Atlantic Federation

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

The Atlantic Federation, officially the Union of the Veratlantean States is the product of the union of all 6 original Veratlantean States, plus New Oren. It is an independent federation formed by 7 autonomous republics, each one with its own internal divisions and capitals and a total of 54 states and 3 Federal Districts, being one of them the capital and two of them overseas territories administrated by the Federal Government. The Federation is located in the center of the North Atlantic Ocean, in the Veratlantic Archipelago. It occupies the Veratlantean Mainland (Island of Veratlantea) entirely and also the northern portion of the island of Randgriz (most commonly referred to as Island of Oren), where it shares a land border with Galbadia - located in the island of Galba. It is well-known for its cultural diversity. Its narrow format provides little trouble with time-zones, but an extensive climatic variety. The Atlantic Federation's closest neighbors are Galbadia, east of the Alianta Straight and Ascadylea, to the southeast.

The Atlantic Federation works under its own version of Federalism, with its "4th Level" of government and all of its legal structures were largely influenced by the Galistonian Revolution in the 1800's. Uniting the entire Veratlantean Mainland under one government and one banner was the dream and goal of numerous post-independence politicians. Many attempts were made, such as the Greater Veratlantean Union, but all failed, due to an excessively central model of government that did not reflect the political and cultural complexities of the region. It was only in 1913 that all 6 modern Veratlantean States agreed to form the Union of the Veratlantean States, an egalitarian, federal and uniform political union, with very few special rights to individual Member Nations. As a matter of fact, all Nation States were required to adopt a standard design for their Coat of Arms and stick with the Veratlantean Banner style, the only exception being Northern Veratlantia, which was allowed to keep an alternative coat of arms in addition to the Veratlantean version.

Among other characteristics of the U.V.S. are its institutional disgust for religious interference observed in its historically strict secularist policies, its preference for republican and presidentialistic system, its adoptance of a mainly Civil Law structure and its unique Galistonian influences on the Judiciary system and Executive system.

With time, the Union of Veratlantean States proved it was functional able to please all of its Nation States. However stable it was, the extensive cultural differences and the various language barriers within the Union were major obstacles in the creation of a common national identity. The Federation was received with a lot of skepticism at the early years of its foundation, but the outbreak of World War I just a year after the consolidation of the UVS and later World War II greatly helped to support the arguments that the Veratlantean States had to remain united or else be fragile in face of the world.

The national identity became stronger in the 1950's and especially during the Cold War, when the UVS became central in the United States' post-war economic programmes to fend off communist ideals in the Veratlantean Mainland. With a steady income of investment and a systematic strengthening of its economy, academia and government, the UVS started to address regional inequality and development disparities between the rich north and the underdeveloped south. During the 1970's, the UVS underwent a extensive political reforms, anti-corruption crackdowns and massive infrastructure and educational investment drives. The period was known as the Tricolour Reforms, under emblematic president Marianne Richard. In the following decades, it became clear that the UVS, for many times nicknamed the "Atlantic Federation" by Ms. Richard, was going to be a major world power.

Continued growth in the 1980's and the tackling of most of its severe social problems in the 1990's, along with its 90 million-strong population and modernised economy, infrastructure and significant military force made the "AF" into a global power. In the year 1997 the Atlantic Federation celebrated with much commotion and press attention the achievement of a HDI mark of '0.900', signalizing the rising quality of life and the success story of the "developmental" policies started in the 1970's. The Atlantic Federation saw a stable economic growth during all of the 2000's and finally joined the Alliance of Independent Nations in 2010, crowning what some controversially dubbed the "First World Era".

In the Alliance of Independent Nations, the AF is also known for its military, economics and political influence, often contested by the Eastern powers of the Alliance. The Atlantic Federation is the Alliance's third most populous nation and has the 2rd largest territorial extension. It is remarkably the only nation in the Alliance with over 100 million inhabitants to have reached the (HDI) 0.900's milestone. According to 2014 figures, the Atlantic Federation also detains the Alliance's second or first largest economy - in parallel with that of Okatabawashi, but is ranked only 15th in per capita GDP if compared to less dense and relatively more developed nations such as Kingston & Boyce and Lower Columbia.

