Escadia (Atlantic Ocean Islands)

The Republic of Escadia
Escadia (from the French word escale; layover/port of call) is a country located on a large land mass in the North Atlantic Ocean located at 48.59° N, 31.05° W. It's situated between the continents of North America and Europe, approximately 687 miles (1106 km) off the coast of Newfoundland and 653 miles (1051 km) off the coast of Ireland. The mainland is approximately 264,541 sq. kilometers, 199 miles/320 km east-west and 700 miles/1125 km north-south.

Approximately 38 million people live in Escadia, making it the 36th most populated country. The capital city is New London, which has a population of 7.1 million. The next largest cities are Westport (three million) and Los Benza (2.8 million). The native language of most of the population is English, which is the official language. However, under Terrebonne's state constitution the official state language is French. Castelo has a similar state constitutional amendment making Spanish the official state language.



History
Escadia was colonized by the English, French and Spanish empires starting in the late 1490's. Prior to that, the island of Escadia is thought to have been uninhabited, although some historians believe that Norsemen visited and inhabited the island for a short time in the 11th century. Due to its location in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, it was inaccessible from the North American and European continents until the start of European expeditions to the Americas. French explorer Jean Cousin used what is now known as Roisel, as a place of port during his expeditions to North America. The Spanish settled what's now known as Villatoya on Castelo Islands. By 1510 the English had established outposts and settlements along the northwest coast of the mainland. What is now New London and Westport turned into the primary ports between Escadia and North America.

By the early 1700's, Escadian had become a major shipping hub for the transportation of goods between North America and Europe due to its unique centralized location between continents.

Dominion of Escadia
After the Seven Years' War as part of the Treaty of New London (1763), France gave up control of their colonial territory Terrebonne in the east and the Spanish ceded control of the Castelo Islands. The British empire had complete control of Escadia.

As colonial dependence would give way to increasing autonomy, the colonist leaders began to formulate the basis of a Constitutional Act. John W. Masters was the dominant figure of the confederation movement and worked for years to unite the colonies.

In March 1821, 22 delegates from the colonies traveled to London, where King George IV received each in private audience, as well as holding court for their wives and daughters. At meetings held at the Royal Lodge, the delegates reviewed and approved the 65 resolutions; and the conference's decisions were forwarded to the Colonial Office.

The delegates drafted the Dominion of the Escadian Constitutional Act. They agreed that the new soverign realm should be called the Dominion of Escadia, and New London would become part of a new state called Royal Center with regions annexed from Masset and Ashton colonies.

The delegates had completed their draft of the Dominion of the Escadian Constitutional Act by May 1821. The Act was presented to King George IV on May 4, 1821. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords the next day. The bill was quickly approved by the House of Lords, and then also quickly approved by the British House of Commons. The Act received royal assent on June 29, 1821, and set August 1, 1821, as the date for union.

John W. Masters Liberal Unionist Party would win the Dominions first federal election and Waters would become the first Prime Minister.

Republic of Escadia
The colonists enjoyed a level of autonomy that increasingly clashed with royal and parliamentary authority which did not always consult colonial needs. The Escadian Constitutional Conference of 1880 debated the need for a change to the Constitution of Escadia which would remove the monarchy from a role in Escadian government and law. The new republic would be a federally organized state consisting of the nine Escadian states. The conference also considered three categories of model for the selection of the head of state in an Escadian republic: direct election, parliamentary election by a special majority, and appointment by a special council following prime ministerial nomination.

The conference recommended to the Govenor General and Parliament of the Dominion of Escadia that the model, and other related changes to the Constitution, supported by the conference, be put to the people in a constitutional referendum in 1881.

There was overwhelming support to break away from the monarchy as 83% voted in favor of the Escadian Republic Movement. The majority of voters also voted for the selection of President by the Prime Minister. A Federal Parliamentary system would be enacted with the creation of the National Assembly and Senate. The various state legislatures would continue to function.

Britain feared that forcing Escadia to stay part of the commonwealth would escalate to violence or even war, as had been seen previously with the independence movements in British North America. The Escadia Act bill was introduced and approved in both the House of Lords and British House of Commons. The Act received royal assent on April 15, 1881, and set May 30, 1881, as the date of independence.

Politics
Escadia is a democratic federal state organized under a constitution. Leaders are chosen in general elections. An independent judiciary functions with rule by and respect for law. Civil liberties and human rights are scrupulously protected. Escadia is a Parliamentary Republic based on the separation and balancing of legislative, executive and judicial powers. The Constitution is the highest law in the Republic.

The nominal head of state is the President of the Republic, who is selected by the Prime Minister for a four-year term. The current constitution was drawn up and adopted by the Twenty Fourth Parliament of Escadia and entered into force in 1975. It has been revised three times since: in 1985, 2002 and 2009. The Constitution, which consists of 125 articles, provides for a separation of powers into executive, legislative and judicial branches, and grants extensive specific guarantees (further reinforced in 2002) of civil liberties and social rights. Women's suffrage was guaranteed with an amendment to the 1950 Constitution.

