8
Geography
Overview of Volaworand
History of Volaworand
See also:
- Volaworand Newswire
Geography of Volaworand
See also:
- Principal fossil localities
- Queen Elizabeth Land
Head of State
Legislative Branch
Executive Branch
Judicial Branch
See also:
- How a bill becomes a law
- Volaworand Defence Forces
- Foreign Relations
Economy of Volaworand
See also:
- Volaworand Space Agency
- Southern Transportation Corporation
- VIM Programme
- Attractions and Tourist Activities
- Royal National Zoological Park
- Kentucky Fried Penguin Locations
Geography of Volaworand
The Dominion of Volaworand includes the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands and numerous other offshore islands, the Ronne Ice Shelf (Weddell Sea), parts of Coats Land. A 437,000-square-kilometre (169,000 sq mi) triangle of central Antarctica converging on the South Pole was named Queen Elizabeth Land in December 2012, in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
Over 99 per cent of the dominion's land surface is covered by a permanent ice sheet, up to about 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) thick. The highest peak is Mount Jackson, on the Antarctic Peninsula, at 3,184 metres (10,446 ft).
There are very few plants in the Dominion of Volaworand; most of them are mosses and lichens, but there are also two flowering plants: the Antarctic hairgrass and Antarctic pearlwort.
Many bird species, including seven species of penguin breed in the Dominion of Volaworand. The dominion is also home to six species of seals.
Nature Preserve system
Signy Island, in the South Orkney Islands, is off limits to development and tourism as Volaworand's National Penguin Preserve and home to the summer only Signy Research Station. Outside of Signy and Queen Elizabeth Land, other penguin nesting sites and seal breeding area's are loosely protected with signage asking tourists not to disturb the animals, but understaffing limits the effectiveness of this program.
On Nov 7, 2017 to mark the occasion of addressing 100 issues in NationStates, Parliament protected the 437,000-square-kilometre triangle of Queen Elizabeth Land as a National Nature preserve, protecting a full 25.5% of the nation. Globally, this is the second largest area of protected land, after Greenland's North Eastern National Park. The move was fiercely criticized by the mining industry. The industry has been sending small teams throughout the dominion, and their heavy equipment has been known to disrupt migratory routes. Enviormental groups also felt the move did not go far enough and wanted a complete ban on human activity in the area, noting that the designation still allows for the development of ecotourism facilities and places no limit on the number of scientific research stations operating in the designated area.
Fishing is limited and tightly regulated. This is enforced by the Coast Guard. Exports are regulated and based on a quota system. Two different possible marine preserves are being debated.