Political Composition
The Atlantic Federation consists of the following nation-state members:

The Free Republic of Veratlantia

The Crowned Republic of the Northern Veratlantia (also referred to as the Atlantean Republic)

The Parliamentary Republic of the New Aquitaine (also known as Lasseaux Country)

The Democratic Republic of Lusitania (also known as the Iberian Republic)

The Social Republic of New Oren

The Unified Republic of New Flandres

Commonwealth of Ailsa

Federal Districts: Northern Ultramarine Territory of Svärda Southern Ultramarine Territory of São Jorge Liberators City Capital Territory

History
Main Article: History of the Atlantic Federation

The Atlantic Federation is the fruit of a massive unification effort that resounded through the Veratlantic Archipelago in the dawn of the the 20th century. Aiming to fulfil the ambitions of the the Pan-Veratlantean Manifest, the Unification united at least 6 of the 10 countries in the region into the Union of the Veratlantean States, later to be labeled the Atlantic Federation. In late 2010, New Oren was taken by a rebel, radical, separatist government and broke away from the Socialist Republic of Galbadia. Both nations had to intervene, and the Federal Republic of Corraile played a significant role in the liberation of New Oren. After the situation was under control, the Orenian people took to the streets and demanded the newly established government to apply to the U.V.S. The Atlantic Federation then incorporated the Social Republic of New Oren, making it the 7th Republic. The Royal Kingdom of Ascadylea, the Socialist Republic of Galbadia and the Federated Islands of Antarida did not show interest in becoming part of A.F., but maintain very good relations with the Federation.

Paul Galiston, son of Alexander Galiston was the hero of the Pan-Veratlantic Federalism, and negotiated, campaigned, and sometimes led troops into achieving his dream of having the whole of the island of Veratlantea united under one flag. The Island of Veratlantea makes up the demonym of those born in the Atlantic Federation, the Veratlanteans, and the sense was extended to those born in New Oren as well in 2010 when they joined the Federation.

Economy & Infrastructure
Main Article: Economy of the Atlantic Federation

The Veratlantean Economy highly benefits from a very healthy, active, dynamic and reliable internal market, thanks to the great autonomy given to each of its republics. All of them use the same currency, the Atlantic Pound, and follow a basic monetary policy set up by the Central Veratlantean Bank. Other than that, they have their own regulations and standards, and often attract different kinds of industries, making themselves stronger and thus, the Federation. The Atlantic Federation is essentially an industrial nation, very rich in mineral resources of all kinds, thanks to its geological particularities and the high pressure in the depths of the ridge that formed this sub-continent. Its main economic activities and exports are mineration, naval construction, civil engineering, automobilistics, heavy industry (metalworks), nuclear technology, belic industry, high and average technology hardware (chips, computer and computer screens, motherboard and silicon-related wares), aviation components, oil and natural gas refining ( crude oil is mostly imported from the Western African nations, but refined in the federation.), aerospace services and industries (like putting other nations' satellites in orbit), large scale farming turned to the internal market with limited-by-law limitations on exports, besides having several global-operating companies such as Vox, Veramo, UVE, Veratlantian Mining Co., Bank of Veratlantea, with holding in several countries.

