Pribraltar

Pribraltar, officially the Coscivian People's Republic of Pribraltar (Coscivian: Koski-Planúkéarita Pribraltar) is a dependent state of the Kiravian Federacy comprising an island of the same name adjoining the Landderic Straits between Continental Ixnay and Umcara. Occupying a strategic position for international shipping, the island has changed hands many times over the course of its history, and has a rich history incorporating numerous cultural influences. The bulk of its population are Coscivians descended from tribes that migrated across the Strait from Umcara, reïnforced by later influxes of immigrants from various seafaring Coscivian subgroups. Pribraltar has a close historical, cultural, political, and economic relationship with the neighbouring island of Saint Kennera.

Politics and Governance
Pribraltar is a with a constitution modelled on that of Umcara and the Kiravian states of Cascada, Ilfenóra, and Metrea.

Like Saint Kennera, Pribraltar is a self-governing dependency of the Kiravian Federacy. The islands' relationship with the Federal government is structured by a series of tripartite treaties and memoranda adopted after the islands were liberated from (((occupying nation))), and continues to evolve as a result of political developments in the islands and in Kartika. The Government of the Kiravian Federacy is responsible for Pribraltar's defence and foreign affairs, postal system (through the Federal Post), and telecommunications infrastructure. The Federal Consistory in Kartika is the ultimate court of appeal for cases originating in Pribraltar's judicial system, and incarcerated convicts sentenced by Pribraltarian courts with exceptional security or health needs are held in Kiravian federal prisons. [other stuff here] Most Pribraltarians hold or are eligible for Kiravian passports by virtue of their Kiravian National (Overseas) status. During the occupation, many Pribraltarians were granted KN(O) status to facilitate their resettlement in Great Kirav or to aid members of the resistance movement travelling between the islands and Great Kirav for training and other activities. In 21207, the Federal Stanora extended this status to all resident islanders of Coscivian, Alkharvian, Celtic, or Tryhstian descent through the Overseas Nationality Act (St. Kennera & Pribraltar). Thus, Pribraltarians are Kiravian nationals, but most are only citizens of Pribraltar. That being said, a significant number of Pribraltarians do hold Kiravian citizenship, having been naturalised in the Federacy or born to naturalised parents before returning to the island after its liberation.

At present, Pribraltar is outside of the Kiravian customs area, though the current administration is working to harmonise its customs laws with that of Kiravia, and maintains a separate immigration régime. It is also outside Kiravian jurisdiction where banking policy and financial regulations are concerned. Unlike Kiravian and St. Kenneran banks, Pribraltarian banks are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Agency, and instead hold policies from private foreign insurers. Pribraltar has its own currency, the Pribraltarian lira, which is pegged at a fixed exchange rate of 1:1 to the Kiravian saar, and essentially all businesses on the island accept the two currencies without distinction.

Pribraltar is represented in the Kiravian Stanora by an elected Delegate, but this Delegate can only vote in committee and is barred from membership in certain key committees.

