Administrative Divisions of Vittmark

The administrative divisions of Vittmark consist of three levels of government under that of the federation, being state level (land), regional level (hundred) and local level. Since 7666 all the states have regularly similar sized hundreds managing the intermediate level of worldly government, but up to this day, the local level can have different compositions, taskas and responsibilities in separate states.

Before the synchronization of Vittmark as a federal state in 7611 the nation had a complex system of asymmetric subdivisions, each with different levels of authority and terminology. Many of the traditional and historical subdivisions still live on as more informal regional names without any level of government attached to it.

Beside worldly government, the states of Vittmark are divided into stifts and sockens connected to the traditional Mellanhand Orkanan style of government. Certain tasks that usually are delegated to the local level of government still are carried out by the stims, although the level of responsibility can be different between the member states withing the federation.

Administrative History: state level

Vittmark is a federation composed of formerly independent states and autonomous or dependent territories, a process that started in 7564 and was completed in 7611. The previously independent nations were known as "landskap," which roughly translates as "land-state." All dependencies were transformed into six "län" (provinces) which had less autonomy and were governed more directly from the federal level. Three of these formed a new single "landskap" in 7570, the state of Sörmark.

The capital district became a unique subdivision in 7566, as were the merchant city-state of Skara, the company town of Kopparbruk, and the island nation of Mivö. In addition to these territorial administrative divisions, there were two entities with similar rights: the Bengtist Stift (7568) and the Fjällsta Stift (7569). These groups operate as non-territorial entities with significant influence.

In 7570-71, the outer territories off the Altaian east coast, managed by the Fisks stim, joined the federation as an "overseas company territory," possessing similar autonomy to the city-state of Kopparbruk. In 7572, Ådalen, Hagen, and Kötthagen were promoted to principalities ("furstendom") following a new law that banned armed military units from lands ("landskap") after an attempted coup in March 7572. Principalities retained the right to maintain their own military, unlike other lands that lost this right.

Ådalen signed a free association treaty with Vittmark in 7573, resulting in Ådalen being considered a voluntary member of the federation, similar to the Bengtist and Fjällsta Stifts, as well as Fisks. The second to last addition on a state level became the Kakuri stift in 7878, the third non-territorial unit in this constellation, but also the first and only entity of non-Anarian ethnicity. The last member state to join the federation was West Hagen or Austland as it is called by the Aldsay. The territory was occupied by Vittmarker forces in 7584 as invited by Aldsay rebels opposing the Häverist rule over Aedeland at that time. After a referendum in 7690 the region became a member state of Vittmark, since the majority of the Aldsay population supported the inclusion in a more multi-ethnic set-up of Vittmark compared to independence or Aedelish-Häverist rule.

In 7606...

Border changes between states are rare. The only example of a more extended border change is the inclusion of the region of Friställen in Kulla Crown Domain in 7611, previously belonging to Sörmark. The idea in the 7560's was to create one state south of the Blue Mountains, but Kulla was not included in 7570 due to a lobby by the royal family. Since both states shared the capital Kronsta, it was seen as a temporary solution. But instead the people of Friställen started to feel more connected to Kulla due to industrialisation in the rest of Sörmark and the fact that most viable land routes from Friställen to Sörmark went through Kulla, making it an infrastructural exclave.

Other border changes occurred in 7611 between Ådalen and Central Hagen, as well as between Kopparland and both Ådalen and Liden that same year. As late as 7671 the border between Östervallen and Kopparland was adjusted to create options for building residential neighborhoods, followed by similar corrections in 7674 with Ådalen.

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Member States of Vittmark

Historical

Vittmark as a federation had 18 primary subdivisions, or member states, at its peak between 7591 and 7611. Each state has one seat in the Förbundsting (House of State, previously House of Lords) and a set number of allocated seats in the federal parliament.

Name	Hallish name	Type	Capital	Year start	Year end	Area
Austland Västra Haga	Austland West Hagen	Landskap	Katarinaberg	7591
Bengtist Stift		Stift	(Östervallen)	7567	7611	0
Dunsvik		Landskap	Ormserum	7565
Fisks		Overseas company territory	Gilles Carls	7571	7611
Fjällsta Stift		Stift	Fjällsta	7568	7611	0
Kakuri Stift		Stift	Toshi-bu (Torsby)	7578	7611	0
Kletudderland		Landskap	Kletudde	7565 former territory	7606
Kopparbruk		Company Town	Kopparbruk	7566	7606	78
Kram		Landskap	Sandsala	7565 former territory	7606
Kulla Kronområde	Kulla Crown Domain	Landskap	Kronsta	7574 former territory
Laxholm		Landskap	Kobbe	7565
Liden		Landskap	Månsta	7564
Mellersta Haga	Central Hagen	Principality	Vinborg	7564 as Kötthagen
Mivö	Miwey	Island Nation	Källbyholm	7565	7606
Skara		City State	Staden Skara	7566	7606	21
Sörmark		Landskap	Kronsta, Lovis Bruk	7570 as a state formed out of 3 territories
Ådalen		Principality	Ås	7574 by free association 7564 by treaty		60,702
Östervallen	Oswald	Capital District	Stad Östervallen	7566		61
Östra Haga	East Hagen	Principality	Hinnårum	7564 as Hagen

Principalities

In 7572, three of the lands received the status of principality ("furstendom"), granting them slightly more authority than the remaining lands, including the right to maintain their own military. Hagen has been divided into Hagen and Köttshagen, which are non-continuous territories. Ådalen accepted this status over a year later through a free association treaty. In 7579 Kötthagen changed its name to Mellersta Haga while Hagen became Östra Haga or East Hagen.

