Kingdom of Caledon

Caledonian Cities
Eidyn...................... (capital city) pop. 450,200
Leith.................................. pop. 334,400
Glascho................................ pop. 307,400
Port Owen.............................. pop. 304,700
Donaldville............................ pop. 271,000
Blackstakes............................ pop. 216,500
Banockbùrn............................. pop. 165,100
North Kiltown.......................... pop. 102,900
South Kiltown.......................... pop. 100,500
Castle Sheldon......................... pop. 97,300
Crìosd baile........................... pop. 88,600
Tuath Bràghad.......................... pop. 85,400

The Caledonian government is classified as a parliamentary monarchy. This is the same type of government that the Caledonian people lived under before the period of "colonization" by Africablue (now known as Afrazure). The king is the head of state, with a prime minister to assist in his duties, and a parliament to create the laws. The parliament is made of two houses: the lower house is the Clan Council, with two representatives from each clan in the kingdom; the upper house is the Standing Council of Caledonian Chiefs, made up of Chiefs of Name with hereditary supporters. The king also has a cabinet of ministers, headed by the prime minister, in order to help in fulfill his duties to the country. All ministers are appointed by the king, but are reviewed and approved by the Standing Council of Caledonian Chiefs.

The royal family is, and has been, the House of Stewart. The monarch, therefore, also holds the additional title and responsibility of chief of Clan Stewart. The current reigning king is James VI, who was coronated in a ceremony in the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Eidyn on 30 January 301. His Caledonian Majesty was elected by a unanimous vote of the Caledonian Parliament. His family were the original and ancient rulers of the Caledonian/Thist lands before the time of Africablue, and it was felt to be only right that the crown return to the only family that has ever worn it. James Stewart served with distinction under the Africablue administration as a council member who always worked for the good of the people. During the communist (MCZ) subversion of our country, he also worked to organize support among the populace against the oppressors, and served with the militia during the liberation. Following the liberation, he has worked hand-in-hand with the Zartanian Royal Government and our own people in order to restore power and government to the land.

The current prime minister, whose duty it is to oversee the day-to-day administration of the government, is David Lindsay, a former captain in the state militia and a representative from the region of Crawford in the north of the kingdom. Captain Lindsay was elected to his position by a vote of the Parliament in recognition of his exemplary service to the state and to the people, as well as his previous experience as a local magistrate during Thistland's time under Africablue. While Prime Minister Lindsay does not belong to any political party at this time, all future prime ministers will be the head of the party that holds the majority of seats in the Clan Council.

To date, King James VI has created only one ministry and appointed a minister to fill head that agency. The ministry is the Foreign Ministry, responsible for diplomatic relations and international affairs, and headed by Sir Edward Anstruther. As other ministries are created, they will be listed here.

The history of Caledon is a long and glorious one, but also one for which there is little time to dwell here. Most of what you will read here is a synopsis that was taken from the website of the former Thistlandic government. Not all applies to the current Kingdom of Caledon, and some items mentioned are somewhat exagerated. For now, however, this synopsis will serve until the prime minister's office can write a replacement:

The history of Thistland since the begining is full of mystery as there is no written testimony before the landing of Mauretanians the 16 of April 298 . This day the Legion Etrangère landed on the continent of Nuarmia and began to explore it. They annexed all the area that is now Thistland, keeping the 2 northern clans for Mauretanie and giving the rest to their Africablue vassals which had begun to trade extensively and establish colonists in the ten others. The Mauretanian rule was rather mild but at the end of the summer rumors of large scale colonisation by Muslim Mauretanians began to unset the population. The enforcement of the tolerant "4 rules of God" was uneasy in a very traditionalistic oriented land where 3 clans are Catholic and 9 Presbyterians. So, undercover, moves were made to prepare a revolution.

The night of the 30 of October 298 , the McLeod clan raised against the Mauretanian occupation force. Peacefully all the citizens took the key public buildings, radios, televisions, post office and telephone buildings. Astonished by this daring coup, the Mauretanians did not dare to open fire on this unarmed mob and retired in their barracks.

The 31 of October, the McDougall raised in turn. There were fears that the 2 clans would clash as there is religious tension between them but instead, the old Angus McLeod and Duncan McDougall fell in each other arms in a dramatic evening meeting and declared together independance of Western Mauretanie as the confederate clans of Thistland.

The 1 of November, the government of Africablue opened negociation with the ten clans of its occupation zone.

The 3rd of November, a treaty was signed between the 12 clans, Maurétanie and Africablue giving full independance to Thistland.

Text added by the Office of the Prime Minister:
Following the "independence" of Thistland, the Thistlandic government was subverted by ethnic Zartanian communists known as the Movement for a Communist Zartania (MCZ). Using Thistland as a base of operations, supply depot, and training facility, the MCZ supported other communist uprisings around Vexillium, unbeknownst to the rest of the world. The MCZ used the "Twelve Clans" mentioned by Maurétanie and Africablue to keep the rest of the Thist population docile. Thistland was used extensively by the MCZ to support their fellow communists in the Dignanian Civil War, beginning in February of 299. In the end, however, the MCZ revealed their presence in Thistland to the Greater Zartanian Empire through a series of blunders. The result was a joint invasion of Thistland by troops from Zartania and the United Territories (UTFN) in August of 300. The MCZ fled the country, and Thistland was liberated. The country was placed under the auspices of the UNV Council on Collapsed Nations (UNVCOCN), who divided the country into two protectorates. The northern protectorate was placed under the UTFN, while the southern one, renamed Caledon, was placed under Zartania. In January of 301, UNVCOCN-sponsored public referendums were held to determine the future of the two protectorates. North Thistland voted to integrate themselves with the UTFN, while Caledon voted for independence. On 28 January 301 the Kingdom of Caledon was declared.

