New-Stavoren (overseas municipality)

New-Stavoren (Dutch: Nieuw-Stavoren; Kronenburgish: Nei-Steuren) is an overseas municipality of the kingdom of Kronenburg, located east of the Turks and Caicos Islands. On 1 January 2013, there lived approximately 7,500 people. The capital of New-Stavoren is Fort New-Stavoren (Dutch: Fort Nieuw-Stavoren; Kronenburgish: Det Fort). Mayor has been Olaf Dokter, since 2010.

Geography

The archipelago of New-Stavoren consists of five small islands, two of which have permanent habitation. The largest island is New-Stavoren (Nieuw-Stavoren, Nei-Steuren), on which the capital Fort New-Stavoren as well as the settlement of Carolina can be found. To the north, there are the uninhabited island of Clio, a very small island with a diameter of less than one kilometer designated NS5, as well as the second largest island Kalliope with a town of the same name. To the west, there is the island of Saint Luke (Sint Lucas, Sant Lukas), where a U.S. military base was located until 1994. Since 1997, there is a popular holiday resort. Saint Luke has only temporary residents, including the staff of the resort and of course their guests.

History

Since the archipelago that is now called New-Stavoren was discovered by Columbus in October 1492, it has been part of many conquering nations. In 1723 the islands were infested with pirates, and the Royal West-Indies Trade Company (Dutch: Koninklijke Westindische Handelscompagnie (KWH)) chased them away and took possession of the islands on behalf of the Kronenburg government. The present-day capital was built in that period. In 1749 the KWH was dissolved and the islands were left on their own for some years. In 1756 the chairman of the Kronenburg parliament (at that time Lykele Maarsingh) ordered the re-possession of the islands, but in 1764 New-Stavoren was conquered by the French. When French influence declined around 1783, the mainly Kronenburg colonists swore allegiance to king William III and the Kronenburg parliament.

In the years thereafter, a number of small wars were fought over the islands, mainly with the British, who wanted to add the islands to the Bahamas. From 1871 to 1917, New-Stavoren was annexed by the United States, but with the signing of the Treaty of Providence, the islands were returned to Kronenburg, although the United States kept a military base running on the island of Saint Luke until 1994.

Politics

Until 1949, New-Stavoren was a colony in traditional sense. The archipelago was ruled first by the KWH and after that by a special committee of the Kronenburg parliament. During the reign of king William IV (1806 - 1834), a minister of colonies was appointed for the first time. In 1949, New-Stavoren was added to the Kronenburg Virgin Islands, but the local population didn't like this arrangement at all. In 1992, the two territories were separated. The Virgin Islands chose more autonomy and became an autonomous overseas province, but New-Stavoren asked for autonomy for internal affairs only and got the status of 'overseas municipality'.

Apart from the normal parliamentary elections in which the population of New-Stavoren may participate, newly elected members of the Noordkamer may apply for the additional task of representing New-Stavoren in the Noordkamer. Two weeks or so after the normal Noordkamer elections, the people of New-Stavoren elect two persons from several candidates.

#	mayor of New-Stavoren	took office	left office	remarks
1	Harm-Jan Stavasius	1992	2000
2	Jelle Hooghiemstra	2000	2000
3	David Aikesz	2000	2010
4	Olaf Dokter	2010	incumbent