From the Constitutional amendment of 1985 the President's duties were curtailed to a significant extent, and they are now largely ceremonial; most political power thus lies in the hands of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister of the Republic regulates the functions of the powers of the State. He is elected by Parliament for a term of four years and his office is incompatible with any other office, position or function. To be elected Prime Minister the person should receive a majority of the total number of members of Parliament (151 votes). He appoints the President and, at the recommendation of the latter, he also appoints the rest of the members of the Government and the Deputy Ministers.

Federal legislative powers are exercised in the parliament by a 300-member elective National Assembly and a 98-member Senate. Statutes passed by the Parliament are promulgated by the Prime Minister of the Republic. Parliamentary elections are held every four years, but the Prime Minister of the Republic is obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier on the proposal of the Cabinet, in view of dealing with a national issue of exceptional importance. The Prime Minister is also obliged to dissolve the Parliament earlier if the opposition manages to pass a motion of no-confidence.

Justice is administered by the courts, which consist of regular judges who enjoy personal and functional independence. There is a Supreme Court, Appeal Courts and First Instance Courts. A Special Supreme Tribunal deals with the remedy of conflicts between the courts and administrative authorities, or between the Council of State, which is the highest instance, and the regular administrative courts of the one part and of the other part the civil or penal courts, or, finally, between the Council of Comptrollers and the rest of the courts.

Constituent States
Escadia comprises of nine federal states — Ashton, Castelo, Easton, Estcourt, Masset, Royal Center, Terrebonne, Westminster and Yarmouth. Each state has its own state constitution and is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organization. For regional administrative purposes, each state is comprised of Constitutional Districts.

According to the Escadian constitution, some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and the federation; the states retain residual legislative authority for all other areas, including "culture", which in Escadia includes not only topics such as financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training.

State elections are conducted under various rules set by the states. In general they are conducted according to some form of single-winner voting system, either the same as the federal system or some simplified version. The election period is generally four to five years, and the dates of elections vary from state to state.

The federal constitution, stipulates that the structure of each Federal State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democrat and social government, based on the rule of law". Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Premier, together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Legislative Assembly. The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of the federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the Premier is then chosen by a majority vote among the State Assembly members. The Premier appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of the state's government.



{| style="background:none;" cellspacing="2px"

Geography
Escadia is situated between the continents of North America and Europe, approximately 687 miles (1106 km) off the coast of Newfoundland and 653 miles (1051 km) off the coast of Ireland. The main island is approximately 264,541 sq. kilometers, 653 miles/1050 km east-west and 452 miles/728 km north-south, and surrounded by three smaller islands of Westminster, Castelo and Yarmouth.

Coniferous trees such as black spruce, white spruce and balsam fir dominate the native vegetation. The largest deciduous tree is white birch; species of lesser stature include alder, cherry and mountain ash. Of introduced tree species, sycamore maple is most abundant and Norway maple is common. Blue spruce, common horse chestnut, European beech and little leaf linden are among the other non-native species grown.

Escadia's geographic isolation for 125 million years and island bio-geography has influenced evolution of the country's species of animals, fungi and plants. The forests were dominated by birds, and the lack of mammalian predators led to some evolving flightlessness. 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, including large birds like the Ratite and Helger eagle.

Other indigenous animals are represented by reptiles (tuatara, skinks and geckos), frogs, spiders, insects (weta) and snails.

Climate
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Escadia are relatively similar across the country. In Winters, the daily average temperatures are near −1 °C (30.2 °F) and in the summer the daily averages are 22 °C (71.6 °F). The spring and fall seasons are rainy, with the country receiving on average 700 millimetres (27.6 in) of rain per year.

Urbanization
Escadia has a number of large cities. There are 12 officially recognised metropolitan regions in Escadia. 29 cities have been identified as regiopolis.



Intra-state Regions
Regions don't usually include the entirety of each state in the group. Escadian regions are defined as a collection of cities and/or towns within a state. Today, Escadian regions are primarily used to define affiliated network television viewing areas as well as service delivery areas.

Economy
Escadia is the world's tenth-largest economy as of 2017, with a nominal GDP of approximately 1.76 trillion USD. It is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Group of Twenty (G20), and is one of the world's top 15 trading nations, with a highly globalized economy. Escadia is a mixed economy, ranking above the US and most western European nations on The Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom, and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity. The country's average household disposable income per capita is over 23,900 USD, higher than the OECD average. Furthermore, the Escadian Stock Exchange is the 11th largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, listing over 1500 companies with a combined market capitalization of over 1.72 trillion USD as of 2016.

Since the early 20th century, the growth of Escadia's shipping, petroleum, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized, industrial one. Like many other developed countries, the Escadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quarters of the country's workforce. However, Escadia is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the shipping and petroleum industries are two of the most prominent components.

Media
The largest internationally operating media companies in Escadia are eTelecom and Redwave Communications. Escadia's television market has some 17.5 million TV households. Around 90% of Escadian households have cable or satellite TV, with a variety of free-to-view public and commercial channels. There are more than 200 public and private radio stations in Escadia, with the public Escadian Broadcast Company (EBC) being the main Escadian radio and television broadcaster in foreign languages.