Newfoundland (Triangles and Crosses)

Kingdom of Newfoundland Reino da Terranova Newfoundland Timeline: Triangles and Crosses OTL equivalent: Eastern Canada, Manitoba, New England and parts of the Middle Atlantic
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Quærite Prime Regnum Dei ("Seek ye first the kingdom of God.")
Anthem:  Anthem of the Caribous
Localization of Newfoundland.
Capital		Diamantina
Largest city		New Coimbra
Other cities		Toronto Monterreal New Aviz
Official languages		Portuguese
National language		Portuguese
Religion		Roman Catholic
Demonym		Newfoundlander
Government		Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	Joseph
-	Chancellor	Geraldo Nadler
-	President of the Chamber of Deputies	Jaime Costa
-	President of the Senate	Antônio Sousa
Legislature		Cortes Gerais
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Establishment		United Kingdom of Portugal, Newfoundland and Algarve
-	Independence	October 27th, 1824
-	Caribou Revolution	July–August 1847
-	Newfoundlander Civil War	1889–92
-	Current constitution	February 18th, 1848
Area
-	Total	3,528,959 km2  1,362,539 sq mi
Population
-	2022 estimate	76,590,474
GDP (PPP)		2020 estimate
-	Total	2.8 trillion (12th)
-	Per capita	31,353 (69th)
GDP (nominal)		2020 estimate
-	Total	1.3 trillion (15th)
-	Per capita	14,557 (74th)
Gini (2018)		35.5 (medium)
HDI (2018)		0.926 (very high) (12th)
Currency		Newfoundlander escudo (Te$) (NFE)
Time zone		UTC-3 to -4
Date formats		dd/mm/yyyy
Drives on the		right
Internet TLD		.tn
Calling code		+433

Newfoundland or the Kingdom of Newfoundland (pt.: Reino da Terranova) is a state localized in Northeastern America. It is bordered with Vesperia by the west, by Columbia by the south, the Hudson Bay to the north, and by the Atlantic Ocean by east. The capital of the country is Diamantina while the largest city is New Coimbra. Newfoundland is known for being the only country to have a closed city as capital, which is located inside the fourth-largest city of the country, New Aviz, though sometimes the city is open for tourists. Inside the capital city, there is the Diamantina Royal Palace and the Parliament. The city has been considered the Western Forbidden City due to its aforementioned fame.

Originally established by trading posts, the area of Newfoundland would be claimed and eventually bought from the Kingdom of Portugal serving as a penal colony for crypto-Muslims and crypto-Jews. Its territory expanded after the conquest of New Netherland. Newfoundland remained a Portuguese colony until 1808 when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to New Aviz. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal and Newfoundland. Independence was achieved in 1824 with the creation of the Kingdom of Newfoundland, crowning Miguel as the king. Following a period of absolute rule, the Caribou Revolution transformed the country into a constitutional monarchy. Following problems regarding social segregation, Newfoundland entered into a civil war between 1889 and 1892. The Catholic Church plays a large role in the social and cultural institutions of Newfoundland, having one of the largest Catholic populations of the world, but since the ascension of Joseph, the state has been compromised on increasing and forming a welfare state.

The country is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. Newfoundland is ruled by Joseph of Aviz-Labrador, the current head of the branch of the House of Aviz–Labrador. The country is a member of the Lusophone Commonwealth and one of the two Portuguese-speaking countries in the Americas along with Brazil. Newfoundland is considered one of the most democratic countries in the world, according to the Democracy Index.

A developed country, Newfoundland has the sixth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index, while it is the nineteenth-largest economy in the world. Newfoundland is part of the Society of Nations, the G20, and the Lusophone Commonwealth. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life and safety. It has the highest concentration of the Brazilian and Portuguese diasporas.

History

Main article: History of Newfoundland

Pre-Joanine history

The oldest confirmed accounts of European contact date from 1,000 years ago as described in the Viking (Norse) Icelandic Sagas. Around the year 1001, the sagas refer to Leif Ericson landing in three places to the west, the first two being Helluland (possibly Baffin Island) and Markland (possibly Labrador). Leif's third landing was at a place he called Vinland (possibly Newfoundland). Archaeological evidence of a Norse settlement was found in Cova das Medusas, Newfoundland.

Politics

Newfoundland is a unitary state, a representative democracy under a constitutional monarchy. The current monarch and head of state are King Joseph, who is also the head of the Reserve power. Joseph is also the commander-in-chief of the Newfoundlander Armed Forces. Some of the ceremonial duties, the monarch may grant honors, and represent the country in official ceremonies. As the head of the Reserve power, the monarch also may appoint and dismiss a prime minister of his own choosing, summon and dissolve the Cortes Gerais, declare war, ratify treaties, and declare a state of emergency, if needed.

