The Unofficial Orange Home Page

Orange National Flag

A service of Éditions Tisserand. Last revised 24 November 1998. Please contact the Webmaster if you find any omissions, errors, or broken links.

The Principality of Orange is located in South America between French Guiana and Brazil, between fantasy and reality. This site contains essential information about Orange and links to all known Laranjian sites with English-language content. Additional links in Portuguese are available from the official Orange National Site.

Almanac Page

The People of Orange Click on the Back button to return here English-language citizenship application..

Law and Government

Media

Education, Culture and Sports

Miscellany

Orange Almanac Page
Essential facts about the Principality

Symbols	Arms of Orange				Flag, Motto: Vigilantia pretio libertatis ("Eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty." - Thomas Jefferson) Holidays: March 22 - Lafayette Independence Day (in Lafayette, commemorating Lafayette's independence from the United States in 1960), May 1 - Labor Day, July 24 -
	Founders' Day (in Utrecht, created by the first draft Constitution of this date), August 27 - Constitution Day, October 28 - Princess Anne's Birthday, November 11 - Exodus Day, November 16 - Independence Day, December 1 - Magna Carta Day (in Pirraines)
Official Names	Principado de Orange (Portuguese), Principality of Orange (English), Principauté d'Orange (French)
People	Population (current est.): 35 (For list, see População in the National Site), Ethnic Groups: Brazilian 80%, Catalan 13%, American (USA) 7%, Languages: (totals add to more than 100% due to multilingualism, denotes official language)* Portuguese* 93%, English* 80%, French* 13%, Catalan 13%, Spanish 13%, Dutch 3%. The creation of a Laranjian language is under study. Religions: Christianity, Melekism (Melek is a local deity). English-language citizenship application.
Geography	Map Area: 270 km², Location: Cape Orange and Punta das Indes, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Oyapock, shown in atlases as Brazil north of 3° 55' N. Neighbors: Porto Claro to NW, French Guiana on W, Brazil on S. Marajó is on a nearby island, separated by Brazilian territory. Topography: Rural areas mostly tropical jungle, especially in Lafayette and Utrecht grasslands in Pirraines. Humid and warm all year. Capital:Guillaumesbourg (in Utrecht). Other Cities: Calais-sous-Soleil, Chateau-Rouge (Lafayette), Annestadt, Lorraine-Orange, Oyapockdam (Pirraines), Oranjestadt (Utrecht)
Government	Her Highness, Princess Anne		Type: Parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Head of state: Her Highness, Princess Anne (Sourbonne), assumed throne April 1998. Head of government: Filipe Oliveira, Secretary-General, in office September 14, 1998. Legislative body: Council of Floresters (5 elected for term not exceeding 6 months). Next election: March 1999, or on vote of no confidence. Moderative Power: Council of State (3 members, one each appointed by the Princess, the Secretary-General, and the Council of Floresters) Local subdivisions: 3 provinces (Lafayette, Pirraines, Utrecht)
Economy	Monetary unit: Florin (Port. Florim), divided into 100 denari, defined as exactly one Netherlands guilder (approx. US$0.54).
Intermicronational Organizations	League of Monarchist States, League of Latin American Micronations. Membership to the League of Secessionist States (LOSS) has been applied for.
Brief History Top		The history of Orange begins in Porto Claro. In September 1996, following a long period of inactivity, the Kingdom of Porto Claro developed a site on the Internet. The site, while well-prepared, was misleading in that the nation at that time had few real citizens and many paper dolls. Nevertheless, the effort brought in several real citizens, including Jean Tisserand, who immediately became Governor of the district of Nouvelle Rouen. In February 1997, following an international scandal (during which the phrase "portoclarian fakery" became a household term), the entire Government of Porto Claro resigned, with Tisserand being the lone remaining member of the Progressive Socialist Party. With the backing of other citizens, Tisserand became Prime Minister over a "Government of National Unity", and immediately abolished political parties. During the following five months, Tisserand built a governmental organization, finalized a draft constitution, which ended with elections for the Senate in July 1997, resulting in the election of the Green Party, under Prime Minister Fabiano Carnevale. The constitution that had been adopted provided for the development of what Orange now calls the "Simulated Economy", and for district autonomy. Carnevale immediately began to work for a referendum pressing for repeal of those provisions, with a vote scheduled in December 1997. Meanwhile, the districts of Nouvelle Rouen and Pirraines (which were controlled by political opponents of the Greens) were developing distinct cultures and governments. Seeing, however, that since the majority in Porto Claro (then with a population of approximately 50, most of whom lived in the capital, St.-Hérculain) favored the changes, fifteen Portoclarians, mostly from Nouvelle Rouen and Pirraines, issued a Declaration of Independence 11 November 1997 (Emigration Day), then boarded small boats across the Bay of Oyapock to settle on Cape Orange and Punta das Indes. Settlement was completed 16 November 1997 with independence declared from Brazil.
		In the early months, Orange was a loose confederation between the provinces of Lafayette (consisting of the Nouvelle-Rouenais) and Pirraines, with an area set aside for future expansion known as the "Confederal Territories".
				The Emigration, art by Francesc Savalls
		The City of Guillaumesbourg, in the Confederal Territories was founded as the capital. The nation was ruled by a three-member Council of Regency, consisting of Tisserand, Francesc Savalls, and Guilherme of Orange. The dissolution of Lafayette 17 April 1998, caused collapse of this system. At this time, the Margravate of Pirraines was abolished, and replaced with the designation of Anne Sourbonne as Princess of Orange, and Guilherme of Orange as Secretary-General, who ruled by decree. Several months of inactivity led to a movement to incorporate Orange as a Protectorate of the Empire of Réunion, which was accomplished by the Act of Union, declared by Guilherme 24 August following a referendum. On the same day, he declared the Constitution to be in effect, which was a streamlined revision of the pre-independence Portoclarian Constitution. Finding that the Act of Union was more restrictive to the rights of Orangers than originally advertised, a Loyalist movement emerged that sought dissolution of the union and restoration of Princess Anne. The Loyalist opposition accepted the Constitution following its promulgation by Princess Anne 27 August. Public opinion turned against the Act of Union, which was repealed by Emperor Claudio I of Réunion 25 September. Earlier in September, the first Council of Floresters (5 members) was elected, and Filipe Oliveira became Secretary-General. A dispute with Porto Claro over Portoclarian ("West") Pirraines was resolved by the Council in October, which adopted an official map removing it from Laranjian territory. At present, several exciting initiatives are taking place, including development of a realistic "Simulated Economy" based on a hard currency and a Laranjian language are under study. Politically, an electoral law incorporating the Hare-Clark method of proportional representation is being prepared. Culturally, the Poetic Fridays have become extremely popular, with poetry being presented both in Portuguese and English.