Salad Land
The Marquisate of Salad Land | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: In the name of de Salad | |
| Status | Independent |
| Capital | Port Salad |
| Largest | Oar's End |
| Recognised national languages | French, English |
| Religion | Christianity (various denominations) |
| Demonym(s) | Saladian |
| Government | Constitutional monarchy |
• Marquis | Bastien de Salad |
• Prime Minister | Leighton Taylor |
| Legislature | The Council of Custodians |
| Establishment | |
• Discovery of land/foundation of colony | 1641 |
• Independence from English rule | 1642 |
• Establishment of constitutional monarchy | 1675 |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 63,913 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | 7.484 billion |
• Per capita | 117,097 |
| HDI (2021) | 0.981 very high |
| Currency | quetzal (CTN) |
| Time zone | SAT |
| Date format | dd-mm-yyyy |
| Driving side | left |
The Marquisate of Salad Land is a constitutional monarchy located in the International Democratic Union.
History
Discovery and settlement
In the year 1641, an expedition was sent out on behalf of the English crown to find new land to colonize. This expedition was led by Philippe de Salad, a merchant of mixed English and French heritage. The expedition, after getting extremely lost and almost losing all of its ships, eventually ran into a set of islands. (Ran into quite literally, as the Zephyr, the single remaining afloat of the original three ships, ran aground on Lussier Point just north of today's capital of Port Salad and got quite stuck.) As his crew could not free the Zephyr, de Salad shrugged and decided this set of islands he had found was as good as any place to settle. The newly created Colony of Stokerton was then founded, named after the noble sponsor of the expedition, Lord Emmanuel Stokerton.
Breakaway from English crown
The Colony of Stokerton, however, would be short-lived. A year later, the English Civil War kicked off, and Lord Stokerton demanded that his colony support him as he championed the Parliamentarian side. de Salad, thousands of miles away, didn't quite like the sound of that. Like many of his fellow colonists, he also rather liked the fact that they were very far away from the mother country and its ability to interfere with them. Instead of obeying Stokerton's demand, de Salad burned his letter and quietly lowered the English flag, replacing it with his own and declaring himself the Marquis de Salad, ruler of an independent Salad Land.
Upon receiving no response from his colony, Stokerton decided to go himself and find out what was happening. His ship, the Unsinkable, failed to live up to its nickname when it arrived at the newly re-christened Port Salad. The cannons that Stokerton had so kindly supplied the colonists for shore defense proved quite helpful in blowing up his ship. After that, there were no more inquiries from England as the chaos of the civil war caused everyone there to completely forget that Stokerton's colony even existed.
Formation of constitutional monarchy
de Salad would rule as a self-appointed monarch for the next three decades, slowly developing trade and diplomatic relations with other nearby nations as their ships happened to pass by and discovered there was actually a set of islands with people on them there. In 1675, however, de Salad would fall ill with "some illness or other" (as the verbiage on his death certificate would note). On his deathbed, a group of influential colonists known as the Council of Custodians convinced de Salad to sign a new law declaring the country a constitutional monarchy, with their Council as the legislature of sorts. From that time forward, the de Salad monarchs would share power with the Council. The Council itself became an elected body in 1953.
Climate
Salad Land has a tropical and oceanic climate, which remains typically mild during both winters and summers. Temperatures range typically from the low 60s in winter to the high 80s in summer. As the islands have no rivers or lakes, rainfall and underground aquifers are the only sources of water. Local laws require both businesses and residences to maintain systems to collect rainwater to supplement the underground aquifers. Common plant life on the islands include palm trees, cedars and fruit trees.
Government
The Prime Minister of Salad Land is the head of government. The position is elected every four years. The current PM, Leighton Taylor, has served since 2020 and is the leader of the Unlimited Salad Party.
The Marquis de Salad serves as head of state. The current Marquis is Bastien de Salad, a direct descendent of the first Marquis.
The Council of Custodians is the legislature of Salad Land. It is a unicameral legislature which holds elections every four years. There are currently 36 members of the Council, although law does allow for the Council to be increased or decreased upon agreement by the Prime Minister and the Marquis.
Military and security
The Salad Land Police Service is the law enforcement agency of the islands. It is responsible for policing the entire area of the islands, including municipalities and surrounding waters. The force has 468 members. Most police officers are armed only with non-lethal weapons such as batons and pepper spray. For those criminals who require a response with a bit more behind it, the Police Service does maintain a Special Response Team whose officers are quite heavily armed. The current Police Commissioner is Katherine Rudhall.
The Salad Land Defence Force consists of ground, air and naval components.
The Army has a total of 900 personnel in three battalions, whose task is mainly interior security with a secondary mission of national defense. The current commander of the Army is Gen. Valentin Daucourt, who is also the overall commander of the Defence Force.
The Air Patrol is primarily tasked to search and rescue at sea, with a secondary mission of aerial defense. The commander of the Air Patrol is Ltg. Quinn Mitchell.
The Naval Patrol is also primarily tasked to search and rescue at sea, with secondary missions of naval defense and interdiction of illegal vessels. The current commander of the Naval Patrol is Capt. Piper Drummond.