Bepistani Reich

Bepistan (Бепистан, ), officially the Bepistani Reich, is a self-proclaimed sovereign state, commonly known as a micronation by external observers. Bepistan was established on 5 October 2018 as the Kingdom of Bepistan, a constitutional monarchy that lasted until mid-2020. After a brief period of inactivity, the nation was reformed into a semi-democratic autocracy in February 2021, with a chancellor as the head of state and government.

Bepistan is comprised of 16 major territories throughout the New York Metropolitan Area and central Siberia. Bepistan's main administrative regions are its 10 provinces, 8 of which are located in Brooklyn, New York, and two located overseas in Shelekhov, a town in the Irkutsk Region of Russia. The capital of the Bepistani Reich is Laptevograd province, and the largest province is Shell Bank.

Etymology
The name Bepistan originated as a portmanteau of a satirical misspelling of the drink Pepsi, and -stan, a Persian suffix meaning "a place where anything abounds." This created a name similar to many Central-Asian nations such as Uzbekistan.

Official names

 * 5 October 2018 - 20 February 2021: Kingdom of Bepistan
 * 20 February 2021 - 25 February 2021: Bepistan
 * 25 February 2021 - Present: Bepistani Reich

Foundation and Early Days
The Bepistani Reich was originally established as a constitutional monarchy on 5 October 2018 as the Kingdom of Bepistan, with the help and inspiration from Calvin White, then the prince of Auvenum. Cavin White would also serve as the kingdom's prime minister until his expulsion from his seat for inactivity, soon replaced by Nicholas Fisher. Bepistan would be closely allied with nations like Aenderia.

Reform Act era
In December 2018, Bepistan's parliament approved the Bepistani Reform Act, which declared the creation of several new government offices, and establishment of new territories. The reform act brought half a year of an active parliament and other government bodies and was considered one of the most successful times of Bepistan's monarchic period.

White Island dispute
In early March 2019, relations with Auvenum quickly began deteriorating after a personal dispute between White, Fisher, and Laptev, as a result of which, Auvenum demanded full control of White Island and surrounding territory. In an effort to resolve the conflict without physical aggression, Auvenum and Bepistan had joined the then newly-established Cupertino Alliance, with Jayden Lycon of Aenderia moderating the dispute.

After several weeks of debate and numerous propositions on how to split the land in question, it was finally agreed upon that White Island would be latitudinally split down the middle, with Auvenum in control of the northern half and Bepistan in control of the southern half. A buffer zone existed 2 meters outwards from the border into both nations between for a month after the day of agreement, after which both nations could occupy the remaining two meters to be in direct contact.

Transition into autocracy
In early February 2021, it was decided that the nation would be brought back from rest. The state was reorganized into a single party semi-autocracy, taking inspiration from Ausveria and similar nations after witnessing slow decline of the nation's previous form of government and volatility of democratic nations like Aenderia. The single-party mandate was lifted on 25 July 2021, but the government remains semi-autocratic.

Political parties
During the February revival, Bepistan became a single party state. However, this requirement has since been dropped to give citizens the right to establish their own political parties, with the intention of making the nation a more ideologically diverse place.

Early Government
Before the government was restructured in February 2021, the Bepistani Reich used to be a parliamentary constitutional monarchy ruled by a king, prime minister, and a unicameral parliament. This system lasted as late as mid-2020 until the kingdom declined into a state of inactivity.

The king served as the ceremonial figurehead and head of state. Their power was severely limited by the constitution, preventing the king from almost any involvement with the kingdom’s main legislative branch; the king was only allowed to issue royal decrees (as long as they were deemed constitutional by the parliament) and allowed only one veto for every law passed by the parliament, the majority of which would return to be revised and drafted without any further obstruction. On the other hand, the prime minster of Bepistan would be one of the most powerful members of the government, as they were the de facto speaker of the parliament, and their vote weighed twice that of the vote of a regular representative.

One of the biggest flaws of this early system was a bloated legislature — the constitution required two representatives from each district, a requirement eventually totaling up to more than 20 members to fill all empty seats. Acquiring such a large number of active members of government proved to be a tremendous effort considering Bepistan’s small citizenship count at the time, and often many individuals that initially expressed motivation when campaigning for a seat in the parliament would disappear or go silent within days of being admitted, leading to little to no laws passed for months despite efforts to organize weekly meetings. From the start, these issues caused the kingdom’s steady decline, eventually leading to the long period of inactivity that lasted from mid-2020 to early 2021.

