Gabon

The Chancellery of Gabon, commonly known as Gabon (/ɡəˈbɒn/), is a highly autonomous province of the Grand Duchy of Varkonia in the northwest quadrant. The mainland area of Gabon situates adjacent the Coral Sea and the Sea of Crete. This area is neighboured to the east by the Republic of Bloom, although there is a strait separating the two landmasses. Gabon's capital and largest city is Salisbury.

Gabon is a Chancellery with an elected Lord's Council of current five sitting members. Ruled by the Lord High Chancellor who acceded to the position from the first election of Gabon after the country's civil war in November 2018. The Lord High Chancellor serves as the head of state and generally acts with the advice of His Executive Councillors.

An ever expanding mining industry and foreign private investment have aided Gabon with a consistent growing economy, However, because of inequality in income distribution, a significant proportion of the population remains poor.

Establishment of the Principality of Gabon
The creation of Gabon resulted from the discovery of the uninhabited land mass by Captain Television and the subsequent claim of the land by Then Queen GetSkinny under the doctrine of terra nullius. Through the issuance of letters patent by The Queen, the Principality of Gabon was formed with the initial sole city of Salisbury. After that time, the Principality of Gabon flourished and increased its mainland territory. It then encompassed the village of Bakerswood on the southeast and the town of Cottingham in the south, recently adding the sub-province of Venice to the northeast of the capital.

Throughout this time as a Principality, The Principality of Gabon was governed by a small privy council and her Majesty Queen GetSkinny, who ascended to the throne after the death of her father, King George III, on 8 April 2008. The government was an absolute monarchy without a constitution.

After GetSkinny's accession to the throne, Her majesty, by letters patent created the position of Lord High Chancellor and through a Commission appointed BritishWanderer to that office. The Lord High Chancellor had effective control of the Privy Council and was entitled to require them to present information about the activities of Gabon to himself.

Construction of Salisbury
Main Article ; Salisbury In June the first construction project within the capital city of Salisbury, the grand quarry, was started by Her Majesty who dutifully got to work alongside her own subjects, helping to carve out what is now the eastern most defensive structure within the Grand Duchy of Varkonia. Throughout this time, a large influx of labourers allowed Gabon to construct additional buildings alongside the quarry, although many of the constructed buildings have since been either torn down or reconstructed, the famous royal buntino bakery still stands to this day.

One of the more revered building projects designed by the privy council was the royal palace of Balmoral Castle which was to be built overlooking the city of Salisbury. The design is said to have had nearly fifty rooms, wide corridors and boasting a sizeable courtyard. Balmoral planned to hold not only the Queen's residential quarters but also the internal and external government gatherings, housing three large meeting halls. Said to need such a vast amount of concrete that industries across the country would be hard-pressed to meet the demands required. Glass smelters and concrete factories were planned and have since been constructed in Salisbury and Bakerswood to aid in any future large scale construction.

However due to budget constraints and a skilled labour shortage only a brief foundation of the castle and a small meeting room was ever laid down. Recent government plans into revisiting the construction of Balmoral Castle has been met with positive reactions by citizens home and abroad, however unfortunately many of the well-detailed building blueprints have since been lost to history.

Without blueprints the Chancellery Government has begun construction using old artistic renditions of the Castle, building up to the third floor. Current work is being handled by the Project Manager and Lord's Councillor, ChrisFa99.

Protection of Local wildlife
In late June, with vast construction underway to the southeast and within the capital, concern was placed on the damage that local labourers were committing on the native floral and fauna. This opened a fierce debate within the privy council, some councillors stating that protecting the native habitat from any further construction would hamper any economic growth and throw Gabon into turmoil while others believing it necessary to protect the wildlife on a land that was not always theirs to begin with and could not be recreated in the future. This led Her Majesty to make a tough decision, ultimately siding with the native wildlife and by letters patent created defensive measures to protect the natural wildlife from any further destruction. The Queen later conceded a compromise to quell a minority of the councillors by allowing the such members of the privy council from time to time to authorise the destruction of any particular instance of flora so long as saplings of the respective fauna was planted elsewhere. This patent is generally regarded as saving the decline of the natural trees.