The Atlantic Federation is world-known for the excellency of its infrastructure and engineering. In general, the east coast gathers most of the industrial and urban activities of the country, which is dotted by metropolises and large cities through all of its territory. Looking at a satellite image, we can notice in the northwest the less heavily populated areas of New Flevoland and the eastern part of New Aquitaine. The the Northeast and Central regions, we can clearly notice the boundaries of the Veratlantian Republic and Northern Veratlantia in opposition to New Aquitaine, Libraëra and New Flevoland. In the south it is also very noticeable the less-industrialized and farming/tourism oriented Iberian Republic with a clear, bold "wall of lights" marking the border between the Iberian and the Veratlantian republics. The Veratlantian Republic distinguishes itself from the rest of the country when it comes to its planning. It is clear the national-wide planning and property grid that makes up the country and organizes the growth of its cities. Amerion and Dalston are examples of the square-like cities of the region. In the less populated west, industrial scale farming takes up the vast plains of the west coast, with cities usually growing in the corners or along the already existing highways, reserving large portions of land for agricultural use.

Transports
The Ministry of Infrastructure's Department of Transportation is responsible for creating entities to manage the transports networks of the country. Several Authorities are in charge of each sector, the Veratlantean Airports and Air Traffic Authority, the Veratlantean Road Transports Authority, the Veratlantean Rail Authority and finally the Veratlantean Ports and Waterways Authority. The Atlantic Federation makes wide use of all forms of transportation, having spent billions of pounds along its history to overcome the distances of the island of Veratlantea. The 1973 Air Transport Reform Act saw that every city over 1 million inhabitants should have a functioning airport. Later that law was changed to see instead that every administrative department had its own airport serving the region, with working cargo and passenger transport. This was crucial for the mail system, which was becoming slow as the demand rose sharply in the 60's. Having an organised and modern transports system was and is a crucial necessity for the development of the Atlantic Federation. The nation's geographic format makes it easy to go from East to West, helping international cross-trade. But when it comes to covering North-South distances, it becomes a real challenge to keep the entire federation connected. Roads The Atlantic Federation approved the 1930 Roads & Pavement acts, ruling the construction of safe routes between all major cities and ports, and accessing the need for shorter links between the urban areas of the time. The 1963 Motorways Modernisation Act saw that all major roads were at least duplicated, and established a standard model for roads and road quality valid in all of the Federation. The Federal Government started massive funding of road building and Federal entities such as the Veratlantean Board for Civil Engineering Standards were revamped and started overseeing the building of major infrastructure projects that catapulted the country into modernity during the 70's and 80's. The Atlantic Federation saw the Car Boom in mid-50's, with several car manufacturers like the American Ford, the French Renault and the Corrailite Fontane either increasing their sales and exports or building plants in Veratlantean soil. That also put a resounding pressure in urban road infrastructure, which led to the 1978 Urban Traffic Standard, which looked to reform and re-do several of the major roads and avenues in the major cities of the country, dramatically changing the urban scenario on the AF. In the 80's, the Atlantic Federation saw that resorting to roads in urban traffic was an unsustainable method, and started the GoMetro programme, that massively funded the building of urban rail and metro systems, and by the year 2000 most (65% average for the 4 cities) of the urban population in the top 4 largest cities of AF declared to commute to and from their jobs using public, rail, transportation. Modern day Atlantic Federation is famous for the scale of its roads, specially in the Veratlantian Republic, accused by many of building pharaonic projects where not always the need for them can be verified. This sparked several corruption and embezzlement investigations during the 90's, resulting in the most extreme example in the life-imprisonment of a group of 3 Veratlantian house representatives and 4 business man from Infra, for starting the construction of AF-590 and never finishing it. The case came to public light after Miriam Smith, aged 