Federation of Bana
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The Federation of Bana, commonly called Bana, is a federation consisting of three co-equal, sovereign constituent states: Okunbana, Mikubana and New Rania. It is located in northern Gondwana on Urth, and is a member of the Alliance of Northwest Gondwana.
Federation of Bana Apapọ ti Bana (Banian) ဘီနာအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (Raonish) | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
Motto: Prosperity, Together | |
Anthem: "A Strong and Mighty Country" | |
 Location of the Federation of Bana (dark green) on the continent of Gondwana (grey) | |
| Capital | Newport |
| Largest city | Bana |
| Official languages | Banian Raonish |
| Demonym(s) | Banian |
| Government | Federal consociational Parliamentary republic |
• President | Arik Rao |
• Federal Premier | Maku Mtebe |
| Legislature | Federal Congress |
| Council of Communities | |
| National Assembly | |
| Area | |
• Total | 382,538 km2 (147,699 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 22,326,133 |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | $929,980,000,000 |
• Per capita | $41,654 |
| Currency | Banian Dollar (FBD) |
| Time zone | Banian Standard Time (UTC -07:00) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +688 |
| Internet TLD | .fb |
History
Modern History
Government
Bana is a federal system, with the three states having their own governments that have the ability to control affairs within their borders. The Federal Constitution establishes that the central government has only those powers that are explicitly delegated to it in the constitution, with all other powers belonging to the states. On the federal level, the executive of the country is the cabinet, led by the Federal Premier. The legislature is the Federal Congress, which consists of two chambers: the Council of Communities and the National Assembly. Nominally, the head of state of Bana is the President, who is elected by the Council of Communities for a 5 year term. However, the Presidency of Bana is designed to be a figurehead position as the "symbol of the unity of the Federation" and "guarantor of the Constitution." Aside from the power to refer an Act of Congress to the Constitutional Court, the President has very few powers in practice.
As an upper house, the Council of Communities is designed to be a consultative body, and it is ultimately less powerful than the lower house. It has a unique voting system, referred to as a "qualified majority," in which a majority must have at least one member from each state voting in favor in order to pass the body. In order for legislation to become law, it is typically required to be passed by the Council of Communities as well as the National Assembly. However, if the Council rejects a bill passed by the National Assembly, the National Assembly can pass the bill again with a two-thirds majority in order to override the council, or it can pass the bill by a normal majority and send it again to the Council to reconsider. If a bill is rejected twice by the Council but passed three times by the National Assembly, it is considered to have passed the entire legislature. The Council of Communities is also the body that elects the President. A two thirds majority of the membership, in which at least two thirds of each state delegation votes in favor, is required to elect a President.
The National Assembly is the larger and more powerful of the two chambers. It consists of 825 members. The Constitution requires that each state be given a number of seats proportional to their share of population, and each state has the authority to determine how their members are elected.
For a bill to become law, it must technically receive Presidential Assent, but the Constitution strictly disallows the President from vetoing a law passed by the Federal Congress. The President also technically appoints the Premier and the members of cabinet, but is obligated to select the Premier nominated by the National Assembly and the members of cabinet named by the Premier. The President does not have formally established reserve powers, but is empowered to give advice and counsel to the government and may advise the Premier to send a bill to the Constitutional Court if they feel it is unconstitutional.
States
Okunbana
Mikubana
New Rania
New Rania is the smallest state in the Federation by population. Much of New Rania's territory is undeveloped. With a population of 1,004,398, the other two states each have a population larger by nearly a factor of ten. New Rania is also relatively impoverished compared to the other two states, having long been economically dependent on Okunbana for most imports. The New Ranite economy is largely based in textiles, although manufacturing and the service industry have been seeing gains in recent years as New Rania's minimum wage laws are attractive to international business.
New Rania was founded in 1747 by a group of religious outcasts exiled from feline lands in the interior of the continent. "Old" Rania was a location in the interior from which many of the first exiles had been from. They had to migrate through both dense jungles and over the Danvreas Range of mountains, a journey the New Ranites called "the Long Walk." After the long walk, the New Ranites settled in a city they called Ranisport, which was built atop the ruins of an abandoned former feline city. Originally organized as a strictly religious colony, New Rania went through a process of democratization in the 19th century, although the New Ranite Church maintained representation in the National Council and the theoretical power to remove a President from office until 1954.
The New Ranite Church is a religious belief centered around the teachings of a prophet called Ori, who taught that the traditional pantheon of the northern Gondwanan felines was false and that the afterlife would only be open to people who followed his teachings. Ori taught about the holiness in "ordinary work and toil" such as craftsmanship or farming, and calls for women to serve primarily as wives and homemakers. While the Church no longer holds official power in New Rania, more than two-thirds of the New Ranite population continues to follow the faith. The High Prophet of the New Ranite Church remains a powerful figure, although since the separation of church and state, the law in New Rania has gradually established protections for things such as women in the workplace and restrictions on child labor.
Nearly half of New Rania's population is in the Ranisport metropolitan area, with the outer areas (called "the out-country") much more sparsely populated. The areas of New Rania to the east, south of the Loko River and Lake Unar, are known as "Translokonia" and is largely a protected wilderness area. New Rania has significantly less transit infrastructure than the other states in the Union, with fewer highways and only one rail line.