Serikorda
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Serikorda is a state in inland Northeastern Kirav, surrounding Lake Korda.
Serikorda has made significant contributions to Kiravian society at large, and has an outsized position of influence in Kiravian politics due to its early, frequent, and fiercely competitive elections.
Geography
Serikorda is situated in the hinterland of Great Kirav's northeastern peninsula. It borders Province №97 to the north and northwest, Harma to the east, and Kaviska to the south. Its enclosure of Lake Korda is interrupted only by Harma's Korda Countyship, which includes some shoreline on the easternmost end of the lake. Topographically, the core of its territory is a plateau encircled by peripheral arms of the Ensciryan Massif, which create the endorheic basin that is the Lake Korda watershed. The largest river feeding into Lake Korda is River №2, which descends from the upper elevations of the Ensciryan Massif in Province №97 and flows through the northwest of Serikorda.
History
The type specimen fossil of the extinct hominin Homo vetus montanis, which left trace contributions to the modern Kiravian gene pool, was found neat the base of Mount Talod in County Katla.
Politics and Government
Serikorda is widely known for the complicated structure of its state government, its strong municipal governments, its cosocionational constitution, and it its fiercely competitive political landscape.
Law
Serikorda has a legal system based on Coscivian law with influence from Brehon law.
Unlike most of its neighbours, Serikorda has no seatbelt law.
Cantonal and Local Government
Owing to the strong localist traditions of both the Eshavian community with its Anderan town meetings on one hand and the "croft and clan" orientation of the Highlander community on the other, as well as the fact that the state government has reliably been gridlocked and dysfunctional, local governments in Serikorda are empowered and active, and their politics is competitive and highly participatory. The two most consequential levels of government in Serikorda are the cantons and the municipalities. The state's territory is divided into countyships for judicial, cadastral, electoral, statistical, and other purposes, but countyship governments have very limited competences and no lawmaking authority; in Serikorda most responsibilities commonly held by countyships elsewhere are taken up by the cantons or handed down to the municipalities.
Major classes of municipal governments include:
- City
- Town
- Township
- Charter village
Minor classes include:
- Direct-democratic village
- Sortition village
- Mountain hamlet
- Indigenous municipality
Political Parties
Serikordan electoral law is notoriously permissive with regard to the registration of new political parties, ballot access, and electoral fusion. As of Sávilús 21207, there are 216 active registered parties and 306 registered parties that are inactive or in abeyance.
In accordance with the antipartisan laws adopted after Kirosocialism, political parties as generally understood may not operate in the federal government, and registration of political parties must take place at the federal-subject level. Parties seeking a multi-state presence must have separately incorporated, registered, and financed chapters in each state. As such, due to its permissive registration policies, Serikordia is usually the first or second state where new or newly-expanding multistate parties establish a chapter, even if they engage in little or no political activity in Serikordia itself.
Society and Culture
Economy
Serikorda has an underdeveloped economy suffering from high unemployment and limited investment. The decline of key industries, limited agricultural potential, and lack of a seacoast or inland waterway are the main factors behind the state's disappointing economic performance.
Serikorda prospered greatly in the days of the ice trade, cutting the plentiful ice from the surface of Lake Korda for transportation to the coastal states and export from [Northern Kaviska City], Bissáv, and Śonseuv.
The pine flannel industry was once a major pillar of the state economy and the lifeblood of many hill towns, but is now a waning sunset industry. Most of the pine flannel mills were converted into worker coöperatives during Kirosocialism, under the purview of the Pine Flannel Board. Most have since closed under the pressure of trade liberalisation and competition from superior woolen and synthetic fibre flannels, though a few remain in operation producing the fabric for specialty applications and the tourist trade.
The post-Kirosocialist economy of Serikorda is buoyed by tourism (focused on picturesque Lake Korda, historic towns and quaint villages, and trekking in the hills and mountains) and the companion industry of constructing vacation and retirement homes.