67, died of heart complications. The doctors said on public television that "we couldn't move her to an specialised unit fast enough, due to traffic congestion in the local backroads that gives access to the AF-609, from which we'd rush her to Alianta Central Hospital". That case shocked the nation and street protests erupted during the court process, pressing the judge to use the 1880 Veratlantean Code of True Morals and the 1889 Galistonian Law Code, which resulted in a severe punishment for the involved. Rail Rail transport has always been a priority of all Veratlantean States separately and of the Atlantic Federation upon its foundation in 1913. The importance it has had for the steel and steam industries was crucial, and it helped to foster the industrial development as a whole. The first railway built in the island of Veratlantea dates back to 1831, with the foundation of the Veratlantean Railways Co. which built some 56 km of railways and the first two stations connecting Alianta to Veratlantiana, which later would renamed to Liberators' City. By the year 1835, some 400 km of railways would have been built connecting the two cities to the mountains to the west, bringing more coal and more iron ore to the region. By 1840, at least 2040 km of railways had been built, following the trend among many European nations and the United States. By 1850, it was possible to go from Atlantis to New Lisbon by rail transit, and the network was expanding southwards and westwards. At the dawn of 20th century, some 17,000km of rail had been built and the island of Veratlantea saw a massive increase in its growth rate, revealing its tendency to become a developed, industrial nation. James Trilios was the "Rail Baron" of the company. He firmly advocated for heavy investment in rail transport in each of the Veratlantean States governments, and forged trade alliances with other segments of the industry, specially the mining and farming sector, to cheap make it cheaper for them to export their products on exchange of political support in the bids for developing and funding railways and train engines. The famous 1915 Rail or Hunger Strike was an act of sabotage promoted by James Trilios to pressure the newly founded Atlantic Federation to embrance the rail alternative. Miming and farming companies refused to ship their products via waterways, animal transport or trucks, until the government guaranteed there would be a rail link to connect their plants to the industrial and urban east coast. In 1920 the Atlantic Federation has voted to make the Veratlantean Railways a state-owned company, and for the creation of the Ministry of Infrastructure, whose's Department of Transportation would be administered by James Trilios and later his son. The Trilios family is famous for their rail business and became the patrons of rail transport in the Federation. After the World War I, the Atlantic Federation realised the fundamental importance of rail for its defense scheme and for the moving of troops over the vast Veratlantean territory. The 1922 Information and Mail Act saw that telegraph and shortly after telephone lines were installed on the side of all existing rail links between Veratlantean cities and localities, further increasing the utility of railways. Railways were also very important culturally, as it helped to integrate the previously independent Veratlantean States. Over time, passenger traffic and the cultural exchange and the Culture Blast Years helped to create a sense of nation in the Atlantic Federation, which struggled with a crisis of identity and skepticism. As John Marrow's phrase, who passed away in 1939 exemplifies: "The Atlantic Federation will not last to see the dawn of the 21st Century nor will it last long enough to see its first generation of children pass on." During the 60's, despite the increasing growth of motorway infrastructure and use, passenger traffic grew popular for the railways. It was safe, fast and uncomplicated. One wouldn't need to read signage in several different languages and drive through several check-points to go on vacations. It'd just be a matter of getting on the train and speaking the same language from beginning to end of the trip, leaving the language trouble for the actual time of need. During the early 70's, the Atlantic Federation started to modernize its cargo and passenger rail network, which was still crucial to its economic development as the nation saw a Second Grand Industrialization and the Modernization Years. There was also a growing interest for High-Speed Rail projects. The Federal Government was determined to copy the Japanese Shinkansen success and started a massive effort to build the HSRS, the High Speed Rail System. The first step of the effort aimed to connect all capitals and Galiston with a HSRS links and was concluded in 