Immigration to Gabon
Remarking upon the Colony’s initial Success, the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Captain Television, decided that the time had come to expand the number of mainland colonists. Thus, with the steamboat The Ben Campbell, the First Lord sailed 6,748 miles to the Port of Cobh to engage with the Mayor of Cobh, Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, on the topic of finding suitable prospective free settlers from the Irish Free State to journey back with the First Sea Lord to Gabon.

Arriving in Elizabeth Bay 254 days after initially setting off, The Ben Campbell brought another six months’ worth of supplies, consisting of copious amounts of wheat and potatoes along with iron tools and seven horses, back to Gabon. Arriving with the Captain was another large grouping of colonists to join the ranks of the fellow Gabonese. Initially, there were 89 colonists, however a rat infestation manifested during transportation and killed multiple people on the ship. Unfortunately, all seven horses succumbed to scurvy during transportation and arrived without a pulse.

The Transition of Government between Gabon and Varkonia
In late July, the privy council and Her Majesty decided that it was in the best interests of the Gabonese peoples to open negotiation talks with the Grand Duchy of Varkonia to discuss and ratify The Treaty Effecting a Transition of Government for the Principality of Gabon through Cession of Lands to the Grand Duchy of Varkonia which saw Gabon lose its title as “Principality” and become a "Province" of Varkonia.

This also saw the dissolution of the royal throne of Gabon, including Her Majesty’s Privy Council. In its place, the monarchy was replaced with the Assembly of the Province of Gabon which was headed by the Grand Prince of the Province of Gabon. Her Majesty The Queen became the Grand Prince and appointed her privy councillors to the Provincial Assembly. This also saw the appointment of two members of the Assembly of Gabon to the Senate of Varkonia. Whilst serving on the Senate, these senators brought the virtue of codified law to Varkonia. This was something that had not been introduced beforehand to Varkonia. However, Gabon’s rich history of lawmaking and the prowess of its Assembly were a welcome addition to Varkonia. [[File:Grand duchy.png|left|367x367px|Pictured: Borders of a unified nation-state between Gabon and Varkonia.

Circa Late July 2018|thumb]]

Reactions in Gabon
The reaction to the transition of government was met by positive outpouring by the citizenry who saw it as two sister nations joining together, many citizens of Gabon being citizens of Varkonia and vice versa made the relationship between both countries intertwined. Varkonian flags were quickly added to the production line in Salisbury's famous royal weavery. Government buildings gladly displayed the Varkonian flag alongside it's Gabonese counterpart.

Reactions in Varkonia
The reaction within the national senate and it's citizens was highly positive, seen as a inevitable decision by both governments given the lengthy history enjoyed by citizens within both sister countries. GetSkinny and BritishWanderer were welcomed into the senate gladly and their intentions to bring a foundation of law and order acts to Varkonia were warmly received.

Reactions abroad
The reaction was mostly positive within the surrounding nations, with slight confusion on what this would mean for treaties signed by Gabon with other nations in the northwest, The Grand Duchy of Varkonia was quick to assure that Varkonia would gladly take up any responsibilities in all treaties signed by Gabon much to the approval of neighbouring countries. This action would set out the course for leaders from both Gabon and Varkonia to draft a mutual defence charter which would shortly lead to the foundation of the United Northern Congress alongside SPQR & Nevrast.

Private Investment on behalf of Varkonia into Gabon
Immediately after the signing of the treaty, the government of Varkonia agreed to aid in the funding of an eastern defensive structure within the Capital of Salisbury. This was in conjunction with citizens of Varkonia funding the construction of an updated rail station in Salisbury, the station went from three one-way lines to eight possible two-way connections to multiple countries in the northwest quadrant. The station is adorned with the Varkonian national flag alongside the Gabonese standard to reflect the contribution that was made towards to the construction.

