OVERVIEW

This report is about the country of Vestanvald.

It will look into the vast and diverse history,
geography and topography, population, its
history, culture, and religion, the governmental
and judicial system, and its economy.

VESTANVALD

Student A
Individuals and Society

Introduction to Vestanvalds History

The history of Vestanvald (meaning Western
Power or Western Control in Old Norse)
dates back to around the 10th century during
the Viking age. The exact date of the
establishment of Vestanvald as a country is
not known. The earliest records of the
country being established were found in Inn
Bk Tkna Upphaf translating roughly into
The Book Signifying the Beginning from
Old Norse which was the common language
spoken by the Vikings. This book was said to have been written by the 3 leaders of the
Vestanian tribe. Since back then the tribe wasnt very big, Vestanvald wasnt exactly
established as a country, rather a tribe ruling a small area of modern day Vestanvald. Since
they were a very strong force when it came to war, they won all of the wars they declared
when it came to claiming land and territory. Since they had developed such a big and ruthless
army over time and possessed advanced
weaponry for their time, winning wars wasnt
hard for them. From the 10th to the 15th century,
they had been declaring wars on other tribes
within the region to gain land. They continued to
do this throughout the 500 year period until
they were satisfied with the land they had.
When Denmark, Sweden and Norway ruled
together under the Kalmar Union, Vestanvald didnt want to get involved in any form of
conflict with them since Vestanvald wouldve been enormously outnumbered by the 3
powers. From the 15th century onwards they have been trying to be a peaceful country and
have avoided every war they possibly could. A major war that Vestanvald managed to avoid
that took place between 1563 and 1570 was The Northern Seven Years War. They had to
avoid this because, with the 500 years of constant fighting in dispute over land, many lives of
soldiers were lost resulting in a smaller and weaker army than the one they had in the
beginning. This is also a reason for why Vestanvald tried to avoid wars from the 15th century
onward. Doing so, they also had time to establish a stable political and economic system,
suitable rules/laws, and a sensible society, build their army again, and ultimately create the
leading country they are today. They established a federal democracy that is still running
smoothly today, they have a stable and wealthy mixed economy, they have a set of fair laws
being enforced, and they have one of the strongest armies in the world. They also joined the
EU in 2003 giving them a boost in their economic growth. It also increased the population
since more people from other countries within the EU were allowed to freely come into the
country. All these points will now be further discussed and in more detail.

Geography and Ecology

Location

Meginefni

Vestanvald is located south of Norway and west of Sweden as seen in the map above. It is
land locked and is very far up in the northern hemisphere. It is about 205,500 km2. Its capital
is called Meginefni meaning main state in Old Norse. Natural resources within this region of
the Earth is abundant with gas, oil, copper, pyrite, nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, a vast selection
timber, a variety of seafood and hydropower. Since the essential natural resources are so
prevalent in Vestanvald, it is very self-sustainable. The main advantages of being selfsustainable is that the country will be able to support itself without having to depend on
other countries. This will help enormously when faced with economic issues such as the 2008
financial crisis or food shortages etc.
Relief

The relief of Vestanvald is very mountainous.

About 65% of its land is covered in mountain
ranges. Due to the lack of flat land,
agriculture isnt largely present in Vestanvald.
Vestanvald is also home to the tallest
mountain in the whole of Scandinavia.
Galdhpiggen stands at 2,469m and is in the
centre of Vestanvald. Only about 3% of
Vestanvalds total land can be and is being
used for agriculture. If there is a possibility to
promote agriculture, the chance would be taking since more agriculture would furthermore
contribute to the self-sustainability of Vestanvald. Due to the complexity of Vestanvalds
mountain ranges and relief, seaside cliffs are very common. These cliffs could easily be taken

advantage of by having navy bases made on these cliffs. Vestanvalds navy will be further
discussed in the section of defences.
Climate

The location of my country will have a pretty cool average temperature since its so far up in
the northern hemisphere. Its also really close to the Arctic Circle which would contribute to
the low temperatures. The temperature averages are displayed in this graph which shows the
average highest and lowest temperature for each month. Temperatures in the mountains
would be around -15C in winter.
Flora

The areas where flora is present can be divided into percentages. The amount of agricultural
land that is present in modern day Vestanvald stands at around 3%, the land covered in
forests and woods stands at around 35% with 20% consisting of coniferous forest and 15%
consisting of deciduous forest, the remaining 62% consists of mountains, wetlands, rivers and
developed/urban areas or cities. The type of wood growing in Vestanvald would be the
typical kind of timber found in most European woods such as birch, spruce, pine, willow, oak,
etc.

