Bicariana

Bicariana, formally the Bicarian Republic, is an island nation off of eastern Levantia in the Sea of Nordska. The island group consists of the islands of Ceniza, Lluvia, Nevada, and Niebla. The total land area of the territory is 12,716 square kilometres (4,909.68 sq mi). The territory's capital is Nevada on the identically named island.

In 2010 the population was 1,602,551 of primarily Cartadanian or Gaelic ethnic origin, resulting in the formation of a unique Bicarian culture. Tourism is the primary economic activity, although there is a significant rum manufacturing sector. Farming is done on a relatively small scale on Lluvia and Ceniza, although it has seen a slow revival in recent years.

Previously the Gletscher Iselns of Fiannria, theislands were sold to Cartadania by Fiannria in the Treaty of the Gletscher Islands of 1826. They were classified as an organized, unincorporated Cartadanian territory. The Islas Nubes were organized under the 1966 Nevada Act and have since held five constitutional conventions. The first proposed Constitution, adopted by the Fifth Constitutional Convention in 2005, was rejected by the Cartadanian National Congress in 2006, which urged the convention to reconvene to address the concerns Congress and the Hernandez Administration had with the proposed document. The convention reconvened in October 2008 to address these concerns, but was not able to produce a revised Constitution before its October 31 deadline. In 2021, the island was transferred from Cartadanian control to Urcea, and the territory became an overseas Rectory of Urcea. In the same year, it was incorporated as part of the Levantine Union. In 2030, Urcea agreed to grant the islands independence as a new member-state of the Levantine Union, with a Constitution for the new republic finally adopted on 2 February 2031. As part of that agreement, Urcea retained the right to place a Royal Navy base in the country.

Bicariana is a member of the Levantine Union and League of Nations.

Geography
The Bicarian Republic consists of four islands in the Sea of Nordska called Ceniza, Lluvia, Nevada, and Niebla.

Pharisedom
After the Great Confessional War, Bicariana became the site of limited Levantine Protestant settlement, as the island was outside the jurisdiction of the Holy Levantine Empire and the new arrivals were a welcome addition to the local economy.

Treaty of the Gletscher Islands and early Cartadanian influence
Sold to Cartadania as a means to pay of significant war debts from the vicious wars the newly found Commonwealth faced in it's early years.

Fiannan efforts to regain control
Beginning in 1890, the Commonwealth of Fiannria sent an offer to purchase back the Bicarian Islands (Gletscher Isles) annually on the anniversary of the original sale on June 30th 1826 as in accordance of the Treaty of the Gletscher Islands of 1826, which Fiannans call the "Tragic Sale". Every year, Fiannria sent a letter offering to buy back the islands from Cartadania, and later Urcea, with a different dollar amount every year, but always based on the value it was sold at in 1826. The letter continually cited the territorial, genealogical, and historical importance of the islands to Fiannria and request its return.

Corresponding with this, beginning in the early 1830s, native Levantines held protests and marches that eventually organized in 1853 in a Fiannan nationalist self-determination movement generally opposed to at the time Cartadanian occupation and Cartadanian settlers. Called the Braithre Gletscher, the movement was never inherently violent but typically was a political and social organization with annual demonstrations. However, it would be noted on two separate occasions in recent memory that the Braithre Gletscher demonstrations became violent. In 2006, following the rejection of the Fifth Constitutional Convention, and in 2021 amongst the news of transfer to Urcea instead of Fiannria.

Between 1966 and the independence of the islands, besides the annual letter requesting purchasing the islands, the Government of Fiannria made no official political issue or active support to the Braithre Gletscher, but among Fiannans to this day it remains a political talking point of territorial and nationalistic duty to bring back their lost siblings. These sentiments gradually declined following the independence of the islands.

Government and politics
The Bicarian system of government follows a modified form of government to that of Cartadania. It is a, though due to its size Bicariana is a  with a , called the Emissary Assembly.

Politics
Bicariana's political parties originated as regional committees of the Cartadanian political parties due to its long association with that country. Accordingly, like in Cartadania, there are three major political parties: the Social Democratic Party, the Union Conservative Party (prev. United), and the Progressistas Party. Due to lasting Levantine influence, all three parties are slightly to the right of their Cartadanian equivalent; additionally, the Union Conservative Party is the majority governing party in the country following the 2031 special election. Many political issues are present in Bicarian society, especially to what degree should the new republic adopt the social mores and governing customs of its Levantine Union neighbors, such as those countries' more conservative stance on social issues relative to Cartadanian views.

Culture
Bicarian culture is descended from the Cartadanian and Fiannan cultures due to the various waves of settlement on the islands that have occurred since the medieval period, and accordingly it heavily incorporates traditions from both.

Demographics
In the 2030 Urcean census, Bicariana had a population of 1,627,073.

Religious Demographics
By percentage, Bicariana is the most religiously diverse nation in the Levantine Union, with about 20% of the population holding a religious belief other than Catholicism and about 7% of the population describing themselves as irreligious. Many of Bicariana's non-Catholic population are of foreign background, predominantly from Vithinja or from western Audonia. The 8.7% of the population that are members of the College of Levantine Churches are primarily Bicarians with a long-term Bicarian heritage, being either recent converts from Catholicism or descendants of religious refugees from earlier centuries.