Kronenburg
The kingdom of Kronenburg (Kronenburgish: Det Kynkriik fan Kroneborg, Dutch: Het Koninkrijk Kronenburg) is a small country located east of Long Island and south of Rhode Island (USA) with approximately 9 million inhabitants. Initial colonies were formed in the early seventeenth century. In 1627, the Republic of New Frisia was created in a response to the growing influence of the Dutch West India Company (WIC), but although this new state was rather succesful in keeping control over its own territories, the local reign of terror that was used to accomplish that, caused the colonists to revolt and in 1644 the Republic came to an end. Five years later, the colony choose to become a monarchy.
The first kings (house of Nassau-Dietz) didn't set foot on Kronenburg soil, but king Willem III (1751 - 1806) spent some time in Kronenburg after having been chased away from the Netherlands in 1795. His son, king Willem IV, tried to unify Kronenburg and the Netherlands. The Belgian revolution and resistance in Kronenburg itself prevented this from happening, and Willem IV abdicated in Kronenburg in 1834 in favour of his third son August, who took the name Alexander I. Relations between Kronenburg and the United States of America were strained during the 19th and the larger part of the 20th centuries, and some wars were fought, the one from 1872 resulting in the destruction of the Kronenburg capital. In 1938, the Kronenburg government was overthrown by the national socialist party. In 1941, the United States occupied Kronenburg after Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. Kronenburg regained its independence in 1947, after which it maintained a rather isolationist internation policy, the end of which came in the '80s.
The official languages are Kronenburgish (since 1 April 2013) and Dutch. Head of state is king Ernst I Frederik, since 24 September 2010. Since 1 January 2016, the Kingdom of Kronenburg consists of four so called Elements: Kronenburg proper, West-Cod, the Kronenburg Virgin Islands, and the White Islands). Kronenburg proper is divided in sixteen municipalities, including the overseas municipality of New-Stavoren.
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History
The kingdom of Kronenburg came into existence in the year 1649, after the discontinuation of the Republic of New Friesland, that had existed from 1627 to 1644. William Frederick of Nassau-Dietz was offered the throne of Kronenburg, but although he accepted, it took until the end of the eighteenth century before a Kronenburg king would visit his country. Until 1834 Kronenburg was linked with the Netherlands through the monarchy by personal union; in that year the third son of king William IV (I in the Netherlands) became king Alexander I of Kronenburg.
The relationship with its neighbour, the United States of America, determined the Kronenburg history for the larger part. The USA tried to annex Kronenburg as a new state on several occasions. The last time they attempted this was during the second world war, when the USA occupied Kronenburg following a national-socialist coup d'état.
After the regained independence in 1947 Kronenburg remained isolated for many decades. It joined international organisations hesitantly, such as the United Nations (1973), the OAS (1984), the Commonwealth of Nations (1989) and the AGL (1999). A discussion about joining NATO has been going on for several years now and in June 2011 Kronenburg was represented in Purikali, the capital of the kingdom of Kaupelan to watch the founding of the international organisation FICT. Although Kronenburg has expressed its interest in joining FICT, it has however declared that it will not do so for the time being. It did however join the Exumbran Convention in 2012.
Demography
The larger part of the Kronenburg people consists of descendants of colonists from the northern parts of the Netherlands (Groningen, Friesland) and Germany (present-day Lower Saxony), who ended up on some islands near the North-American coast in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the eighteenth century a first group of Scandinavians, mainly Danes, joined them. The policy of king William IV (I in the Netherlands) lead to a large amount of Western Dutch immigrants between 1815 and 1830. In the following decennia, small groups of other nationalities from other European countries came to Kronenburg, although most of them continued their journey to the US, where the immigration policies were easer than in Kronenburg. After the second world war, a second large group of Europeans followed, among whom many Dutch. Kronenburg still has a very strict immigration policy.
