Culture of Sancratosia

The culture of Sancratosia is influenced by the proximity to Canada and specifically the province of Quebec, the inspirations taken from Monaco and France and the use of Lingua Franca Nova as its official language.

Languages

The Constitution of Sancratosia determines that Lingua Franca Nova is the official language of the state. Lingua Franca Nova is an auxiliary language created by Cornelis George Boeree around 1998. Although not spoken by many people, even in Sancratosia, the language is designed to be understood by speakers of romance languages.

The common use of Lingua Franca Nova in Sancratosia is mostly done through the use of some colloquialisms such as the widespread use of the salutation "Saluta" (English: Greetings) and the parting "Vera" (English: Sincerely) or the less-used informal "Txau" (English: Hi or Bye). Social media publications done on the official accounts of the Principality and the Sovereign Princess will usually begin in Lingua Franca Nova and generally have at least an English translation.

The usage of English and French is recognized in the Constitution and their use is widespread in Sancratosia. Even with the official status of Lingua Franca Nova, English is prominently used by the government in Sancratosia. One such example of this is the use of English as the sole language on the official website of the Principality.

It is not uncommon to see some official social media publications be trilingual.

Sancratosia also recognizes three languages as "promoted languages": Gestuno, Italian and Portuguese.

Role of the State

The Sancratosian state has traditionally played an important role in developing, promoting and supporting culture through the educational, linguistic, cultural and economic policies of the government and through its promotion of national identity.

Education

Education in Sancratosia is inspired from the French and Monégasque education systems.^[a]

Although it is foreseen by the state, in practice, only higher education courses are offered, online, through the Principality's only university, University of Sancratosia. The education system is also used to evaluate and recognize equivalencies with foreign diplomas. All educational programs in Sancratosia are regulated by the Ministry of Society.

Even if instruction is mandatory in Sancratosia, schooling is not. Families may provide teaching themselves, provided that they comply with the education standards laid down by the Principality. State education is free.

Ministry of Society

The Ministry of Society is responsible for 7 departments (Education, Sports, Culture, Health, Inclusion, Labour and Family) which have an influence on the culture of Sancratosia.

Lifestyle

Cuisine

The cuisine of Sancratosia is categorized as a fusion cuisine that is mainly influenced by Quebec, French and American cuisines.

Some staple foods from Quebec cuisine that are included in the Sancratosian diet are the poutine, the soupe aux pois, the pizza-ghetti and the sucre à la crème, the latter being the official dessert of the Principality.^[1] Maple syrup is also used a lot in Sancratosian cuisine, especially on deserts such as crêpes.

Certain meals are tied with national and public holidays in Sancratosia such as Goose Day, where meals related to small birds are eaten. Meals such as foie gras or duck meals are a staple of this holiday. Meals are also adapted to the season like during the winter months when richer meals are eaten.

The most popular drink in Sancratosia is coffee but tea also enjoys a relative popularity.

Sports and games

The official sport of Sancratosia is the flying disc but other sports enjoy a relative level of popularity such as football, cricket and various forms of hockey like floor, roller in-line and ice hockey. The Sancratosian Sports and Games Confederation is the regulator organ of sports in Sancratosia and is responsible for the organization of local leagues and tournaments and for the national teams of Sancratosia.

Sancratosia is a member of the Micronational Olympic Federation, and is represented by its Micronational Olympic Committee.

Art and museums

Museums

Sancratosia has a network of public national museums, maintained and operated by National Museums of Sancratosia. The Principality is also home to some private museums, notably two dedicated to personal collections of the House of Sancratosia.

The Duchess Maria I National Museum and Archives, named in the honour the grandmother of Princess Cloe, is the main National Museum in Sancratosia and features items from the history of Sancratosia and the micronational community in general with items such as a 1994 Sealand Half-Dollar, being part of the featured items from the museum.^[b] It is also where the Crown Jewels and the signed copy of the Constitution are kept. The Duchess Maria II National Museum of Visual Arts, features visual art exhibitions from Sancratosians and other micronationalists.

