Mistletoe Coast

The Mistletoe Coast, officially the Federal Republic of the Mistletoe Coast (Abonaqian: Miquliicuit; Nagansett: Mihutetts) is a constitutional unitary republic located in Larania. The nation is bordered to the north by Estrie, to the east by the Mithran Ocean, to the south by the Eastern Laranian Republic, and to the west by Nagansett. With a population of 9,281,693 people and a land area of LAND AREA, the Mistletoe Coast is actually the most densely populated nation on Larania due to its smaller size. The capital of the Mistletoe Coast is Jamesport, while the largest city remains Cedarport.

The Mistletoe Coast was originally inhabited by the Abonaqian people in the earliest periods of history, though the exact date of their arrival in the region is unknown to us.

he Abonaqians constructed villages along the sea coasts and in their many rivers, with their connection to water being a vital part of their culture, with the Mistletoe plant, native to the region also being a major cultural aspect to the Abonaqians. Their society was disrupted, however, by the arrival of Gelenian explorers in 1599, who brought back charts of the area and an official colony being authorized by 1605. The settlement of Jamesport was founded, and eventually grew into a trading port. The region was a trading hub, sending supplies from the western world to their colonies in Arganorh, with many families and wealthy individuals moving to the region to gain land and sell goods to Gelenia. Originally living in harmony with the Abonaqians, the 1789 Abonaqian War erupted between colonial forces and the natives, who attempted to rebel against the intrusion on their way of life. Eventually, with the growth of the colony, colonists began calling for more autonomy from the central government, though these were suppressed in events like the Bloody Twins Day Massacre - which saw people calling for representation in the Gelenian parliament be suppressed violently by the Gelenian military in 1801. The colony began to industrialize beginning in the 1820’s, with the region’s rivers and creeks providing perfect opportunities for mill towns and textile factories. The timber industry also took off in this time. With the colony being majority Gelenian by 1855, the colony was granted Dominion status, and became the Dominion of the Mistletoe Coast, with a Legislative Assembly and a Governor-General and Prime Minister, though the Dominion was still under the authority of the Davintharian government. In the Great War, the nation joined Gelenia's war and invaded the Caliantene colony of Auvegrone, fighting numerous battles such as the Battle of Vinris, the Battle of Gressonne, and the Siege of Bénnois. With the end of the war, the nation was granted further independence, and became a member of the Gelenian Association. The Mistletoe Coast adopted its current constitution in 1882, which created a Presidency and the current Legislative Council. The nation went through a period of industrial decline after independence, but eventually transitioned into a thriving developed economy after the North Laranian Boom between 1890 - 1905. The nation joined the North Laranian Economic Community (NLEC) in 1911, and has further become a regional leader with a strong economy and military presence. Cities like Jamesport, Kennsbrook, and Whalesdrake became major ports in North Larania and centres of finance and learning in the western world.

The Mistletoe Coast is a developed major economy in the world, and is a regional power being able to project strength across North Larania. The Mistletoe Coast has a high quality of life as well, providing universal healthcare and free university tuition for two years. The nation has been ranked as one of the healthiest nations on the planet, and has a stellar environment protected by federal legislation. On civil rights, the nation is developed, with the constitution providing extensive rights to its citizens and a judiciary to protect the citizens. With an average income of CA 39’500, the Mistletoe Coast has a high income which props up its thriving finance and retail industries. The nation has a relatively powerful military, participating in the North Laranian Defense Community (ADC), as well as being associated with the Avanoran Defense Organization.

Prehistory
The Mistletoe Coast has been inhabited by native Laranian peoples since the 10,000s BCE, according to archeological evidence. It is likely that the Abonaqians arrived in the region first, likely following larger game such as mammoths, moose, and reindeer. It appears, according to the most accurate archeological evidence available, that the Nagansett people, who came to inhabit the lands just to the north - pushing the Abonaqians northwards - arrived some centuries later. This migration is told through oral tradition by both peoples, and through the discovery of weapons of war in both culture's ancient sites. As the Nagansett and Abonaqian people fought over the land to the north of the Mistletoe Coast, thousands died, and throughout the centuries the Abonaqian people were pushed further out of their lands wth every year. Eventually, the Abonaqians abandoned Nagansett entirely, moving northwards into modern Bagnallia and Estrie, while still holding claim on valuable hunting lands in northern Mistletoe Coast, over which the two cultures would come into conflict with one another for centuries to come.

With the newly settled Nagansett people coming into the region, the two cultures blended in ways they had not previously in other regions. The agricultural methods of the Abonaqians became integrated into the southern Nagsnett people's culture, and soon the native population exploded. Archeological evidence points to numerous new settlements and villages, largely constructed from the wood found in local forests in a similar fashion to the ones in Nagansett and Bagnallia, that were constructed along the banks of the Patuckett River throughout the period between 1100 CE and 1200 CE, which many archeologists claim was a Nagansettian golden age.

