Kalistan

Kalistan, officially the  United Republic of Kalistan (Egelian: República Unida de Kalistan) is a unitary semi-presidential republic in north-eastern Seleya. It shares a border with Lodamun to the west and Baltusia to the south. Kalistan comprises a total area of 1.41 million km² and has a population of around 47.2 million people. Since ancient times, Kalistan has been a unique nation within the continent and the globe due to its reputation as a safe haven for refugees of all varieties. At times this has created international tension due to exploitation by criminals and pirates. In modern times, Kalistan has been an important international player in Northern Seleyan affairs and within the North Anantonese Ocean region.

Etymology
The name "Kalistan" is derived from the name of the Kalii tribes. Kali was a blanket term used to refer to various native peoples of northeastern Seleya, particularly mainland Kalistan, Athosia, and parts of Norstavan. Until the foundation of Kalistan as a federal republic in 1924, it referred exclusively to the mainland region of the country and not to the island of Ananto. In addition, the Aldegarian suffix -stān, meaning "place of" or "country" is used. This is relatively common for names in regions with historic Aldegarian influence, for example Kafuristan and Kalkalistan.

History
Kalistan emerged from legendary prehistory around the year 1600. At this time, Kalistan considered itself an empire, ruled from Ananto, where nobles who adopted names and titles jostled with one another for influence in the court of the Floob, or Emperor of Kalistan. While Kalistan was nominally a Republic at this time, the Floobs still had great influence over the government of Kalistan. Kalistan remained a Republic until 1830, when the empire was restored. That imperial period lasted, either nominally or in fact until the Empire was officially abolished on August 31 1907, and all historically titles and claims were officially vacated.

Kalistan's history has been marked by interminable conflicts between the Left and the Right. Conservatives in Kalistan have always supported stronger police forces, excessively restricted civil liberties for citizens and less government involvement in the economy, while the Left has generally adopted civil libertarianism for the people and socialism and Nationalism for the economy. The Government has most often been dominated by Leftist Parties, during which time, there is profound civil tranquility in society, but occasionally a rightist Party would gain control and a period of turbulence that occasionally turns violent ensues.

From 2019 on, the dominant ruling Party has been the Socialist Party of Kalistan. The SPoK has been at the center of most historical events in Kalistan's history, from the various eras of one Party rule, to Kalistan's recent Golden Age. The Socialist Party has participated in two civil wars with facist putchists wholy endorsed by Kalistan's political Right, as well as a number of interventions overseas. In many ways, the history of Kalistan is the history of the fortunes of the Socialist Party and the legacy it left as it occasionally went defunct.

The late 1900s saw dramatic improvement in Kalistani economy and power. It all culminated in the Kalistani Age of Affluence beginning around 1960, when the tenets of Ethical Socialism became the prevailing ideas in the Government and Society of Kalistan. This era was seen as the pinnacle of Kalistani influence in world affairs, from military and economic matters (This era spanned the entire War with the Empire of Indrala) to diplomacy (Kalistan was elected to the first Several Security Councils of the World Congress), to culture, music, and religion. This age was closely tied to the one-Party state under the Socialist Party and later under the Socialist and Labour Alliance. The Age of Affluence is traditionally held to have ended with the Passage of the end of One Party rule in 1998.

Since 2010, Kalistan has once more been reasserting itself on the Selayan stage, after another period of isolation and entropy, which saw most of Kalistan's great institutions fall to rust and decay under various governments who neither knew, nor particularly cared about Kalistan's great past. A brief conflict over the closing of the Ananto Strait led to a return of Kalistan to international prominence. Beginning in 2019, the Socialist Party once more reformed, and stunned the country by winning a super majority in elections. They have since set about on an ambitious program to restore the Nation to greatness, rebuilding the rotting institutions laid waste by Liberal Party worthlessness and neglect.

Geography
The Geography of Kalistan is varied. The most mountainous region of Kalistan is Neveras District, which is bordered by the Neveras Range to the West, and contains several important river valleys, including the Neveras River. The Odufar Ridge separates Neveras from Odufaray and Suldanor, and beyond that, both provinces are fairly flat coastal plains, which allows for extensive agricultues. The fourth province of Mainland Kalistan, Vrassa, is a mix of both types of landscapes, and is generally widely populated, with most citizens living in the major cities, allowing for survival of the largest forests of mixed conifer and deciduous flora. The more mountainous areas, toward the Lodamese border are very wild and sparely populated.