1981. Since then the network continued to expand vigorously, and by 1998 The Belt was concluded, a system of "Rail Highways" that followed the coastlines. The Federal Government build this belt around circulating the Federation and told national and state governments to connect their own smaller networks to the mainstream belt. The two-way, high quality and heavily terraformed into flat, straight lines through hundreds of kilometers was to act as a conveyer belt from which regional trains could get in and out and then returning to regional routes. During the 2000's the Atlantic Federation saw further some severe upgrading of its rail network. The federation is to work closely with the Japanese to further improve the earthquake detection systems. Electromagnetic seismometers early engine-stop system, and the 3rd-4th rail techniques as well as the Shinkansen wheel system have been imported from Japan. During the Shinkansen history, there has been only one derailment due to an earthquake, in which the train was already stopped. The earthquake detection system imported from the Shinkansen can detect an earthquake up to 22 seconds before it hits the train, a crucial time to slow down and stop the train before the rails are under risk. There has never been a derailment due to an earthquake in the Veratlantean HSRH. The Atlantic Federation is to fully upgrade it's HSRS network to the Eastcoast Standard by 2025. Air The 1915 Aircrafts Act legalised transport via aircraft in the already formed Atlantic Federation. Before then, it was illegal to build, operate and test airplanes in Veratlantean soil, due to the increased number of accidents and the not very distant stigma of air transport being "impossible" just a few years before. Due to lobbying of industries, air transport didn't play a very important role in the development of the economy. This was so because most of the early Veratlantean industry was heavy, and the financing of air projects would not benefit those depending on heavy transports. Air planes could not transport the vast amounts of iron ore, coal, and various grains to the ports of the federation, at the pace trains were safer and could transport both passengers and cargo. It was not only until 1950 that the Atlantic Federation recognized the potential of airways. few cities had airports before then, and flying was expensive. Though the country did develop technology, it was not until the popularisation of the jet engine and the modernisation of the airforce that the Federal government pushed for the building of air infrastructure. During the Modernisation Years in the 70's the Atlantic Federation saw major improvements to its airport infrastructure and network. American incentive and funding fueled the development of complex air networks, so to American companies to expand into the potential Veratlantean market. Since then, the Atlantic Federation has consistently been building and upgrading airports, and the 1989 Airways Act made it so that by the year 2000, all municipalities (a group of cities), had at least one operating airport. Only during the late 90's Veratlantean air market saw a boom and the Atlantic Federation could catch up with the rest of similarly developed nations. Most of the non-business travelers seem to prefer rail over air transport. "People seem to want to meet fellow Veratlanteans from other parts of AF not just after one goes from the English speaking city of Alianta to Victöria. They want to hear the people speaking French as they go through New Aquitaine. Teens want to meet girls and boys of different parts of the country with different fashion and physical features. Adults and tourists want to notice the architectural treasure as they go from station to station. Planes can't quite offer you that. Veratlantean HSRS trains travel at 325km - 410km which is fast enough for most." - An analysis by Manuel Caldero, former head of the Ministry of Infrastructure's Department of Transports. Even so, the Atlantic Federation has managed to upgrade and maintain important, modern international airports. Liberators' City Lions Valley International Airport is one of the busiest in the World, and serves as touch base for flights going from the Americas to Europe and vice-versa. Liberators' City being one of the biggest cities in the World and the most populated metro in the Alliance of Independent Nations was forced by foreign trade to maintain world-class airports. The city is served by 3 airports: Ulisses Xavier; the smallest and domestic flights only, the Alianta Bay Airport, which is focused on cargo, but receives passenger flights as well, usually coming from economy-class flights; and the third and most important one, Lions Valley International Airport, which handles most of the passenger flights coming to the Atlantic Federation. Waterways

