Overview

North Baba, officially the Democratic Republic of North Baba (Spanish: República Democrática de Baba del Norte), is an island country in the Pacific Ocean. It is geographically separated from the island of South Baba by the Baba Strait. Its capital and largest city is Carpio.

From a geological point of view, the island of North Baba has a volcanic origin. It was a colony of the British Crown, although it was discovered by a Spanish explorer in 1584 after being deserted for centuries.

After the European discovery of both islands by the Spanish, they sought to control the islands' strategic location. The Spanish possessions were later taken over by the British, who colonized them both from 1816 until independence in 1975.

Since the end of a seven-year-long Civil War in 1987, the country has been governed by the Workers' Unity Party of North Baba (WUP).

Etymology

The origins of the former colonial name Baba del Norte, and the modern North Baba, are uncertain, although the Spanish initially referred to the island as La Baba Menor, therefore the most widely accepted etymology is an Iberian one. Notwithstanding, there have been a number of accounts and hypotheses about its origin.

The standard way to refer to a citizen of North Baba is as a "North Baban."

History

Establishment

Prior to abandoning it around the 7th century, various Proto-Baban nomadic tribes inhabited the island, which formed part of a seafaring Proto-Baban Empire based in South Baba that existed between 200 and 400 AD. Spanish navigator Crisóstomo Ramón y López found North Baba at the same time he travelled to South Baba. The island was then uninhabited, with an abundance of trees taking over due to prolonged human absence. Future explorers gathered wood, fruit and vegetables, building a port and several houses but without founding a permanent settlement. Despite this, North Baba, along with South Baba, became a crucial point of passage to replenish food in the trips that the Spanish made to Asia.

After a short battle in 1816, the British captured the island whilst the Spanish refused to defend South Baba. North Baba was not colonized as much as the southern island but it still became a separate British colony.

The definitive sea border between the Spanish-majority northern island and the British-majority southern island was established by means of Letters Patent in 1863, and it remains the international boundary between the successor states North Baba and South Baba, respectively. For the British, North Baba remained little more than a neglected trading post until the early twentieth century, with minimal investment in infrastructure, health, and education. Trout Farming continued to be the main industry with it becoming significant in the late-nineteenth century.

Independence

Resistance to the British was always stronger in North Baba given its large number of Spanish settlers. A national movement for political independence arose in the mid 20th century; and by the end of 1975, North Baba became a republic, adopting its current name after a seven-year civil war which ended in 1987. Notwithstanding, their political process towards sovereignty was more template than in South Baba.

In August 1974, while a provisional agreement for independence was being drafted to solve the South Baba Crisis, North Baba entered formal discussions for a document of better standing since the colony never declared independence unilaterally.

The final agreement, identical to the South Baban one, specified a procedural framework for the drafting of a constitution for the government of the future Republic of North Baba at the time of independence. The agreement specified a series of mandatory constitutional actions and required approval of the constitution by the British Parliament and the North Baban people. It also stipulated the United Kingdom's recognition of North Baba's independence as a separate and sovereign nation after the transition period.

In contrast to the Southern text, the Northern agreement prohibited the stationing of UK troops in North Baba and the drafting of North Babans into British military service. On November 14, 1975, the UK Parliament passed the North Baba Independence Act (NBIA) just hours before passing a similar one for South Baba. The NBIA granted independence from December 31, 1975 as a republic. That day, the Union Jack was ceremonially lowered and replaced by the North Baba flag throughout the island.

Civil War

From 1980 to 1987 a civil war was fought between the government of North Baba and various leftist rebel groups over issues of unfair land distribution and foreign intervention. The North Baban Civil War destroyed much of the country’s already limited critical rural infrastructure, including hospitals, rail lines, roads, and schools. The bloody conflict finally ended after international negotiations, mainly mediated by the South Baban government, culminated in the Bocaugh Peace Accords which formally ended hostilities by bringing about land redistribution and the exit of foreign assets. Mainly as a result of this conflict, all subsequent general elections have yielded overwhelming parliamentary majorities to the Workers' Unity Party (WUP), a socialist political party made up of various rebel groups that participated in the war. The country's official name, adopted in 1988 and unchanged since, is República Democrática de Baba del Norte (Democratic Republic of North Baba).

_{Emblem of the Workers' Unity Party of North Baba (WUP)}

Population

The Democratic Republic of North Baba is a genial, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, irreverence towards religion, stringent health and safety legislation, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate population of 11.1 million North Babans are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

Language

North Baba's two official languages are Spanish and English. North Baban Creole is spoken by a majority of the population and is either recognized or co-official in specific provinces. A number of unofficial languages and dialects are spoken in certain localities.

Religion

North Babans are known for their high irreverence towards religion and have been for decades since independence, even more so than their southern neighbors. Although some are still devoted to their specific faiths, organized religion of any kind is not particularly endorsed by a significant portion of the population.

Largest Cities

Government

North Baba is a parliamentary republic originally based on the Westminster system. The Political Constitution of North Baba is the supreme law of the country, establishing the structure and responsibility of government. The State President is head of state and exercises executive power on the advice of their ministers. The Prime Minister is head of government and is appointed by the State President as the person most likely to command the confidence of a majority of the National Assembly (without this support, the State President will call fresh elections). The Council of Ministers is chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the State President. Ministers are members of the majority political party in parliament and generally hold elected seats within it, concurrent with their ministerial positions.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is over 70%, and even higher for the wealthy.