The Island of Ananto is very mountainous, but the mountains are not as high or dramatic as those on the mainland. Most of the mountains are at the center of the heart shaped Island, and form a T shaped spine that divides the island up into three main regions: The Kali Plain, which contains the capital Kaliburg, and extends along the foothills of the Xanadu and Constipated Ranges from Dulnerstaad in the north to Luxon in the south. This region is the most densely populated are in Kalistan, and contains 17% of the nation's entire population.

North of the Constipated and Angry ranges is the Eveari Enclave, which consists of the Bluegrass Delta and the City of Eveari, and which was Kalistan's primary Blue Water port before the Ananto War.

The East of the Angry and Xanadu Mountains sits the Dah Delta, a huge swampy area that is extremely flat and lowlying, and which even minor storms can inundate entire to a distance of several miles. The rest of the region sits slightly higher than sea level and is known as the Great Green Plain. This area is exceptionally suited for agriculture and is almost entirely given over to the cultivation of marijuana.

Climate
Kalistan is blessed with a fairly wide variety of climates. On the Eastern half of Ananto, especially, an humid sub-tropical climate exists with hot, humid summers and warm, rainy winters, due to the Warm Dovani Current. Meanwhile, the climate of the western side of the Island is generally mild and rainy in the summer and cold and rainy in the Winter, despite the latitude of Ananto just north of the Tropics. The reason for the more temperate climate is the Keris Drift which comes from the north pole and through the Anantonese Ocean north of Kalistan. The Odufar cutoff flows through the Ananto Strait, and cools both Western Ananto and Mainland Kalistan.

Vrassa and northern Odufaray are heavily influenced by the Odufar cutoff, and have a cooler wetter climate than the rest of Mainland Kalistan. In addition, in the winters, Vrassa is more influenced by the continental climate generated by Selayan geography, and they experience deep snows in Western Areas. Odufaray is more moderate, and Southern Odufaray is able to sustain agriculture year round. Suldanor is certainly subtropical, and frequently experiences dense fog along the coasts as the colder water interacts with warm air blowing up from the south. Suldanor experiences hot summers and moderate winters, as well as wet and dry monsoon seasons.

Neveras is largely mountainous, and has a dry, continental climate. It is protected from the South from rains by the Odufar Ridge, and receives rainfall and snow from the North and West. Neveras generally has cool summers and cold winters, and most moisture it receives occurs in the Fall and Winter. Very little agriculture can be supported in Neveras, though there is some farming in Neveras' valleys and in the Bong Basin.

Executive
Kalistan's head of state is the President of the Republic. A largely ceremonial figure, the President is expected to fulfill certain constitutional responsibilities and symbolize the unity and legitimacy of the Kalistan political system. Among the most important duties of the President are nominating individuals to the cabinet and convening the Constitutional Court.

Legislature
Kalistan's legislative branch is known as the Chamber of Deputies of Kalistan. The National Assembly of Kalistani Deputies consists most often of the Lower House, also known simply as the National Assembly, though, as per The Kalistani Law: Upper House the President may, from time to time, convene a second house, known as the Assembly of Advisors to serve as an advisory panel. To date, the Assembly of Advisors has never been convened

The National Assembly is made up 750 Deputies elected from population-based districts. In addition to law making, the Assembly has the ability to call for early elections, if a large vacancy of seats develops or a vote of no confidence passes against the Premier of the Republic. The National Assembly also approves or rejects Cabinet bills, tax and spending bills (which are made exclusively by the Minister of Finance: All other proposals are illegal and must be voted down) and ratifies treaties proposed by the Foreign Minister.

As center of the politics of Kalistan, the Chamber of Deputies ratifies, by majority the President's nomination for Head of Government, called Premier of the Republic, and his or her Government. Any Party may veto the proposal by being included in the proposal and not voting for it (either with a no vote or an abstention.) Historically, according to the Principle of Separation of Powers, the Premier is selected from the Largest non-Presidential Party, though this rule is only slightly amended during periods of highly partisan coalition politics when the Largest non-Presidential Party is Hostile to the Preident's majority coalition.

Judiciary
The Kalistani Judicial system has adopted a hybrid system of limited Common Law and Code law. On the one hand, the Courts celebrate the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof is always on the Prosecution, except in cases of appeals. Jury trials are an absolute guarantee, and the independence of the Judiciary is taken for granted. But on the other hand, the court is only used to try individuals for whom there is a preponderance of evidence, so there are few technicalities to escape legal justice with. Most Kalistani citizens who have not actually committed the crimes that they are charged with have ever seen the inside of a Kalistani Court room. There is a very limited use of tort and civil law in Kalistan, with most civil matters handled by the Bureaucracy or outside the courts. Court hearings are not adversarial.