Languages
The country's official language is Dutch, since king William IV (I in the Netherlands) had this written in the constitution. In public life however, people speak Kronenburgish, a West-Germanic language heavily influenced by Frisian and Lower Saxon, which developped on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean in its own particular way. The government of prime minister Ernst-Piter Strikwerda (2008-2011) intended to give the Kronenburgish language official status in 2012, although Dutch is to be kept as formal language, but in 2011 it was announced that it will be postponed to at the earliest 2013.
On 1 April 2013, Kronenburgish was adopted as the country's official language, with Dutch maintaining official status as well.
Religion
Kronenburg has no state church. 54% of the inhabitants are Evangelical Lutheran, and in general it is expected of the reigning monarch that he is too. Former crown prince Alexander Casimir, the older brother of king Ernst I Frederik, lost his rights to the throne by marrying an Eastern Orthodox princess.
21% of the Kronenburg citizens are Roman Catholic, 11% are Anglican and 7% are Jewish. In Kronenburg everyone is a member of a religious community in principle, practising or not. This applies too for e.g. socialists and communists. Kronenburg has freedom of religious, so every splinter group can apply itself as a religious institution, that citizens can join. The refusal of atheist and agnostic communities in Kronenburg to have themselves registered as 'religion', probably causes the official numbers of religious affiliation to be somewhat distorted.
Affairs like civil status, baptism, marriages and funerals are normally organised by the church. There is no civil marriage in Kronenburg; the state accepts religious marriages as official. Marriages of atheists who don't marry at an officially recognised religious institution, are therefore not recognised by the state.
Administrative division
Since 2016, Kronenburg is divided in sixteen municipalities.
| name | capital | inhabitants | area | density | mayor | since |
| Alexanderstad | Alexanderstad | 2,491,006 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Maud Heirens (f) | 2012 |
| Bredenburg | Bredenburg | 287,133 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Wia MacIntyre-Leemkuil (f) | 2016 |
| Dietzland | Portus Regius | 383,943 | 568.88 km2 | 674.91 inh/km2 | Margit Graeff-Ahlstrand (f) | 2012 |
| Friescheburg | Friescheburg | 1,560,059 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Wojciech Jędrzejewicz | 2016 |
| Groningen | Groningen | 170,011 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Hebbe Vos | 2016 |
| Hinte | Hinte | 339,778 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Asgar Thommes | 2018 |
| Jaltadaburg | Jaltadaburg | 501,645 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Donald van der Tuuk | 2016 |
| Koninginneland | Marianne | 748,008 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Hans-Peter Thollius | 2008 |
| Markenland | Denestad | 370,202 | 619.94 km2 | 597,16 inh/km2 | Roxette Dinkla-Buhl (f) | 2015 |
| New-Stavoren | Fort New-Stavoren | 8035 | 378.66 km2 | 21.22 inh/km2 | Ezechiël Stavasius | 2020 |
| Oosterland | Oosterland | 471,732 | 711.69 km2 | 662.83 inh/km2 | Ed Aarts | 2007 |
| Oranjewijk | Oranjewijk | 479,041 | 1,320.94 km2 | 362.65 inh/km2 | Paulus Knippenborg | 2022 |
| Old-Kronenburg | Noordeinde | 918,141 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Lena Ewen (f) | 2012 |
| Waterland | Waterburg | 632,505 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Ed Aarrestad | 2013 |
| Westerland | Friescheburg | 402,351 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Eilard Winchester | 2016 |
| Westerport | Westerport | 216,345 | t.b.d. | t.b.d. | Rosalee Parker-Bennema (f) | 2016 |
Furthermore, there are the three other elements:
| name | capital | inhabitants | area | density | king's governor | since | chief minister | since |
| the Virgin Islands | Frederiksbaai | 17,746 | Pernille Dykstra-Vantassel (f) | 2020 | Tom Hansen | 2018 | ||
| West-Cod | West-Cod | 101,565 | 126,88 km2 | 800.48 inh/km2 | Willebrord Nyenhuus | 2016 | Hylke Fopma Tadema | 2016 |
| the White Islands | West-Markt | 23,231 | Theo O'Flaherty | 2016 | Douglas O'Keeffe | 2019 |
Economy
In 2022, Kronenburg's nominal GDP was $542.44 billion or $54,353 per capita. Kronenburg is a small country without many natural resources, so a large part of the economy depends on tourism and the gambling industry such as casinos, due to which the country is sometimes known as the Monaco of North-America. Apart from that, there are a number of branches of industry devoted to the processing of materials; the country exports chemical and technological products as well as food and some raw materials. 6.8% of the working population is employed in agriculture, 23.6% in the industry and 69.6% in service industry. The Kronenburg Guilder has been the official currency since the nineteenth century.
