and Alexo are the big 3 cars, dominating the market. Holden has one production plant in Mirani, located in Crestview it makes the Holden cruise, commodore and the exclusive Miranian model, the Holden Farbo, which is a medium sized car, available in sedan, hatch and wagon form. Most cars are small to medium sized as there is generally no need for any larger vehicles. There is a small market for luxury cars, mostly in Crestview and Seatown, the best selling luxury car dealers in Mirani in order, are: BMW, Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen.

there are few locally made boats, most are made in Asgard, Australia and South Korea. Most or Mirani's ferries are made in South Korea, replacing the old, out-dated ferries in early to mid 2010. Many cruise ships are made in Asgard, and small privately owned yachts and other boats are made in Australia and Korea.

Nearly all of Mirani's current aircraft are made by Boeing which are first built overseas and then, after ordering, they will be flown into Mirani to be painted, often kept white or painted orange to suit Mirani Air colours.

Road
Mirani has a relatively small highway network, connecting the major cities or Crestview, Ferston and Seatown. It goes through many regional centres, used mostly by trucks. At it's widest, it is 2 lanes wide both ways and a service (emergency stopping lane). The right lane is, by law, only used for overtaking purposes or if there is heavy traffic, the service lane is used if a vehicle needs to stop, so it is out of the way of flowing traffic. This highway is called MN1 (Mirani Network one). The road network is very large, many islands have very well developed road networks, improving transportation throughout the region. Main roads splinter off the MN1, which link smaller towns and villages to the highway network.

Rail
The rail network is much larger than the highway and road network, it is more efficient in bringing in goods across the country and links Crestview, Fernston and Seatown, and may more small towns on the big island. It is mainly used for industrial trains, but more and more public trains. Crestview is the only city to have a large train network, linking all the major suburbs to the CBD and connects to the bridge to the big island, where people will switch trains and go on a different, faster train that connects all large regional cities, including Seatown and Fernston to the capital.

Air
There are various international airports in Mirani, the largest being Crestviews which is being relocated to the big island, connected to Crestview via a large bridge. (The same of that used by the highway and rail networks) Other airports can be used if Crestview International is damaged or unusable in any way, either floods, cyclones or earthquakes. Flights come in from every continent daily, major airport destinations are Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong, Brisbane and Victoria. Other desirable destinations are Dubai, Los Angeles, Suva and Taiko.

Water
Ferry terminals are located in every large coastal city with a population exceeding 500 people, and every large island in Mirani has at least 1 ferry terminal. Ferries are one of the main transportation methods for Miranians, in some areas it is the only way to get from place to place. There are also various cruise lines that tour the islands in the milder months, these cruises can come from Australia, New Zealand or from a world cruise trip. The largest ferry and cruise terminal are located in Crestview. Large ferries run to New Caledonia, New Zealand and New Holland. These specially built ferries can accomidate 90 passangers and have room for 30 cars. Built in Seddon, NH. Every 15 minutes a ferry sets off from Crestview to Victoria, every 30 minutes a ferry leaves to Auckland and every hour one leaves for Noumea. There are also cruise lines which travel to Australia and Queensland, docking in various ports from Sydney to Townsville. There are various ports in Mirani, the largest deep sea port is Crestview's. There are various other small ports in all capital cities and nearly all large islands, along with a ferry service, a small port.