Gliesetonia Overview (Work in Progress)

The Republic of Gliesetonia commonly referred to as Gliesetonia, is a federal republic in Europe. It is an island nation, without any shared land borders. Gliesetonia is comprised of 3 islands: Greatham Island, Berford Island and Eilandaor. Gliesetonia covers 101,074 square kilometers and has has a population of 28,587,141, making it the 10th largest country in Europe by population. Gliesetonia comprises 12 counties (3 urban and 9 non-urban).

Gliesetonia is internationally most known for its metallurgy, electronics manufacturing, and tourism. Diplomatically, it is a nation with an above average influence due to its strategic location in Europe as well as its stability, prosperity and production of important industrial metallic goods. An EU member since 1973, Gliesetonia joined the Schengen Area in 2001. It is not a member of the Eurozone, due to the strong local currency of Gliens. Additionally, Gliesetonia is one of the founding members of NATO.

Etymology

The exact origins of the name Gliesetonia are uncertain. Today, most historians agree that the name most likely originated from a combination of the words "glaem" which meant "glimmer" or "hope" and "doenen" which meant "to sound". The name Gliesetonia most likely originated from the old Germanic languages of the Neuliath tribe.
The standard way to refer to a citizen of Gliesetonia is as a "Gliesetonian."

History

Early History

The first evidence of modern human settlement on the Gliesetonian isles by homo-sapiens can be traced back to around 8,000 BCE. Similarly to its Western neighbours, Gliesetonia was originally inhabited by Celtic people for centuries. This changed in 125 CE when they were invaded by the Roman Empire under the leadership of the Emperor Hadrian. The Romans conquered most of the Greatham Island, with the notable exception of the modern county of Braighlann, where they faced fierce resistance by the inhabitants and the terrain. Thus, Falkenny is the only major city on the Centre Island never to have been under Roman control. Berford Island also fell to Roman influence, whereas Eileandaor did not. As a result, both Eilandaor and Braighlann still retain aspects of celtic culture to this day, including their names.

The country of Gliesetonia first became united in 1145, under its first monarch, King Geary I. He united all three of the islands under his crown, and established the Kingdom of Gleisentorr. The Kingdom was first mentioned in writing on the 26th of May, and thus, is celebrated as a national holiday. Gliesetonia, like most of Europe at the time was a feudal society, with the King or Queen having the supreme authority over the feudal lords. Similarly to its neighbour of the United Kingdom, Gliesetonia had several Queens throughout its history if no male heir was born. The most famous of these queens was Queen Malia I, who reigned between 1654-1702. The monarchy would last for the next 7 centuries until 1849, when the then monarch Bourald IV was forced to abdicate due to the loss of the royalists in the civil war.

Modern History

Between 1848-1849, there was a Civil war in Gliesetonia, fought between the royalists on one side, and the republicans on the other. The war was caused due to increasing discontent with the monarchy due to widespread poverty and unequal distribution of wealth. Additionally, the oppression of the celtic minority also meant they joined in the war. The republicans found most of their support in the celtic territories, western counties and most big cities, whereas the nationalists were supported primarily by the larger, more rural counties in the east as well as the city of Segoe, which was the seat of the Monarch. In the end, the republicans won due to better military strategies, wider popular support and more hilly terrain in the western part of Gliesetonia. The civil war led to the establishment of the modern Republic of Gliesetonia as it exists to this day.

On the 704th anniversary of the establishment of the Kingdom of Gliesetonia, the Republic of Gliesetonia in its current form was declared. A central government was created with each county additionally getting a parliament to govern locally. Furthermore, economic aid between richer and poorer counties was written into the constitution of the country in order to halt the one-sided development of the country and lessen the economic dominance of the southwestern cities. The celtic minorities were also protected by making the country officially trilingual. Gliese City was created as a result of the establishment of the Republic, and it has been the seat of the government of Gliesetonia since the opening of the parliament building in 1865. Before this, the government met in Libertis between 1849-1865 due to the unfinished nature of the parliament district of Gliese City.

During World War I, Gliesetonia remained neutral. Although it had strong diplomatic ties to the United Kingdom, it refused to enter a military alliance with them and was thus not involved in the fighting. This meant that Gliesetonia was able to significantly develop it's industry and stability during the inter-war period, as it did not suffer the same losses as other countries during the Great War. Despite this, the hardships faced by many other European nations, as well as the economic hardships that followed the war, for the first time in its history the people elected a social democratic party into the governent. The Social Democratic Party of Gliesetonia was elected in 1920, and established the foundations of the welfare state.