The economical crisis hit Kronenburg hard in 2007 and 2008, particularly the real estate market. Thanks to the policies of finance minister Etto Reer greater damage was prevented, but the Guilder lost a lot of its value. On 1 January 2021, it had a value of $0.2114 or €0.1737.
Education
Education in Kronenburg is for the most part provided publicly, although private institutions have been slowly on the rise since the early nineties of the 20th century. The curriculum of public schools is determined entirely by the ministry of education, although schools have some liberty in deciding the amount of time they spend on certain subjects, and, in secondary school, which non-mandatory subjects they offer. For private schools a number of basic subjects is mandatory, but they enjoy more liberty in choosing the rest of their curricula.
Like many other countries, education in Kronenburg is offered in three stages: primary, secundary and post-secundary. Education is compulsory up to the age of 18, but profession oriented secundary education is offered only part-time after the age of 15, in combination with a part-time job. The school years of both primary and secundary public schools last from 1 September to 30 June; private schools and post-secundary institutions may deviate from this calendar.
Especially the Kronenburg private secundary schools have a slightly higher average standard than similar schools in the surrounding states of the United States, and they therefore attract a lot of American pupils whose parents wish for their children to gain experience abroad. Although only two of those private schools are boarding schools in the sense that all pupils stay at school territory for the duration of the educational periods (excluding Christmas and Easter holidays), most private schools facilitate housing for students who live too far away to return home every day.
Language education
Until 2013, all subjects at (public) primary and secundary schools were taught in Dutch. The mandatory languages that were taught included Dutch itself, and English. Kronenburgish, French and Spanish, and at some schools also Russian, German and/or (Brazilian) Portuguese, were optional. Kronenburgish was increasingly encouraged as of 2009/2010. As of 2013/2014 it will be a mandatory subject, following the adoption of Kronenburgish as official language. The government's intention is that an increasing amount subjects will be taught in the Kronenburgish language as of 2013, but schools will be relatively free in choosing their time tables to organise this. Dutch is to remain a mandatory subject for at least ten years as well.
Universities
Currently there are four universities in Kronenburg. The most important are the Royal University (founded in 1712 in Kronenburg-City, now located in Alexanderstad) and the University of Technology 'Kornelis Frankema' (founded in 1949 in Waterburg. The other two universities are the Danish University (Dansk Universitet), founded in 1744 in Denestad, and the University of Law and Arts (founded in 2004 in Alexanderstad).
Politics
Kings of Kronenburg
Kronenburg is a constitutional monarchy. There is a semi-salic law of succession, which stipulates that only sons can succeed their father, unless a male pretender can't be found in three degrees. Nowadays the monarch descends from prince Ernst of Habsburg-Lorraine, the husband of former queen Marianne, and a protestant (evangelical-lutheran).
Legislative and executive
Since the constitution was changed in 1981, the executive is formed by the Oostkamer (litt. East Chamber), which consists of the prime minister and the other ministers. The legislative is formed by the Noordkamer (litt. North Chamber; the 175 seat chamber of representatives) and the Zuidkamer (litt. South Chamber; the 81 seat senate). Laws must be signed into force by the king. Constitutionally, the king has the right to refuse this, but no king has ever used this right.
