Omerica

Omerica (Gallic: Omerique, ), officially known as the United Republics of Omerica, is a sovereign state and federation of twenty-six republics. Historically inhabited by and settled by Italic and Germanic migrants, Omerica is a cosmopolitan and multilingual state and shares a sense of community founded upon common historical ties, maritime symbolism and shared liberal democratic values.

Etymology
The modern name "Omerica" ultimately derives from the archaic Anglian "Homerike", roughly meaning "home realm". By the time of the Octarchy, the initial "h" had been deleted by the process of, which was a universal process in vernacular Omerican Anglian during said era. The name was ultimately borrowed into Gallic as Omerique and Latinised as "Omerica", but the Latinisation did not come to prevail in common Anglian parlance until after the fall of the Saltsteadish Regency régime.

However, a number of languages instead use a translation of "the eight realms", a direct reference to the Octarchy. This is especially prominent in the non-Anglian, typified by Saltsteadish d' Åħtrijħen, and is also used in Mandarin (八道 Bādào), Japanese (八道 Hachidō) and Korean (팔도 Paldo).

Politics
Omerica is governed as a federal parliamentary democratic. The Instrument of Government outlines the structure of the Omerican state and the prerogatives and duties of its institutions. The bicameral Estates General of Omerica exercises legislative power and scrutinises the executive. The directly-elected House of Commons is the and consists of members elected to a four-year term by universal and secret suffrage.

The House of Plenipotentiaries is the and consists of members representing the republics of Omerica. Plenipotentiaries are indirectly elected, with each republic's delegation appointed to represent its government; delegations to the House can be recalled their appointing republic at any time, meaning that each republic's elections affects the composition of the upper house.

The President is the ceremonial and is elected for a single, nonrenewable seven-year term by a  of the Estates General. The Prime Minister is the and chair of the Federal Council of Ministers, which is charged with executing the domestic and foreign policy of the state. The Council directs and coordinates the work of government institutions under the leadership of the Prime Minister; the Council bears full responsibility for all executive acts of the federal government and must consequently answer to the Estates General for all executive acts.

The Omerican political system has historically been characterised as a "three-party system", with Omerican Socialist Party on the left and Democratic Party and Reformist Party on the right predominating elections. These three parties have continuously been the largest in the Estates General since the introduction of universal suffrage, with the Socialists and Democrats leading every federal government in the last century. Minor parties have risen prominence in the last two decades, namely the environmentalist Green Movement and right-populist Conservative Party.

Administrative divisions
Omerica is a federation of twenty-six republics, which enjoy permanent constitutional status and, in comparison with other countries, a large degree of autonomy. Each republic is constitutionally equal in status and is fully self-governing, with its own constitution, parliament, government and judiciary. However, the republics display significant diversity, with areas ranging from slightly over 200 km² to over 24,000 and populations ranging from less than 300,000 to more than seven million people.

On aggregate, the republics spend more money than the federal government, though the federal government has used its spending powers and its power to make financial grants to the republics to incentivise republics to pursue specific policies in areas where the Union does not have legislative power; republics can opt out of these national policies, but rarely do so in practice. The republics set aside part of their revenue to be used for federal equalisation payments, which aim to ensure that all republics have a uniform capacity to raise revenue.

Republics have to enact any law they wish, subject to certain limits set out by the Omerican constitution, whereas the Estates General may only legislate on specifically enumerated subject areas. However, where the Estates General has concurrent power to enact legislation, federal law prevails over republican law to the extent of any inconsistency. Almost all criminal law is enacted by the republics, as well as most laws relating to, social welfare, , , job training and promotion of the arts and sciences.

Economy
The Omerican economy is almost exclusively classified as developed, with above average GDP and. Omerican economic policy is defined by the concept of the État marchand (roughly translated as "merchant state"), whereby private corporations compete with the government for service provision in certain sectors, and by economic. The right of labour to unionise is protected by constitutional law and major labour unions hold considerable political clout.

The florin (ORF, symbol: ƒ) is the of Omerica, which is subdivided into 100 pence (Gallic: deniers, symbol: d). Issued by the Federal Monetary Authority of Omerica, the nation's, the florin is roughly equivalent to 20 NationStates cents.

Culture
Omerica is characterised as a, a conglomeration of regional and ethnic subcultures, which was first articulated by early Omerican writer Jean-Martin Michelakis: "For every two Omericans, there are three cultures." Omerica is defined by its diversity, evident in the fact that Anglian and Gallic are co-official at the federal level.



Media
Freedom of the press and the right to free expression are constitutionally protected by the Omerican Charter of Rights. Due to its cultural diversity and strong economy, Omerica has had a strong tradition in the media sector. Omerica boasts a large number of published newspapers in proportion to its population, though competition from online news outlets have led to newspapers and magazines folding in increasing numbers. Nonetheless, most towns and all major cities have at least one daily newspaper and a number of national papers circulate throughout the country, the largest being The Northern Times, La Romainbourgeoise, La Travailliste and The National.

Television and radio broadcasts heavily influence modern Omerican media and culture. Système fédéral de radiodiffusion (Anglian: "Federal Broadcasting System"), a federation of republican broadcasters, is the oldest and largest broadcaster on both media, airing three general programming stations, six special interest stations and several foreign language networks for non-Omerican audiences. SFRD's competitors include the federally-operated Radiotélévision nationale (Anglian: "National Radio-Television"), three for-profit networks and several pay and non-profit radio and television services.

Cuisine
Traditional Omerican cuisine is noted for its strong and heterogeneous tastes, significant regional diversity and large degree of simplicity; Omerican cuisine, regardless of region, traditionally relies on the quality of ingredients rather than elaborate preparation. Omerican dishes are traditionally characterised by generous use of such ingredients as, s, and fish and the country is noted for its significant diversity and quality of s, s,  and.

The coastal regions of the country make heavy use of seafood in the diet, with rice featuring heavily in many of the eastern coast's iconic dishes. Goat and lamb dishes form a distinctive characteristic of eastern Omerican gastronomy, as well as generous use of octopus in the south-east. In the interior, beef and pork begin to appear more regularly, while vegetarian dishes are more prominent in the west. Salting and are commonplace around coastal regions to preserve meats and seafood.

Sport
is the most popular sport in Omerica, with the OPSL Premier Division drawing hundreds of thousands to millions of viewers per match. Clubs compete in the Omerican football league system, incorporating 64 professional clubs and hundreds of amateur clubs, while the Omerica national football team competes in international tournaments such as the World Cup and Independent Associations Championship. The biggest rivals to football in popularity are, and.