Political Development
Pribraltarian politics have their roots in the island's liberation movement when previously independent militia groups joined together to form the Pribraltarian Republican Army. Even with their forces consolidated into a single organisation, the leaders of the formerly autonomous militias who now made up the PRA High Command retained differences of opinion with regard to military decisions and with the liberation movement's political programme. After the formation of the Coscivian People's Republic government-in-exile in Kartika, liberation leaders of different ideological and programmatic tendencies organised themselves into political parties. Those of a conservative persuasion whose nationalism was rooted in Coscivian identity - representing the majority of the liberation movement - formed the United Pribraltar Party. Those whose nationalism was more of a reaction against the Hardwelute state's suppression of individual rights and rooted in a local Pribraltarian rather than pan-Coscivian identity formed the Pribraltarian Libertarian Party. Members of the former Kirosocialist and left-wing nationalist militias formed the Convist Party of the Pribraltarian People's Republic, while a small coterie of young, pragmatically-minded officers formed the Party of Pribraltarian Democrats. The parties participating in the government-in-exile were unanimous in their insistence on full and immediate separation from Hardwell, and all welcomed the support of the Kiravian Federacy and Umcara. Partisan disagreements on matters of military strategy also faded away with the formation of the Joint Military Commission and the increased involvement of Umcaran and Kiravian military advisors. However, the Pribraltarian Libertarians took a more cautious attitude toward the influence of the larger Coscivian nations, fearing that too much involvement by their governments would result in Pribraltar being annexed by one of them once the war was won. The Convists did not object to Kiravian involvement on principle, but worried about it being used as leverage to ensure that Pribraltar adopted Kiravian and Umcaran capitalism and opened its markets to foreign corporations. The Pribraltarian Democrats also sought to avoid full integration with Kiravia if possible, but were not adamantly opposed to it and had been in contact witht he Party of Kiravian Democrats about the possibility of becoming the PKD's local branch if annexation occured. An additional party that formed during this time, the Party for Cronan Integration, disavowed the armed struggle and did not participate in the government-in-exile. Instead, it worked within the existing political structure and stood for elections to the Hardwellian Parliament, hoping to secure autonomy for St. Kennera and Pribraltar by peaceful means.

The United Pribraltar Party controlled the Auditorium and the Prime Executure for the duration of the war, and remained in full control of the government during the transitional period between the CPR regaining possession of the island and the first democratic election. However, during this transitional period as the Pribraltarian government acclimated to reality of governing the island and the task of planning for its future, disagreements over the numerous policy options available to the new administration and alternative visions for the country's long-term political status caused the longstanding consensus within the UPP to break down. One of the new political tendencies that emerged during this time was the idea that instead of acceding to the Kiravian Federacy, Pribraltar would be better served by continuing its provisional autonomous but dependent status indefinitely, allowing it to benefit from economic and institutional ties to the region's largest economy and the protection of the Kiravian military while also benefitting from remaining outside Kiravian trade and regulatory régimes. Supporters of this vision, who were mostly liberal conservatives and market liberals in outlook, thought that a balance between independence and Kiravian integration would let Pribraltar best leverage its position along a major trade corridor, and create the possibility of becoming a venue for offshore finance.

The Coscivian People's Republic's first democratic election pitted these pro-status quo liberal conservatives, who split off to form the Pribraltar Freedom Party (PFP), against the UPP who ran on a Coscivian nationalist platform emphasising their leading role in the war of independence and promising "swift progress towards ensuring Pribraltar's rightful place as an equal member of the Coscivian superpower federation," the Party for Cronan Integration, and the two other parties that had been part of the government-in-exile. The UPP won the largest number of seats (13 out of 30), but lost control of the Auditorium to a coalition formed by the PFP (10 seats) and PLP (6 seats), with the CPRP winning the remaining two seats. However, as Pribraltar is a semi-presidential republic and the UPP wartime Prime Executive Visikur Hôsiverin was not due for reëlection for another six years, the UPP was able to retain some power in the executive. Hôsiverin and Prime Secretary Diarmuid Arden were able to compromise on a policy agenda that would include:

Society and Culture
Pribraltar has a rich and diverse culture shaped by its long history as a trading centre.

The Pribraltarian urban upper and middle classes are known for being cosmopolitan, well-educated, and well-travelled. It is customary among them to attend universities in Great Kirav and Sydona and to spend years on end living and working in other Kiravian federal subjects, mainland Cronan countries, Alkharvia, or Heku. This has created an image of Pribraltarian society as "Tandhurin-on-the-Straits" that has significant basis in reality but masques the island's distinctive local culture and the isolating effects of its island geography, which are seen in its local language, customs and mannerisms, architecture, and cuisine.

