The Rosebourg Monarchy, often referred to as the Kingdom of Rosebourg, or simply Rosebourg, is located in north-west Europe. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy.

Rosebourg borders to the north-west: the Netherlands, the east: Germany, and the south-west: Belgium and Luxembourg. Its seat of government is based in Arnou.

Rosebourg has been shaped by all of Europe’s major conflicts, and has emerged from them as one of the most economically developed countries in Europe. It is a founding member of the EU, NATO, OECD, WTO, and is a signatory of the Kyoto environmental treaty. It has formed alongside the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg the Benerolux Economic Union.

The country straddles the border of the Germanic and Latin cultures of Europe and has adopted many distinct features from each of them. One of its clearest expressions is the wide diversity of languages within its borders where Dutch, French, German, and Rosebourghish are all recognised as official languages. Rosebourg is a secular state though the predominant faith groups remain of Calvinist and Lutheran Protestant persuasions.

Arnou, the country’s capital, is the seat of NATO, the OECD, and several influential European Union agencies. Rosebourg has a capitalist market-based economy and came 16th on the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom just after the Netherlands. It has the second highest GDP per capita of Europe, just behind Luxembourg.

At the turn of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, the area known today as Rosebourg fell to the Romans and the province of Gallia Rosia was created. It is said that this is the source of the Rosebourg name. At the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries AD, the region came increasingly habited by Germanic Frankish tribes which eventually brought the region under the control of Merovingian kings. The region preluded a shift of power during the 8th century AD leading to the region becoming a part of the Carolingian Empire. Following the Treaty of Verdun, the region was governed as part of the Middle and Western Francia.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the region was vassal to either Kings of France or the Holy Roman Emperor. During the 14th and 15th century, as part of the region’s shift of power towards Charles V, the Emperor extended his personal union to the Eastern Netherlandish Provinces in the 1540s at the same time as he did the Seventeen Provinces, this personal union was extended by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 principally for the Seventen Provinces but also including the Eastern Netherlandish Provinces.

In 1568, the Dutch William I of Orange led a rebellion against Philip in protest of high taxation, persecution of Protestants, and efforts to modernise and centralise the State prompting the Eighty Years’ War. The rebellion was followed closely by the ruling class of the then Eastern Netherlandish Provinces, who joined the Treaty of Utrecht in 1579 promising mutual aid and support, only to then follow the Dutch in their declaration of Independence in 1581 through the Act of Abjuration for the Eastern Provinces.

In 1584, as the Dutch began their search for a new sovereign, the Eastern Netherlandish Provinces’ leaders came to disagree profoundly with the manner in which that search was undertaken. The country was continuing to experience residual tensions between its Calvanist and Lutheran believers and did not believe the Dutch would make a choice which could satisfy both. They wanted to see one of their own named to lead the region and therefore broke from the Dutch negotiations naming the van Magrittes to lead them. The Magrittes established in 1585 the Kingdom of the Rosebourgs. The Magrittes' descendants have remained the ruling sovereigns since the establishmnent of the Kingdom with brief interruptions directly resulting from war.

The new country remained a firm ally of the Dutch Republic throughout the centuries, and experienced at much the same time as the Dutch a Golden Age, though it never engaged in the naval activities or the pursuit of colonies, due to a lack of direct access to the sea. The country's elite did however support financially the enterprises of the Dutch, financed by the weapons manufacturing industry.

Rosebourg was recognised by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, only to be annexed by France in 1796, a year after the Dutch Republic, when it became the République Rosebourg. It regained its independence in 1813, and in order to ensure the Netherlands would not become too powerful, was not merged into the newly formed Kingdom of the Netherlands but rather re-established as the Kingdom of the Rosebourgs by the Vienna Congress of 1815.

The country, through its modern history, continued to develop strong economic and cultural ties with the Netherlands, its greatest market and access to the New World. Yet, as the Netherlands engaged in expensive wars with England, Rosebourg diversified those cultural and economic links beyond the Netherlands, becoming a go-between the major powers, though its economy continued to suffer from the weakness of its prime market. It was one of the last countries in the area to become industrialised, though its natural riches enabled it to quickly catch up to its competitors.

Rosebourg was the first of the western European countries to fall to the German invasions of World War I and World War II. This prompted the country to become, post-war, a founding member of the UN. It also is a founding member of the European Economic Area and its later inceptions, it joined the Eurozone in 1999 adopting the Euro alongside its neighbours. It later joined the Netherlands and France in voting by referendum against the Constitutional Treaty before it was adopted in the form of the Treaty of Lisbon through parliamentary means.

