New Starland

New Starland (former Raoul Commune) is a small micronation located on the Polynesian island of Raoul Island in the South Pacific. It was founded by Suzuki Akihonaomi following a string of unsuccessful micronations. New Starland's land claims have yet to be settled by its citizens, however.

Etymology
New Starland is named in remembrance of a previous micronation founded by Suzuki Akihonaomi in 2005, known as the Starland Republic and New Pamlico. It collapsed in 2013.

New Starland was formerly known simply as Raoul until 28 August 2015, when the name was temporarily changed to Raoul Commune. The official name of New Starland was given on 29 November 2015.

History
Stone implements of a Polynesian type have been found on Raoul Island, and there is evidence of a prehistoric settlement there. However, the island was found to be uninhabited when first visited by Europeans in the 1700s, and it has been briefly inhabited many times by colonists and shipwrecked sailors. There is currently no civilian population, but a group of volcanologists and New Zealand DOC workers have maintained a permanent station their since 1937. Raoul Island is maintained by New Zealand, and claimed by both New Zealand and New Starland. Raoul Island is home to at least fourteen shipwrecks, including the Japanese chemical-tanker Kinei Maru 10. In the early hours of 12 August 1986 the ship sailed into Denham Bay at top speed, slamming into the beach and becoming stuck. The fault was blamed solely on the incompetence of the ship's captain. The Kinei Maru 10 remains on Denham Beach to this day, although sand buildup on the shore has mostly buried the tanker.

Early History of New Starland
New Starland was preceded by two unsuccessful micronation attempts founded by Suzuki Akihonaomi's former alias Andrew Clingersmith, who was responsible for creating and leading the Starland Republic and New Pamlico from 2005 to 2013. Originally called Drew Star Line until 2007, this precursor country has usually been referred to as DSL-Starland since its collapse. The micronation was dogged by disinterest among citizens, government corruption, and the takeover by rival micronations on five separate occasions (including once by the New Pamlico Federation, which was incorporated into DSL-Starland in April 2012). In the summer of 2013 Clingersmith changed his name to Akihonaomi, coming out as a transgender female, and abandoned DSL-Starland on 13 September 2013, the 8th anniversary of its founding.

Akihonaomi almost immediately created a new micronation attempt called the San Dover Queendom on 15 September 2013, the official successor state to DSL-Starland but with a vastly different legal and economic systems. San Dover officially managed to last (in name at least) until 6 June 2014, but the state collapsed within two weeks of its founding. New Starland's origins hark back to 2008, when Clingersmith discovered a large, mostly uninhabited island in the South Pacific called Raoul Island using Google Earth. Clingersmith did consider claiming this island for DSL-Starland, but eventually decided against it. Raoul Island was, however, continuously brought up as a possible relocation for the people of DSL-Starland in National Council meetings, but was dismissed on each occasion. It was deemed too far away from DSL-Starland's other territorial claims in and around Havelock, North Carolina US. San Dover's Council also considered claiming Raoul Island, but the state collapsed before a decision could be made.

Founding of New Starland
New Starland was founded at 16:00 UTC on 23 July 2015 by Akihonaomi, and is considered to be the successor state of both DSL-Starland and San Dover. Although the micronation claims Raoul Island, it's current base of operation lies in Havelock, NC, United States. Akihonaomi says this is only temporary, and that the population will be moved to the island in the next 6 to 8 years. During this time Akihonaomi hopes to have at least 50 citizens, an economic and financial base to grow upon, and supplies to settle Raoul Island. The settlement area is designated as the southern part of Raoul Island, in a heavily forested canyon called Sunshine Valley. The settlement will be called Drewstarcity, in reference to New Starland's origins in Drew Star Line.

On 27 January 2016 Akihonaomi announced that New Starland would become a direct democracy, with all citizens to be part of a Grand Council. The Grand Council is led by a Grand Protector. Akihonaomi is currently Grand Protector and was sworn in on 1 March 2016.

