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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
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This page lists a number of questions which are commonly asked about Lendosa, and attempts to answer these questions briefly and informatively. Further information on these points is generally available elsewhere on this website. Please select a link to go directly to the relevant question.

Contents


Introduction


What is Lendosa?
Lendosa is an alliance of six independent states - the Free Republic of Lendia, the Kingdom of Piolsa, the Federation of Rabel, the Patricianate of Rioch, the Avatariate of Kha, and the Republic of Ranha. These states, while retaining their own constitutional arrangements, are administered by a central government that they all have a voice in. Any nation can leave the Lendosan Confederation at any time.
 
<out-of-game note>
The Lendosan Confederation is actually a component of Vexillium, an online game/simulation where players create and manage a fictional country. Lendosa is not in any way real, and its creator does not claim otherwise.
<note ends>

Where is Lendosa?
Lendosa is located in the Western Isles - two large islands and a number of smaller ones, situated to the west of central Longerath and to the north of Smalik. Lendosa is located on Vexillium's equator.


Government


What sort of government does Lendosa have?
The Lendosan government does not have any exact parallels to other systems. It is intended to be a combination of democracy, meritocracy, and autocracy, combining the best aspects of all three (the advantage of democracy is fairness, the advantage of meritocracy is competence, and the advantage of autocracy is stability). In theory, each branch of government has equal power, but this is only true when the full powers of each one is engaged. In actuality, most powers of the autocracy are reserved for emergencies (not unlike the powers of constitutional monarchs), and the meritocracy generally serves the democratic will. As such, Lendosa is a basically democratic state.

Who is Lendosa's leader?
There is no single leader of Lendosa. The highest three positions in the Lendosan government are the highest officials of the three branches of government (democratic, meritocratic, and autocratic). The leader of Lendosa's democracy is called the Consul, being chosen by (and being a member of) the Senate. The highest officer of the meritocracy is the Chancellor, who heads Lendosa's civil service. At the top of the autocratic chain of command is the Praetor, chosen by the heads of state of Lendosa's member nations. The Consul, Chancellor, and Praetor are all of equal status under the law.

Who is the Consul?
The Consul is the head of the democratic branch of the Lendosan administration. The Consul is always a member of the Senate (the country's highest elected body), and is chosen by other members of the Senate. Often, the Counsul is the leader of the largest party in the Senate, but this is not always the case. The Consul is the most visable of the three highest officials in Lendosa, and takes a greater part in the day-to-day administration of the nation than do the Praetor or the Chancellor. The office of Consul is currently held by Anya Atmasova, leader of the centrist Balance Party.

Who is the Chancellor?
The Chancellor is the head of the meritocratic branch of the Lendosan government, and presides over the Andrade (the civil service). The Chancellor is appointed by various mechanisms within the civil service intended to reward skill and competence. The office of Chancellor is currently held by Quio Estebano.

Who is the Praetor?
The Praetor is head of the autocratic branch of Lendosa's government, and is chosen by the heads of state of each individual member nation (some of whom are elected, and some of whom are not). The Praetorship is in place to act as a check on the democratic functions of our government, and to prevent hasty, foolish actions. While democracy produces the leader the people want, it does not necessarily produce the best leader. There are numerous instances in Vexillium's history of demagogues being elected into power in a time of strife or depression, telling the people that they are the ones to rescue the country, and then showing their true natures only once they are firmly in place. People can make choices in anger that they would not make when thinking calmly, and in normal circumstances. It is for this reason that the Praetor exists. The office of Praetor is currently held by Catalina Santiago.

What is a Section?
The term "section" is given to the Lendosan equivalent of a government ministry or department. There are presently twenty-five sections (Administration, Agriculture, Commerce, Communication, Culture, Defence, Diplomacy, Education, Energy, Ethics, Finance, Health, Industry, Intelligence, Justice, Media, Nature, Science, Security, Sport, Statistics, Trade, Transport, Welfare, and Works). Each section is presided over by an Administrator, who is a Senator appointed to ensure that the section is implementing the Senate's policies, and to serve as a liason between the bureaucracy and the elected government. Despite the title, however, Administrators do not actually administer the Section - this is done by the Secretary, the highesst ranking bureaucrat within that division (appointed meritocratically).

What is an Agency?
The term "agency" is given to an organization that exists based on government mandate but which is not integrated into the central chain of command (that is, it has autonomy of action within the constraints set down by the orders that established it). For example, the the Tribunes (intended to protect the people from government excesses) are considered to be an Agency of the state - they must keep within their functions, but placing them under direct government control would defeat their purpose.