North Baba's unicameral parliament, the National Assembly, elects the State President, enacts national law, approves budgets, and provides a check on government policy. The members of the Assembly are popularly elected for a maximum period of five years in a process characterized by truncated campaign periods and government gerrymandering (the Prime Minister decides both the date of the election and all new electoral boundaries without parliamentary approval). A degree of decentralization ensures that provincial authorities—led by centrally-appointed governors—are mainly responsible for implementing legislation passed by the National Assembly in Carpio.

Legislative power rests with both the government and the National Assembly. Between 1987 and 1990, North Baba's ruling political party discussed the possibility of going from a parliamentary system to a presidential system as a way to make the executive more independent of the legislative. The proposal was ultimately rejected in a referendum.

The Workers' Unity Party of North Baba (WUP) occupies a dominant position in North Baban politics, having won large parliamentary majorities in every election since the end of the civil war in 1987. Even its candidates who lose elections are often turned to by constituency residents for assistance. The most effective opposition party is the Democratic Party.

The judiciary, led by the Supreme People's Court, is appointed by the State President. It interprets laws and overturns those it finds unconstitutional.

_{Standard of the State President}

The North Baban People's Armed Forces (NBPAF) consist of the People's Army of North Baba (PANB), the North Baban People's Navy (NBPN) and the People's Air Force of North Baba (PAFNB). The NBPAF have an active manpower of around 170,000, but their total strength, including reserve forces, may be as high as 300,000. In 2020, North Baba's military expenditure totalled approximately 34.8 billion people’s farthings, equivalent to around 7.1% of its total government spending (RP). Combined military exercises and war games have been held with Railroad crossing, Republica Guilleana, Wardency, 2 and 2 is Fish, Raccooniah, Teostirias and Yemet. The Commander-in-Chief of the NBPAF is always the incumbent State President of North Baba.

North Baba has a special military corps, the External Guard (EXGU), founded in 2020, which consists of foreign nationals who are willing to serve in the NBPAF and become North Baban citizens after the end of their service period.

Culture

The culture of North Baba presents numerous Spanish, Roman Catholic, and British influences. Although somewhat limited by censorship, it has been strongly influenced by leftist thought and is usually claimed to be defined by its resistance to South Baban culture. Internet browsing is closely monitored, phone taps are frequently carried out by the police, workers' complaints never reach central planning, citizens who want to celebrate the holidays generally deck the halls with old newspaper trimmings and dirty socks, big game hunters travel to North Baba to try their hand at shark-shooting, excessive gerrymandering has earned North Baba the nickname 'The Democratic Dictatorship,' satellite images show safe electoral constituencies in complete darkness, and video evidence of cruel animal experiments tends to be of poor quality. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown (although the country has a high imprisonment rate), thanks to the very well-funded People's National Police (PNP), responsible for supposed peacekeeping and violent suppression of protests, and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Notably, the Protection of North Baba Act 2021 contains emergency powers for use against the "parallel-universe" conspiracy-driven Lisa's Sentinels, a terrorist group behind a series of major attacks. Said legislation, fervently criticized by opposition parties and overwhelmingly condemned by numerous dissident groups, enables the expansion of current spying tactics on domestic organizations, creates a DNA database of suspected terrorists, conceals the names of alleged terrorists, penalizes concealment of incriminating messages, and allows for North Baban terrorist sympathizers to have their citizenship revoked and be deported to foreign countries. Furthermore, the Committee for National Defense (C-NAD) is alleged to have secret protocols in place since at least 2005 (Traveleer Directive), allowed by clandestine legislation, that would authorize provincial governors to declare a state of emergency and the closure of all nongovernmental media outlets in the event of the severing of normal communication channels with the Prime Minister due to a direct attack or overall bellicose actions against Carpio. North Baba's national animal is the feather-bellied dove, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

_{Brian Triana Narváez, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of North Baba since 2012}

Control of mass media has been a subject of constant friction in North Baba for decades. Due to outdated legislation on communications, radio and television stations are completely under state control whereas newspapers and the Internet are the only means to distribute private or independent content (although some forms of state censorship still apply).

Democratic Republic Broadcasting (DRB) and DRB Radio produce free-to-air terrestrial television and shortwave radio content, respectively, approved by the ruling Workers' Unity Party of North Baba (WUP), that is broadcast to the public in North Baba and northern South Baba. DRB and DRB Radio (originally branded as Tele Norbaba (TNB) and Radio Norbaba (RNB)) serve as the most effective propaganda tools of the WUP, their censored programs presenting biases in favor of the government. A network of local radio stations, People's Radio Stations (PRS), entered service in 2005 and is censored by provincial branches of the WUP.

Major newspapers include The Carpio Democrat-Item, The People's Transcript, The Carpio Independent, The Carpio Chronicle, El Vigía (La Providencia), The Handal Independent, and The Windsor Advertiser. Of these, all are in independent hands except for The People's Transcript, which is owned by the Propaganda Department of the Workers' Unity Party.

Although state and (socially-owned) cooperative entities publish a diverse range of magazines, the most notable by circulation is the right-wing The Truth Serum, founded in 1995. Other popular magazines include Next Stop, Ultramatter, Chatter, Fonógrafo, and Cronista.

Economy

The sizeable but inefficient North Baban economy, worth over 2 trillion people's farthings a year (RP), is centrally planned and increasingly state-owned, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is mostly made up of the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Automobile Manufacturing, Tourism and Information Technology. Average income is about 177,830 people's farthings (about 66,000 SBF), and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens. Prices of housing, basic goods and services are heavily subsidised and set by central government planners rather than rising and falling through supply and demand.

Emigration to its Southern neighbor is a significant problem as many of the emigrants are well-educated young people and it weakens the state economically. Nevertheless, North Baba maintains an open border policy.

See also

◾️ Foreign Relations of North Baba
◾️ Flag of the Democratic Republic of North Baba