Raingate

Principality of Raingate Afrikaans: Vorstedom van Reënhek Japanese: 雨門公国 (Amemon Kōkuni)
Flag National Symbol
Motto: "Let It Rain"
Anthem: "Raining Diamonds"
Location of Raingate in Outernatia
Capital	Solitude
Official languages	English Afrikaans
Recognised regional languages	Japanese
Ethnic groups	89.8% Raingatian 6.3% Frostfallen 3.9% others
Demonym	Raingatian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional principality
• Prince	Louis Tomlinson
• Prime Minister	Karren Brady
• Deputy Prime Minister	Kris Jenner
Legislature	Order
Formation
• Grand State of Solitude	1805
• Princeland Realm	1850
• Raingate Republic	13 March 1875
• Rainfall Federation	5 April 1945
• Principality of Raingate	11 April 2010
Area
• Total	261,625 km2 (101,014 sq mi)
Population
• 2015 estimate	10,562,333
• Density	40.13/km2 (103.9/sq mi)
HDI	0.925 very high
Currency	Rainfall Pound (£) (RFP)
Time zone	RST (UTC+9)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Drives on the	left
Calling code	+55
Internet TLD	.rg

Raingate, officially the Principality of Raingate, is a sovereign state located in Outernatia. It is bordered by Lettuce in the north, Gandhara in the east, Frostfall in the south and by the Artemitic Sea in the west. It has a population of around 10.5 million people making it Outernatia's 12th-most populous nation, and has an area spanning 261,625 km² (101,014 sq mi). The official languages are English and Afrikaans, although Japanese is recognised as a regional language.

Raingate, as a principality, was established on 11 April 2010 after the dissolution of the Rainfall Federation. It is governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with the current Raingatian monarch Prince Louis Tomlinson as head of state. Although Prince Louis is a constitutional monarch, he wields substantial political power and influence.

Raingate consists of 9 provinces; Princeland, Sunshine Coast, Florem, Winterhold, Cambria, The Vale, Blackreach, High Rock and The Rift. Its capital city Solitude, located in Princeland, is one of the most urbanised cities in western Outernatia and is an important global city and financial centre with an urban population of 1.5 million. Raingate also has three overseas territories; Queensland, Raingate Ocean Territory and Dawnguard & Duskfall

Raingate ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, equality, prosperity and human development. It has formed a union with neighbouring nation Frostfall called the Rainfall Alliance and it is the founding member of the Outernatian Union.

History

Rainfall Federation (1945-2010)

Main article: Rainfall Federation

The Raingate Republic, together with the Frostfall Republic, the Winterhold Republic and the Twilight Free State, formed the Rainfall Federation on 5 April 1945. Out of the 4 nations that made up the Federation, the largest in size and over half of the total Federation population was the Raingate Republic, which came to lead the union for its entire 65-year history.

Principality of Raingate

The Principality of Raingate was established after Frostfall peacefully declared independence from the Rainfall Federation in 2010. The Winterhold Republic and the Twilight Free State decide to remain in union and officially became part of Raingate. A monarchy was adopted after the Status of Raingate referendum in March 2010 which asked citizens whether Raingate should become a single republic once again or adopt a constitutional monarchy. Adopting a monarchy won the popular vote with 87% and Prince Louis was selected to become prince as he was already an influential political figure who was passionate about the nation and was anticipated to be a unifying force for the country as social unrest was feared after the dissolution of the Federation and absorption of Winterhold and Twilight Free State.

Politics

Prince Louis Tomlinson of Raingate

Raingate is a unitary state run under a constitutional monarchy with Prince Louis Tomlinson as the head of state. The monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn". The Constitution of the Raingate is "unwritten" and consists mostly of a collection of written sources, including statutes and judge-made case law, together with constitutional conventions and customs. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law", the Raingate Order can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Order, and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Order can pass laws that future Orders cannot change.

Government

Raingate has a unicameral government know as The Order and it meets in the Royal Chambers of Solitude, Princeland. All bills passed are given Royal Assent before becoming law. The position of prime minister, Raingate's head of government, belongs to the person most likely to command the confidence of The Order; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in The Order. The prime minister chooses 9 members within their party and appoints each of them as a leader of one of the 9 provinces. By convention, the prime minister is always the leader of Princeland Province. The prime minister and the appointed leaders in The Order are formally appointed by the monarch to form the government of Raingate. Conventionally, the Prince respects the prime minister's decisions of government and has rarely overruled laws passed by the Order.