Ethnic Groups
The majority of people living on Pribraltar are Pribraltarian Coscivians, who are primarily descended from Coscivian clans who migrated across the strait from southern Umcara in the 1300s or whatever and the autocthonous pre-Coscivian inhabitants, known as the Brassicans. Their ancestry also contains admixture from a variety of seafaring Coscivian ethnic groups, particularly Lusem, Costiatem, and Sea Coscivians; Gaelic and Prythonic Celts; and peoples from nearby countries in Ixnay Proper, Crona, and Alvar. In addition, a large number of Coscivians from nearby St. Kennera live and work on Pribraltar as expatriates, and a great many Pribraltarians have some St. Kenneran ancestry. Other Coscivian ethnic groups with large or significant communities on the island include Ivraīem Coscivians, Keregūlem Coscivians, Lusem Coscivians, Peninsular Coscivians, Ańlem and Ańrisem Coscivians, Austral Coscivians, Coscivians with family ties to continental Ixnayan nations like Heku and Insui, Èusan Coscivians, Halatem Coscivians, Phaerem Coscivians, Tebnem Coscivians, and Helskan Coscivians.

Language
Pribraltarian Coscivian, a dialect of Cronan Coscivian mutually intelligible with St. Kenneran Coscivian, is the main spoken language on the island, and has official status. However, Kiravic Coscivian is used for most business and administrative purposes. The island's largest newspaper, the Hāvermat Economist, is written in Kiravic, while the second-largest, the Pribraltar Post, is written in Pribraltarian. Pribraltarian is the main language used in television and radio broadcasts, supplemented by a large number of untranslated segments in Kiravic.

The main foreign languages spoken by Pribraltarians are Hekuvian Latin, Pauldustllahani, Alkharvic, and English. Knowledge of foreign languages is very widespread among Pribraltarians, with many speaking two or more such languages at advanced levels.

Religion
In terms of religion, 35% of Pribraltarians are Roman Catholic, 25% are Lutheran, 15% are Coscivian Orthodox, 10% are Insular Apostolic, and 10% belong to monotheistic Coscivian religions, while the remaining 5% profess other creeds.

Education
Pribraltar has a well-educated populace, with universal literacy and very high rates of functional literacy, and high rates of post-secondary educational attainment. The state provides a public school system administered on an island-wide basis by the Pribraltar Education Commission under the supervision of the Secretariat of Education. However, some 44% of Pribraltarian students are enrolled in private, religious, or charter schools, which are subject to regulation by the Secretariat of Education but independently operated.

Opportunities for higher education on the island itself are somewhat limited, largely as a result of the Pribraltarian upper- and middle classes' long tradition of attending universities in Great Kirav and Sydona. The three largest institutes of higher learning on Pribraltar are the General College System (a community college system with four campuses across the island), St. Bran's College of Hābermat, and the Hābermat Economics and Management Institute. There is currently no state university, though the government has put forward plans to expand the island's law school into a full-fledged university within the next decade. Pribraltar's integration with the Kiravian Federacy, liberal registration policies, and minimal oversight of private colleges have allowed it to become a hub for minor educational institutions ranging from small, specialised graduate schools (mostly dedicated to business and related fields) to "offshore" dental and osteopathic schools to institutions of dubious legitimacy (some of which are known ).

Economy
The economy of Pribraltar is shaped heavily by its geography as a small island in a strategic strait. Maritime trade, ship repair,, tourism, and reëxports are the main drivers of economic growth. A strong service sector meets the needs of the island's population and caters to the thousands of tourists and business travellers who visit Pribraltar annually.

Pribraltar's small agricultural sector, constrained by the island's size and rugged terrain, has struggled to compete against imports from the Kiravian Federacy, Umcara, Insui, and Heku. Even in the market for locally-sourced produce preferred by affluent residents and upsacale restaurants, Pribtraltarian farmers face competition from their counterparts in nearby St. Kennera, where the terrain is more conducive to agriculture and farm subsidies are more generous.