Formation of The United Northern Congress
Main Article: UNC

In Early August, The Grand Prince of Gabon alongside The Lord High Chancellor in conjunction with the Red Duke of the Grand Duchy of Varkonia drafted the Charter of the United Northern Congress in hopes that a new alternative alliance bloc in the northwest quadrant would allow nations the ability to stand aside peacefully, not involving themselves in any future cold wars while also furthering good relations and economic ties between signing parties.

Review by SPQR & Nevrast
The document was originally sent to Varkonia's largest neighbours, SPQR and Nevrast, for approval and discussion. Both nations were largely positive about the charter with a few amended changes being added upon request. The two countries would later become the first of many signatories of the Charter of the United Northern Congress.

Additional Signatories
By Mid August, The UNC had reached out to The Federal Republic of Bloom and the Kaiserreich, who after negotiations gladly signed the charter. The Celestial Empire of Tvtopia, The Kingdom of Kaltsburg, The Duchy of Westmore, Heavenly Kingdom of Gensokyo and the Archduchy of Nyasaland, shortly joined the signatories, bringing the member-count of the UNC to ten total nations.

Gabon's Impact
Gabon's leading government ministers and monarchy played an instrumental role in drafting the original Charter for the United Northern Congress, the Charter itself hints to this Gabon contribution with the document being signed by each member country at the location of Balmoral Castle. This is displayed at the bottom of the Charter alongside the date.

As of March 12th, Gabonese High Lord Chancellor, BritishWanderer, is currently the Alliance Spokesperson for the United Northern Congress.

Disillusionment Within Gabon
By October, Her Majesty Queen GetSkinny, had been out of the public eye for over two months. The duties that would normally be undertaken by the Queen were being added to the daily tasks of The Lord High Chancellor and his councillors. This extra workload began to aid in the stagnation of Gabon which was felt throughout the country. Republicanism was reportedly growing to unprecedented levels among the citizenry and members of the provincial assembly. The Gabonese Railway Company controversially dropped the 'Royal' title from it's name in support of the peaceful Green Flag Protests which saw citizens take to the streets to express their discontent with the monarchy and the government of Gabon.

During this time, members of the senate of Varkonia were charged with numerous criminal offences in the courts of Mount Augusta leaving Gabon awash in shame, striking at the heart of the connection between the sister nations. The Provincial Assembly's request for additional funding to aid with internal damages caused by was also declined around this time, adding to the growing rift between the two nations.

The Return of the Queen
In early November, Queen GetSkinny, returned to a nation seemingly divided. Disagreements had broke out within the Assembly of the Provincial Government of Gabon on how to respond to the dissatisfaction with the actions of Varkonia, alongside heated debates of government reform. The Queen's return was coldly received by her citizenry, including her own Provincial Assembly who had seen the costs of funding the monarch's private lavish lifestyle increase rapidly without any visible benefit to the nation.

The Red Night
On the 9th of November, commonly referred to as the Red Night, was to have vast impacts on Gabon not only in the decisions that were made by the Assembly that night but also the country-wide mass outcry caused by the ensuing controversies. It began with Her Majesty calling for an emergency assembly meeting of every councillor, government staff were said to have been practically dragged from their beds to attend the meeting in Balmoral.

The Queen called a total of three important votes that night, all relating to the dissolution of the union between Varkonia and Gabon. Once all councillors of the Assembly were within the doors, they were forcibly locked by members of the Queen's royal guard. Her Majesty, above the commotion, called for the following vote, taking many of her councillors by surprise. Loyalists of the Monarchy were quick to throw their support behind the vote, with the rest of the Assembly along with the Chancellor safely voting against or abstaining once it was clear that the Act would not pass the 50% required by all bills in the Assembly. [[File:Signing of Treaty of Ghent (1812).jpg|thumb|380x380px|Pictured: The Lord High Chancellor making a short speech to the Provincial Assembly of Gabon during the night of the 9th.