Toponymy

The Toponymy Commission of Sancratosia, an independent commission reporting to the Municipality of Sancratosia is responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Sancratosia's place names and their origins according to the toponymy rules. It also provides recommendations to the Municipal Council with regard to toponymic changes.

Its mandate covers the namings of:

natural geographical features (lakes, rivers, mountains, etc.)
constructed features (dams, embankments, bridges, etc.)
administrative units and institutions (districts, parks, museums, etc.)
roadways (streets, roads, avenues, etc.)

The naming convention in Sancratosia is heavily influenced by the Sovereign Family with many names borrowed from the House of Sancratosia. The Sancratosian Hall of Fame also serves as a reference for naming features in the Principality.

Loanwords are rare as most words will be translated. Some may be spelled according to Lingua Franca Nova rules while retaining their sonority, akin to phono-semantic matching. It is not unusual to see a mix of translation and spelling in a single word (ex: "Queenstown" will be written "Cuinsite" and not "Renasite" the translation of both "Queen" and "town").

Holidays

Public holidays (Lingua Franca Nova: dias recreal)^[c] are celebrated in Sancratosia normally by taking a day off. If it falls on a weekend or if there is no work scheduled during the coming holiday, the day off is taken on the closest business day.

Despite being a secular nation, public holidays in Sancratosia tend to follow the Roman Catholic religious calendar. However, most public holidays are on fixed days but fall generally close to the religious days, like Elefen Day or Duchess Maria I Day which fall on 21 March and 15 April respectively and coincide closely with the various dates of Easter in the past years (within one or two weeks).

The school year holidays also tend to follow the general Roman Catholic religious calendar, especially the fourth holiday period which coincides with Easter:

One (Pausa un), two weeks around the end of October and the beginning of November;
Two (Pausa du), two weeks around Winter's Day and New Year's Day;
Three (Pausa tres), two weeks around mid-February;
Four (Pausa cuatro), two weeks around mid-April;

Conventions

Sancratosia adheres to the International System of Units (the metric system) and does not use a hybrid system as used in Canada.
Sancratosia adheres to the ISO 216 standard for paper sizes instead of using North American paper sizes commonly used in Canada.
In mathematics, Sancratosia uses the infix notation.
For large numbers the long scale is used. The scale is marked only with the use of "milion" instead of "billion", "trillion", "quadrillion", etc. Thus, a "billion (10¹²)" on the long scale in Sancratosia is called a "million million".
In numeral notation, the ',' is the decimal separator, whereas a space is used between each group of the three digits (example: fifteen million five hundred thousand and thirty-two should be written as 15 500 032).
24-hour clock is used, with ':' being the separator between hours and minutes (for example 2:30 pm is 14:30).
The all-numeric form of dates is in the order of day-month-year, using a '-' or a '/' as the separator (example: 31 December 1992 or 31-12-1992 or 31/12/1992). It is also possible to use the order of year-month-day, using a '.' as the separator (example: 31 December 1992 or 1992.12.31).

Notes and References

Notes

↑ The Monégasque education system is affiliated to the French education system but differs slightly.
↑ The 1994 Sealand Half-Dollar was acquired in 2012, more than ten years before the establishment of Sancratosia.
↑ The preferred term in Sancratosia is "recreational days", considered to be more secular.

References

↑ Principality of Sancratosia (5 January 2022), "Law no 1 of 5 January 2022 on the national symbols", sancratosia.org

External links

Page about the culture of Sancratosia on the official website of the Principality of Sancratosia

[1] The Monégasque education system is affiliated to the French education system but differs slightly.

[3] The 1994 Sealand Half-Dollar was acquired in 2012, more than ten years before the establishment of Sancratosia.

[4] The preferred term in Sancratosia is "recreational days", considered to be more secular.

[2] Principality of Sancratosia (5 January 2022), "Law no 1 of 5 January 2022 on the national symbols", sancratosia.org

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