Energy Sector
The Atlantic Federation power matrix is composed primarily of nuclear, natural gas and geothermal power.

Culture & Demographics
Main Article: Veratlantean Culture

The Veratlantean Culture is made up by a mixture of various cultures from other parts of the world, specially from Europe and Africa. It is relatively new, and some social analysts will argue that there is an ongoing identity crisis haunting the Veratlantean people. The Atlantic Federation as we know it is the product of the union of other previously independent countries, each one with very particular characteristics. Only over the last century the people living in the main island was able to discover what their counterparts behave and act like. The island of Veratlantea is described by many professeurs as a "cultural mess", because at the same time Veratlanteans of distinct parts of the federation will feel very comfortable with certain aspects of life anywhere, such as the most popular dishes and the school system, some compatriots reportedly feel alien to each other in more regional, specific traits of life. It is very hard to determine the boundaries of such complex cultural borders. While football, the "tri-dish" food (rice, beans and some kind of meat and vegetables) will be very familiar to pretty much anyone, the catholic, Portuguese-speaking festivals such as St. Johns celebrations in the South, differ tremendously from the St. Patricks day in the northern republics.

The Northern regions and republics of the Atlantic Federation tend to be more heavily influenced by anglo-germanic cultures, the central regions have sucumbed the strong thought revolutions of the 1800's and are more influenced by the product of their own cultural turmoil. The Southern regions are noticeably Latin, with a predominance of the Portuguese and Spanish language, and rhythms such as the Portuguese fado, or even cultural influences adopted from other fellow Latin nations such as the tango from Argentina and the Capoeira from Brazil. Aside from post-formation influences, the Veratlantean culture features a direct colonial influence from France and Sainte-Croix in New Aquitaine, Dutch and Flemish-Belgian influence in New Flevoland, British and Irish in Northern Veratlantia and Libraëra, as well as a thin scandinavian stream of immigrants during the early 1800's. In the central regions, the French and the American culture exerted a heavy influence in the politics and culture of the people, and the Galistonian Revolution established its own traits creating a distune from the original colonial influence from Britain. The stereotype Veratlantean is regarded as welcoming, patriotic and society-oriented, meaning that in general, Veratlanteans like to get involved with the public life. Others will argue that the people are warm and friendly in the tropical south, and seclusive, individualists in the temperate north. The different degrees of urbanization also seem to affect the way people describe the federation. The Alianta coast is heavily urban, industrial and people can sometimes be regarded as rude and impatient. Other tourists will describe the same region as pulsating and vibrating, full of urban and nightlife. On the other side, literally, the people in the West coast tend to be regarded as more traditional, country and calm.

At least 5 major languages are spoken in the Atlantic Federation, being the top five most spoken ones respectively; English, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Spanish and Libraëritan. Minorities in the southern states will also speak Arabic, while in the island of Oren some communities stick to Romanian. Norwegian is spoken in the overseas Federal District of Svärda while Swahili and Portuguese are spoken in the Southern Overseas District of São Jorge. The diversity is immense.

Music
Veratlantean folk music is a mixture from several cultures and artistic manifestations. The south is famous for its African root in music, featuring the Batongo and the B'gonono percussion music tradition, as well as the Portuguese fado derivation fado-sul and samba-nosso. Spanish influence brought a latin touch to southern music Portuguese influence failed to bring, but over time, Latin America heavily influenced the music styles developing in the region. There has been a lot of influence coming from the Argentinian tango and the Brazilian samba, as well as typical latin salsa, generating the Veralatino style. The mid-lands and the north have followed a line much like that of its more European roots and suffered heavy American influence. Rock, and its subgenres became very popular in the archipelago, a stronghold of that music style to this day, not only in the Atlantic Federation, but in its neighbor, Galbadia. Northern folk music will display much more European styles, such as the celtic-like Soilsithe rhythm and the Folkao dances. In New Aquitaine, French music fused well with South-Cone tango music as well, generating the Dangerouse dance, a tango like, seductive dance, that dates back to the 1940's. The late 80's brought a constant influx of mainstream, English-speaking world pop music, especially from Britain, which heavily influenced music in Veratlantea. Various heavy metal bands are also praised and have large publics in the Atlantic Federation's English and non-English speaking regions. Iron Maiden, AC DC, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, U2 and Genesis are few bands that left a profound influence in Veratlantean Rock and Rock culture; Brit-pop is also very popular in the North Trio (Northern Veratlantia, Libraëra and Flevoland.) Bands like Keane, Coldplay and Oasis are very popular among the region's young. In the Federal District and the Dutch-speaking New Flevoland, the liberal, urban, nightlife culture has contributed for an astonishing rise in the popularity of electronic music. Dubstep, Electro and Drum & Bass are dominant in New Flevoland and the Lion's Valley. Groups like Adventure Club, Skrillex and singers like Armin van Buuren, Laura Brhems and Elie Gouging are widely known among teens and the youth. A Dubstep stronghold, Liberators' City drifts away from the ordinary pop singers in the world stage, like Beyoncè and Lady Gaga, who are far more successful in the non-English speaking south and the heavily American influenced West coast.