Karren Brady, prime minister of Raingate.

The current Prime Minister is Karren Brady, who has been in office since Raingate's first general election on the 15 April 2010, with Kris Jenner standing as Deputy Prime Minister. Brady is the leader of the Liberal Labour Party. For general elections, each of the 9 provinces are split into several constituencies each representing a seat in The Order. The total number of constituencies and therefore seats in the Order is 101. The people in each constituency elect a single Order Member (OM) by simple plurality. The party with an overall voting majority (more seats than all the other parties combined) following an election forms the government. If no party has an outright majority, parties can seek to form coalitions with other parties until an overall majority is achieved. General elections are called by the monarch when the prime minister so advises. The Parliament Act 2010 requires that a new election must be called no later than 5 years after the previous elections.

The Royal Chambers of Solitude, location of the Parliament of Raingate.

The Liberal Labour Party is Raingate's main political party and represents the Raingatian values of socialism and civil liberalism. The other main parties include the Liberal Democratic Party, the Conservative Party, the Green Party, the Winterhold National Party and the Asian Front.

Political System

Main article: List of Raingate general elections

Main article: Raingate general election 2015

Legislative power is vested in the Order of Raingate which consists of 101 members. Majority approval from member of the Order is needed to pass legislation.

The members of the The Order are elected every 5 years. The 101-seat Order is elected directly through the proportional representation system whereby each constituency elects a set number of members to represent them in the Order. The number of constituencies, and therefore order members, per province is determined by the population density within that province. For example, the most populous province of Princeland has is split into 24 constituencies (or seats) in The Order, while the least populous provinces of High Rock and The Rift has 5 and 4 representatives in The Order respectively.

Following the most recent general election in July 2015, the current prime minister is Karren Brady of the Liberal Labour Party. The majority of The Order is made up of members from this party.

The Order of Raingate
	Party Name		Seats
		Liberal Labour	54
		Liberal Democratic	26
		Conservative	10
		Green	5
		Winterhold National	3
		Asian Front	3
	Total seats		101

Demographics

Provinces

Raingate is divided into 9 provinces each governed by a leader, who is appointed through the mutual agreement between the Price and prime minister of Raingate. Each province is run by local governments which are in turn governed by the Parliament of Raingate in Solitude. These local governments work on local matters within their province and serve as intermediaries between the main parliament province leaders.

	Flag	Province	Capital	Population	Area
		Princeland	Solitude	3,005,581	44,598 km2
		Sunshine Coast	Azure Bay	1,956,923	36,538 km2
		Florem	Florem	1,252,499	26,668 km2
		Winterhold	Winterhold	1,242,411	47,087 km2
		Cambria	Breton	912,476	29,846 km2
		Blackreach	Dawnstar	799,413	21,393 km2
		The Vale	Valenwood	751,145	33,175 km2
		High Rock	Riverstone	376,497	7,077 km2
		The Rift	Riften	214,326	15,243 km2

Overseas Territories

Flag	Territory	Capital	Population
	Queensland	Port Louis	51,062
	Raingate Ocean Territory	Port Elizabeth	35,093
	Dawnguard & Duskfall	Dawn Harbour	5,225

Languages

Raingate's de facto official language is English, which is spoken by 98.8% of the population with an estimated 77% of those being monolingual English speakers. Afrikaans is also an official language in Raingate, being spoken by an estimated 23% of the population and as a result, Afrikaans is spoken almost exclusively as a second language. However, northern and western Raingate retain many areas where Afrikaans is spoken as a first language by the some of the population, and English learnt as a second language.

Furthermore, Japanese is recognised as a regional minority language. In the 2015 Census over 14% of the population said they had "some knowledge" of Japanese with 9% stating they are fluent. Blackreach province has the highest concentration of Japanese language speakers with 29% of people stating they could speak Japanese fluently.

In English speaking schools, it is compulsory for pupils to study Afrikaans as a second language up to the age of 16 in Raingate.