In the pre-Caribou Revolution era, Newfoundland was an absolute monarchy for twenty-five years, adopting a similar system to the old-fashioned Portuguese Cortes. After the Caribou Revolution, a constituent assembly was invoked to prepare a constitution for Newfoundland, promulgated a year later and still being used today. The constitutional powers are separated into four parts: the Executive power, Legislative power, Judiciary power, and Reserve power. Until 1892, the prime minister and the senators were appointed by the monarch, when the political reform was approved, making the parliament the main responsible to appoint the prime minister (although the monarch still can appoint the prime minister in determining situations).

Foreign relations

In the early years, Newfoundland, an absolute monarchy, the focus of Newfoundland as an independent nation was to gain widespread international recognition. The first nation to recognize the Newfoundlander sovereignty was Brazil in September 1824, and then followed in next years by several nations. Though gaining international recognition, soon afterwards the Newfoundlander realm adopted an isolationist policy towards neighbors, yet still establishing diplomatic relations with European nations.

Soon after the Caribou Revolution, Newfoundland formally ended the isolationist policy by starting to negotiate and improve the relations with neighboring nations, such as Columbia, Vesperia (as a colony of the United Kingdom), and as well as Brazil, the other Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas. Newfoundland is a founding member of the Society of Nations, as well as the Lusophone Commonwealth, and member of the NAFTA. The country has a bilateral free-trade agreement with Brazil, the Intercommercial Treaty of São Paulo–New Coimbra. Adding to this, Newfoundland is was three times elected to the non-permanent seat in the Society of Nations Security Council.

Administrative divisions

Read more: List of administrative divisions of Newfoundland

Current administrative divisions of Newfoundland.

The Kingdom of Newfoundland is divided into twenty-five provinces, one neutral municipality, six territories and three islands. Each province has a director democratically elected (except for the territories, who are appointed by the King), but no fixed legislative body, only an administrative board to approve and reject the actions of the director. The monarch can also nominate a duke to each province as an option, serving as a ceremonial head of state.

The subdivisions of Newfoundland are organized into five major regions: Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Western and North. The Neutral Municipality earns a special status of region and subdivision. In the Neutral Municipality, there are solely the cities of New Aviz and Diamantina.

Demographics

Ethnicity

Newfoundland is considered a multicultural society, mostly influenced by Portuguese, Sephardi, Moorish and Aboriginal cultures. According to the 2018 National Census, 71.4% of the population considered themselves as White Newfoundlanders. The second major ethnic group is the mixed-race people, informally called Mourisco Newfoundlanders, a term similar to the Pardo Brazilians, representing a diverse range of skin colors and ethnic backgrounds. This group represents 19.4% of the population, mostly concentrated in the Atlantic Region. Newfoundlander Aboriginals represent 2.5% of the population, most of them concentrated in the Peninsula and Northern regions. Afro-Newfoundlanders makes up about 5.3% only, one-sixth being descendants from Black immigrants of the Columbian Great Migration while the rest were brought as servants until slavery and serfdom were officially outlawed in 1870. 1.4% are considered from another ethnic group or unspecified. There are also significant Brazilian, Luso-African and Portuguese diasporas in Newfoundland.

Religion

In Newfoundland, Roman Catholicism is the official state religion, as well as prevails as the predominant faith. 75.4% of its population follows Roman Catholicism, while 3.3% follows Protestantism (Presbyterians, methodists and neopentecostals). Judaism makes 4.5% and Islam makes 2.5%. Kardecist spiritism makes up about 2.4%. 10% have no religious affiliation, while the remaining 0.9% practices other religions. Despite being the state religion, freedom of religion is guaranteed for all since 1892, after the Newfoundlander Civil War.

The influence of religion on politics is high. Two of the current largest parties have a certain degree of religious influence on their philosophy, the center-right Christian Democratic Party (Partido Democrático Cristão) and the center-left The Bloc (O Bloco), the largest left-wing party in Newfoundland. The Catholic Church also has a huge influence in the social and cultural institutions of the country, varying from the Catholic social teaching to the Liberation theology. The influence of the Church is considered one of the main causes of the ever-growing anti-protestant sentiment among Catholic Newfoundlanders, as well as the establishment of Neopentecostal churches across the country.

There are also minor Jewish and Muslim communities who are descendants from older Mouriscos and Sephardi Jews, both protected by the Constitution. The largest Sephardi and Mourisco communities are located in the province of Novo Algarve. A rising group are the Kardecists, who grew 75% in the past ten years. However, gnosticism is also in decline due to the rise of a irreligious population, the efforts that move Newfoundland towards a de facto secularization of its society, such as outlawing religious teachings in school in 2006, and the rise of non-practicing Christians.