The following information regarding the Caledonian culture is taken from the website of the former Thistlandic government. Not all of what you read applies to Caledon, and there are many issues missing. The prime minister's office is working to correct this problem:

Religion : There are 2 religions (Catholics and Protestants) but all the other religions are in theory accepted including the heretical sects from the main ones as long as they accept the four "Rules of God:"

- No aggressivity against any other religion,
- No aggressive recruitment or proselytism,
- No aggression against the moral rules of the majority of belivers from all the religions
- No civil disorder

In fact each clan is entirely of one religion and life is difficult for those who want to live outside the clan system.

Population : The total population of Thistland numbers now a little more then 1 million people, most of them on the coastal regions. Ethnically they call themselves "Kiltenscots" and are believe to be related to the Kiltans.

Clans tartans : These tartans are traditional wool wooving. Each one is deeply rooted from times before the plague and associated with a clan.

Type of Economy : Liberal with severe anti-trust actions. All shares of societies must be in human hands, not in other societies. Agriculture is limited by the poor soils to extensive cattle and sheep breeding. Industry is in its infancy. Fishing and Trade are the main ressources.

Money : The Shilling is connected to the Mauretanian Dinar : 1 Shilling equals 1 Dinar.

All information contained above is under review by the Office of the Prime Minister, and is subject to revision, deletion, and/or addition.

During Caledon's period as a part of Thistland under Maurétanie, Africablue, and the MCZ, each clan equipped and trained a fixed number of units proportional to its wealth and population. All units were under direct control from a General Headquarters. Since Caledon's liberation and independence, a general revision of the military has been in progress. The military currently consists of three branches: the National Guard, Coast Guard, and Air Force. All three branches are sworn loyalty to the state, and are made of individuals from all parts of the kingdom. The Caledonian military is, at this time, for defensive purposes only. As such, the coast guard consists only of on destroyer, six corvettes, and seven fast attack boats, all captured when the MCZ fled from Thistland.
Air Force roundel

The air force is made up of seven captured MCZ "Echo" delta wing fighters, three MCZ "Delta" bombers, and various propellar-driven aircraft. The national guard is a defensive ground force made up solely of volunteers from the kingdom, currently numbering about 40,000 active duty personnel. The national guard has very limited artillery, and almost no armored units, considering those to be for offensive purposes only. The national guard maintains patrols and outposts along the kingdom's western border with New Armatirion. A proposal does exist in the Clan Council that would invite Zartanian and UTFN advisors to help train the Caledonian military. A table showing the current military rank structure and insignias within the kingdom's armed forces may be found by visiting this link.

Upon independence, King James VI appointed Sir Edward Anstruther as Caledon's first foreign minister. As foreign minister, it is Sir Edward's duty to carry out the foreign policy of the kingdom and to establish diplomatic relations with foreign governments. In order to help fulfill this task, and to identify Caledonian diplomatic missions abroad, a diplomatic seal was designed, using the national flag as the basis for the design. Below you will find a list of those countries with whom Caledon currently enjoys diplomatic relations, as well as the international organizations that the kingdom belongs to.

Albion-Merité, Empire of
Relations established February 301
Laird Patrick Haldane appointed as Caledonian ambassador to Albion-Merité
Sir Michel Bourais appointed as Albionish ambassador to Caledon
Status of relations: friendly, no alliance, no treaties

Feniz, Sultanate of
Relations established February 301
Phillip Hall appointed as Caledonian ambassador to Feniz
[unknown] appointed as Fenizic ambassador to Caledon
Status of relations: friendly, no alliance, no treaties

Zartania, Greater Empire
Relations established January 301
Major Edward Fraser appointed as Caledonian ambassador to Zartania
Dr. Alfred vun Hazsle appointed as Zartanian ambassador to Caledon
Status of relations: friendly, treaty of defense, no alliance

Vingarmark, Kingdom of
Relations established September 302
Lady Tabitha Skene appointed as Caledonian ambassador to Vingarmark
unknown appointed as Vingarmark ambassador to Caledon
Status of relations: friendly, no treaties, no alliance

International Trade Council of Vexillium
Membership application submitted 3 February 301
Accepted as full voting member 10 February 301

During Caledon's period as a part of Thistland under Maurétanie, Africablue, and the MCZ, sporting events, like all other facets of daily life, were centered on the individual clan. Shortly after the kingdom's liberation in August 300AP, King James VI established the Caledonian Sporting Board to oversee the re-integration of sports into daily like within Caledon and to try to remove the clan-based social barriers that had been created by the Thistlandic government. To date, several sports have made their re-emergence into the national consciousness, most notably football and rugby. Of note, a Caledonian driver, team, and sponsorship have even made an entrance into Zartania's stock car racing league, the RZOEAZ. Please follow the links below to find out about the several Caledonian national sports teams that exist.

Football: Caledon Claymores -- Rugby: Caledon Warriors

YEAR	WINS	TIES	LOSSES	PCT	RANKING
Overall	1	0	0	1.000	20th
308AP	1	0	0	1.000	20th