As of the passage of the Prison Abolition Act in 1977, prisons have been abolished in Kalistan.

In Kalistan there is a two tiered court system, with most cases being resolved at the local/District level, and the National Court being the primary Court of Appeal. The Court System is absolutely independent of the political branches of Government, and handle their own hiring of judges and adjudication of the law.

Kalistan does maintain a judicial check on the political branches. This takes the form of the Kalistani Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court's is convened and seated by the President of the Republic- at a time of his/her choosing. The primary role of the Court is arbitration on Constitutional and RP matters within Kalistan. For example, a controversy about some Party acting extra-legally may arise and necessitate the convention of the Constitutional Court.

The debate over the matter occurs between counsel for each Party to the controversy, and amicus briefs may be filed by other entities. The Court then votes, with each Justice receiving one vote, with the exception of the Chief Justice, who will only vote to break a tie. The decision in the arbitration is final, and becomes canon law which must be observed by all.

The following formula is used to calculate the seatings. The court's justices usually serve terms twice as long as the Assembly Deputies or the President.
 * Any party which holds a seat in the National Assembly receives one seat
 * A party which holds the Presidency of the Republic receives an additional seat
 * A party which holds the Ministry of Justice receives an additional seat- who serves as Chief Justice and only votes in the case of a tie.
 * A party which holds the plurality, if they do not hold either of the above offices receives an additional seat

The Constitutional Court has only been convened rarely.

Local government
As per the District Government Act of 1954/80, in addition to the presidential and legislature elections, elections are also held for District Government positions. District Governors are named by the party receiving the most votes in that District, and District Assemblies reflect the electoral results for that District in the General Election. District Speakers, chosen from the plurality too, control the Agenda in their respective District Assemblies.

Politics and elections
Kalistan's political history has consistently played out in terms of a struggle between populist neo-fascism and proponents of Ethical Socialism, in which the latter tends to emerge victorious.

There have been large periods of Kalistan's history when the country was nominally a one Party State. One Party States represent both an opportunity and a challenge for the Kalistani political system and frequently allow both the law to stagnate, and create a dramatic warping of Kalistani reality in the direction of the single Party's ideology. One Party rule regularly gives way to frequent, violent, but ephemeral reaction, as most Parties which have risen in Kalistan have followed a meteoric course into Power, with a sudden rise propelled almost exclusively by reaction, and then a just as sudden disappearance into oblivion. Most Parties which have followed this course have been reactionary, fascist or parochial nationalist Parties who rose in reaction to the dominant Socialist Ideology of the nation.

Administrative divisions
Kalistan is split into five districts. The capital District, Ananto, is also the most populated, the most politically influential, and the most culturally progressive, while Vrassa, in the north of the country, tends to support conservative causes and Parties most often. Neveras is the most rustic of the Districts, while Suldanor tends to be the most heavily industrialized District. Odufaray is home to important National assets, as well as a center of transportation, agriculture, and industrial production.

Foreign relations
For centuries Kalistan retained a primarily isolationist foreign policy but following the initial dissolution of the SP, a number of treaties were signed with nations- especially in Seleya and Dovani.

Military
President is head in the military.Historically, partisan militias have played an important role in the Kalistani armed forces.

Economy
Kalistan has a powerful economy, based largely on investment and service industries. Kalistan is listed as a "Middle" Economy, meaning it relies on export-based manufacturing, heavy industry, and trade. The Kalistani economy also features a large, specialized agricultural sector. Kalistan is famous for being located in the Drug Belt of Seleya, and is one of the top producers of high quality cannabis, raw opium, hashish, and coca, and is also a center for drug refining and synthetic drug manufacture. In addition, Suldanor District boasts the world's largest treacle mining sector, which gives Kalistan the world's largest share of treacle production. Kalistani is also known for exporting large amounts of petroleum products, alcohol, and iron and steel due to developments in the economy following the year 4000.

The Kalistani Economy was once dominated by three major conglomerates, known as the Big Three: Kalistani Saccharine Corp, Ananto Worldwide, and Grand Enterprises. In 2374 these companies (along with all other private assets) were absorbed into the government, only to be privatized again in 2381 in the National Divestment Auction. From 1881 to 1891, Kalistan's economy functioned as a "dual system," with private businesses competing against eachother and parallel nationalized companies. In 1891, the remaining public holdings, including media and infrastructure, were privatized, making Kalistan an entirely private economy. But after 1900, the Dual Economy became the primary feature of Kalistan's Economy, with the Government engaging in large scale Public Sector growth for the purpose of providing public goods (and following the development of the National Service Program, regulating the labor market), while encouraging and regulating a robust private sector which focused on providing consumer goods.