Does Lendosa have an aristocracy?
No, the Lendosan Confederation itself has no aristocracy. However, there are aristocracies extant in some member states. None of these aristocrats gain any position or status in the Lendosan government unless they do so by way of the member state's own government. For example, the King of Piolsa is accorded respect because he is the head of state of one of our member nations, not because he is a king. He would be have the same status were Piolsa a republic and he an elected leader. In addition to all this, there is a "residual" aristocracy from the days of the Lendian Empire (which ruled all of modern Lendosa, plus several other states). These hereditary ranks receive no recognition from the Lendosan government, but neither are they supressed or condemned.


Diplomacy


What sort of foreign policy does Lendosa pursue?
The Lendosan Confederation is officially neutral. This term has several interpretations around the world, but in Lendosa, it is taken to mean that Lendosa seeks not to become involved in conflicts that do not directly concern it. Lendosa's neutrality should not, however, be mistaken for other things. One false assumption regarding the country's neutrality is that it means that Lendosa is unarmed or pacifist. While Lendosa does not like the idea of war, it maintain a strong military force and is perfectly willing to defend itself to the utmost extent. Another false assumption is that Lendosa tries to be friends with everyone. While we believe that dialogue is usually better than warfare, Lendosa often has strong opinions about moral and ethical governance, and will not hesitate to criticise those states that we feel deserve it.

What are Lendosa's policies regarding diplomatic relations with other states?
Broadly speaking, the Lendosan Confederation is willing to enter into diplomatic relations with any entity it deems to be a foreign state. Note that recognition of an entity as a state is usually based on a judgement as to whether it serves the same role as a state, not whether it is legitimate - that is, Lendosa recognises states on a de facto basis rather than than on a de jure basis. (There are some exceptions - if a state claims Lendosan territory as part of its own territory, Lendosa may choose not to recognise it). The existence of diplomatic relations between Lendosa and another state does not imply Lendosan approval of that state, or even a definite recognition of that state's legitimacy.

What international organizations is Lendosa a party to?
The Lendosan Confederation is a member of the United Nations of Vexillium (UNV), the Association of Neutral Nations of Vexillium (ANNV), and the Free Confederate Community (FCC). Lendosa is also a signatory of the Valarium Pact (an agreement against weapons of mass destruction), the Glaciaria Convention, and the Weapons Limitation Treaty.

What are Lendosa's views about espionage?
The Lendosan Confederation believes that espionage and intelligence-gathering are inevitable. There will always be a certain level of distrust between states - even should all nations announce that they will make all information freely available, the suspicion will remain that they are keeping something back. Spying is a natural outcome of this distrust. National interest is the reason both for conducting it and for opposing it.

Lendosa maintains an active foreign intelligence system, and prides itself on that system's effectiveness (see the page on the Panopticate for more about Lendosa's intelligence service). Lendosa also has considerable measures in place to defeat foreign espionage attempts against us. The Lendosan state will treat all attempts to spy on it with great seriousness - this is necessary to ensure our security. At the same time, Lendosa fully expects foreign states to take similar measures against our own agents, and considers this to be quite reasonable. National interest requires that states conduct espionage without apology, and equally demands that states defend themselves without apology. This is the nature of espionage.


Geography and People


How large is the Lendosan Confederation?
The Lendosan Confederation has a total land area of around 1,493,428 square kilometres (or approximately 576,618 square miles). Due to being island-based, its territorial waters are also considerable.

How many people live in the Lendosan Confederation?
The official population of the Lendosan Confederation at the last census was 131,730,208, but the actual number is likely to be slightly higher as the result of inhabitants unknown to the state (illegal immigrants, unregistered children, etc).

What ethnic groups comprise the Lendosan population?
Just under four fifths of the Lendosan population belong to the ethnic group generally known as Lendian (this includes the Piolsan subset). About ten percent of the remainder are from ethnic minorities native to Lendosa (such as the Rabelis, the Kha, the Riochans, and the Ranhi), while another ten percent are ethnic groups that immigrated to Lendosa from outside (either recently or historically).

What languages do Lendosans speak?
The most prominent language in the Lendosan Confederation is Lendian, language of the largest ethnic group (see the previous question). Not all Lendians speak the Lendian language, however, and some non-Lendians have Lendian as their native language, so it should not be assumed that the language and the ethnicity correlate exactly. About three quarters of the population speak Lendian, while approximately fifteen percent speak other native Lendosan languages (such as Kha, Riochan, Rabeli, Teldian, Riochan, and Sargonese) and the remaining ten percent speak various immigrant languages.

What are the main religions of Lendosa?
There are three major religious beliefs in the Lendosan Confederation - Cruisianity, Larism, and Veldanism. Cruisianity is followed by about forty percent of the population, and is the largest religious affiliation (although in practice, its followers are divided into a number of uncooperative branches). About ten percent of the population follow Larism, a meditative, non-theistic religion that developed in Lendosa several centuries ago. Slightly less than that follow Veldanism, a modern form of Lendosa's traditional polytheistic faith. A further five percent follow other religions. The remainder (about thirty-five percent) follow no religion.