Novella Islands

Social Republic of the Novella Islands
Flag Seal
Motto: From knowledge, power. From peace, freedom.
The Novellan Archipelago
Capital	Novella City
Official languages	Novellan English (en-NI) Latin (la)
Religion (2022)	99.56% No religion (atheist or agnostic) 0.15% Confucianism 0.11% Secular Buddhism 0.09% Taoism 0.07% Shinto 0.02% Others
Demonym(s)	Novellan
Government	Federal parliamentary constitutional republic, with technocratic or meritocratic elements, particularly in the civil service
• First Minister	Dr. Edmund Dell
• Second Minister	Dr. Alice Bell
Legislature	Federal Parliament of the Novella Islands
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Formative events
• Novellan Archipelago discovered	23 November 1621
• Xeles Colony Established	7 December 1628
• Federation of Xeles, Hathon, and Telem colonies as the Union of the Novellan Colonies	1 July 1668
• De jure independence granted from the Empire of Opthelia ratified	25 October 1725
• Incorporation of all 10 states as the Federation of the Novellan Archipelago	8 April 1775
• The 1877 Revolution and subsequent May Agreement results in reformation as the Communist Union of the Novella Islands	3 May 1879
• The 1969 constitutional referendum results in reformation as the Social Republic of the Novella Islands	1 January 1970
Area
• Total	195,207.49 km2 (75,370.03 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.57
Population
• 2023 estimate	77,410,000
• 2022 census	75,629,206
• Density	377.80/km2 (978.5/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	₦1,471.45 trillion
• Per capita	₦19,008,500
Currency	Novelle (₦) (NIN)
Date format	DD-MM-YYYY (informal) YYYY-MM-DD (official) The universalised calendar is used in place of the Gregorian calendar.
Driving side	left
Calling code	+231
Internet TLD	.ni

The Novella Islands, officially the Social Republic of the Novella Islands, is a sovereign archipelago nation located located in the XYZ Sea, in the International Democratic Union.

Etymology

The etymology of the name of the Novella Islands is somewhat disputed, with neither of the two predominant hypotheses particularly well-supported within the literature, or historical records. Interestingly however, both alleged etymologies stem from the original Latin root, novus ("new, novel").

Via the Italian novella

One theory posits that the name entered the language via the Italian novella ("short story"), itself later entering the English language as a loanword.

Prior to European settlement in the late 16th century, the Novellan Archipelago was uninhabited by humans; lush forests, pristine beaches, and crystal clear water greeted the initial colonists, untouched by any anthropogenic contamination. Although likely apocryphal, it is contended that the lead botanist on the Superb exclaimed upon making landfall, witnessing the picturesque landscape, "These islands are as if they have been lifted from a novella!". Nonetheless, by the 18th century, there is sufficient written documentation to support the existence of the popular adage, "The Novella Islands are more beautiful than the tale in any novella".

Via the Latin Terra Nova

The second theory asserts that the etymology of the name is via the Latin Terra Nova ("new land").

European colonisation of the Novella Islands was not undertaken as an establishment of penal colonies, as with many foreign territories settled in the 16th and 17th centuries. Instead, the First Fleet was funded by - and exclusively carried - an intelligentsia class, searching for a new place to establish a society based purely upon logic and reason. At this time, while English was the primary spoken language, Latin was still the preferred language for any official written documentation that was to be permanently archived. As such, it is not inconceivable that the archipelago retained its Latin placeholder Terra Nova, which was then corrupted upon its entry into spoken English.

History

Colonial Era

The flag of the Empire of Opthelia, used to represent the Xeles colony during its earliest days.

The Union of the Novellan Colonies

The flag of the Union of the Novellan Colonies.

De jure independence from the Empire of Opthelia

As the Novellan Archipelago was settled both without either the approval or financial support of the Opthelian government, there is a strong contention that the resultant colonies were never under the rule of the Empire of Opthelia. Indeed, at no point during the early colonial period did Opthelia either provide support to, nor make demands of, the colonies. While some historians have suggested that the use of the Empire of Opthelia's flag constituted a tacit recognition that the colonies in the Novellan Archipelago were established with the knowledge that they were subjects of the Opthelain Empire, this is both downplayed and rebutted vehemently. The principle argument against this was the fact that not all of the colonies flew the Opthelian flag, and its usage was not consistent even within the colonies that did fly it; more than anything, it was flown a sign of their shared Opthelian heritage. Further, and perhaps even more damning to this argument, is that a new flag quickly began to gain more widespread adoption, and would eventually become the official flag of the Union of the Novellan Colonies.

