Babbage Islands

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Commonwealth of the Babbage Islands
Flag Coat of arms

The Babbage Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Babbage Islands, (Esperanto: Konfederacio de la Babaĝaj Insuloj) is an archipelago of seven islands, organised as a republic and governed as a representative democracy. The economy, previously on the decline, has seen a stabilisation in recent years.

The Babbage Islands is a member of the World Assembly.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Governance 2.1 The Assembly of Proposition 2.2 The Council of Disposition 2.3 The Judge of Resolution 2.4 The Order of Administration 2.5 Elections 3 Economy 4 Military 4.1 Coast Guard 4.2 Aerocorps 4.3 Militia 5 Culture 5.1 Education 5.2 Holidays and Observances 5.3 Languages 5.4 Religion 5.5 Sport 6 International Codes

Geography

There are seven permanently settled islands in The Babbage Islands. In order of population:

• South Island - 15 050 000
• Tesla - 10 930 000
• Verne - 7 880 000
• North Island - 6 360 000
• Daimler - 4 030 000
• Gibson - 3 570 000
• Cayley - 3 140 000

The local climate is temperate, with four distinct seasons. Lush forests characterize several of the islands. The snowy owl, the national animal, is native to North Island.

Governance

The government is a unitary representative democracy with a libertarian tradition. The constitution, called the Basic Law, is a very short document with strict limits on government functions. These are now interpreted in the light of newly-acquired World Assembly membership, an action which itself required a controversial amendment to the Basic Law.

There are four branches of government, with 55 positions enumerated in the Basic Law. No person may hold more than one of these posts at the same time.

The Assembly of Proposition

The Assembly of Proposition is a 42-member legislative chamber, with fourteen members elected each six months to serve 18-month terms. Assemblymen (the accepted title) are each elected to represent a specific island, and are limited to four terms or portions thereof. All enactments of the Assembly, except Ministerial appointments or amendments to the Basic Law, automatically sunset after five years. The current Assembly is led by Lady Speaker Elisabeth Macleod Tormey, a third-term Liberal from South Island.

Seats in the Assembly are allocated in the Basic Law to each island based roughly on population at the time of adoption. South Island has 12 seats, electing four at each election. Tesla has 9 seats, North Island and Verne 6 seats each, and Cayley, Daimler, and Gibson 3 seats each. Six political parties hold seats in the current Assembly. The Liberal party has 22 seats, the Progressive-Conservatives 10, the National Sovereignty Party 5, Social Welfare 2, Labour 2, and Freedom 1.

The Council of Disposition

The Council of Disposition is a six-member de-legislative council whose main function is to veto enactments or strike laws that have proven bad in practice. One member is elected every six months to a three-year term; a member cannot serve more than two terms or fractions thereof. Any two Councillors can veto an Assembly enactment before it becomes law; five Councillors together can strike a law after it takes effect. The Council also selects the Judge of Resolution for a single five-year term. The current Council is led by President A. Gordon Patterson, a Progressive-Conservative from Tesla.

The Judge of Resolution

The Judge of Resolution is the head of state, with the duty to resolve all conflicts of laws. This may include conflicts of different Assembly enactments, of enactments with the Basic Law, or of adopted World Assembly resolutions with either. The Judge also has veto power over Assembly enactments, but this has never been exercised without a concurrent finding that the enactment conflicts with the Basic Law. Judge Lindsay Martin PhD, the former president of McKay College on Verne, began a five-year term on 15 March 2009.

The Order of Administration

The Order of Administration are the Ministers serving as heads of the six executive departments in the government. The departments are State, Law, Finance, War, Citizenship, and Nature. They are appointed and removed by majority vote in the Assembly, with appointment subject to veto by the Council or the Judge as with any other enactment. The current First Minister (longest-serving) is Minister of Citizenship Cynthia Cymbalski of South Island, formerly the only Assemblyman ever elected as an independent.