Government
New Starland is a direct democracy, with all citizens over the age of 16 being part of a legislature known as the Grand Council. The Grand Council's job is to create and enforce laws. The Grand Council also elects the head of government, a position known as the Grand Protector. The Grand Protector is elected by a popular vote and retains that position for life. However, the Grand Council can replace the Grand Protector at any time by a popular vote. The Grand Protector's job is to lead New Starland in times of conflict, break up ties in the Grand Council, and act as the head of state at international meetings. New Starland's present Grand Protector is Suzuki Akihonaomi, having been sworn in on 1 March 2016.



New Starland's capital city has been determined to be located in Sunshine Valley, a steep-sloped gully bordered to the north by the Moumoukai Range, to the west by the Prospect Range, to the south by the Mahoe Range, and to the east by South Bay. The area was chosen for it's seclusion and easy access to the sea. It lies at the fork of two unnamed freshwater creeks and is in a heavily forested section of the island. The capital city had no official name until 29 November 2015 when it was christened Drewstarcity.

Internal Divisions
New Starland is divided into six internal divisions, known as Districts. Each District has it's own Council made up of citizens from that District. These District Councils are responsible for hearing criminal and civil court cases.

International Diplomacy
New Starland has diplomatic ties only to those states who recognize the island nation's sovereignty over Raoul Island and its offshore islets, the exception being New Zealand. New Zealand has laid claim to Raoul Island since 1887, and it is currently their northernmost held possession. Although New Starland disputes New Zealand's claim, they will allow the DOC worker facility to remain operational and under New Zealand jurisdiction.

New Starland has also inherited the diplomatic ties with the Republic of Emerald Isle set up during the period of DSL-Starland's heyday and carried on to some extent in San Dover. It was originally devised as a possible merger of the two micronations, but the program bore no fruit. Akihonaomi has made no attempt to revitalize these relations with Emerald Isle's leader Jackson Alexander to date.

National Symbols
New Starland's national bird and animal is the Kermadec Red-Crowned Parakeet, a species native only to Raoul Island and it's offshore islets. A mostly bright green bird with blue highlights and a red crown, the Kermadec Red-Crowned Parakeet was hunted to extinction on Raoul Island by loose domesticated cats. For 172 years the surviving Parakeets lived on New Starland's offshore islets, until finally returning naturally to the main island in 2008.

New Starland's flag replace an old one created in 2005 that was used by both DSL-Starland and San Dover. A slight variation of the old flag was in use until the new one replaced it on 29 July 2015, which was itself replaced exactly four months later. The national colors Green, Orange and Yellow have been used in the flags of all three micronations, and were chosen because they are Akihonaomi's favorite colors. The green triangle represents Raoul Island (although not necessarily the island's shape, which is anvil-like). The three stars represent New Starland and the two previous micronations that it is built upon, DSL-Starland and San Dover.

The national symbol is an anchor on a stone pedestal, based on a memorial built on Raoul Island sometime in the early 1900s. The memorial serves an unknown purpose, but could mark a grave of shipwrecked sailors. It has since fallen into disrepair.

New Starland's national anthem is a lyric-less song called the "Cloud Atlas Sextet." It was composed by music director Tom Tykwer for the film Cloud Atlas.

The national seal contains New Starland's national colors of green, orange, and yellow. The seal contains the national motto "Bonum Insula," Latin for "The Good Island." Below are the Roman numerals MMXV, or 2015, the year New Starland became independent, and the name of the country itself.

Economy
New Starland lacks an economic base, due to the fact that the micronation's claimed lands have yet to be settled. The island does abound in fish, tropical lumber, and volcanic glass, which will likely be harvested to form a small export economy.New Starland also has several large, picturesque beaches and could support a substantial tourist industry. Akihonaomi stresses the need for the island to be entirely self-sufficient from the outside world, however.

New Starland does have a determined currency. Called the Denham ( D ), it is named for Denham Bay, Raoul Island's largest bay, which is in turn named after Fleetwood Denham, who died in 1854 and is buried on the Bay's shore. The current currency is not yet in mint, although preliminary designs are being put forward. The Denham is seen as a vast move away from the almost worthless currency used by both DSL-Starland and San Dover since 2006, the Rook.

