Jääland

Jääland
Flag Coat of Arms of Jääland Coat of Arms
Motto:
Anthem: File:National Anthem of Jääland.ogg
Map versions
Capital	Hellistelli
Largest city	Kesäranta, Ukkonen, Kankylä
Official language(s)	Jääkieli
Official religion(s)	Church of the Holy Lance
Demonym	Jäärrish
- Adjective	Jäärrish
Government	Parliamentary Republic
- President	Petri Pukki
- Legislature	Senaatti.
Establishment	1678
Area
Population	2.7 million
Currency	Florian Dollar
Calendar
Time zone(s)	CMT±0
Mains electricity
Driving side	Right
Track gauge
National website
National forum
National animal	Bruin
National food	Meatballs
National drink	milk
National tree
Abbreviation	JAA, JA

Jääland (In Jääkieli: Jääland or Jäälanti) was a small nordic micronation in northern Apollonia. The capital and largest city was Hellistelli. Other major cities included Ukkonen and Kankylä. Despite having a small population and located in the very north of Apollonia, Jääland attracted many tourists due to the various ski resorts and the cold weather. Jääland had a population of 2.7 million which mostly lived in the central and southern parts of the country.

Jääland's only border was with the Lac Glacei-administered Nurthaven and Antruusbuurg canal zone.

History

Jääland was founded in 1678 by a group of landowners (led by Petri Pukki) and the Church of the Holy Lance and the towns that became the five chartered cities of Jääland. The diocesan and parochial structure of the Church allowed for the ideas of building a state to spread. As such, most of the State is organized in parallel to the church. Shortly afterwards a group of Florians settled in the area and brought many Florian influences to Jääland such as introducing the sport of ice hockey, baseball and cuisine.

Jääland's economy saw good growth in the late 1680s and early 1690s. With the establishment of Hellistelli International Airport as a trading hub for flights between Lyrica, Benacia and northern Keltia (through the Boreal Air Bridge), and the entry of Jääland into the Raspur Pact, Jääland developed its services in logistics and tourism.

By 1693, however, unemployment reached record levels, and Jääland entered a recession. This was due to diminishing trade from Elwynn, Benacia, and other parts of the Raspur Pact, due to the blockade of the Boreal Air Bridge by the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia. Similarly, the service sector saw a blow with almost all foreign tourists gone. It is hoped that once the war in Northern Elwynn is over, Jääland's economy might recover.

Responding to the recession, many new political parties were formed, each advocating a different solution to the country's economic woes. Notable amongst these was the Kansallinen-humanistinen puolue led by Eini Nieminen, a 42 year-old air freight clerk employed at Hellistelli International Airport. For Eini Nieminen the solution to Jääland's problems was to re-orientate its trading relations by diversifying and building up economic ties with the Dark Berry Islands, Hurmu, and Nouvelle Alexandrie, the last two of which already offered Jääland frictionless trading under the terms of the Raspur Pact.

As early as 1703 several groups began lobbying for Jääland to claim the remaining northern half of their eponymous peninsula. The completion of the Nurthaven and Antruusbuurg Canal effectively cut off plans for expanding south. Even though the canal proved to alleviate many of the ongoing economic woes, many felt that by expanding into the unoccupied north Jääland could access more natural resources and reduce its dependency on foreign trade. Public interest was spurred by members of the Church of the Holy Lance indicating their approval of the expansion in that it would allow missionaries to spread the church to the otherwise pagan lands in the north. By the spring of 1704 settlers had already begun moving into the area - even without government approval - and had established a small settlement called Kesäranta.

Three years later though however poor weather started occurring more regularly causing widespread famine eventually leading to the Troubles, causing its demise.

Economy

Jääland's economy was relatively strong however relied on trade with it's major trading partner, the Confederate States of Floria.

Energy

Despite numerous protests, Jääland mostly used nuclear power as wind power and hydropower combined didn't provide enough for residents. Jääland also lacked fossil fuels domestically and so these were imported from elsewhere. This included uranium for nuclear power.

Transport

Public transport was difficult to operate in the country especially in the north. Jääland, therefore, had an extensive road system mostly used by internal cargo and passenger traffic. Hellistelli International Airport was the main international gateway with the airport serving as the hub of Air Jääland. In 1686 AN, construction of a national highway began. The main highway, designated J1, bisected the country in a north-south orientation and was connected to the Jääland Bridge by construction teams from Lac Glacei, thus giving it an international connection for commerce coming into the Lac Glaceian port of Nurthaven and a direct route to Hellistelli.

Industry

Jääland's main industry was steel production and its main trading partner was the Confederate States of Floria with both exchanging goods regularly. Both countries operated a free trade and movement agreement with each other. other major trading partners included Elwynn and Hurmu. When Jaaland joined he Raspur Pact, Jääland provided materials for weapon and vehicle production for the Pact bringing stable income to the nation.