Conventional Long Form: Monarchy of Rosebourg / Kingdom of Rosebourg
Conventional Short Form: Rosebourg

Local Long Form:

• [FR] Monarchie Rosebourg / Royaume de Rosebourg
• [NL] Rozenburg Monarchie / Koninkrijk Rozenburg
• [DE] Rozenburg Monarchie/ Königreich Rozenburg
• [ROS] Monarchie Rozenbourg / Roiyaume de Rozenbourg

Local Short Form:

• [FR] Rosebourg
• [NL] Rozenburg
• [DE] Rozenburg
• [ROS] Rozenbourg

Rosebourg sits in a naturally forming valley-delta, with the southern half of the country characterised by hills, progressively replaced by low-lying flat terrain towards the north of the country.

Rosebourg's three major rivers (the Pieter, the Flisse, and the Contes), are tributaries to three major European rivers: the Rhine, Meuse, and Moselle - all have historically served to divide the country's language groups and ensure that the country has fertile lands for agricultural purposes. The Pieter runs from the south-west of the country towards Arnou, and then heads westwards to connect to the Meuse at Venlo. The Contes is the most southernly river flowing from Bettybourg and joining into the Moselle which cuts across the southern regions. The south is also home to the royal lakes, where the Flisse begins its journey across Frechaire, and along the eastern border until it connects in the north east with the Rhine which itself cuts across the

Rosebourg also has rich coal deposits in particular along the Pieter along the borders of Rosebourg to its neighbours. It is these regions which drove Rosebourg's industrialisation and bore the brunt of the costs of reconversion when coal ceased to be a profitable endeavour across Europe.

Unlike many of its neighbours, Rosebourg is still home to some natural forests, which have been allowed to expand under management in recent years. This is particularly true of the south of the country.

In the centre and the north of the country, the urbanisation of the country has been made more possible due to the lack of hills and more heavily forested areas.

Two polycentric urban areas have developed with breaks amongst cities becoming less and less visible due to the process of suburbanisation. One urban area is centred around the country's two largest cities: Arnou and Wouterke (accounting for approximately 35% of the country's population, and one of Europe's largest conurbations), and the other is located further north around the cities of Trekken, Frans-op-den-Berg, Natyshagem, Yourigem, and Lannyburg.

Rosebourg has an open and dynamic economy which has experienced a resurgent boom due to its rapid adoption of ICT technology earning it the nickname the European Silicon Valley. Industry activity is centred on a number of economic poles including steel manufacturing, coal mining, chemicals, agriculture (ranging from milk products to wine, and other food-processing), software and creative industries (ICTs), financial services, and weapons manufacturing. The country is also a favourite tourist destination point.

The economy suffered as steel and coal production declined due to high production costs. This has been compensated by a massive growth in the ICT and financial services sectors with government measures put in place to facilitate economic reconversion: the Rosebourg flexicurity model.

Many new internet start-ups have selected to move their local and global headquarters to Rosebourg due to the favourable conditions put into place by Rosebourg to continue to support its ICT-based economy. Rosebourg is expected to become one of the first countries to have a 100% geographic coverage of fourth-generation GSM and high-speed broadband internet access. The country has one of the highest internet usage rates on the European continent and the world.

Rosebourg has traditionally been a manufacturer and seller of weapons to its European neighbours and abroad, serving as the armoury of Europe. The sector was previously the main source of its wealth – the sector has continued to remain competitive though ICTs and financial services have eclipsed its contribution to the economy, Rosebourg sells to many countries across the world.

Since the economic downturn, a number of Rosebourg's economic poles in particular the financial services sector have faced severe contractions. Rosebourg has had to bail out a number of its banks and Rosebourg is facing a budget deficit for the first time in many years leading to fears of austerity measures.

Transport

Rosebourg, as with its neighbours, has a very efficient road, rail, and air transport facilities serving as an important nexus point for the European transport networks. Rosebourg has re-invested massively in its rail network as part of its Kyoto commitments, providing some of the largest orders for new rail equipment in the region. In 2003, Rosebourg completed its sections of high-speed TGV links to Germany and Belgium, with plans to expand the network to Luxembourg by 2012.

Rosebourg's two largest cities Arnou and Wouterke also benefit since the mid 70s from a Regional Express Rail Network which provides rapid and frequent passenger services for Rosebourg's largest conurbation.