Circa 9th of November]] With this initial vote, The Queen declared that she had the support she needed to call for independence which sent the ministers that voted nay and those that voted abstain out of respect for the Monarch into an uproar, calling for an official vote to respect the 50% boundary. The debates got so heated that books and other objects were reportedly thrown between multiple members of the assembly. In order to quickly quell the madness within the Assembly, the Queen called for a second referendum on independence within the Assembly. [[File:StateLibQld 1 102767 Queensland's Governor says good-bye to Queen Elizabeth II after her visit in March 1954.jpg|left|446x446px|Pictured: The only surviving photo of Her Majesty, Queen GetSkinny, discussing the emergency meeting with her general before calling it later that night.

Circa 9th November|thumb]] The Lord High Chancellor stood from his chair to defend the Grand Duchy of Varkonia to the clear disapproval of many of the loyalist government ministers. However the majority of the Assembly stood behind the Chancellor and his track record. This bought an awkward realisation to Her Majesty who realised that the Assembly itself was slowly splitting between herself and her own Chancellor. In order to retain her support within the house, she called for the second vote of independence. The final vote was ruled in favour of the union, many councillors supporting the Chancellor's ideals of closer cooperation and continued union with the Duchy of Varkonia. This blow to the Queen was seen by many as one of the final nails in the coffin for a monarchy unresponsive to their own country's needs.

Royal Decree Controversy
However the Queen took her stand before the Assembly and informed them that she would be issuing a royal decree to declare independence herself, effectively ignoring previous votes and the will of her Assembly. This was an unprecedented move, while allowed by the government system in place, it had never been undertaken in such a manner before in Gabon's history. The Lord High Chancellor, who was once seen as the most loyal member of Her Majesty's Assembly was the first to speak harshly against this action. In the mist of the anger felt by the Assembly, the Chancellor controversially called for a vote to unseat the ruling monarch. Although not legal binding and not possible to enforce by the Assembly, it was a clear display of the feelings of a majority of councillors. The Queen sacked her Lord Chancellor before swiftly branding the rest of the Assembly as traitors and dissolving the entire government. From this, the Independent Principality of Gabon was again formed with Her Majesty The Queen as its head, the previous Grand Prince of the Province of Gabon. Loyalists to The Queen were in great numbers and ultimately outnumbered the revolutionaries.

Declarations of War
Both Varkonia and Hjaltland decided to rally behind the revolutionaries in their revolt against the Independent Principality of Gabon. Invoking the Security Act of Gabon, Her Majesty declared war on The Grand Duchy of Varkonia and U.F.R Hjatland along with the republican rebels. The rebels, led by BritishWanderer, promptly made a response with their intention of an official military coup of Gabon. Large outpourings of 'Long Live Gabon!' came in from home and abroad in support of the revolutionaries.

With the military of Gabon giving their assurances of continued loyalty to their Queen, The rebels were forced to wait outside city boundaries for support from the Grand Duchy of Varkonia and Hjatland. However outside of the Capital, vast progress was being made by the rebels forces, taking position in the town of Bakerswood and surrounding Cottingham to the far south. Upon hearing updates about the incidents occurring in Gabon, The Red Duke of Varkonia ordered a bombing raid by the Varkonian special military forces of the Gabonese capital, the City of Salisbury. This sole horrific act devastated the loyalist stronghold in the centre of the city allowing for it's immediate capture by supporting revolutionary forces. [[File:The Hundred Days Offensive, August-november 1918 Q7025.jpg|thumb|356x356px|Pictured: Photo of the bombing raid on the Capital City of Salisbury, believed to be the church that once stood at the helm of the city.

Circa 10th November]]

Aftermath
Her Majesty The Queen and the Grand Prince of the Province of Gabon, BritishWanderer, who was instated by the Senate of Varkonia decided that a continued or prolonged war was not in the interests of the Gabonese peoples. To bring a stop to the fighting, they negotiated a peace deal between the two warring factions and created the Grand Mercantile Republic of the Autonomous Free Sovereign State of Gabon, the Abode of Peace.

Peace was officially announced on the 14th of November by then Lord High Chancellor, BritishWanderer.