Wildlife/Fauna

The wildlife on land will be the same as most

countries in Northern Europe. Since the climate
and the country altogether can be compared to
Alaska, Serbia and Greenland because they share
similar latitudes, the animals, flora and fauna etc.
will all be similar between these countries. The
common mammals found in the wild in
Vestanvald include: hedgehogs, shrews, bats,
rabbits/hares, a variety of rodents such as squirrels, beavers, voles, rats, and mice, canines
such as wolves, raccoon dogs and foxes, brown bears, weasels, cats, wild boars, deer, elk and
ox. The aquatic wildlife is also pretty diverse. The aquatic animals include: a variety of fish
consisting of herring, capelin, cod, Pollock, haddocks, blue whiting, and salmon. These fish
are only the common variety roaming the Vestanian Sea. Aquatic mammals commonly found
in the Vestanian Sea are: a wide variety of beaked whales, white whales, sperm whales,
porpoises, dolphins, baleen whales and pinnipeds such as walrus and seals.
National Parks

In Vestanvald, there is a large number of national

parks. The main reason for why these parks were
made is to preserve the nature of Vestanvald and
also to show that more effort and care was being put
into showing appreciation for nature. The parks are
protected by the government and any form of
urbanization is not allowed/illegal within the
protected area. Most of the parks are located within
the centre of Vestanvald where the mountain ranges
are found. Hiking trails, biking trails, camping areas,
etc. will all be available for the public to use. At the
entrance of every park is a list of rules that everyone
has to follow. These rules would include, no littering, no plucking flowers, no camping outside
of the designated camping areas, etc. These rules are the types of rules found in most
national parks around the world. The only difference is that Vestanvald is putting much
heftier fines on offenders compared to most countries. The maximum fine is 1000 and this
is for the littering offence. Ever since these fines had been implemented, there has been a
significant decrease in damage and littering in all parks. In the map above, the areas
highlighted are the areas where national parks are located.

Political System

Vestanvalds governmental system is a federal democracy. Ever since Vestanvald had begun
modernizing and urbanizing, they decided that they needed a more modern and fair
governmental system. Prior to the late 1800s, which was the time period in which a federal
democracy was enforced, Vestanvald didnt exactly have a unified government that ruled the
whole country. Instead they had their own small groups in different areas of the country.
Around 1880, the people as a country decided to enforce a legitimate governmental system
where there would be one main power ruling other smaller groups. This, of course, is a
federal government. Since the people also believed it was appropriate to be able to vote for
who they wanted to rule their area/state, it was then finalized as a federal democracy. Ruling
the country with a federal democracy wasnt and isnt hard since there are only 6 subgovernments/states and handling a smaller group of sub-governments is easier than handling
about 50, which is what the United States of America is doing.
Voting and Rules for Presidency etc.

Since its a federal democracy, the people of the country get to vote. The legal voting age is
18 years old which is the common age for legal voting since this is the age where you can
make your own reasonable decisions. Only Vestanian citizens are allowed to vote for obvious
reasons. Voting happens once every term and each term lasts for 2 years. The maximum
amount of terms a president can run for is 4 terms. I find it better to have the minimum set
to a high standard, because if the people highly favour a certain president because of his
actions and dedication to running the country, I find that its fair to be able to let this
president run for a longer period of time. If there are any corrupt actions that the president is
making such as fixed voting (government fakes vote results) or bribery etc. the president will
immediately be forced to step down. This will initiate another election. The same system
happens for the sub-governments/federal states where the people of the state get to vote
for their favoured mayor. The same rule is applied with the amount of terms a mayor can
serve and also with the rule of when found guilty of corruption.
European Union

