The Government of Helioland

What type of government does Helioland have?

Helioland is a Monarchy. That means that Helioland is ruled by a king or queen. The seat of the goverment is at Sun Palace which is in the capital city of Helioland: Soleil City. The current king of Helioland is King Ryan IV. He has been king for 12 years and he is well loved by his people.

Who holds the power in Helioland?

Although the king is the head of state, he is a figurehead. That means that he does not make decisions for the country. Instead, the people vote for a prime minister every four years. The prime minister is responsible for creating laws and ruling the country. The King is responsible for meeting foreign leaders and signing new laws, but he doesn't have any real power.

Who makes decisions in the Helioland government?

The Prime Minister is the most powerful decision-maker in Helioland but he/she is not the only person that makes decisions. The parliament of Helioland is a group of decision-makers elected by the people to help make laws to better the country. Helioland also has a Supreme Court, a group of 11 judges that hear the problems of the people and enforce the laws of the land.

How do the Leaders become Leaders?

The monarch of Helioland is not chosen. The monarchy is a successive. That means that when a current king or queen dies their oldest son or daughter becomes king or queen. If the king or queen dies without children, the monarch's younger brother or sister becomes the monarch and the line continues. The crown always stays within the same royal family.

The prime minister is decided by an election. Every four years all the citizens (people 18 years old and older) of Helioland vote for their new prime minister. Anyone in the country can run for prime minister but you must collect 30,000 signature to run. The winner can be prime minister for four years but cannot run for prime minister again.

Members of parliament are elected every six years. They are elected by the people as well. They can serve two terms for a total of 12 years.

Judges on the Supreme Court are appointed by the Prime Minister. They can remain on the supreme court for the rest of their lives (or until they retire).

How are people's ideas heard?

In Helioland, it is important that everyone's ideas are heard so that it is a fair and balanced society. Therefore, Helioland uses social media (Facebook, Twitter and others) to let the people speak to the government. If they have a problem or a concern they can contact the government directly. For example, if a citizen is angry about something they can write a Facebook message to their member of parliament. If enough people are angry about the same thing, the Member of Parliament will bring the issue to parliament where laws can be changed. This is called representative democracy.

How does the government raise money?

The people of Helioland must pay taxes. People must pay 10% of their yearly income in taxes. This is called income tax. The money from these taxes pays for roads, schools, hospitals, police departments, fire departments and other essential services.

One benefit of Helioland's government.

Everyone's voice is heard

One drawback of Helioland's government.

Change is often very slow.

Currency in Helioland

Every country in the world uses some form of currency.  Most currency in the world comes in the form of money. Money is a bill or coin that represents an amount of currency. Each country prints its own money. Some country's currency is stronger than others. The reasons for this are very complicated but the value of a nation's currency is usually determined by comparing it to the American dollar. Nevertheless, money is an important thing for an independent country. Without currency, a nation cannot participate in the global market.

Canada's currency is the Canadian Dollar (Symbol: $. Code: CAD). Its value goes up and down from day to day but currently (October 2016) the Canadian Dollar is worth about USD$0.76. Canadian currency has many denominations and there are both coins and bills. Here they are:

1 penny = $0.01
1 nickel = $0.05
1 dime = $0.10
1 quarter = $0.25
1 fifty-cent piece = $0.50
1 "loonie" = $1.00
1 "twoonie" = $2.00

Canada also has bills. Here they are:

Canada has a five-dollar bill, a ten-dollar bill, a twenty-dollar bill, a fifty-dollar bill and a one-hundred-dollar bill. They come in various colors and are made from a special plastic that cannot be ripped. The coins and bills have pictures of famous Canadians on the obverse and pictures of Canadian things (such as animals and sports) on the reverse. Much of Canada's money has a picture of the Queen of England on it because Canada used to be part of the British Empire.

Helioland's currency is called the Sol (Symbol: $. Code: HLS). Helioland's currency is determined by the number of gold stickers achieved by our group. The group with the most gold stickers will be the currency by which the other currencies are measured. Helioland's currency comes in several denominations. All of them are bills.

A Helioland fifty-dollar bill

One-dollar bill
Ten-dollar bill
Twenty-dollar bill
Fifty-dollar bill
One Hundred-dollar bill
One thousand-dollar bill

Helioland's money has pictures of famous Heliolanders on the obverse and always has a picture of the sun on the reverse. This is because the people of Helioland worship. the sun. Helioland's money is made of special paper that cannot break.

The Flag of Helioland

All countries in the world have flags. A flag is a piece of material with a design on it. They represent a country and the country's ideals. Each flag symbolizes the ideas and virtues that the country thinks is important. It can be a source of pride for a country and a way for others from around the world the recognize that country. The shapes and colors on flags mean different things. 

This is the flag of France. It is a simple design of blue, white and red. Each color represents something about the country and people of France. The colors on the French flag represent unity, equality and fraternity. These things are important to the people of France.

This is Helioland's flag.  It is yellow, green and red. It has a red sun in the center of the flag with six green rays on a yellow background. All of these shapes and colors mean something important to the people of Helioland. 

• The sun sits between two green bars on the left and the right. The sun is important to the people of Helioland. Helio means sun, so the sun means a lot to the people that live there. 
• The red also represents the blood of the people.
• The yellow background represents the desert in the middle of the country. The desert is a big part of the geography. It also represents happiness and prosperity.
• The six green rays coming out from the sun represent the six important cities in Helioland: Sun City, Solaris, Heliopolis, Aurora and Luminium.
• The two green bars on the left and right represent the large forests that are found on the east and west of the country. These forests are called the Lush Woods (in the east) and the Brilliant Woodland (in the west)
• The green also represents fertility and growth.

The people of Helioland are very proud of their flag and raise it in front of the national palace every morning. It is a source of pride for the nation.

Helioland Fact File

We are students in J13 Understanding Class at Tzu Chi Junior High School in Hualien, Taiwan. This year our class is doing a project where we create a country. Our country is called Helioland because Helio means Sun and our country is always sunny. Here is our country's fact file:

Country Name: Helioland

Languages: English and Esperanto.

Capital City: Soleil City

Population: 18,000,000

Money: Sol

National Symbol: The Phoenix

Terrain: Tropical rain forest

Climate: Tropical

Government: Monarchy

More to come...