Tourism

Jääland had many ski resorts which attracted many tourists mostly from Floria. Jääland's tourist industry steadily grew and Jääland's government hoped that tourism would be one of the main industries of Jääland in the future.

Education

In 1691, Jääland inaugurated its first university, the University of Jääland (Jäälannin yliopisto) with funding from the Raspur Pact (particularly from Elwynn and Floria) and Hurmu. With healthy links with other Raspur Pact member nations, it was common for Jääkieli students to study abroad in major Raspur Universities such as the Metzler University and University of Northcliff. In its latter years, Florian students started to study in Jaaland.

Culture

Religon

Around 68% of the citizens of Jääland followed the Church of the Holy Lance which was introduced by visitors from the Confederate States of Floria. However, like Floria, membership of the religion declined as more people become more irreligious. Other notable religions in Jääland included Umraism and Yahudism.

The Church of the Holy Lance was an official state church, and therefore received support from the state. It helped found the state, and as such, even by the irreligious people, was well regarded and respected. It was a unifier of the Jääland people and a carrier of Jääland culture.

Sport

Jääland's most popular sport in terms of fan attendance and TV audiences was ice hockey. However, the national sport of Jääland was baseball. The top-flight ice hockey league in the country ws called the Jääland-Liiga which had 10 teams and the league was the only fully professional sports competition in the country. The winner of the league qualified for the MHL Cup. Elite ice hockey players from Jääland often entered the Intercontinental Hockey League at some stage of their career and the nation provided the most foreign players to the league. The most popular teams in Jääland-Liiga were Jokerit Hellistelli,TPS Ukkonen and Karhut IFK. The national sport of baseball was mostly a semi-professional sport and many villages and towns competed in regional tournaments before each regional champion played in the national championship, hosted by a team in turns from each region. Jääland provided roughly 5% of players in Super League Baseball and many played for the national team. The national team competed at the inaugural Micras Classic in April 2020 and finished 4th overall. Other popular sports included speedway, basketball and floorball. Football was not a popular sport in Jääland compared to other countries in Apollonia and the sport was played on a semi-professional basis. Therefore footballers of Jaaland usually moved abroad to academies and universities in the Confederate States of Floria to continue their player development.

On the 19th June 2021, Jaaland won the 2021 Emerging Nations Cup, the first sports tournament which Jaaland won in any sport. Jääland narrowly missed out on winning the competition in the previous year.

Language

The language of Jääland, Jääkieli, was considered by linguists to be located within a dialect continuum with the now extinct Straylightish. Today, the closest relatives to Jääkieli are Lakkvian, spoken in Hurmu, and Reinish, spoken in Normark. Istvanistani was also a commonly spoken language since the nation joined the Raspur Pact.

Cuisine

Fish and wholemeal were both predominant parts of cuisine in Jaaland. Meat was eaten but the consumption of red meat (beef and pork) was rare. As red meat consumption was rare, the meatball, Jaaland's national food is seen as a delicacy.

Music

Jääland was well known for its EDM, Pop rock, classical and most importantly Heavy Metal movements. All four were regularly enjoyed by the general public and both played a pivotal role in Sunday church services and more. Jaaland regularly entered Microvision and was placed 12th in 2021 with the song,"The Trooper".

Foreign relations

Due to its location, Jääland had little foreign relations. To function, it relied on the Confederate States of Floria for aid. There were calls for Jääland to join the Raspur Pact as the benefits of membership would boost the fledgeling nation's potential in terms of security and access to global trading networks with the rest of Micras. The candidacy of Jääland for membership of the Pact was received in 1690 and approved by the Permanent Commission on 24.VIII.1690.

In 1690, Elwynnese and Hurmu authorities established close friendships with Jääland, with bringing Jääland along the Boreal Air Bridge that connects the Benacian and Lyrican continents. Both countries established embassies in Hellistelli the same year, bringing the total number of embassies in Jääland to three (Floria being the first one). In 1692, Sanama became the fourth country to open an embassy in Hellistelli.

In 1700 both Meckelnburgh and Lac Glacei established formal relations in Hellistelli when they embarked on the restoration of the Nurthaven and Antruusbuurg Canal project. The canal is being overseen by Lac Glacei with assistance from Meckelnburgh. Lac Glacei is also funding the construction of the Jääland Bridge, which will provide vehicular access over the canal. The increase in commerce provided by the completed canal is expected to be beneficial for all three nations and their economies. Construction of the canal was completed by the middle of 1702 and the Jääland Bridge opened by 1703, which provided vehicular commerce a connection to the major port at Nurthaven.