North Ithilien

The Principality of North Ithilien (commonly known as North Ithilien) is a sovereign state located in south-west Middle-earth. It shares a land border with South Ithilien to the south, Mordor to the East, and the Reunited Kingdom to the north and west. North Ithilien is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with the crown and the seat of government residing in the capital city of Emyn Arnen.

Brief History
Ithilien has a rich ancient history, which is not recorded in full here. The first Prince of Ithilien was Faramir, a title bestowed upon him by Aragorn Elessar of Gondor. For a time Ithilien existed as an autonomous region within the Reunited Kingdom, however it was eventually granted full independence and became a Sovereign State.

The Principality of North Ithilien came into existence after the Ithilien Civil War. The Principality of Ithilien was an ancient nation and the Civil War came as a shock not only internally but also to the world. The people of the North and South had lived in harmony for thousands of years; however, following the industrialisation of Ithilien, tensions rose. Those in the south favoured a republic, whilst those in the north favoured retaining the constitutional monarchy. Pro-republican and pro-monarchy groups sprung up; eventually things turned violent. War broke out and Ithilien was never the same again; thousands of people died, infrastructure was destroyed and the economy collapsed.

Following negotiations, the Treaty of Minas Tirith was signed - ending the war. Under the terms of the Treaty, the Northern territory of Ithilien was split from the south. Thus it was that the Principality of North Ithilien and the Republic of South Ithilien were established. Indeed the South Ithilien Republic has since gone onto establishing itself as a Socialist State as the People's Republic of South Ithilien, and continues to create tensions with North Ithilien.

The constitution was ratified by the provisional Parliament of North Ithilien, and the ruling Prince called the first elections. The Earl of Emyn Arnen was elected the first Prime minster of North Ithilien, and he has ruled the nation ever since.

Government
North Ithilien is a Constitutional Monarchy and its current Head of State is Prince Elboron IX. The Prince and the royal family are descendant of the first Prince of Ithilien, Prince Faramir I. Over the centuries the power of the Monarchy has waned as democracy developed and the power of Parliament increased; all practical power of government resides in Parliament, from which governments are formed.

The Parliament of the Principality of North Ithilien is the supreme legislative body of North Ithilien. The Parliament is unicameral and at it's head is the Sovereign, Prince Elboron IX. The single chamber, the House of Commons, is democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system in 350 constituencies. Whoever can command the will of the House of Commons (i.e. has a majority in the House) is asked by the Sovereign Prince, to form a government in his name.

Executive power in North Ithilien rests with the Cabinet of North Ithilien. All members of the cabinet are appointed by the Prime Minister and are always members of the House of Commons; many are former ministers of the last government of Ithilien and some are veterans from the Civil War. In the new Principality of North Ithilien, the Sovereign Prince has bestowed a Peerage upon all those within the Cabinet; this is a new tradition within the new Principality.

Election History
Following the Civil War and the signing of the constitution by the provisional Parliament, the first Parliamentary elections were held. The results were as follows:
 * Constitutional Monarchist Party - 294
 * Liberal Party - 49
 * Ithilien Unionist Party - 14
 * Republican Party - 7

The Constitutional Monarchist Party won with a landslide victory, led by the Earl of Emyn Arnen who formed a government and who became Prime Minister. Although Parliaments last 5 years before expiration, the Earl of Emyn Arnen called an early election on 6th May 2010, where the Constitutional Monarchist Party increased their majority in Parliament. Following the election, the newly elected Lord Tirith Nindor (Liberal Party) was asked to become Minister of State for Health due to his expertise in this field and because of his friendship with many Constitutional Monarchist cabinet members. The results of the election were as follows:
 * Constitutional Monarchist Party - 301 (76.8% of the popular vote)
 * Liberal Party - 40 (15.02%)
 * Ithilien Unionist Party - 0 (3.04%)
 * Socialist Workers Party - 1 (0.14%)
 * Republican Party - 0 (2.76%)
 * Others - 0 (2.24%)

Military
The North Ithilien government has a large defence budget for a nation its size, boasting an extensive and well-equipped armed forces. The government has made no secret of its military capability and has always revealed military expenditure plans in advanced, indeed it even revealed plans for nuclear armament.

Army
The North Ithilien army is 52,000 strong and has soldier efficiency level of 116,251.

Royal Navy
North Ithilien has a full blue-water navy and is one of the oldest navies still in existence is Middle-earth. It's fleet is the most expensive to maintain out of all military expenditure, and many within North Ithilien have criticised the Prime Ministers decision to invest in such a fleet. Nonetheless the Prime Minster claims that a full Navy is more powerful and more effective in times of war than some may think.

Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force operates 85 aircraft, 60 of which are based on-shore within North Ithilien bases and 25 of which are based at-sea distributed amongst the fleet of Aircraft Carriers.

Earl of Emyn Arnen
The title of Lord of Emyn Arnen is one with great historical importance; when Prince Faramir was granted the throne of Prince of Ithilien, he was also granted the title of Lord of Emyn Arnen. Whilst the throne was hereditary, the title of Lord of Emyn Arnen was not. During the Ithilien Civil War, Prince Elboron granted the Military Commander of the pro-Monarchical forces the title, making him the 2nd Earl of Emyn Arnen.

Upon his election as Prime Minister, he decided that North Ithilien should join the Green Old Party. He was actively involved in the internal affairs of the alliance for some time; graduating from the Academy, helping with recruiting, being an ambassador for the GOP and joining his alliance friends over in UJA TE as a junior gov member. His first government position in the Green Old Party was as Director of Battles, appointed by the then Triumvir of Military Affairs and GOP Rooman33; he served this post for some time and directed many wars and battles. When Rooman33 retired from the position of ToMA, the Earl of Emyn Arnen was nominated to become the new ToMA. He then went on to win the election becoming the GOP's 2nd Triumvir of Military Affairs, a position that he holds to this day.

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