The prime minister
The office of prime minister was introduced in 1981; before that, the king chaired government sessions. Prime minister of Kronenburg were:
| # | prime minister | took office | left office | party | coalition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolaas Veldtman | 6 February 1981 | 1 February 1985 | CGU | CGU |
| 1 February 1985 | 3 February 1989 | CGU + LKP | |||
| 2 | Sander Opland Falting | 3 February 1989 | 5 February 1993 | LKP | LKP + PSV |
| 5 February 1993 | 7 February 1997 | LKP + PSV | |||
| 7 February 1997 | 2 February 2001 | LKP + PSV | |||
| 3 | Johan Achterberg | 2 February 2001 | 15 May 2001 | PSV | PSV + PvG + DPG |
| Anton Wolff interim | 15 May 2001 | 3 August 2001 | LKP | interim government | |
| 4 | Sonja Brahms | 3 August 2001 | 1 February 2002 | LKP | LKP + PvG + DPG ad interim, but in full capacity |
| 1 February 2002 | 3 February 2006 | LKP + PvG (+ DPG until 2004) | |||
| 3 February 2006 | 30 August 2007 | LKP + PvG + NCD | |||
| Annemarie Torringa-Haraldson ad interim | 30 August 2007 | 1 February 2008 | LKP | interim government | |
| 5 | Ernst-Piter Strikwerda | 1 February 2008 | 4 May 2011 | PSV | PSV + PvG + PU |
| 6 | Hans Dankert | 4 May 2011 | 6 February 2015 | PvG | PvG + ROOS! |
| 6 February 2015 | 1 February 2019 | PvG + ROOS! | |||
| 1 February 2019 | 6 September 2021 | PvG + LKP + NCD | |||
| 7 | Mariëtte van der Schaaf | 6 September 2021 | 16 March 2023 | PSV | PSV + PvG + KliPa |
| 8 | Tjebco C. Bomans | 16 March 2023 | incumbent | LKP | LKP + NCD |
Foreign relations
Main Article: Ambassadors of Kronenburg
Traffic and transport
Public transport is better developped in Kronenburg than in most other western countries. Due to the limited space between the two largest cities, Alexanderstad and Friescheburg, there are only few major roads, but many train, tram and metro lines, which are very often used by the working Kronenburger. Trains go in all directions from the capital conurbation: almost every settlement on the three main islands are connected with Alexanderstad by train or metropolitan railway. A bridge is planned to be built from the city of Oosterland through the island of Engelbert to Zurich, on Koningin Annaland (Dietzland municipality).
Between the islands ferries sail with high frequency and there are ferry connections with the American continent on a regular basis. Nearby Alexanderstad is the international airport Prins Ernst; elsewhere there are some smaller regional airports and airfields. Seaplanes are also used frequentely in Kronenburg.
Media
Television and radio
Kronenburg has three public television broadcasting channels (RTK1, RTK3 and RTK-Kunst (= RTK-Art in English). In 2011, the government announced that these channels would be put up for sale.
Apart from the public television channels, there is a large number of Dutch spoken commercial channels, but a number of them is only broadcasting regionally. Among the national commercial channels, there is RTK2, a former public channel that severed the state connection in 1994. others are Corona and O3, the main television channel of the Kronenburg billionaire Oscar A. Ottendorf Okrilla.
Newspapers
The oldest newspaper of Kronenburg is the Kronenburger Bode, the first edition of which was presented in 1744 and which nowadays has a leftish liberal signature, but also Dagbladet af Dansted (1756, conservative, partly Danish), the Friescheburgsche Courant (1803, socialist/leftist) and the Nieuwe Oosterlandsche Courant (1894, progressive christian) have been popular newspapers for many decades. A modest newspaper is the Binnenlands Dagblad (1948, conservative christian).
Kronenburg Time
Since 1956, in Kronenburg and the overseas parts of the kingdom the Kronenburg Time (KBT) applies, which is 4.5 hours earlier than UTC. Kronenburg has no daylight saving time.