West-Zwartbaar

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Dominionative Autonomy of West-Zwartbaar
Semi-Autonomous Integrated Province of Vistaraland
Flag
Motto:  "Know Ademar, and you shall Know Liberty"
Anthem: "Langs de rivier de Vistara" (Vistarian) "Along the River Vistara"
Sovereign State	Vistaraland
Vistari military administration	1915
Disputed Vistari colony	1917
Territory within Vistari North Gondwana	1926
Semi-Autonomous territory within Vistari North Gondwana	1935
Devolved territory of Vistaraland	2021
Capital and largest city	Nieuw Tyrhaven
Official languages	Vistarian, Barbaneran Norvian, Noorvic, Kolonital, Valrikan Cukish, Chibian, Wesalaric, Norgsveltian, Ulvrikian
Demonym(s)	Zwartbaarian
Government	Devolved Legislature under a Constitutional Monarchy
• Governor of Zwartbaar	Valerie Coeweiden (ASP)
• First Ministers of Zwartbaar	Pieter Krijt (Unionist) Tito Sacco (Riunione)
Legislature	West-Zwartbaar Assembly
Population
• 2020 estimate	294,000
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	$5,936,064,764.28
• Per capita	$20,168.47
Currency	West-Zwartbaar Mark (WZM)
Time zone	UTC+0 (Imperial Standard Time)

West-Zwartbaar (Norvian: Barbanera Ovest), also referred to as West Barbanera, is a disputed political entity on the West of the Island of Barbanera, comprising the entirety of the regions of Pijnathe, Julesbaai, Ananasia and Krachtslanding, as well as parts of the divided regions of Oerunia (Giungula), Vesteport (Portovest) and Paragoland (Pappagallo), bordering the independent country of Barbanera to the North and East.

It is claimed and administered by Vistaraland, as an autonomous part of Vistari North Gondwana and has been so since 1926, however Barbanera claims de jure control over the region as a part of the nation's territory, with a majority of the international community not formally recognizing Vistari ownership of the Dominion. As of the present, however, no successful efforts have been made to find a permanent resolution to the issue, with a majority of agreements made involving the region having either been informal or written in terms as to not denote ownership by Vistaraland or Barbanera.

The territory originated in 1915 as a part of the conflict between local leaders and Celanora during the Great War, during which representitives of Barbanera signed an agreement with the Vistari Colonial Government, allowing the latter to invade and fully occupy Barbanera, seizing the territory from its colonial master. Following the success of Operation Zwarte Lucht and the full occupation of Barbanera in 1916, the territory was split into Northeastern and Southwestern zones by the Colonial Guard in order to more easily manage the territory, with Vice-Admiraal Mechiel H. Telleman placed in command of the Northeastern Sector, with an administration centred around Cocco, while Vice-Admiraal Arend T. Strijker was placed in command of the Southwestern Sector cantering command in an ancient Temple in the City of Baia Mercante (Later renamed Nieuw Tyrhaven by Vistari Officials), which is now the site of the West-Zwartbaar Assembly Building.

Following disagreements between Telleman and Strijker on the mandate given by the treaty, the handover of the island to the newly formed governmrnt of Barbanera resulted in forces under the command of Telleman being fired upon by those of Strijker, with the insuring skirmish amongst Vistari Colonial Forces forcing Telleman's withdrawal, handing over administration of the Northeastern Sector to the Presidency of Barbanera whilst the Southwest remained under Occupation by Strijker's forces. With the continuation of the War of Imperial Succession leading to a lack of an undisputed Government in the Vistari Mainland and the Vistari Colonial Government refusing to further involve themselves in the matter, the Southwestern Occupation Zone was reorganized into the Military Protectorate of West-Zwartbaar under the Administration of a Provisional Assembly of Strijker and his allies. The Protectorate received no foreign recognition, and was considered an illegal occupation by the International Forum following its creation in 1921, however no military action was taken amidst concerns of retaliation by either of the Vistari factions, causing further spillover from the War.

Following IF condemnation, Strijker formed a Civilian Government, taking after other Vistari Colonial Administrations in creating a mixed Constitution which granted large amounts of executive power to the Governor-General appointed by the Monarch, with Strijker convincing Tyrene van Molebaai, who contested the position as head of the Vistari Empire, to take the position as Lady-Protector of West-Zwartbaar, establishing a Vistari claim to the territory by extension, which was solidified following the end of the War of Imperial Succession in which Tyrene van Molebaai was crowned Empress Tyrene I of the Vistara. With the creation of the First Vistari Constitution in 1926, the status of West-Zwartbaar was to be placed under the administration of the larger territory of Vistari North Gondwana, and the Assembly was demoted to a subservient role under the extensive colonial bureaucracy of Vistaraland's North Gondwanan territories, an act opposed by a majority of the Assembly, with those who began to lose confidence in Vistari rule amongst previously Unionistic parties forming what became known as the National Self-Determinisation Party, or simply Nationalists, in order to call for the restoration and increase of Autonomy for West-Zwartbaar or, in some fringe cases, independence.

Reforms were eventually made empowering the Legislature in the 1930s, with the Zwartbaar Act of 1935 fully establishing it as a semi-autonomous administration within North Gondwana, a status it retained throughout the 20th and early 21st Centuries, with the adoption of the Second Constitution of Vistaraland granting it equal representation within the Imperial Parliamentary Council as the other Provinces of Vistaraland, as well as a remit to maintain a devolved legislature with more powers than the Provincial Councils have within their respective Provinces.

Politics

Background and the Factions

While the Left-Right divide remains important within the politics of West-Zwartbaar, and especially in its elections for Representatives within the Imperial Parliamentary Council, the division between the three main political groups of the territory have played a major role in its political makeup, that being the Unionists, Riunione and Nationalists, with the formation of temporary alliances between these factions taking a key role in passing any major piece of legislation within the Assembly. In this, while other Vistari territories maintain a Unionist-Separatist divide, West-Zwartbaar bucks the trend of a Unionist Majority having been able to achieve and retain a large amount of control over the legislature of each Province by splitting the electorate three ways.