Migration

10 largest immigrant populations by country of origin 2015

Country	Men	Women	Population
Frostfall	359,822	312,486	672,308
Kimmystan	151,531	132,468	283,999
Thorway	28,392	21,843	50,235
Victoria	7,827	19,384	25,124
Gandhara	11,523	2,823	14,346
Jhe Freeh	2,423	6,734	9,157
Lettuce	3,346	2,856	7,723
Waticania	3,283	2,694	5,977
Tikata	2,534	2,019	4,553
Folkloria	1,724	1,645	4,271
Total immigrant population	572,405	504,952	1,077,357

In 2015, there were 1,077,357 inhabitants of foreign background and their descendants (foreign born and children of international migrants) composing around 10.2% of the Raingatian population. Around 1,072,804 or 95% came from Outernatia and 4,553 or 5% came from Internatia.

In 2016, with the total population being 10,562,333; roughly 5.4% of the population was born abroad, 3.8% of the population was born in Raingate to two parents born abroad, and another 7% was born in Raingate to one parent born abroad. Resulting in 16% of the Raingate population being of at least partly foreign descent.

Geography

Raingate is located on the eastern coast of the western island of Outernatia and covers a total area of 261,625 km² (101,014 sq mi). It features many different terrain types, including forests, highlands and mountainous regions. The eastern coastal areas and the south and central regions of the country are fairly low-lying, whereas the north features a high plateau know as the Blackreach Plateau that separates the north from the central areas. The west is dominated by highlands and mountainous areas. The highest point of Raingate is Death Mountain at 1,085 m (3,560 ft).

Death Mountain is the highest point of Raingate.

Climate

Main article: Climate of Raingate

Raingate has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons and rarely drops below −15 °C or rises above 35 °C. The prevailing wind is from the west and brings frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Ocean, although the eastern parts, particularly High Rock and The Rift provinces, are mostly sheltered from this wind due to the majority of the rain falling over the western provinces; the eastern parts are therefore the driest. Continental windstreams however bring hot summers and mild winters to the western provinces of Sunshine Coast, Florem and Cambria. Whereas these windstreams bring milder summers and colder winters to the eastern provinces of Winterhold, High Rock and The Rift. High Rock is particularly prone to significantly cold winters due to the mountainous terrain shielding the warmer oceanic wind streams. Summers are warmest in the south-east of Raingate, particularly in the provinces of Sunshine Coast and Florem, the former of which is a popular tourist destination. Heavy snowfall can occur in winter and early spring on high ground, and occasionally settles to great depth away from the hills. Winterhold province is notorious in regards to fallen snow taking an excessive amount of time to clear due to the provinces expansive and low lying ground.

Music of Raingate

Outernatia Song Contest

Main article: Raingate in the Outernatia Song Contest

Edition	Artist	Language	Title	Final	Points	Semi	Points
13th	Koda Kumi	Japanese	"EX TAPE"	Failed to qualify		13	30
14th	Delta Goodrem	English	"Wings"	4	92	No semi-finals
15th	Rita Ora	English	"I Will Never Let You Down"	11	75	9	49
16th	The Vamps	English	"Wake Up"	4	95	4	56
17th	Troye Sivan	English	"YOUTH"	Failed to qualify		10	52
18th	Benjamin	English	"Young and Restless"	16	49	No semi-finals
19th	Zayn	English	"PILLOWTALK"	18	63	4	73
20th	Bobby van Jaarsveld	Afrikaans	"Een Vir Een"	20	58	3	70
21st	5 Seconds of Summer	English	"Jet Black Heart"	TBA		TBA
22nd	Brendan Peyper	Afrikaans	"Stop Wag Bly Nog 'N Bietjie"	TBA		TBA

Internatia Second Chance Contest

Main article: Raingate in the Internatia Second Chance Contest

Edition	Artist	Language	Title	Place	Points
21st	Auryn	English	"I'll Reach You"	10	64
22nd	Lee Scott	Afrikanns	"Vir Ewig"	2	74
23rd	Cheryl Cole	English	"Call My Name"	7	59
24th	Taeyeon	Korean	"I"	3	62
25th	MAX	Japanese	"Tacata"	4	70
26th	Cheryl Cole	English	"Under The Sun"	3	76
27th	Koda Kumi	Japanese	"No Man's Land"

Junior Internatia Song Contest

Main article: Raingate in the Junior Internatia Song Contest

ISC -1

Main article: Raingate in the Internatia Song Contest -1

Internatia Classical Music Contest

Main article: Raingate in the Internatia Classical Music Contest