Northern Veratlantia

This is an article related to the Union of the Veratlantean States

The Sovereign Crowned Republic of the Northern Veratlantia is one of the Internal Republics (Nation-State) of the Atlantic Federation. It is the second most populous country in the Federation and it is widely known outside of the AF for having a representative Royal Family. The country is mainly industrial, having specializing in metalworks, shipbuilding and naval technology, but also in the telecommunications industry. It maintains a heavy cultural influence from England, having only switched to right-side driving and metric system of units in the year 1970. Poets and writers have always described Northern Veratlantia as a "sunny Britain"."It seems to me that the sun has mistaken this land for ours!" - said Winston Churchill in a visit to Atlantis in 1940. All of Northern Veratlantia's inner state flags makes some reference to the Union Jack. English is also the only official and national language of the country. Unlike the Iberian Republic, the Ailsan Commonwealth and the Veratlantian Republic, Northern Veratlantia has only one official language.

Stereotypes and Culture
Northern Veratlantia is nicknamed by the rest of Veratlanteans as "South England" or the "England that Never Was". Unlike some of the other nation-states in the U.V.S., Northern Veratlantia only speaks English as an official and as a national language. Their early isolation from the rest of Veratlantea made kept its population English-speaking and homogeneous, at least if compared to the Ailsan Commonwealth or the Veratlantian Republic. The Northern Veratlantians are famed for their 'non-existing' culinary tradition, and good music. Being an English speaking nation in a globalized world, Northern Veratlantia has always had an advantage over some of the other nation-states when it comes to foreign investment and developments. It's British-inspired laws and system of interpretation also inspired confidence, and many in Europe see Northern Veratlantia as the gateway to Europe.

Football and Rugby are the dominant sports in the Nation, their main rivals being the French-speaking New Aquitaine, making for intense matches on television. In fact, New Aquitaine is considered a rival in most fields of competition, from sports to music to foreign investment attraction. That said, both countries rely enourmously on eachother to keep their economies viable and growing. TV and general advertising in the North often explore this rivalry with some type of culture-shock situation involving nationals of New Aquitaine or Northern Veratlantia in eachother's country doing something considered weird. A 1985 Veratlantean Railways ad marked Television by showing featuring the "King" of Northern Veratlantia declaring independence of his carriage in a moving train. It was aimed to advertise the first-class passenger service. The ad ends with a stopping train and the French voice "Welcome to New Aquitaine" and a wagon full of angry Chasseurs ready to enter the wagon. The fashion of the Royal Family greatly influences the North and the rest of English-speaking Veratlantea and have silently shaped fashion from business to teenage clothing.

Colonial and Post Colonial History
Northern Veratlantia was comprised of a collection of British ports built in the 1650's. When the race for North America started, the British decided to settle the region to make use of its wood and fertile land. The ports of Mirvan, Atlantis and the inland fortress of Saint George were important British checkpoints. Britain hoped to get ahead of France having a place in the middle of the Atlantic to reload the ships with food and supplies. In the early 1700's, Britain saw the need to install shipyards and ammunitions factories, kickstarting a primitive industrial revolution in the region and attracting many migrants and settlers from the mainland. This caused the region to become very much self-sufficient, and soon the settlers wondered about the possibility of a fairer union of Britain.

When the United States started its revolutionary war, the British established a local government and parliament, free of most taxes to London. This was a move to keep the territory British without having to fight a war. In the Early 1800's, however, a Pan Veratlantean sentiment was spreading through the mainland, and Northern Veratlantia declared full independence as the Realm of Veratlantia. They decided not to join the rest of Veratlantia (note the 'i') as they had a republican, secularist vision. This created the Northern/Main Veratlantia division, establishing the Northern Veratlantian monarchy under King Edward I. To the south, the Republic of Veratlantia was in the works. Soon, all of the island of Veratlantea attempted to create a Union like that of the United States, the Union of Greater Veratlantea, which Northern Veratlantia did not join. The Greater Veratlantian Union fell, and it would take a few more decades before the Union of Veratlantean States (today's U.V.S. or Atlantic Federation) was founded.

After much negotiation, Northern Veratlantia decided to join that union, under the condition that it would get to keep its monarchy, or some form of it, which it did. But this arrangement left Northern Veratlantia with an exceptionally complicated system of government, with a tri-cameral parliament (Commons, Senators elected by the people and Lords, appointed by the Monarchy), a president and a prime-minister not to mention the royal family itself. Because of this, Northern Veratlantia is known as a Crowned Republic. It's a republic, with a royal family and a few monarchical elements.

Northern Veratlantia, having started early with its industrial development, helped develop the North and the east coast. It was there that most of the metalworks was done in the early years, and as a consequence, the North became a much richer region that the agriculture-heavy South - an issue that the U.V.S. would only actively address in the 1960's.

Economy
Northern Veratlantia has 1 of the 3 largest banks in the U.V.S., the Royal Northern Bank. It is also considered to be the first Veratlantean nation in the archipelago to industrialize. Northern Veratlantia is the second most populous consumer market in the Federation, and has an above-average per-capita GDP when compared to the rest of the Federation. For that reason it is a prime consumer market. With excellent transport infrastructure, Northern Veratlantia became an important economic powerhouse for the development of the Veratlantean economy. Today, it is mostly centered around financial services and high-technology manufacturing. Though not as important as in the past, its heavy industries still linger, helping the country stay a manufacturing nation.

Representative Monarchy
Main Article: Representative Monarchy of Northern Veratlantia The Sovereign Crowned Republic of the Northern Veratlantia was allowed by the Atlantic Federation to maintain its Royal Family. The previously United Kingdom of the Northern Veratlantia & Häglier was forced to submit its King's constitutional powers to a National President and a bicameral parliament. The Parliament of Northern Veratlantia features the House of Lords, representing the monarchy and replacing the Senate as well as the House of the Republic, representing the republicans and commons. Its King has similar powers to a president, under a constitution, but the actual National President has by-law more power than the King. The King often can only act after appealing to the House of Lords and a certain proportion of the House of the Republic.

Popularity
There is a lot of prejudice against the monarchy in its southern sister-nation, the Veratlantian Republic, which is utterly republican and greatly resents the separation of the two Veratlantias. The public opinion in the Veratlantian Republic often laments the very existence of a monarchy in the Atlantic Federation at all. Libraëra & New Haliër were separated from Northern Veratlantia in a peaceful process, and the Libraëritans voted for the extinguishment of monarchy and the introduction of a full republic, but with no resentment. The Royal Family of Northern Veratlantia is very popular in the rest of the Federation, specially Libraëra and the Iberian Republic, but are usually ignored or dishonored in the Veratlantian Republic. Though surrounded by the Veratlantian Republic, in Liberators' City Federal District, home to over 20 million people, the Royal Family turns out to be very popular, seen as the "mouth-shutter" of foreign monarchs to land in the Federation.

States of the Northern Veratlantia
East Anglia State Mirvan State Vallefax State Britannia State British Atlantica State Lower Atlantica State Atlantica State Vallona State