Sport
Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport in all of the Veratlantean nation-states, and as such it was heavily promoted by the Federal Government since the 1950's to help in the criation of a Pan-Veratlantean identity. In 2016, the Atlantic Federation hosted and won its AFA World Cup after dealing with crisis in its team, known as the Azure. Every major Veratlantean city has at least one active and profitable football team, usually two, making for interesting competitions in all leagues. Because of the good infrastructure in place, Veratlanteans enjoy big events related to the sport and its club leagues with relative frequency. There are Municipal, State, National and Federal club leagues, the Cup of Veratlanteas, which involves the national teams of the nation-states and regional and thematic games unique to the Atlantic Federation's complex federal divisions. The wheather allows for football to be played all year, making it so there is always some football going on at any time in the year.

Other popular sports are Volleyball, Basketball, Competitive Swimming, Sailing and Biking.

Government, Politics and Civics
Main Article: Politics and Government of the Atlantic Federation The Atlantic Federation is unified into a Federal Government System, which breaks up into lesser-government levels to help organize and attend the various regional particularities of the nation. The Federal Government is the highest level of government, followed by the National level - run by each Nation-State of the federation, followed by the State Governments, the Departments - which do not operate in the °legislative and executive branches; then by municipalities - the Veratlantean equivalent to counties and finally by prefectures, which are virtually the extension of one city or township. It's structure is fundamentally republican, with the division of power between a legislative branch, an executive branch and a judiciary branch in all levels of government, except the Departmental level, which only has judicial purposes and very limited executive finalities. All executive representatives are elected democratically and directly, from mayors to the Federal President. The entire legislative body is also elected by the people. The Atlantic Federation's, based on 1897 Declaration of Standards for Public Service has some strict policies regarding the functioning of its governing body. The most famous of them is perhaps the Minimum Wage Standard, which sees that all members of the legislative branch, from senators to desk secretaries can earn no more than 2 times the minimum wage. All republics follow the same models for the organisation of the Executive and Judiciary Branches, having some freedom to determine how their legislative system will be organised. Though the Constitution of the Union of the Veratlantean States outlaws monarchic forms of government, the 1912 Treaty of Mirvan ruled that Northern Veratlantia would be a partial exception and would be allowed to maintain some political power of its crowned sovereign and monarchic body, as long as such power could be contested by a republican, directly elected executive chief. Thus, the King and members of the Monarchic Order of Northern Veratlantia, the Lords, have special rights to participate in the legislative, executive and judiciary process of that nation. Northern Veratlantia has a semi tri-cameral parliament; The Chamber of Lords, the Chamber of Councillors, and the Chamber of Deputies. However, Lords and Councilors are present in the same chamber, lords occupying 1/3 of the Upper House. They are chosen by the Representative King and do not need to be affiliated to a party. The other 2/3s are chosen by the people through elections.

Military
Main Article: Veratlantean Armed Forces

The Veratlantean Armed Forces compose the federal military of the Atlantic Federation. It is divided into 4 main Departments; The Aerial Forces, the Naval Forces, the Terrestrial Forces and the Nuclear Command. The Atlantic Federation is believed to have the largest operating navy in the Alliance, surpassing Galbadia, Lower Columbia and Sainte-Croix. It also has one of the most elevated military expenditures in the AIN and the World, at 71 billion, behind the United States, Russia and China, and ahead of Galbadia, Germany and France. Approximately 31% of all Veratlantean military personnel are females, making it one of the most inclusive armed forces in the World.