After the declaration of peace, the city experienced rapid growth internally and externally with immense funding being put into the Gabonese diamond mining industry by the Executive Council of the Grand Mercantile Republic of the Autonomous Free Sovereign State of Gabon, the Abode of Peace. This saw the Executive Council fund extensive repairs and complete long-awaited construction projects that had been waiting for Varkonaian tax, allowing citizens to visit cafes, bars, and the theatre like never before.

Period of Growth
The end of the Civil War in Gabon bought about a much-needed period of growth to the nation. After the accession of BritishWanderer and Gobblin to high ranking positions in the Gabonese government, the economy and construction industry began to truly flourish, bringing the DPP [Diamonds per person] up to 164% compared to the quarter beforehand.

Construction Industry
The impoverished housing district of Melbourne was built to house those left homeless by the Civil war, the messy-style apartment buildings were built in a close knit fashion to allow as many citizens to inhabit as humanely possible. The apartments are homely and are purely funded by the Gabonese treasury allowing residents to forego any worry about housing payments.

Grants were also provided to the district of Winchester to provide more environmental benefits to the local housing and businesses. Winchester is widely regarded as one of the prettier parts of Salisbury thanks to the additions of the BnB and the Gloriana Cafe, both constructions overseen by the Chancellor and his Vice counterpart.

The foundations and following numerous floors of Balmoral Castle were laid down during this time, over half of the treasury and it's assets were dedicated to completing large portions of the Castle. Balmoral is a well regarded building among the citizenry and government with unprecedented support and increased treasury donations to aid in the completion of the Castle.

In late December, the Executive Council came together to formalise and negotiate the funding and construction of a sturdy wall, 12 metres in height and 6 metres in width, surrounding Salisbury. The negotiations took 13 hours and ended with a fully funded wall, slight changes were made to the design which made it overall more defensible, in line with the policy set out by the government. As of early January, the wall is currently completed around the districts of Melbourne and the north neighbouring districts, ending close to St Varkanos Cathedral. The wall, once completed will outline the city boundary of Salisbury while providing a defensive benefit to all citizens that reside within.

Chancellery Act
In early January, at the height of the Gabonese growth period, the government convened to discuss and negotiate a streamlined system of government with a democratic house of government. The negotiations ended after small concessions had been granted to the Lord High Chancellor and the Executive Council at the time. The Chancellery Act kept the Lord High Chancellor as a hereditary position, retaining all the powers of his predecessor. The Executive Council were no longer appointed by the Lord High Chancellor and were from that moment on, elected by the citizenry every three months barring the first three months from the signing which saw the current Councillors be carried over.

The Executive Council was renamed to the Lord's Council and it's head, formally the Leader of the Executive Council was henceforth renamed to Vice Chancellor and elected by the Council itself. The Act was passed with one of the largest majority of bills in Gabon post civil war.

Government
Gabon is a Republic with a Monarchical form of government under the Chancellery Act passed by the Executive Council in early January 2019, shortly after the signing of the civil war peace treaty. The head of state for Gabon, namely the Lord High Chancellor is a hereditary position. The position is served until death or abdication. The Lord High Chancellor has the power to appoint and dismiss any government position outside of the elected Lord's Council. The Chancellor has supreme authority in all the affairs of Gabon, assuming the highest representation of Gabon in international relations and exercises the functions expressly conferred on him by the Constitution and the laws of Gabon. The Command-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Militia, and of all Naval and Military Forces, of and in Gabon, is vested in the said Lord High Chancellor.

Gabon has a unicameral legislature with a Lord's Council. The Council currently has five sitting members, representing all five boroughs of Gabon. These councillors are elected by the citizenry and serve three months until their reelection or resignation.. The Lord's Council is the only entity possessing the ability to legislate on any matter whatsoever within Gabon. The head of the Lord's Council, namely the Vice Chancellor is elected by the council itself with a simple majority vote every three months.

The Vice Chancellor alongside The Lord High Chancellor both together possesses the power and authority to declare a state of war against another state.

As of January 10th, The current positions of Lord High Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are held by BritishWanderer and Gobblin respectively.