At the outbreak of World War II, Gliesetonia initially remained neutral. The Gliesetonian government grew increasingly concerned as Nazi Germany invaded more and more countries. With the invasion of Norway and Denmark in 1940, public opinion turned from neutrality to joining the allied forces. Many people were worried that Gliesetonia would be the next country to be attacked, due to its strategic resources such as coal and iron ore, as well as it's close ties to the United Kingdom. Britain invaded Iceland on the 10th of May 1940, to prevent it falling into German hands. It threatened to do the same to Gliesetonia, and, combined with the invasion of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands by Germany the very same day, the Gliesetonian government issued a statement saying that Gliesetonia was officially joining the allies. Gliesetonia avoided being invaded by Germany due to it's geographical advantage of being an island, as well as help from the RAF. Despite this, Gliesetonian cities, particularly Libertis and Strathwell were heavily bombed during the Gliesetonian Blitz. It lasted from the 10 June 1940 to the 2nd of May 1941. Over 10,000 civilians were killed during the bombing, and over a million were left homeless. Throughout the war, Gliesetonia played a vital role in supporting the allies with natural resources and ammunition. After the war was over, the damaged cities were rebuilt and significant aid was given to rebuild the economy under the Marshall plan. As a result of the dead and injured from the war, the welfare state was significantly expanded.

Geography

Gliesetonia is a country which is entirely surrounded by the North Sea. It lies to the east of the United Kingdom, west of Denmark, and north of the Netherlands. It is comprised of three islands. These are in order from biggest to smallest by land area: Greatham Island, Berford Island, and Eilandaor.

The physical geography of Greatham Island varies widely. The north of the Island is dominated by lakes and mountains. Gliesetonia's tallest mountain, Mount Falcon can be found here. The west of the Island is mostly hilly and contains a lot of iron ore and coal, these are the reason most large cities in the country can be found here. The east of the island is dominated by flat, fertile plains and long beaches. Lake Beromos, the lowest point on the island can be found within these plains. The centre of the island is dominated by lake Gliese, which is also Gliesetonia's largest lake. Greatham Island is connected to the island of Great Britain via an undersea rail tunnel between Libertis and Hull.

Berford Island is relatively flat, although it has some cliffs and hills. The vast majority of the island is occupied with a large forest, which forms the Lilly Marie National Park. This park is a popular tourist destination by both foreigners and Gliesetonians alike; it is also the reason for the low population that resides on Berford Island due to restrictions on human settlement.

Eilandaor is a rocky island that contains many cliffs, canyons and fjords. In the south part of the island, some flatter areas can be found, the largest of which is home to the city of Bridgeston.

Demographics

Language
Gliesetonians most commonly speak one or more of the following languages: Gliesetonian, Braighorlann and English. Gliesetonian is spoken by the vast majority of the population, 82% of the population speak it as a first language. This is followed by English at 8% and Braighorlann at 6%. The other 4% of first languages are primarily Nordic, such as Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. All students are required to learn all three languages in school, therefore the percentage of the population that speaks two or more of these languages either as a native or second language is 92%. Most school subjects are taught in Gliesetonian for most of the country, with the exception of Braighlann and Eilandaor, where subjects are taught in Braighorlann.

Largest Cities

Map of the 10 largest cities in Gliesetonia

Largest Counties

Map of Counties in Gliesetonia, Green = Non-Urban, Yellow = Urban

Economy

Infrastructure
Gliesetonia is well connected to the rest of world via various means of transport. It's location in the North Sea means it has historic trade routes that today form various ship routes. Gliesetonia has 10 international airports, in addition to many smaller domestic airports. The busiest of these is Libertis International Airport, which as the name suggests serves the city of Libertis. Gliesetonia is home to an extensive rail network, including the 5th longest high-speed rail network in the world at a total length of 2,127km. The Libston Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel in the world, connects Gliesetonia to England. It has a total length of 68km, with an undersea portion of 44.5km. It was named after the cities is connects, Libertis and Kingston upon Hull.

Electricity
The first major power station in Gliesetonia was the coal-fired James Snowbridge Power Station which opened on the 1st September 1895. Historically, due to the rich coal reserves found in Southwestern Gliesetonia most of the country has relied on coal power for it's primary source of electricity. Over the next 40 years, electricity generation began to increase rapidly as more and more households and factories began to equip appliances that required electricity. These grids often ran in regional areas only and were not connected to each other. The success of the National Grid in Britain which opened in 1933, convinced politicians to establish the Gliesetonian National Grid (GNG). The GNG began construction on the 24th of April 1935, and began transmissions on the 5th of July 1938. The rate of electrification at this point was around 35%, this increased rapidly to almost 100% by 1960. At this point the most important electricity sources were coal and hydro. The discovery of cheap gas in the North Sea in the late 1980s allowed the electricity sector to shift primarily from coal to gas as well as nuclear. More recently, the government has decided to phase out coal completely by 2020 and also reduce Gliesetonia's reliance on gas and other fossil fuels. Electricity generated from wind and solar has been increasing rapidly in the past 20 years due to technological advancements, and together with the completion of the Wenthlow 3 and 4 nuclear reactors in 2019 and 2020, the transition to carbon neutral sources is well underway.

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