Balder is one of the nine Game Created Regions (GCRs) in NationStates. A GCR is a region that serves a specific function within NationStates. GCRs don't have a founder, unlike User Created Regions, instead having an executive World Assembly Delegate who leads the region. GCRs are defined almost as much by their function in the game as they are by their members, giving them a distinctive position and character within NationStates. There are essentially two kinds of GCR in the game - Feeders and Sinkers. The five Feeder regions - the Pacific regions - are where nations go when they are founded for the first time. Which Feeder you are placed into is chosen at random. If you don't log into your nation for 30 consecutive days, it ceases to exist and is sent to the boneyard. If you log back in and reactivate it the nation is then refounded and placed at random into one of the three Sinker regions - Balder, Osiris and Lazarus. The ninth region is The Rejected Realms. This is where nations banned from a region are sent, and is where you will be refounded if you are banned from all three of the Sinkers.

The names of the three Sinker regions are drawn from mythology and are linked to stories of death and rebirth. Balder is named after the Norse god of the same name. Balder was a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg. He was slain by his brother Hodur, who had been tricked into killing Balder by Loki the mischief-maker. It is said that Balder will emerge from the underworld after Ragnarök (the Norse apocalypse) to rule the new world.

We are, as a result, a Norse themed region. This theme runs throughout Balder, and shapes many parts of our culture. Various parts of our region, such as Ragnarök and Breidablik, are named after places in the mythology.

Our Delegate is styled King or Queen, and is referred to as either His/Her Majesty or, more formally as His/Her Nordic Majesty. The current King is North East Somerset.

The King is assisted by a Vice Delegate, styled Crown Prince.

The region is made up of three cities, each headed by a Prince. The three cities are:

- Jomsborg, headed by Onder Kelkia, Prince of Jomsborg.
- Aarhus, headed by Alvalero, Prince of Aarhus.
- Ribe, headed by Fooooooooo, Prince of Ribe.

There is also a small nobility, which uses Norse themed titles. There are also various chivalric orders, including the Knights of Odin and the Knights of Bragi. Noble titles and knighthoods are awarded by the King, and are reserved for those who have served Balder with distinction.

Our government is headed by the Statsminister, and the various ministers make up the Statsraadet. The Statsminister is elected every three months and is responsible for much of the day to day running of Balder. The Statsraadet are appointed by the Statsminister.

Our parliament is the Storting, and it is a bicameral legislature. The upper chamber is the Lagting, which is formed of the three Princes and the members of the nobility, and is headed by the Crown Prince as the President of the Lagting. The lower house is the Odelsting, which is open to all citizens of the region, and is formed of those citizens who have applied for membership. The Odelsting is headed by the Talman.

Balder also operates an army, the Jomsvikings, who participate in military operations across NationStates, often alongside our allies.

We encourage all nations resident in the region to apply for citizenship here in Balder. You can do this by heading over to our Forum. Here, you can Apply for Citizenship and Introduce Yourself. You can also head over to Balder's Discord and say hi there too!

As Balder's security hinges on a strong and secure Delegacy, all citizens are asked to have a World Assembly member nation in Balder which is endorsing the King (and ideally the other members of the Royal Family).

Citizens are also asked to join the Jomsvikings. This gives them an opportunity to get involved in our military operations. Those who are more peacefully inclined can also join Balder's Civil Service. From here they can participate in Balder's government. All citizens are also eligible to apply for a seat in the Odelsting, and after a while can run for the office of Statsminister.

You can. There are two ways you to change which region you're in:

Move to another region

If you know where you'd like to go, first search for that region by hovering over The World on the side menu and then clicking Search. Once you have found the region you want, go to that region's main page. On there you will see a button, just below the regional factbook entry and above the "World Census Report" which says "Move [your_nation] to [region]". Click on the button to move to that region. Some regions are password protected, which means you won't be able to move your nation there without the password.

Start your own region

You can start a whole new region by going to the Change Region page, and clicking the Found a New Region! button towards the top.

