Metrati Anar

Metrati Anar
Flag
Location of Metrati Anar (dark green)
Capital and largest city	Anarís
Official languages	Acronian
Recognised national languages	Acronian Sign Language Staynish
Demonym(s)	Anarian
Government	Disputed Territory
• King	Mital II
• Prime Minister	Žarís Nevran Alandar, MP
• Administrator	Edori Navar Tendrokai
Legislature	Metrati Anar Assembly
Establishment
• Settlement established	1410 CE
• Siege of Anarís	1500 CE
Area
• Total	8,288 km2 (3,200 sq mi)
Population
• 2020 estimate	682,000
Currency	Našdat (ACN)
Time zone	West Acronis Time (UTC -9)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+422
Internet TLD	.ac

Metrati Anar (Tavari/Acronian: The Northern Gems) is an archipelago in the eastern Pacific ocean. Sovereignty over the islands has been disputed since the end of the Tavari Civil War/War of Foundation in 1499 and the islands are today claimed by both the Acronian Empire and the Tavari Union. Acronis took control of the islands in 1500 and has administered the territory since then, with the exception of the period 1908-1919 when Tavaris took control of the islands during the Great War.

History

Metrati Anar was first settled in 1410 by an expedition financed personally by the King Vonar of Tavaris. The leader of the expedition was Vonar's brother, Trevat. It was Trevat who named the islands, and who served as the first Viceroy of the settlement, which he named Anarís. Metrati Anar was established as the private property of the King under the law, as he paid for it with personal funds, not from the state treasury. The property was passed according to Tavari inheritance laws down through the line of Vonar's heirs, and eventually into the control of King Zaram in 1481. However, also near that time, the Tavari Civil War broke out and Akronism arose as a political and cultural force. The war ended in 1499 with King Zaram's surrender and death. The basis of the legal dispute impinges on differing interpretation of Zaram's surrender.

The Tavari have always held that King Zaram ordered the Tavari military to surrender and accept Acronian jurisdiction over "the state of Tavaris." As Metrati Anar was personal property and not state property, the Tavari hold, it was not part of "the state of Tavaris" and was exempted from the surrender. Instead, according to Tavari law, the property passed into the control of Zaram's daughter, Lurani. While Lurani never technically reigned as Queen of a Tavari polity in her lifetime, as her life was spent in various Tavari-organized temporary settlements, she is recognized by the Tavari Union as one of monarchs of the Union. The Tavari Union claims itself to be the successor state to the Kingdom of Tavaris, and holds that in 1567 when the permanent settlement of Good Harbor was established, the royal family transferred Metrati Anar (along with all its private property) to the new Tavari state in order for the state to raise revenue, and as such, the islands are part of the Tavari Union.

The Acronians hold that Metrati Anar was surrendered to the Acronian Empire in 1499 along with all other Tavari-controlled territory, and that the concept of royal "personal" property as distinct from state property is a legal fiction. In a military operation in 1500, just a year after the end of the Civil War, Acronis conquered the islands. The Acronian government ruled over the islands, establishing settlements and military facilities, through the five Tavari Wars. It was not until 1908, during the Great War, that the Tavari regained control of the islands. Acronis regained control in 1919 and have held the islands since then.

In the current day, Metrati Anar is a popular tourist destination, and is also home to significant Acronian fishing and whaling operations. Additionally, because the Acronian law forbidding petroleum extraction applies only to Acronis proper and not territories, there are several oil-drilling operations in the EEZ around the island. Two of the six islands are almost entirely uninhabited, with only Royal Acronian Navy installations.

Acronian Governance

Under Acronian law, Metrati Anar is organized as an Extraordinary Civil Jurisdiction, abbreviated ECJ in Staynish. The territory is governed officially by an Administrator appointed by the Prime Minister. An elected legislature, the Metrati Anar Assembly, is similar to the Legislative Councils of Acronian provinces except it does not appoint a government. Instead, the Administrator appoints various department directors from the elected Councillors. Statute has delegated to the Legislative Council some powers, such as regulation of some industries and matters such as road maintenance, but things such as taxation are set by the national Parliament. Since 1964 it has been a convention, and since 1999 a law, that the Administrator must be someone who is currently living on the islands when they are appointed, and has been for at least two years.

Tavari Governance

The Tavari flag for Metrati Anar Territory.

Tavaris, as established in 1567, has always consisted of nine divisions known as chiefdoms, or later known as provinces. Initially, Metrati Anar was held outside these provinces as a territory directly administered by the national government. In 1752, when the Tavari monarchy transitioned from agnatic primogeniture to a system where chiefs elected one of their member to serve as monarch for life, it was declared that Metrati Anar would be governed as part of whichever chiefdom held the monarchy. This system remained in place until 1911, when the government established Metrati Anar as a tenth province equal in standing to the others. When Metrati Anar was lost in 1919, instead of disestablishing the province, the capital was moved to Nuvrenon (the national capital) and there still remained an elected Premier of Metrati Anar and even an elected Assembly, with the electorate consisting of those Tavari who had been resident on the islands and evacuated back to Tavaris. However, as this population began to die off, the system became unworkable. In 1969, with only 58 registered electors living, the Tavari Supreme Court ruled that the government of Metrati Anar could no longer be considered democratic. The Assembly of the Union disestablished Metrati Anar province and instead replaced it with Metrati Anar Territory, an entity whose government was entirely appointed by the Union Premier. A Governor and Vice Governor, as well as an Advisory Council consisting of five people, were established. The Governor of Metrati Anar is also on the Cabinet, and is responsible for setting government policy regarding the islands.

In 2020, when Bana and New Rania joined the Tavari Union and became co-equal constituent states of the Union alongside Tavaris, Metrati Anar remained territory governed by the State of Tavaris, not by the national government. While relations between Acronis and the Tavari Union were normalized shortly afterward, the Tavari Union has indicated it does not intend to renounce any claim on the islands.