Landskap

The six former independent nations officially swore allegiance to the federation of Vittmark in 7564, transferring some of their governmental responsibilities to the federal government. This process was influenced by Central Anarian nations aiming to resolve the Three Way Conflicts, fearing they might lead to a new Pan-Anarian war. These former nations were known as "landskap" ("land-state") from 7564 to 7573. Other states that joined later (7565-7570) got a similar status.

Other Territorial Units

Areas that were disputed or under control by foreign powers were originally governed as federal territories. Disputed territories between Ådalen and Liden included Kram and Kletudde, while Friställen was disputed between Aedeland, Liden and Kulla. Uppförsbackar and Inälvsdalen were disputed between Mörenburg and Kulla, with Auresia as peacekeeping force. These were not considered first level subdivisions, but had a temporary status as federally (joined) governed areas. Most of them gained statehood in some form later during the 7560's and 7570's. Vittmark included several unique subdivisions such as the capital district of Östervallen (a city-state), the merchant city-state of Skara, the company town of Kopparbruk, and the island nation of Mivö. These areas possess unique government systems. Additionally, the recently added Altaian company territory of Fisks is classified as an "overseas company territory" with more autonomy due to its distant location, and has entered the federation by free association.

Non-Territorial Units

Two non-territorial subdivisions are the Bengtist Stift and Fjällsta Stift, which represent freestanding congregations spread across other territories, mainly in the south (Sörmark) and to a lesser extent in Kulla. These stifts have unique rights and duties, separate from the territorial units to which they belong. In 7878 the indegionous Kakuri people received a similar status in order to preserve their unique culture within Fisks.

Current member states of Vittmark


State	State (Wortsproke)	Capital	Largest city	Inhabitants	#seats	Statehood
Austland West Hagen	Austland Västra Haga	Katarinaberg	Katarinaberg	3,077,818	10	7591
Dunsvik	Dunsvik	Ormserum	Ormserum	890,393	3	7565
East Hagen	Östra Haga	Hagneå	Hinnårum	3,195,942	11	7564
Kopparland	Kopparland	Kopparbruk	Kletudde	1,987,426	7	7606
Kulla Crown Domain	Kulla Kronområde	Kronsta	Kronsta	149,048	1	7574 *
Laxholm	Laxholm	Kobbe	Nabben	1,028,943	3	7565
Liden	Liden	Månsta	Månsta	5,325,471	19	7564
Mellersta Hagen	Mellersta Hagen	Vinborg	Talpå	2,654,461	9	7564
Mivö and Skara	Mivö och Skara	Källbyholm	Skara	2,781,430	9	7606
Sörmark	Sörmark	Lovis Bruk	Lovis Bruk	2,502,932	8	7570
Östervallen	Östervallen	Borgö	Östervallen	2,759,010	9	7566
Ådalen	Ådalen	Iunsala	Äs	3,356,916	11	7574 *

Regional subdivisions

Each state is divided into "härads" (hundreds as secular subdivisions) and "stifts" (territorial religious subdivisions). Hundreds function as the governmental subdivisions, while stifts manage religious affairs. In some states the hundreds and stifts coincide, but on many ocassions they're differences in borders or regional subdivisions altogether

Hundreds

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Stifts

When referring to stifts in Vittmark, one often refers to the Mellanhand Orkanan stifts that cover the entire nation. But strictly speaking, the three stifts within Sunnan Orkanan are also subdivisions of Vittmark. These however cover multiple states and are only present on a regional level within Austland West Hagen. These types of stifts covering more than one state are labeled as Storstift instead.

Storstift

Some stifts are grouped into larger "storstifts" or archstifts, which span across state borders and sometimes cover more than one member state, creating a higher level of administrative division within the Orkanan sphere.

In Mellanhand, the Storstift of Hagen covers West Hagen, Central Hagen, East Hagen and Laxholmen. Kulla Storstift covers Dunsvik, Östervallen, Kulla and Sörmark. Iunsala Stift covers Ådalen and parts of Kopparland, while Månsta Storstift covers Mivö, Skara, Liden and parts of Kopparland. There are however sockens that are parts of these Storstifts outside these territories as well, like Apelrum in Sörmark belonging to Hagen and certain suburbs in Talpå being affiliated with Iunsala Stift.

In Sunnan Orkanan, Talpå Stift covers Dunsvik, Laxholmen, Ådalen and Central Hagen, Östervallen Stift covers Östervallen, Kopparland, Kulla and Sörmark while Skara Stift covers Mivö, Skara and East Hagen.

Local Level

At the local level, governance is organized around the socken, a unit formed by stims (extended families) voluntarily affiliating and bringing their land as territory. This structure results in a pattern of enclaves and exclaves as well.

In order to cope with this, the reforms of 7606-7611 introduced local level administration called gemenskap (municipality) instead in the newly formed states of Mivö & Skara and Kopparland. This system was adopted by Austland West Hagen in 7617, followed by East Hagen in 7621 and Central Hagen in 7624. Sörmark followed in 7634 and Laxholmen in 7636, leaving Liden, Ådalen and Dunsvik the only states only working with sockens on the local level. Östervallen consists of one region and one municipality. Municipalities have merged over the years, at first creating units with at least 10,000 inhabitants in the 7630's, while at the moment many states are working on reforms to create local governemnt covering 20-25,000 people at least. Kulla and Sörmark have indicated that they already have difficulties creating units with 10,000 people due to the population density, here the main criterium is often a travel distance of 30 or 45 minutes to the local government center instead.

Enclaves and Exclaves

Due to the bottom-up nature of government in traditional Orkanan societies, enclaves and exclaves within the administrative divisions have been quite common. Examples include various territories that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the state they are geographically located in. Other examples are "Statshotellen," national exclaves located within Östervallen, and "Förbundsfaciliteterna," federal installations governed directly by the federal government.