The World Assembly (WA) is a bit like the NationStates equivalent of the United Nations. By its own description "The WA is the world's governing body. Membership is voluntary, but all member nations must abide by legislation it passes."

The WA is formed of two parts. The General Assembly concerns itself with international law. It drafts, proposes, and passes resolutions that affect all member nations. The Security Council responds to the actions of individual regions and nations, commending those who are an example to others, and condemning those that do harm to others.

Both chambers submit proposals that are voted on by all member nations. The proposals work the same way in both chambers and need a majority of the votes cast in favour to pass. This is where a region's World Assembly Delegate comes into play. WA nations can endorse each other, increasing the endorsed nation's power and influence within the region. A region's Delegate is the person in the region with the most WA endorsements.

Some regions give their WA Delegate executive powers, giving the Delegate substantial control over the region itself. Founders of UCR regions have the power to strip the Delegate of their executive powers, however, leaving them with just their voting rights. GCRs on the other hand are founderless, and are controlled solely by their executive Delegate. For most nations, regardless of the number of endorsements they have, their vote only counts as one vote. The vote of a WA Delegate on the other hand counts as the number of endorsements they have, so if a WA Delegate has 300 endorsements and votes Aye on a resolution, their vote counts as 300 votes and increases the Aye column by that much.

If you want to join the World Assembly, go to the World Assembly page and click the "Apply to Join" button towards the top. You can leave the WA at any point by navigating to the same page and clicking the "Resign" button. Please note that you can only have one nation in the WA at a time.

If you want to endorse another nation or be endorsed by one, both you and the other nation need to be in the WA and in the same region.

To endorse a nation, go to the bottom of that nation's page, and click the "Endorse [nation_name]" button.

To withdraw your endorsement, go to the same place and click the "Withdraw Your Endorsement" button.

If a nation leaves the WA or the region, they will lose all their endorsements.

No. The Delegate is an elected position and the incumbent Delegate, as King, can serve for as long as he deems fit. The Crown Prince as Vice Delegate is his designated successor, and while he is nominated by the King he must also be confirmed in position by a vote. These elections are held on our forums and only Citizens of Balder can vote. Citizens wishing to become the Delegate would therefore need to be elected to the position by their fellow Citizens, or succeed to the role after serving as Vice Delegate. Aspiring Citizens should bear in mind that they are unlikely to become Delegate without demonstrating a sustained and long term commitment to Balder and proving themselves capable in a number of other senior roles.

Many regions have an endorsement cap for resident nations, which can usually be found on the region's page. The cap is the maximum number of endorsements your nation is allowed to receive in a region, and you may be penalised for exceeding this cap. Balder's endorsement cap is 5 for nations not endorsing the Delegate, and 15 for nations that are endorsing the Delegate. If you exceed this cap, you will be warned and asked to encourage those endorsing you to unendorse you so that you go back below the limit. If you do not comply, you will be ejected from Balder, which will remove all your endorsements. You will be able to rejoin the region, but will rejoin with no endorsements. While there is no limit to how many nations you may endorse, please do not endorse nations that exceed the endorsement cap.

Given the substantial power and important status inherent to the position, it is sensible for regions with an executive Delegate, particularly GCRs, to ensure that nations do not get too close to the Delegate in endorsements. If someone were to gain more endorsements than the current Delegate, they would take control of the region. Endorsements also generate influence for the endorsed nation, and if a nation with enough influence becomes Delegate, they may be able to use their new position to force out the legitimate Delegate and government.

Endorsement caps therefore act as a security measure. The King does not have an endorsement cap, although the Crown Prince and Princes do. The specific caps for the Crown Prince and each Prince can be found here. These higher caps allow the Crown Prince and Princes to assist in defending the King against coup attempts by building and expending their own influence to remove hostile forces.

In order to prevent invasion and safeguard the security of the region, it is advised that you endorse the regional government. It will usually tell you who to endorse on a region's page. We encourage all nations in Balder to join the World Assembly and endorse King North East Somerset, as well as the Crown Prince and Princes where they are below their endorsement caps.