United Kingdom of the Westlands
From FrathWiki
The United Kingdom of the Westlands (UKW) is a country located off the northwestern coast of Europe (in the UKW World), surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. The territory of the UKW consists of the Westlands, or British Isles.
The UKW is composed of seven constitutent nations, in alphabetical order:
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History
The Westlands have been settled by humans since Palaeolithic times. Written history in the Westlands begins with the Commonwealth of the Elves, which according to tradition was established in the year 815 BC, though many historians assume that it was really established at a later date.
After the Tartessian War, the Westlands were taken over by Celtic tribes, and the history of this era remains largely unwritten until the Roman conquest of southern Britain in 43 CE. Southern Britain remained part of the Roman Empire until 410.
In the 5th century, Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, conquered most of southern Britain. This part of Britain became the nation of England, which was unified in the 9th century by Alfred the Great. At about the same time, Scotland and Ireland became unified kingdoms. England was conquered by Norman French nobles under William the Bastard, who thus earned the name the Conqueror, in 1066. In the following centuries, Cornwall, Elfham, Wales and the Isle of Man fell under English rule but preserved their national identities.
Government and Politics
The UKW is a constiutional monarchy. The executive power is exercise on behalf of the monarch (King or Queen) by the Prime Minister and the cabinet. The cabinet is drawn from and responsible to Parliament, the legislative branch of the government.
Parliament is a bicameral organ, consisting of the virtually powerless House of Lords and the democratically elected House of Commons. Since 1922, the single transferable vote system is used to elect the members of the House of Commons.
The two largest parties of the UKW are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party; other important parties are the Liberal Party, the Green Party and the Alliance of Free Nations which consists of the Irish Parliamentary Party, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru (Wales), Arthad Elbhrin (Elfham) and Mebyon Kernow (Cornwall).
Subdivisions
The UKW is a federal state; each of the seven constituent nations has its own executive and legislature. England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are subdivided into counties. Ireland is also subdivided into four traditional provinces (Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster), each with an elected Provincial Council. England is subdivided into eight regions at an intermediate level (above counties).
Languages
There are several different languages spoken in the UKW. The most important language of the UKW is English, which is the native language of the vast majority of the population. It is the only official language of England, but it is also official in all other constituent nations. Closely related is Scots, which is spoken in the Scottish Lowlands and has official status in Scotland.
The Celtic languages of the UKW fall into two groups: Brythonic and Goidelic. The Brythonic languages of the UKW are Welsh (official in Wales, spoken by about 40% of the population of Wales) and Cornish (official in Cornwall, spoken by about 10% of the population of Cornwall). The Goidelic languages are Irish (official in Ireland), Manx (official in the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic (spoken in the Scottish Highlands and islands, official in Scotland).
Other languages include Shelta, Polari and Romani. Besides these, two non-Indo-European families are indigenous to the Westlands. The Albic languages include Low Elvish (official language of Elfham), and the tiny minority languages Caledonian in Scotland and Iverinian in Ireland. Pictish, an unrecognized minority language of Scotland, is the sole survivor of the Coric family.
Besides these, numerous immigrant languages are spoken in the UKW, mostly languages from former colonies of the kingdom. These include Hindustani, Panjabi, Tamil, Swahili and many others.