Geography
New Starland is located on Raoul Island, a volcanic island located in the South Pacific, and is part of the Kermadec Island chain. Raoul Island is a heavily forested tropical island that is surrounded by dozens of small islets, all of which are claimed by New Starland. The area of Raoul Island and its many islets is 29.38 km² (11.34 mi²). Raoul Island is anvil shaped, and is home to five principle mountain ranges and three volcanoes. The highest point on the island is Mt. Moumoukai at 516 m (1693 ft), and it overlooks Raoul Island's central volcanic crater. The crater houses two flooded calderas, called Green Lake and Blue Lake. Both are active volcanoes, the last eruption occurring from Green Lake on 17 March 2006, which was responsible for one death and the evacuation of all DOC workers from the island. The area of forest around the two calderas is known as Devastation Ridge. The third volcano is Denham Caldera, located on the eastern side of the island. It is believed to have destroyed over half of Raoul Island around 2200 years ago. The explosion flooded the caldera and in so doing created Denham Bay, the largest bay on the island. The undersea volcano continues to erupt today, although without as much strength. Several of the islets off the eastern coast were also created by volcanic vents associated with the larger calderas.

The island has about one to two major (7.0 magnitude or higher) earthquakes a year, although can go for a short number of years without one. Minor earthquakes happen on an almost daily basis. Raoul Island has three lakes. Blue and Green lakes are 117 ha (289 ac) and 16 ha (40 ac) respectively. Both are highly acidic, although Blue Lake is less so than Green, being able to support coral reefs but not fish. Blue Lake is up to 67 m (220 ft) deep, while Green Lake is up to 95 m (312 ft) deep. The third lake is called Tui, and at 0.5 ha (1 ac) contains drinkable freshwater, as well as at least two species of fish not known to exist anywhere else in the world. These fish have yet to be scientifically cataloged, however. The island also contains three freshwater springs and dozens of small, unnamed freshwater streams. [[File:37384-pc.jpg|thumb|220x220px|New Starland's eastern islets (from the left). Top: Napier Island, Nugent Island.

Bottom: Meyer Islands, Dayrell Island, Chanter Islands ]] New Starland has 8 named islets and islet chains surrounding it, all of them to the east and south of the main island, as well as around 40 unnamed islets. The largest of the islets are the Meyer Islands, a steep sloped islet that rises up to 100 m (328 ft) above sea level. Meyer has subsequently fractured into about 25 pieces due to shore erosion. Other eastern islets include Nugent Island (New Starland's northernmost claim), Napier Island, Dayrell Island, Egeria Rock, and the three Chanter Islands. The South Bay contains the Milne Islets and Dougall Rocks, which are both large coral reefs exposed to the air. Islets will occasionally form in and around Denham Bay, but they do not last more than a few years before being eroded by the strong surf.

Flora and Fauna
The interior of the island is home to a dense forest of Norfolk Pines, Kermadec Pohutukawa and Nikau Palms. It is also the southernmost place in the world where Coconut Palms are known to grow wild. The island has no native mammals, although goats, domesticated cats and polynesian rats were brought to the island by Europeans. They caused significant damage to the native plant life and seabird population until their eradication 1986. Raoul Island is home to 10 native bird species, including the national bird of Raoul, the Kermadec Red-Crowned Parakeet. Other birds include Harriers, Pukekos, Tuis, Terns, Petrels and Boobies. Raoul Island is listed as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

The waters off Raoul Island support coral reefs and hundreds of fish species, and is home to five of the world's seven sea turtle species. Black Gruppers, Drummers and Chocolate Seastars also inhabit the offshore coral reefs. The island and waters surrounding it are part of the Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve, New Zealand's largest marine reservation.

The island is also home to several invasive plant species that New Zealand DOC workers are currently in the process of removing, including the massive Norfolk Pine populations.