Dogger
- As a member of the Seafaring Confederation, this Nation is part of The Nearly Real World.
The Island Provinces of Dogger Eyjprövinserna av Dågger | |
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Flag
Coat of arms
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Motto: Pro Libertate Gladimus, Ad Mortem Cedamus For Freedom We Fight, For Death We Surrender | |
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Anthem: Dåggereyj det Skånste Eyj | |
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Dogger with provinces and municipalities. Dogger with provinces and municipalities. | |
| Capital and Largest City | Eyjittsmiddi |
| Official languages | Dogrish |
| Ethnic groups | Dogric |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary democracy |
| Jóhan Svergensson | |
| Established | |
• Declaration of Independence | 18 September 1454 |
| Population | |
• 2014 estimate | 7,231,120 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2012 estimate |
• Total | $301.2 billion |
• Per capita | $41,653.30 |
| HDI (2007) |
0.978 very high |
| Currency | krone (skr) |
| Time zone | UTC-1 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| Calling code | +191 |
| Internet TLD | .sf |
The Island Provinces ofDogger (Dogrish: Eyjprövinserna av Dågger, Dogric Frisian: D'Ejlaanprovinsjen fán Dogger, Dutch: De Eilandsprovincieën van Dogger, Rockallian and Romic: Dóigear, Scots Gaelic: Dòibhghear, Welsh: Docwr) is one of the nations of the Seafaring Confederation.
Dogger lies central in the North Sea, roughly halfway between the nations of Saxony and Howry. With 7,231,120 inhabitants it is the third largest nation of the Seafaring Confederation, falling behind Saxony and Rockall, falling behind the latter with only 300,000 inhabitants.
Etymology
The etymology of the name Dogger is contested, however, it is generally believed that it has been derived from the Old Dutch word dogger, which was a kind of fishing vessel.
Although the name of the nation officially is The Island Provinces of Dogger Island, national and international convention has reduced the official name to their local variant of Dogger rather than the full official name, which nowadays is only used in official government and judicial papers and in a few select titles. The Supreme Court of the Seafaring Confederation uses the name The Island Provinces of Dogger, thus dropping the "Island" from its name.
Politics
Dogger is a unitary parliamentary democracy where the ultimate head of state is the House of Representatives.
Head of State
The Head of State of Dogger is the House of Representatives, which elects three persons to represent the Head of State abroad if so necessary.
House of Representatives
For more information, see: House of Representatives of Dogger.
The House of Representatives, known as Folkeþinget in Dogrish, is elected every 5 years. All members of the House of Representatives are independent and are required to vote on each bill separately. Any forming of political parties or other forms of imposed partiality are illegal. The House has 500 seats.
Every year a new Speaker of the House is elected. The Speaker is limited to two terms as Speaker at most, unless a three-fifths majority decides otherwise. The Power of the House is curtailed through constitutional requirements that on certain issues national referendums have to be conducted.
Island Council
For more information, see: Island Council of Dogger.
The Island Council of Dogger is the governmental body regulating referendums as well as scrutinizing the House of Representatives' actions and decisions. They consist of 75 directly elected Councillors.
The Island Council can block legislation passed by the House of Representatives with a majority vote (38 votes) if it considers a matter to be unconstitutional or simply unpassable. The House of Representatives cannot overrule such a vote and will thus be forced to reconsider the legislation they had passed.
Geography
Landscape
Dogger consists mostly of dune landscapes, especially in the coastal areas, with the largest continuous dune landscape of Europe located on the southern part of the island, called the Dunes of Idunna, which is also a National Park. The remaining dunelands are all part of the Dunes of Dogger National Duneland.
There are also several significant forests located on Dogger, with the largest ones located in the centre and in the north of the island. One of these, Freyaskoget, is also a National Forest.
Geology
According to academic research, the island was most likely created from a moraine, formed in the Pleistocene, which over the centuries was formed into a sandbank. During the last Ice Age it became connected to the mainland, a geographic feature known as Doggerland, and was completely submersed under the surface of the water again at around 1000 BC. The sandbank subsequently became an island again in around 100 AD.
The island nowadays is mostly sand and sandstone, with several ancient peatlands and the occasional fertile valleys where a river runs through, like the Valley of Youth.
It is believed that underneath Dogger is a fault, which was the epicentre of the 1931 Dogger Earthquake with a power of 6.1 on the Richter Scale.
Subdivisions
For more information, see Provinces of Dogger.
Dogger is divided into four provinces: Eyjittsmiddi, Norðurlátter, Dalurer og Eyjerne and Völþreskóve. These are then divided into 197 municipalities. Some of these municipalities are further divided into neighbourhoods with a neighbourhood council, however, this is not considered an official subdivision.
Economy
Transport and infrastructure
Road
See also: motorways of Dogger.
The island is covered by an extensive network of motorways connecting the regions to one another as well as so-called main roads (Dogrish: Hyvudvæger; Frisian: Haadvejen; Dutch: Hoofdwegen) which connect most larger localities to one another as well as to the regional main city.
Rail
See also: rail transport in Dogger.
Dogger is covered by an extensive network of railways. The main network is island-wide and run by the government agency for rail transport Eyjsíseravægeragentskóve which provides both stopper and intercity services that connect the main cities to one another, as well as a small number of localised services.
In addition to the national railway network, a number of local networks also exist which are run as franchises in the hands of local authorities, mostly municipalities. These are generally physically separate from the national network, although it is not unusual to see some overlap at some places. Most of these local networks are marketed as "metros", e.g. MiddiMetro and RöðåMetro, whilst others are seen as full railway networks, e.g. Hvíspamjörker Íservæger.
Water
Air
Dogger has two international passenger airports: Islesmidst International near the capital of Eyjittsmiddi, and Georgehaven International near the northern city of Georgesháven. There are two domestic flights in each direction during weekdays, which are mostly used by civil servants.
Other, generally smaller, private airports are scattered across the islands. There are military airbases at Norðurdynerne, Middi (Åieyjer) and Mittö. Islesmidst International also houses a military airbase with a separate landing strip from the rest of airport.
Culture
Languages
The main and official nationwide language is Dogrish (Dogrish: Dåggerisk - [do:ksk]), an Indo-European language belonging to the group of North Germanic languages. In terms of pronunciation it is mostly related to Icelandic, whereas grammatically it is more similar to Danish. Dogrish also shows clear influences from Dutch and Dogric Frisian.
As the official national language, Dogrish is required to be studied in school and is also the working language of universities and government institutions. As such it is by far the most used language of Dogger.
Dogric Frisian
Dogric Frisian is the variety of the Frisian languages spoken on Dogger. It is more or less mutually intelligible with West Frisian. It is spoken in the general southeast of Dogger, namely around the mouth of the River Feurth, in the Dunes of Idunna, in Freyjasvolden and in Lochsteðer. With around 700,000 speakers it is the most widely spoken of the Frisian languages.
A variety of Frisian is also spoken on Heligoland.
English
Two varieties of English are spoken by minorities in Dogger. Georgian English is spoken in and around the city of Georgesháven, or Georgehaven in English, which until 1798 was under British rule. Dale English is spoken in the Engleserdalur, or Anglodales in English, in the province of Eyjittsmiddi, which came there as it was a territory belonging to the Lord of the Valleys, a title and position held by the Prince of Wales.
English is the main language of approximately 350,000 people in Dogger.
Dutch
A variety of Dutch known as Dale Dutch or Dallands is spoken in the Whispermere and in the valley of the River Uva. It was brought there by Dutch settlers in the 18th century and is still spoken today by approximately 85,000 people.