Haromszek

From Scandia

The Confederation of Haromszeki States is located in west-central Niveria along the shores of the Cisteuvian Ocean. The country's traditional regions are as important to its people as its formal borders.

Zelicky Mtns, Hrebenisc Union - the CHzS flag's colors are meant to call these scenes to mind

Haromszek


(Flag of Haromszek)	(Seal of the CHzS)

National motto:
Člen určitý jsme zvolnit, aby neže ta půda nemocný
The oxen are slow but the earth is patient

National anthem:
Chabbooka Wind on Wheaten Plain

Official languages

Turayiec, Magyatic, Nopalcany, Ris, Skyaav, Maansi, Loirisian,

Úgretic, Yommanisch

unofficial but widely spoken - Ingallish

Capital

Cerbesti

Largest City

Oroshtozer - pop. 2.6 million

Government
Head of State

Loose Confederation
Premier Stefan Novak

Area
- Total
- % water

2,489,068 km²
2%

Population
- Total
- Growth Rate
- Density

142,566,000
0.52%
57/km²

Establishment of Confederation

Confederation Charter, 1483

GDP
- Total
- GDP/capita
- Growth Rate

4.045 trillion ScandianShekels
28,368 Koruna
2.5%

Currency
-

Haromszeki Skana (HzSk)
2.4 Koruna

Time Zones

SMT (SMT±0)

Haromszek in the 1520's is a complex arrangement of treaties, cooperative associations, and joint sovereignty. After centuries of attempts at joining dissimilar Haromszeki loyalties under this flag or that constitution, a solution has been found. The architect of the multilayer republic arrangement was Elvis Unis Plurbum, honored as the Father of the Haromszeks. His 1478 pamphlet "Layers of Us" spelled out almost every point of the 1483 Confederation Charter.

The three competing claims upon each resident's loyalties are still one's language, ethnic group, and territory. Unlike most nations where differences are stamped out or glossed over, Haromszek accepts differences and rolls with them. Nine language groups each have consituencies. Six ethnic groups likewise. And twenty-five to twenty-nine territorial sovereignties, depending on our definition, stand with traditional borders.

The Haromszeki difference is that each resident may belong to multiples of those three types of republic. He votes or otherwise participates in each where he has citizenship -- not all are democratically arranged. Typically membership might be in one territorial republic -- though joint citizenship is possible with some, based on property ownership instead of residence. Typically one is member of one ethnic republic -- though some people claim *none* of the recognized groups, and some several. Typically one is a member of one or more language republics -- multilingualism abounds, but an immigrant may not yet have enough fluency in any Hz tongue to qualify.

Cerbesti, the CHzS Confederal Capital

Politics thus takes more time and effort in Hz, yet at the same time seems less brutal than in many parliamentary systems. With so many overlapping jurisdictions, seldom does any one office control all of an issue. "Dogcatchers too are diplomats" goes the Haromszeki saying. Across Scandia many people draw their identity from their political party. Haromszekis belong to so many, each of which is a minor part of the overall government scene, that the political fractionation actually drives a single national or cultural identity. "I am Haromszeki" can be true even though there's not much of an overall nation to belong to.

A balancing factor when people choose what citizenships to declare, is that each such membership carries its own tax liability. Once in a while an attempt is made to set up a central taxation authority. It always fails, with too much dissention over distribution. Instead, one pays taxes -- each small, and with many differing requirements -- to every republic one is a part of.

And that's just the "national" level. Hz has just as lively a local political scene.

Successful Haromszeki political campaign managers move on to careers in psychiatry, spying, weather forecasting, and arranging marriages among the high and mighty. Haromszek breeds diplomats like ponds breed mosquitos.