Health
The Atlantic Federation maintains the Federal Healthcare Service, which provides public access to healthcare, sustained by ordinary taxation. The Ministry of Public Health oversees the pharmaceuticals, foods and water quality through its fiscal organs and administrations. The same ministry also puts to practice federal policies towards disease prevention and awareness and is responsible for laying the sanitation standards to be followed by the businesses, industries, hospitals and every other sector of labour and domestic services. The Federal Healthcare Service was founded in 1954, initially based on the British NHS. It currently attends about 87% of the demand for hospitalisation and medical treatment, with the rest of the demand being covered by private hospitals and plans. The Federal Healthcare Service (FHS) is state-owned in-law, but in some cases it will prefer the concessionary model, in which the government hires a private group to run the still public-owned hospital. The government will pay accordingly to the amount of patients and complexity of operations executed in the leased facility. If the private group's management does not meet the requirements and standards set by the state, the government can sack that group and hire another, or assign a federal management board to run the facility again.

This public-private partnership model has simplified the functioning of the system, and has made it less of a burden for the Government at the same time as it allows for private venture to have more market opportunities and allows ordinary doctors and investors to apply to run local FHS owned clinics and hospitals, letting the population itself be part of the process. The idea of having a public healthcare system dates back to the foundation of the U.V.S. in 1913, but back then, the system was chaotic. The Ministry of Public Health struggled to deliberately distribute vaccination and medicine in local offices, and hospital services were not free unless the citizen was a member of the armed forces. It was only in 1932 that the Chart of Healthcare Rights established that doctors could be hired by the state to attend in clinics and hospitals for free, and that the state was to build such facilities utilizing public funds, directly from taxation. It was not a very detailed nor organized system, but it worked for the small demand at the time. World War II brought a crisis to that system, starting the Late Fourties Health Crisis, that was only solved by the criation of the FHS in 1954.

Education
Education in the Atlantic Federation is free and mandatory until the age of 18. All levels of education are free, except Post-Superior Education, which has to be funded by the student. This is based on the Galistonian principle that a government should only fund one's education until the citizen is able to find a properly professional-level job. After a citizen is given the opportunity to use his education to find a decent job, he should exert his profession in order to fund his way into the elite of that specific society of professionals. The Ministry of Education is responsible for administrating the Federal Education System. Though other levels of government can handle and build some schools, they are always subordinate to the Federal Education System and lesser governments have to register their schooling systems and facilities in the FES. The guidelines and key requirements, as well as the subject encoding and teaching standards are set by the FES. Students follow a basic mandatory grid of subjects up to terciary education, where they can choose different subjects and electives under 5 mandatory spectrums; Natural Sciences, Humane Sciences, Math, Language, Physical Education, plus the elective spectrum, which can range from drama to technical education. By the end of their Terciary Education, students are graded for each spectrum differently, with no official absolute average, ranging from 0 to 10, with decimals.

Educandarium, also referred to as Creche (Portuguese for kindergarten) Aimed to prepare infants ages 2-4 for school, serves census purposes and gives support to first-time parents. Divided into 3 years. This level of education is optional but highly recommended.

Primary Education, also referred to as Primary School Children ages 5 to 10. divided into 4 yers; 1st Year (Infant), 2nd Year (Pupil), 3rd Year (Aspirant), 4th Year (Debutant). Secondary Education, also referred to as Middle School Children and teens ages 10 to 15. Divided into 4 years; 5th Year (Initiate), 6th Year (Apprentice), 7th Year (Pretendant), 8th Year, (Freshman). Terciary Education, also referred to as High School Teens and young students ages 15 to 18; Divided in 3 years: the 9th Year (Sophomore), 10th Year (Junior) and the 11th Year Seniors. Superior Education, also referred to as Superior School Opened for people who have concluded the previous levels of education and seek professional education. Post-Superior, also referred to as Post-Graduate School For those seeking to join high-level research, and join the Academic Society.