Vestanvald also became part of the EU in 2003 since it

would promote more peace and prevent any wars
between any of the countries within the EU. Ever since
the idea was brought up in the 1950s, there hadnt
been any wars between the countries that took part in
the inception of the EU. They would also be in an
alliance with the countries in the EU if any war was to
break out. Another factor is that it helped immensely
with their economic growth. Ever since Vestanvald had joined the EU, their yearly GDP
growth rate at an average of 5% yearly. Lastly, it also gave Vestanians more freedom because
any one with a citizenship from a country part of the EU is allowed to enter any other
countries that are part of the EU with the exception of some rules and regulations set by
certain countries. Since Vestanvald is part of the EU, the currency they are using are Euros.

Economics
Imports and Exports

Vestanvalds economy has been growing rapidly ever since

they had started making use of their abundance of natural
resources. By making use of their natural resources such as
natural gases, oil, copper, lead and timber, they are now one
of the richest countries in the world. They are also within the
top ten petroleum exporters and top three exporter of natural
gases. Vestanvalds imports mostly consist of machinery,
vehicles, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, electrical appliances, steel/iron products,
plastic products, clothing and accessories and food and drinks.
Economic System

The economic system that Vestanvald is currently running is a mixed economy. This is a
system used in a majority of other countries. A mixed economy is comprised of a command
and free market economy. The command economy is, in most cases, controlled by the
government where they make the decisions on the price of the goods and services provided
to the public and how much of certain products are produced. The government will also own
the companies producing and providing these goods and services. The free market economy
on the other hand will be controlled by the market itself with no influences from the
government meaning the prices will all be determined by the companies selling its goods and
services. This system is fair because it wont be fully controlled by the government and will
also not be fully out of control and fully in the hands of private companies and the market
itself.
Taxation system

The taxation system used by Vestanvald are the progressive tax brackets. There are 3 tax
brackets: low income earners, middle income earners and high income earners. The tax
brackets look something like this:
Income
Tax
Income
Low
15%
Up to 15,000

20%
15,001 - 30,000
Middle
28%
30,001 - 75,000

32%
75,001 - 160,000
High
36%
160,001 - 300,000

39%
300,000 and above
Since all of the public facilities that are free to Vestanian citizens are included in the tax, this
is what puts the tax at such a high rate. The GST is the same as most countries standing at
7%. This taxation system is pretty fair because people with a smaller salary pay a smaller
percentage of their tax to the government whereas the highly paid income earners have to
pay a bigger amount to the government. Even though the amount of tax that high income

earners have to pay is quite a lot, they will still have more than the low income earners total
income even before tax.

Judicial System

Serious crimes in Vestanvald are all to be tried in court by a jury. As in most courts in the
world, if the person who is convicted of the crime is innocent, he will be free to walk but if
plead guilty, depending on the severity of the crime and nationality of the offender, they will
face consequences.
Punishments

If the offender has committed a serious crime, obviously, sever punishments will follow. In
some countries, the most severe punishment there is to offer would be the death penalty. In
Vestanvald, this does not exist. Instead, the most severe punishment you can get is a life
sentence in prison. Although the death penalty can bring some cases to justice, Vestanvald
feels as though it is inhumane and should not be carried out. Before an offender can be tried
in court, they will first have to be sent to a mental hospital to check if they have any mental
disorders. If no mental disorders are tested positive, the offender can then proceed to be
tried in court. If the offender is found guilty, depending on the circumstances, the offender
will most likely get a fine and a sentence in prison. Along with that, the offender will also have
to visit a psychiatrist to talk about the crime. Vestanvald has implemented this rule to be
compulsory for every offender to receive psychiatric treatment. This will, in most cases, help
the offender in becoming a better person and also increase the chance of preventing the
offender from committing any crimes again. This is why the death sentence doesnt exist in
Vestanvald because they believe its better to treat a person and help them understand what
they did wrong rather than just execute them or send them to prison straight away. If an
offender isnt a Vestanian citizen, depending on the severity of the crime, the offender will be
either tried in court, if its a minor offense, or exiled to his/her home country, if its a serious
crime, where they will be tried by their own court. This is because they feel as though it isnt
their decision on what to do with a person not of their own country.