Kalistan's unemployment ranges anywhere from 3.7% in Neveras, where there is a strong public sector investment in Mining and resource extraction, to 9.98% in Ananto, which is due largely to the seasonal nature of Agriculture, deliberately low workforce participation among those who claim nobility and live on pensions, and the more advanced, automated, and productive private services sector which dominates Ananto's economy. Nonetheless, the country as a whole is quite wealthy, and due to the strong Dual Economy in Kalistan, the wealth is distributed more evenly across the society in Kalistan than it is in other nations. The mean wealth disparity across Kalistan is a merely 27%, making Kalistan one of the most equal nations, in terms of wealth distribution, in Terra. Much of this wealth is based on Kalistan's robust Drug, Petroleum and Iron and Steel export industries, whose prices are supported by heavy government subsidies.

The Kalistani unit of currency is the Kalistani Ruble.

Agriculture
Agriculture is based in mainland Kalistan.

Tourism
Kalistani tourism focuses on the country's historic locations.

Transport
Kalistan has a well maintained system of freeways (limited access highways) throughout both Ananto and the Mainland, which are maintained and funded by the federal government. Highways in the Ananto system are given a A# classification, while highways on the mainland are given a K# classification. The federal government also maintains a network of local highways, given a B# classification, while states maintain smaller highways (C#), and districts maintain important local roads (D#). In the case of A, K, and B highways, numbering is ordered with all north-south highways being odd numbered and increasing from east to west, while east-west highways are even numbered, and increase the farther south they are.

Kalistan also maintains a free, publicly funded rail system throughout both parts of the country, which operates on privately owned track, often in competition with private rail services.

There is no ground transportation connection between Ananto and the rest of Kalistan, so there is a large industry of sea transportation services between them. Following the National Ferry Service bill (February 4054), there is now a publicly maintained ferry service between Ananto and Kalistan in addition to the many private services which operate.

Technology
Kalistan is one of the most technologically advanced nations in Terra, notably in astronomy, electronics, and biotechnology. There are numerous cases throughout Kalistani history of cloning, brains-in-jars, brains-copied-into-computers, etc. More notably, Kalistan was responsible for the first space program focusing on landing on a moon, and as a result the discovery of both of Terra's moons, Luna Viridia and Luna Alba. Kalistan was also home to one of the first computers in the early 20th century.

Ethnic groups
The largest ethnic group in Kalistan is the Kalistani people.

Culture
Kalistan has a rich cultural history.

Art
Kalistani art is a fusion of diverse styles and is often experimental.

Music
Owing to the vast array of influences present in Kalistani culture as a whole, all kinds of different music can be found in parts of the country. In modern times, though, it has been alternative rock, hip-hop, Reggae, dub and ska music which has dominated the domestic charts and popular culture. The GanJam festival is one of the largest of its type in Terra. Kalistan is one of the foremost producers of music in Terra and is widely seen as the music capital of the world.

Cuisine
The cuisine in Kalistan is influenced by the traditional crops grown in the country.

Sport
Demolition Derby was the national sport in Kalistan for most of the country's history.

Naming Conventions
Names in Kalistan can be made up of any form of the names from the cultures listed above. They have high and low forms. The high form of the name has a hyphenated first name, a middle name, and a hyphenated last name. For example, John-Kumar Ivan LeBlanc-Rodriguez

The low form of the same name uses the first part of the first name and the first part of the last name, so the same person using the low form of his name would be John LeBlanc

If a middle name is used as well in the low form it would be the middle name from the high form, not the second half of the hyphenated name, John Ivan LeBlanc

Many in Kalistan tend to use only low form names these days. High forms are used by Kalistani traditionalists, and some consider them pretentious. The exception is a hypenated last name with Ananto as the second part. In this case the full last name is a non-divisible whole as "-Ananto" is considered a mark of (normally self-claimed) nobility. For example: Marisol-Topaz Elizabetta Bjornsdattir-Ananto in low form would be Marisol Bjornsdattir-Ananto

There are other noble last names such as Dulnar-Freiheit and Reynolds-Ananto which also follow this pattern, as can -Reynolds. Other names affect the hyphenation found in names of nobility and therefore follow the same rules, though they are symbolic of political dynasties and make no actual claim to nobility. See, for example: -Bennots and -Carrangus