Nevertheless, the mere suggestion that the Novella Islands could have been beholden to Opthelia encouraged the Novellan colonial government to enter into discussions with the Opthelian Imperial Household in 1719, around the possibility of a decree of independence. While the relationship between the two nations was by no means hostile at this point in time, Opthelia was predominantly ambivalent towards the colonies, and the Novellan requests fell upon deaf ears. It was only with the offer to transfer three modernised ships-of-the-line - the Illustrious, the Atrium, and the Turmoil - that negotiations finally began to bear fruit. By late 1724, an agreement was finally reached; backdated to the date of first settlement, the Novella Islands was to be a wholly independent nation in its own right. The decree of independence was signed and proclamated on the 25 October 1725.

This debate of sovereignty in the very earliest days of its national history has lead the Novella Islands to reject offers of entry and participation in the Opthelian Commonwealth, to which all current and former members of the Opthelian Empire are welcome. While the Opthelain government extends the invitation on the principle that the Novella Islands is entitled to membership due to their "strong ties of cultural heritage with Opthelia", the Novellan government opposes acceptance due to the fear of eroding any perception of their total independence from Opthelia, a perception which has been carefully constructed since the 18th century.

The Federation of the Novellan Archipelago

The flag of the Federation of the Novellan Archipelago.

The 1877 Revolution and the May Agreement

Main articles: 1877 Revolution and May Agreement

The Communist Union of the Novella Islands

The flag of the Communist Union of the Novella Islands.

The Great War

Main article: Great War

The Social Republic of the Novella Islands

The current flag of the Social Republic of the Novella Islands. Note the change to a 1:2 ratio, from the previous 2:3 ratio.

Government and politics

Administrative divisions

     Aqis        Aqon        Cyanth        Hathon        Jervo        Rolor        Stahl        Telem        Wotan        Xeles

Aqis

Main article: Aqis

Aqon

Main article: Aqon

Cyanth

Main article: Cyanth

Hathon

Main article: Hathon

Jervo

Main article: Jervo

Rolor

Main article: Rolor

Stahl

Main article: Stahl

Telem

Main article: Telem

Wotan

Main article: Wotan

Xeles

Main article: Xeles

Military

Main article: Novella Islands Defence Force

The Novella Islands Army

Main article: Novella Islands Army

The Novella Islands Navy

Main article: Novella Islands Navy

The Novella Islands Aerospace Force

Main article: Novella Islands Aerospace Force

Economy

The obverse and reverse of a 500 Novelle coin, the national currency of the Novella Islands.

Demographics

Ethnic groups, ancestry, and immigration

The four variants of Passport and Identity Booklet issued by the Novella Islands Office of Identification.

Health

Deathcare

As the Novella Islands has a resoundingly non-religious population, the rate of adherence to rituals and traditions surrounding the death of an individual is particularly low. Culturally, death is taken as a natural consequence of the cycle of human life, albeit an unfortunate one; there is no specific attachment of any great significance to the event.

The vast majority of deceased individuals within the Novella Islands have their remains disposed of via alkaline hydrolysis ("liquid cremation"). This procedure is conducted at dedicated facilities attached to the morgues of large hospitals in regional centres, where the majority of end-of-life individuals will be taken as a matter of course. There is no cost to the individual or their family for this service, since it is administered directly by the UHS. As organ harvesting after death is mandatory by law, this is often conducted immediately before the alkaline hydrolysis procedure.

Individual citizens are free to conduct their own alternative arrangements for the event of their death, and a small percentage (approximately 5% of all deaths per year) do engage in alternate methods of deathcare. Traditional burial (such as that seen in many other nations) is most often practiced by more wealthy or rural individuals, typically on their own land outside of large population centres. Cryopreservation is also practiced, in the hope that medical technology will eventually cure the ailment that caused the death of the individual, so that they may be later revived; once again, this is most often practiced by citizens with a greater degree of wealth.

Immigrant populations comprise the bulk of other deathcare arrangements, as required by their culture or custom, although exceptional practices such as these are typically forgone by the third generation of any individual immigrant family.

Culture

Media

Main article: Novellan National News Service

The iconic Lissajous curve logo of the Novellan National News Service, the Novella Islands' public broadcaster.