Religion

Since Vestanvalds history is so enriched with the influence of the

Vikings, they would have believed in Germanic deities and Norse
Gods/Goddesses far back in their history. Since this religion isnt
present in the modern day, the main religion in place at the moment
would be Christianity especially since a majority of not only Europe
but the whole world believes in Christianity. Of course, other
religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, and Islamism etc. will be
present in Vestanvalds society due to the number of immigrants and/or expats. In some
countries, religion causes great conflicts, but most of the people and government of
Vestanvald see this as highly unacceptable. This is why their society is so varied and accepting
towards other cultures and religions making them one of the most ethnically diverse
countries in the world.
The religion in Vestanvald looks something like this:

Christianity
Buddhism
Judaism
Hinduism
Atheism
Other

33%
16%
13.5%
11%
4.5%
22%

Culture

The culture of Norskus is very diverse but shares similar traditions with countries within the
region (Scandinavian region) since most of the Scandinavian countries have very similar
culture, languages and traditions, but because their culture and traditions hasnt changed
much throughout the history of Vestanvald, it makes theirs somewhat unique compared to
other countries within the region.
Cuisine

Vestanian cuisine is mostly comprised of seafood, cured meats, and vegetables since they are
quite abundant resource. A day with traditional meals would look like this: for breakfast, like
most Scandinavian countries, it would consists mostly of bread
with different kinds of toppings such as cheese, cold cuts, and
spreads such as jam. This is usually accompanied with a glass of
milk or juice or a cup or coffee. Lunch is typically similar to
breakfast. The food is mostly cold or uncooked. Sometimes, hot
food is also served for lunch such as stews, fried fish/meat, other
seafood, etc. The common staple food and source of
carbohydrates in Vestanvald are potatoes. For dinner, some kind
of meat or fish is eaten accompanied by potatoes usually with a
sauce. Another unusual but traditional food that Vestanians as

well as other Scandinavian countries eat is moose or reindeer meat. Although these are the
traditional foods of Vestanvald, influences from other parts of the world, especially Europe
are quickly taking over the traditional cuisine. Common foods around the world such as pizza,
pasta, burgers and all these kinds of foods are whats taking over the traditional cuisine of
Vestanvald.
Sport

The most popular sport in Vestanvald is football. Even though they arent the best team in
the world, they have still qualified for almost every World Cup there has been. Even though
Vestanians are very passionate about football, their country still hasnt won a single World
Cup. That doesnt stop them from having their own football leagues within the country. The
Vestan Fotball Liga meaning the Western Football League in Vestanian is a league played in
Vestanvald. There are 3 divisions and each league has 20 teams and the top three get
promoted to the next division (except for division 1) and the bottom 3 get relegated to the
division below. Other sports such as handball, tennis, basketball and winter sports are all
present but not as popular as football.
National Anthem

The national song of Vestanvald is called Inn Sngr af inn Rekkr translating into The Song of
the Warriors from Old Norse since the song is sang in Old Norse. The song was also found in
Inn Bk Tkna Upphaf. This makes it the oldest national anthem in the world.

Social
Healthcare and education will both be free
to all residents of Vestanvald since these are
the 2 most important public facilities that
anyone should be able to afford and have
access to. Of course, these services will only
be free to citizens/residents and only if they
are public hospitals or public schools. Private
schools will have their own regulations as to
who will be allowed to enter their school. As
for public universities, these will be free for
Vestanians as well as international students although there will still be tuition fees. These
tuition fees will still be considerably lower than most countries. Although all these will be
free, it will still be included in the tax they pay to the government since the government is the
one providing these services.
Some other public facilities would include recreational centres, sport centres, national parks,
public libraries, post offices, public bathrooms and so on. These facilities are also being
funded by the government. Another thing all citizen will have access to is clean drinking
water. This is a basic need and is essential for the everyday life which is why it is made
available to everyone in Vestanvald.