Note that unlike parliamentary governments, the Ministers are not members of the Assembly.

Ministry	Officeholder		Ministry	Officeholder
Minister of State	Spencer K. Woods		Minister of War	William Leonard
Minister of Law	Lucinda Cook Nelson		Minister of Citizenship	Cynthia Cymbalski
Minister of Finance	R. Frederick Bradford		Minister of Nature	Natalie Simonsen

Elections

Elections to the two elective branches take place every six months, on the fourth Saturday of February and August. The winners take office on the 12th of the following month, March or September. All four of these days are national holidays.

All citizens age 13 and above are eligible to take a standard civics examination to receive the franchise; it may be repeated every six months until passed.

Economy

(Statistical information from 10 August 2009.)

The national currency, the edison, trades at about E:1,00 per US$1,12. The currency's one-time reputation for instability is generally accounted to be initial compliance with frequent and intrusive World Assembly edicts. Income tax, after a spell as low as 1%, has settled at 4%. Per capita GDP has increased to US$25 687, and unemployment has dropped to less than 3%.

Leading international players in the nation's economy include:

• Chronowire Communications, an information conglomerate headquartered in Gernsback, Tesla.
• ClearCola, a soda manufacturer from Wye, South Island.
• Factorias Albuquerque S.A., shipbuilders from Santa Catalina, Verne.
• Fresh-Fizz, a soda manufacturer from Armagh, Tesla.
• Greenspan Bank, an international banking firm from Charleston, South Island.
• Jane Valentine LLC, a publishing house from Cardston, Gibson.
• Senfinaj Mondoj Korp., a network technology firm from Zamenhofa Urbo, South Island.
• Tesla Motors, a vehicle manufacturer from West Scoville, Tesla.
• Z Arms, a gun maker from Baden, Daimler.

Military

The Babbage Islands maintain a rather small military force for their size, with a completely defensive orientation. In order of size and importance:

Coast Guard

As befits a maritime nation, waterborne forces are by far the largest element of the military. The Coast Guard is a brown-water navy in transition, developing some green-water capacity. The 33-ship fleet includes one destroyer, six corvettes, six FMV flexible-mission vessels, and 20 "cutters" (inshore and coastal patrol boats).

The Coast Guard maintains two major bases at Santa Catalina, Verne and Wye, South Island. Each of the seven islands has its own smaller Coast Guard station.

Aerocorps

The air forces of the nation are oriented toward support of the Coast Guard. The Aerocorps have a particular proficiency in VTOL operations. There are three regular Aerocorps bases. Also, a Cosmotechnologists department performs research into both crewed and uncrewed space flight at Cardston, Gibson.

Militia

There is no standing army. Ground forces are entirely militia-based. Equipment and regular training opportunities are provided, and a national training center has been opened at NMTC Mountain View on North Island.

Culture

Education

There are no public schools in The Babbage Islands, as that term is generally understood. The only government funding of education is a uniform per-pupil subsidy to any school, regardless of affiliation, that teaches as part of its curriculum certain standard studies at the elementary or secondary level. All schools, whether elementary, secondary, or university, are privately operated. Both non-profit and for-profit schools exist.

School is only compulsory through age 13 or completion of elementary studies, whichever is first. But 97% of Babbage youth complete secondary school or equivalent training in a trade via academy or apprenticeship.

A recent newsmagazine survey of leading colleges and universities of the nation showed the following top ten:

1. David O. McKay College, Brigham City, Verne - a liberal arts college using a Great Books-inspired program. The very small graduate school uses an innovative interdisciplinary approach for all PhD candidates.
2. University of Gernsback, Gernsback, Tesla - the largest comprehensive university in the nation, with a full range of programs in arts, sciences, business, and professional studies.
3. Babbage Academy of Engineering, Kopavogur, Gibson - excellent in several engineering disciplines, but especially noteworthy in mechanical engineering.
4. Berners-Lee College, Gernsback, Tesla - specialised in information science.
5. Charleston School of Public Service, Charleston, South Island - well-regarded in area studies, political science, and non-profit administration. Extensive study-abroad programmes, mandatory junior-year internships.
6. Thomas Aquinas University, West Scoville, Tesla - a small Roman Catholic undergraduate institution with an associated seminary.
7. Southern University, Wye, South Island - archrivals of Gernsback, with distinguished nursing and medical schools and a world-class korfball team.
8. Martin Luther Institute, Libereco, Daimler - the Lutheran version of Aquinas.
9. North Island Normal School, Far Point, North Island - dedicated to teacher training.
10. Ensign Peak Military Academy, East Charleston, South Island - turns out officers for the military and well-prepared undergraduates in the sciences.

Holidays and Observances

There are eight national holidays in The Babbage Islands:

• New Year's Day, 1 January
• Election Day, fourth Saturday in February
• Foundation Day, 12 March
• Labour Day, 1 May
• Pioneer Day, 24 July
• Election Day, fourth Saturday in August
• Law Day, 12 September
• Christmas Day, 25 December

Additional days are observed by various religions, islands, or communities.

Languages

The two official languages of The Babbage Islands are English and Esperanto. Both are taught in schools as part of the recommended curriculum.

Several other languages find regular use in different communities within the nation, particularly German, Icelandic, Lojban, Mandarin, Spanish, and Welsh.

Religion

Babbagians are an exceptionally religious people by international standards. Freedom of religion is expressly upheld in the Basic Law. Recent survey data shows the following religious presences among Babbagians:

Religion	% of responses
Latter-day Saints (Mormons)	51,7%
Lutherans	23,4%
Methodists	12,7%
Babbage Orthodox Church	5,9%
Catholics	3,5%
Bahá'í	0,9%
Other Christian	0,6%
Judaism	0,5%
Atheist/agnostic/none	0,4%
Wicca	0,25%
Other response	0,15%

Sport

An unusual feature of Babbage culture is the prevalence of mixed team sports where men and women compete together. Outdoors, the two primary examples are the flying disc game of ultimate and Babbage rules football. Indoors, these include korfball and five-pin bowling.

Sports contested on the professional or semi-professional level include four football codes: American football (gridiron), Babbage code, international rules, and soccer. Professional auto racing, baseball, cricket, golf, ice hockey, and korfball are also found.

The nation will send competitors to the Games of the IV Olympiad in nine disciplines plus several demonstration sports.

Sport	Governing body	Championship type	Champion
Auto Racing	Klubo de Babaĝaj Aŭtomobilantoj (KBA)	race series	Andy Babcock
Baseball	Babbage Islands Baseball (BIB)	pro league	Gernsback Power Towers
Cricket	Babbage Cricket Federation (BCF)	pro league	Gernsback Cricket Club
Fivepins	Bowlers of Babbage (BOB)	masters team tournament	Scout Association
Football (American)	Islands Football League (IFL)	pro league	Wye Ravens
Football (Babbage code)	National Association for Babbage Code (NABC)	pro league	Windsor Purple Wave
Football (International rules)	Football Association for International Rules (FAIR)	pro league	Paris
Football (soccer)	Football Federation of Babbage (FFB)	professional open cup	FC Green Star
Golf	Babbage Golf Association (BGA)	professional open tournament	Mark Phillips (men); Juliet Wykeham (women)
Ice Hockey	Babbage Islands Hockey Association (BIHA)	pro league	Far Point Owls
Korfball	Korfbalo-Asocio de Babaĝaj Insuloj (KABI)	open cup	McKay College Highlanders (amateur)
Ultimate	Babbage Ultimate Group (BUG)	open mixed tournament	Dimensional Warp

International Codes

• Nation code: BABB
• Internet TLD: .babb
• Telephone dialing code: +1057
• Currency code for the edison: EDI
• Automobile plate code: BI
• Sport code: TBI