Political Culture
Gabon has maintained a myriad of Government systems since it's inception back in mid-2018. Beginning as a Principality with an appointed council under Queen GetSkinny, the nation gradually descended into population decline with the result being the infamous Gabonese civil war. The signing of the peace treaty set up a Plutocratic Republic, and deposed of the ruling monarchy under Queen GetSkinny. The Government was ruled by a Lord High Chancellor, namely BritishWanderer, with an appointed Executive Council. This Government paved the way for a new direction of Gabon and has laid out plans far beyond their predecessors.

In keeping with the future plans laid out by the Plutocratic Republic, in early January 2019, the Council passed The Chancellery Act which while not changing the abilities and powers of the titles did open up the government to be entirely more democratic and more streamlined. Since the signing of the Act, the political culture within Gabon has shifted dramatically, from a small Monarchy to class-based republic to a Republic with a Monarchical head of state. The major changes over time have affected every level of government and it's functionality, normality has only recently returned with the steady growth of the productivity and economic output which has taken much-needed pressure off the government.

Foreign Relations
Since becoming a province under The Grand Duchy of Varkonia, Gabon has officially delegated their affairs to the foreign office of Varkonia. However Gabon still enjoys close relations with it's neighbouring countries engaging in official visits, embassy construction on behalf of Varkonia and gift giving. On December 16th, BritishWanderer was officially appointed by the Red Duke of Varkonia to be the ambassador to Bloom, remarking on the close ties enjoyed between Gabon and Bloom throughout their respective histories.

Gabon has extremely close ties with the fellow province of Westmore, seen as sister states under the Grand Duchy, these provinces are tightly knitted in terms of their ideals, citizenry and their close cooperation with one another. The representing senators have formed a provincial wide company known as G&W between these nations as well as assisting in construction projects in both capitals.

Gabon enjoys a moderate amount of influence within the United Northern Congress. Both Gobblin and BritishWanderer are congressional representatives on behalf of Varkonia and as of March 12th, BritishWanderer is the official alliance spokesperson for the UNC.

Military
Gabon has a small robust military, with more focus on defensive structures and capabilities than actual standing military force.

Boroughs
Gabon is divided into five total boroughs and a further 3 subdivisions along with a special protective zone. Each borough is administrated by a Lord's Councillor and ruled over by the Lord High Chancellor

The High Government Boroughs [Coloured in light purple] are;


 * 1) Salisbury [Capital Province]
 * 2) Bakerswood
 * 3) Cottingham
 * 4) Venice
 * 5) Baile bán

The Government subdivisions [Coloured in yellow] are;


 * 1) Nevrast leased desert
 * 2) Nether isle
 * 3) Nether isle

The Special Protective Zone [Coloured in green] is;


 * 1) Cultural heritage site - Pagoda

Geography
Gabon is located in the south eastern corner of the minus minus, around -3000, -2300. Gabon generally has a temperate climate with mild temperatures year round with the exception of the north Venetian province and southern island province of which are highland tundras.

Gabon has no natural rivers however it does enjoy a bountiful amount of freshwater lakes, with the largest being lake Tokio just north of the capital.

Gabon is noted for its extensive tree coverage, with great efforts taken to stabilise the flora and fauna coverage at above 65%.

Natural resources include diamonds, iron, gold, coal and forests.

Economy
Gabon's economy is largely dominated by its mining industry (41%) followed by agriculture (34%) and services (23%). As of April 2019, Mining revenues contribute roughly 57% of the government's budget, although in recent months the mining industry has declined with revenues being 34% lower than at it's peak. The Gabonese food industry is one of the largest source of exports for Gabon, with 74% of food products exports heading internally towards Varkonia City and other provinces. Salisbury is renowned regionally for their artisan bread and fine cuts of meats from local farms in Bakerswood.

Gabon currently receives no citizenry revenue, with no taxes of any kind, with the government relying on natural resource exports and agriculture incomes. Gabon currently operates with an economic surplus, contributing a majority of its revenues to a sovereign fund, funding public projects and securing the economy in times of declining industrial production.