Population: 4,110,000

The population of my country will mostly be comprised of Vestanians for obvious reasons.
Other nationalities will mostly be from other European countries such as Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Germany, France, etc. as well as immigrants from Asian and African countries.
There will be a minority of other ethnic groups living here such as North and South
Americans, East and South East Asians and
Oceanians. In the past few years,
Vestanvald has been making use of the
unused land by urbanizing them and
making new cities. Prior to this
urbanization, most areas and pieces of
land, aside from Meginefni and some cities
by the coasts/shorelines, had been
uninhibited and unused land. This also provided more space for immigrants to move into.
There are now much bigger numbers of foreigners living in Vestanvald, altogether making up
almost 30%-35% of the total population. The population density is still pretty low since there
isnt an even distribution between urban areas and uninhibited and unused land. This puts
the population density at just around 20 people per km2.

Defences
Police and Special Forces

Even though Vestanvald boasts a very

peaceful and sensible society, like most of
the other countries within the
Scandinavian region, I still find that having
a police force is essential for the safety of
the citizens and for the country
altogether. Multiple police stations will be
set up in each city no matter how small
the population is of any city. They also
have a team of Special Forces called
Forsvarets Spesiell kommando meaning Armed Forces Special Command. They will only be
called into action when the situation is too dangerous for the police force to handle. This is
because the police force sometimes dont have body armour or the right equipment needed
to, for example, break through a barricade or incapacitate the attacker etc. Ambulances will
always arrive along with back up police cars just in case someone is injured. In some cases
the fire brigade will also be involved.
An army isnt as important as the police department since policemen/women are necessary
every day in case something goes wrong. An army would only be important if a war broke out
but itd still be better to have an advanced army for the worst case scenarios. Vestanvald still
has one of the most advanced armies in the world even though it isnt that necessary. Their
navy is, above all, the most advanced sector of their army.

Navy

Because almost 70% of Vestanvalds

borders are taken up by shorelines,
they have invested in a very
technologically advances navy. These
shorelines are heavily guarded 24/7
by navy bases on the cliffs discussed
earlier in the geography section.
Each navy base is about 10km apart
and the navy bases continue along
the whole shoreline border. Navy
docks are built into the cliffs on the
shoreline for protection when not in use. Some navy ships and submarines that Vestanvald is
currently using include: a fleet of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle which can
hold up to 40 aircrafts and a helicopter, a fleet of Kee Lung destroyers built by the Americans,
a fleet of lvaro de Bazn class frigates built in Spain, and a fleet of their own corvettes built
by the Vestanian company called Ahlstrm which was the surname of the founder of the
company. Corvettes are the smallest class of navy ships. The submarine that is currently in
service is the Sjulv also built by Ahlstrm.

Tourism

Because of Vestanvalds highly diverse and

complex geography, topography and geology,
there are many possibilities for tourism almost
everywhere you go. Geographical locations that
encourage tourists to visit my country including ski
areas/mountains, forests, lakes and viewing areas
of the aurora borealis. Opening multiple museums
to display Vestanvalds long and disparate history.
Geographical locations

Since Vestanvalds tourism is mostly based off of their beautiful landscapes, most tourists
would come to visit the mountains, forests, natural parks, beaches, etc. Hiking trails and ski
areas would be the most popular attractions out of all of them. Since ski areas arent public
facilities, youd have to pay for a pass to be able to use the slopes. Price ranges would go
from about 180 for a junior week pass to 250 for an adult week pass. Hiking trails are open
to public and are found in all national parks, forests and mountains. The beaches are mostly
found between cliffs and are never crowded due to the large number of beaches in
Vestanvald. Sightseeing tours alone would make a lot of money because of the number of
places there are to go.