Bloemenland

History of Bloemenland

Colonial Era
- how the area became Dutch

WIP
- Dutch settlers come in from the north and other lost Dutch colonies and the area develops a specific 'freedom loving' culture (idea pending)

The Slavery Question
Around the mid-1800s, when the slavery question started to become a serious concern throughout the southern American continent, the Bloemenlander government held many serious debates about what to do with the African slaves. During this time there were around 250,000 African slaves throughout Bloemenland, this was roughly 30% of the population at the time. Noticing the worrying signs in the north, and having recently put down a slave revolt on Nieuw Breda, it was decided that something must be done about the slaves, or the nation would likely face further revolts. After much debate in the Council of Governors, it was decided that the best solution would be to ship all of the slaves back to Africa. The Stadtholder at the time agreed with the proposal, personally providing half of the funds needed for the endeavour. Within the following years, ships were prepared, slave owners compensated, and all the slaves were rounded up and shipped to the West Coast of Africa. Roughly 25% of all the African slaves sent back to Africa died either during the voyage, or during the first 10 years in Africa. Another 25% ended up going to northern nations, rather than being sent to Africa. The information on the deaths was censored from the Bloemenlander public, and the campaign was viewed as a significant success.

Due to the expulsion of the African slaves, Bloemenland never officially abolished slavery of Africans. Strict immigration policies today keep many Africans from immigrating into Bloemenland, resulting in a very small number of Blacks in Bloemenland. Despite the fact that slavery of Blacks is still completely legal, no Black person has been held as a slave in Bloemenland since the expulsion in the mid-1800s.

Following after the policies of the Spaniards, Natives were never enslaved, and held many rights throughout the nation, including the right to own land, intermarry, and vote. Natives also faced no legal discrimination, a policy which continues to this day.

WIP
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Modern Era
- 20th century and how the region has adapted to the modern era

#3

Population

WIP

Language

WIP

Religion

#4

The Bloemenlander government system is known as the Council of Governors. The Council of Governors is made up of elected Governors who serve for 3 year terms. Governors are elected by population, with one being elected for every 500,000 people, rounded up. However political parties are officially outlawed, with the Governors being expected to represent their municipalities and rural areas directly. The Governors can pass laws with a majority of 55% +1, and need a majority of 2/3rds to declare war. In order to change the constitution or the governance system of Bloemenland the Governors need a 2/3rds majority, and a referendum by the people with 55% +1 being in favour.

The head of the Council of Governors is the Stadtholder, who is elected in a national election, has veto powers, represents the nation internationally, and is the head of the military. The Stadtholder serves for a 5 year term. In the event of the death of the Stadtholder, a new election will be called within 2 months to elect a new Stadtholder, the Council of Governors will nominate one member to represent the country until said election can take place. There is no limit to how many terms that a Governor or a Stadtholder may serve, but traditionally both serve a maximum of 5 terms. Today there are 85 Governors who help govern the nation alongside the Stadtholder.

The Council of Governors appoints a court of 7 judges every 5 years, in line with the elections for Stadtholder, who serve to interpret the laws of the nation. The Council of Governors also appoints unelected ministers to key areas of running the nation (military, healthcare, economy, etc). These ministers are mandated by law to be experts in their fields (10+ years of experience), and also serve for 5 year terms, in line with the elections for Stadtholder. Both policies were put in place to ensure a strong government. Bloemenland has a form of direct government, with the Council of Governors ruling the nation directly, and is not subdivided into provinces or states.

Current Stadtholder: Bastijn Weltevreden (M) | #FF9B00
Current Minister of War: Lennaert van Riel (M) | #BF0000
Current Minister of Trade & Economics: Joris Fokkert (M)
Current Minister of Foreign Affairs: Maurits Storm van Nassau-Siegen (M) | #0B72FF
Current Minister of Health: Floortje Steunenberg (F)
Current Minister of Agriculture: Jasmijn Schultink (F)
Current Minister of Development: Stefan van Corbach (M)
Current Minister of Tourism: Geesje Wastenecker (F)

Despite being a direct government, Bloemenland is divided into 7 geographic regions. These regions serve to highlight the various main islands and regions in the nation, and are often used when making various policies due to the need for unique policies depending on the region.

Groeneveld - 9,102,000
Antillen - 222,000
Batavia - 9,730,000
Jamaica - 2,100,000
Nieuw Breda - 10,924,000
Borikén - 3,235,000
Yucatán - 7,235,000

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Resources
Oil Production Bloemenland produces around 1,850,000 barrels of oil per day, with much of the oil production being located in the Yucatan region.
Bloemenland also has large quantities of natural gas, also located in the Yucatan region. On the larger islands, Bloemenland also contains several natural resources, including cobalt, nickel, iron, chromium, copper, nickel, gold, silver, titanium, and bauxite.

The largest industries in Bloemenland are oil production, agriculture, and mining.

Trade

Infrastructure
Refineries
Bloemenland has several refineries, located primarily in the Yucatan region, though there are also refineries in the Batavia and Groeneveld regions as well.

Transportation
WIP (something about the national train service)

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Infinitos Mundos

Bloemenland

Bloemenland

History

Demographics

Politics

Economy

Military

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