It is believed that the Abonaqians in the region lived in coastal communities in the northwest, living off of the many fishing resources that were in the Mithran Ocean, as well as growing vast amounts of corn which they held as a sacred food given to them by their god. Abonaqians were more sedentary than their Nagansett counterparts, and tended to make larger settlements, which extended northwards. The region would be largely populated and settled by the time of the arrival of the Avanorans in the coming century,

With their arrival changing the life in the region forever.

Discovery & Settlement
First contact between the Abonaqian peoples in the region and Avanorans occurred in 1500, when Captain Phillip Cooke arrived in what is now Jamesport. His journey took him northwards, up the coasts towards Bagnallia, Estrie, and Nagansett, relaying information about the region to the Gelenian government, who were eager to establish a true colony in the region. The idea of a Laranian colony was floated around Wellington, with the economical prospects of the new region uncertain. The House of Lords finally authorized a colonial party to take off for the Mistletoe Coast to establish a settlement in the area in 1515. This led to the deployment James Parrington's expedition to Larania beginning in 1514, which would lead to his company of 2500 people arriving on the coasts of modern day Jamestown in 1515, where he promptly established the colony in the name of the Gelenian monarch, and proclaimed the natives in the region, subjects of the Gelenian Empire. This, at first, led to some protests from the local native population, though these protests were largely ignored as in 1517, 1000 more settlers migrated by ship into the Mistletoe Coast, establishing a second settlement in the region in Cedarport. It was in this time that the colonists in the region came into contact with the native's for the first time, with the Nagansett raiding Jamestown, believing the colonists to be allied with the Abonaqians. The people of Jamesport would fight with the Abonaqians in the conflict known as the Pantucket War between 1522 and 1527.

The colonists and Abonaqians won the conflict, though as punishment the Gelenian government ordered both native groups expelled from the colony, and between 1528 to 1530 the colonists rounded up and deported or killed nearly 900,000 people, estimates from the time claim. The policy was reversed in 1549, but by then only around 100,000 native Laranians remained in the colony - one of the lowest rates anywhere on the continent.

Colonial Period
Mistletoe Coast was officially organized as a colony in 1549 by decree of the House of Lords in Gelenia, officially becoming the Gelenian Colony of the Mistletoe Coast. The government is organized under the Constitution of the Mistletoe Coast, which divides the government into three branches: such as

1430 BCE, when the Caliantene explorer Estienne Morel arrived in the region on his expedition to westwards. The Abonaqian people initially traded foodstuffs for rifles, food stuffs, and tools, and formed amicable relations with the Avanorans. The Caliantene regarded the Abonaqian people in different lights - on the one hand describing their language as "guttural, ugly, and uncivilized - lacking refinement" as Caliantene writer Nicholaus Brunet wrote of them, but also saw them as intelligent merchants - striking able deals, and possessing farming techniques above what Avanoran settlers could have achieved on their own, as Ancelet Delannoy wrote in 1442.

Gelenian explorers first arrived in Larania at the site of Jamesport in 1451, establishing a minor settlement there. The abundant forests of the Mistletoe Coast drew the interests of numerous companies in the timber and shipbuilding industries to the region. Soon other towns such as Cedarport, Sunderbury, and Cumberly grew into prosperous settlements as well, and in 1483 King Henry II of Gelenia organized the region we into the Royal Colony of the Mistletoe Coast, and appointed Alastair Watson as the first governour of the colony, who declared the new capital of the colony in Jamesport.

Government and Politics
The Mistletoe Coast is a constitutional parliamentary democracy, in which the Prime Minister of the country serves as the head of government, and the President serves as the head of state. The modern Mistletoe Coast government is based off of the original Colonial Constitution of Mistletoe Coast, which itself was based on the Gelenian Constitution. The government is split into three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial, with each branch holding checks and balances over the other. The legislative branch is comprised of the 155 member unicameral Legislative Assembly, which is in charge of the general legislative process. It is elected for three year terms through a system of proportional representation using the D'hondt method of electoral proportion. The Legislative Assembly has the power to pass the budget as proposed by cabinet, the right to enact general legislation for the country, the right to hold questionings of witnesses and officials as deemed necessary by law, the right to declare war, and the right to elect and hold cabinet to account.

The head of the Legislative Assembly is always the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the majority party in the chamber and sits as the administrative head. It is the Speaker who also appoints members of the several committees of the Legislative Assembly.

The Federal Superior Court is the head of the judicial branch, and is the highest court in the country - responsible for reviewing the actions of the executive and legislative branches to ensure they are constitutional, as well as reviewing the decisions of the nation's lower courts. The Superior Court is not entitled to make law, but may only review actions by other bodies in line with the court's definition of the constitution. If a law is deemed unconstitutional, it is sent back to the Legislative Assembly to be rewritten to fit the provisions of the constitution as seen by the court. If a lower court decision, by contrast, is deemed unconstitutional, the decision is overturned and rendered void.

The executive branch of the Mistletoe Coast government is encompassed in two offices: the Office of the Prime Minister, who serves as the nation's head of government, and the President, who serves as the Head of State.

The current incumbent Prime Minister of the nation is August Bainbridge, who was elected to the position of head of government in 1923. His government is a coalition of the centre-right Democratic Party and the centrist Moderate party.