Chancellor
Chancellorship is the highest power a person can have in the Bepistan Reich. The chancellor is the de facto head of state and has the ultimate say about every proposition passed forward by the Reich Council, being able to veto or revise propositions at will, and issue executive orders at will when needed. The chancellor is also the commander in chief of the army of Bepistan.

Reich Council
The Reich Council is the main legislative body of the Bepistani Reich, responsible for regularly drafting and passing laws aligned with the needs and wants of the citizens. It consists of the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and one representative for each province. Members of the Reich council are elected semiannually on elections in March and October, but can also be appointed by the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor when needed.

Ministries
Ministries are executive bodies that manage specific sectors of public administration, and assist in enforcement of law passed by the Reich Council related to that sector.

Ministry of Transportation
The Bepistan Ministry of Transportation is responsible for managing all transportation-related aspects of the Bepistani Reich. Its duties include the planning, construction, and maintenance of road, rail, air, and marine infrastructure, drafting regulations, designing road signage, and operating state-owned transportation companies including BepisRail and BepisAir.

Administrative regions
Bepistan's administrative regions are entirely in the northern hemisphere, the majority of which are in the United States, with the exception of two being in Russia. Territories in Bepistan are classified into 3 groups: provinces, territories, and national parks. All regions are assigned a name and 3-letter code, however, only provinces and territories are given a flag. Provinces are categorized as already-inhabited or inhabitable land, with the definition of inhabitable being that the land is fit for a tent or better structure. For every province, there is one representative seat in the Reich council. Territories are often "fit" uninhabited land that has not yet been promoted to provincial status by the Reich council, or is generally uninhabitable land. National Parks are tracts of land deemed of having historical or cultural value.

Currency
The official planned currency of the Bepistani Reich is the Bepistani dollar, the value of which is to be based on 1/50th of a gram of gold. Bepistan also accepts and recognizes the US dollar as an official currency because of its frequent use for transactions within the nation. US dollars can be exchanged for Bepistani dollars at a rate of $1.16 to Ƀ1 at the capital province.

Agriculture
Bepistan has a moderately large agricultural sector which acts as the nation’s primary source of income through the growth and sale of excess produce. The majority of produce is grown in the overseas province of Datcha, where they it can be locally processed into products like pickled vegetables and fruit jams and preserves.

Bepistani farms grow a wide variety of crops including vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squash variants, cabbage, radishes, and beets, herbs such as basil, parsley, dill, mint, and lovage, and fruit such as melons, raspberries, cherries, red, white, and black currant, honeyberries, plums, and peaches.

Ecommerce
Bepistan's second largest source of income is through ecommerce through various auction websites like Ebay and Mercari. Items sold mainly include electronics, and new and refurbished computer parts.

Foreign relations
The Bepistani Reich is open to diplomatic relations, especially to neighbouring states, and participates in several intermicronational organizations such as the Micronational Assembly. In times of micronational conflict, Bepistan follows a policy of non-interventionism and remains neutral unless not doing so would pose a direct threat to the state.

Recognized states; No diplomatic relations

 * Certain UN member states
 * All MA member states‎
 * Catalonia
 * Conch Republic
 * Liberland
 * Molossia
 * Sealand
 * Lake Ronkonkoma
 * Tesforia
 * Malus

Official relations

 * Faltree - 13 July 2021
 * Federal Republic of Ocean States - 20 August 2021
 * Surdam - 30 October 2021
 * Gasconade - 2 November 2021
 * Canvia - 10 November 2021

Informal relations

 * Ausveria

Geography and climate
Bepistan's claims are located entirely in the American Northeast, and in the Lake Baikal region of Russia.

Culture
Bepistani culture is a vibrant mix of American and Russian culture, incorporating food, music, language, and holidays.

Cuisine
Bepistani cuisine is mainly a combination of both American and Eastern European foods, but also includes elements from other cuisines (most notably various European and Asian cuisines) because of Bepistan's location in an already culinarily diverse New York City.

Some of the most commonly enjoyed dishes include:
 * Sandwiches
 * Chopped cheese (National dish)
 * Bacon-egg-and-cheese
 * BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato)
 * New York-style pizza
 * Buffalo wings
 * Everything-bagels with cream cheese, capers, and smoked salmon
 * Hotdogs, often with chili and cheese topping.
 * Mozzarella sticks
 * Fried pickles
 * Soups
 * Chicken noodle soup
 * Tomato soup served with grilled cheese sandwiches
 * Borscht, served with mayonnaise instead of sour cream.
 * Solyanka, a savory soup made with 3 or more kinds of meat, pickled cucumbers, olives, capers, and lemon juice.
 * Pierogi, most often with potato or minced meat.
 * Dressed herring (Locally called "fish in a fur coat")