Great Morstaybishlia

The United Kingdoms of Great Morstaybishlia and Justelvard, commonly known as Great Morstaybishlia and colloquially the UK (United Kingdom) is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country in Aurora and southeast Yasteria. The United Kingdom includes Staynes, Caltharus, South Staynes and Justelvard, as well as other islands. Great Morstaybishlia shares land borders with seven countries (from left to right); Axdel, Xagrurg, Vothetria, Kothalria, Kostromastan, Baykalia and Tivot. Justelvard shares no land borders, but neighbours East Malaysia and the Kohatu Isles (The Oan Isles). Great Morstaybishlia sits next to, with Justelvard being completely surrounded by the Morstaybishlian Sea. The Packilvanian Ocean sits on the left coastline of Staynes, whilst the north-westernmost island in Justelvard marks the start of the Ocean.

Great Morstaybishlia is a Constitutional monarchy with a two-House parliament system. The current monarch is Lambertus VII since his coronation on the 6th of June 1991 and the serving heir apparent is Rosamund. The capital is Sani Bursil, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 42 million in 2019, the largest in Aurora, largest in the United Nations of the Auroran Continent and largest in Urth. Other major urban areas in Great Morstaybishlia include Redrugus, Aeternum, Lambertupol, Fort Vitrayn, Fort Staynes, Labius, Kirdintayos, Port Makuh, Fort Jubrayn, Toransloe and Firanoute. The nearby Frorkstolm and Necraties Islands are not part of the United Kingdom, being Crown dependencies with the government responsible for defence and international representation.

The relationships among the countries of Great Morstaybishlia have changed over time. In 1515, Lambertus III united the thrones of Staynes and Caltharus which formed the United Kingdom of Staynes and Caltharus, which went on to become the sovereign state of the Morstaybishlian Empire. Justelvard was annexed by the Morstaybishlian Empire after the Morsto-Justelvard War in 1604. Justelvard seceded from the Empire in 1967. South Staynes seceded from Staynes in 1975 which saw it obtain status within the United Kingdom two years later under the Acts of Union and in 2016 Justelvard entered a political union with Great Morstaybishlia under the Acts of Union of Great Morstaybishlia and Justelvard leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Morstaybishlia and Justelvard. The Morstaybishlian Empire is one of the last reminders of colonial times. There are thirteen Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom, all governed by different countries within Great Morstaybishlia. These are the remnants of the Morstaybishlian Empire which, at its height in the 1800s, encompassed almost a tenth of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. Morstaybishlian influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies.

Great Morstaybishlia has been a member state of the United Nations of the Auroran Continent since its formation in 2017; the successor Union to both the Auroran Continental Assembly, where Great Morstaybishlia was a member state, and the Auroran Union. Great Morstaybishlia's council representative of the UNAC is Fischan Rhye who was appointed in 2017.

Etymology and terminology

The 2016 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of Great Morstaybishlia and Justelvard were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Morstaybishlia and Justelvard", though the new state is also referred to in the Acts as the "Kingdom of Great Morstaybishlia", "United Kingdom of Great Morstaybishlia" and "United Kingdom".

Although the United Kingdom, as a sovereign state, is a country; Staynes, Caltharus, South Staynes and Justelvard are also regarded as countries, though they are not sovereign states. The Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.

The term "Great Morstaybishlia" is often used as synonym for the United Kingdom. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole. GM and GMT are the standard country codes for the United Kingdom and are consequently used by international organisations to refer to the United Kingdom. Additionally, the United Kingdom's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Morstaybishlia" or "Team GM".

The term "Morstaybishlian Empire", in politics, is used to describe the United Kingdom, and all Overseas Territories.

The adjective "Morstaybishlian" is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom and rarely as a synonym for the United Kingdom. The term has no definite legal connotation, but is used in law to refer to United Kingdom citizenship and matters to do with nationality. People of the United Kingdom use a number of different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being Staynish, Caltharusian, South Staynish; or as being Justelvardic, and still in some cases Horkalic, except Horkalic refers to the ethnic group Horkalans. A growing minority of people have identified themselves with Morstaybishlian nationality after the Acts of Union 1977, likely a patriotic spur.

After the Union of the Thrones in 1515, the two kingdoms were briefly known as the "United Kingdom of Staynes and Caltharus" until it was formally dubbed the "United Kingdom of Morstaybishlia" in early 1516.

The Acts of Union 1977 decreed the United Kingdom of Morstaybishlia in political unification with South Staynes. By extension of Kingdom territory, the region of "Morstaybishlia" was given the epithet "Great", short for "Greater".

The Acts of Union 2016 decreed the United Kingdom of Morstaybishlia in political unification with Justelvard to ratify the earlier 2016 Treaty of Union and so unite the two kingdoms.

In 2017, a new design of Morstaybishlian passport was introduced. Its first page shows the long form name of the state in Staynish, Calth, Justelvardic, Jubliakese and Old Staynic.

History

Background

Main articles: History of Staynes, History of Caltharus, History of South Staynes, History of Justelvard

Settlement by anatomically modern humans of what was to become the United Kingdom began around 100,000 years ago. During this period, the Strathepolic Ridge connected the continents of Aurora to Yasteria across the Morstaybishlian Sea. In the next 50,000 years, the earliest known Auroran culture had developed and is thought to belonged, in the main, to a culture termed Strathepolic. Around 50,000 years ago, the ridge submerged as sea levels rose. The Strathepolic peoples, which had been settled along the ridge for thousands of years were forcibly isolated from one another, starting the early population of Aurora and the earliest known division of the two continents.