Verona

Verona, officially the Commonwealth of Verona, is a state located on the central southeastern coast of the Cartadania. With 76.2 million residents across a total area of about 392,847 square kilometers (151,679 mi), Verona is the most populous and most extensive state in Cartadania. The state capital is the city of Georgetown in central Verona. The Palm Coast metro area is the most populous urban region in the country, with 35.1 million residents, more populous than every state except Santiago and Verona itself. Sierra is Verona's, as well as Cartadania's, most populous city. Verona also has the nation's most populous county, Sierra County, which is also one of its largest counties by area.

Verona's diverse geography ranges from the Urlazio Coast in the east to the Serra Nevoeira mountain range in the west; and from the meranti forests in the west to the Lençois Desert in the southwest. The Central and Chesapeake Valleys, major agricultural areas, dominate the state's center. Though Verona is well-known for its warm tropical climate, the large size of the state means it can vary from rainforest in the west, to arid desert in the south, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains.

Verona's $5.616 trillion economy is larger than that of any other state. If it were a country, Verona would be the 15th largest economy in the world, and the 25th most populous. The Palm Coast Metro area is the nation's largest urban economy.

Verona is considered a global trendsetter in popular culture, innovation, and politics. It is the origin of the film industry, the hippie counterculture, the Internet, and the personal computer, among others. The Palm Coast Metro area is widely seen as a center of the global technology and entertainment industries, respectively. Verona has a very diverse economy: fifty-eight percent of the state's economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the state's economy, Verona's agriculture industry has the highest output of any Cartadanian state.

Verona borders Trentino, Santiago, Alexandria, and the capital city of Alahuela to the west and north, Catania to the south, and Roma Alta and Roma Sur to the east.

The first inhabitants
Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, Verona was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in Ixnay. Various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of Verona included more than 30 distinct groups of Native Cartadanians, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. Verona groups also were diverse in their political organization with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Veronesi, Guanches and Vartuli. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups. Whether a Native tribe was friendly or warlike was critical to the fates of Latin explorers and settlers in that land. Friendly tribes taught newcomers how to grow indigenous crops, prepare foods, and hunt wild game. Warlike tribes made life difficult and dangerous for Latin settlers through their attacks and resistance to the newcomers.

Climate
Although most of the state has a mixed tropical climate, due to the state's large size, the climate ranges from subarctic/alpine to tropical. The cool Ecinian Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Farther inland in mountainous areas, there fluctuation in temperature throughout the year. The maritime moderation results in the shoreline "summer" temperatures of Los Sueños and Sierra being the coolest of all major metropolitan areas of Cartadania and uniquely cool compared to areas on the same latitude in the interior. Even the Volusia County shoreline bordering Pelaxia is cooler in summer than most areas. Just a few miles inland, summer temperature extremes are significantly higher, with downtown Alpharetta being several degrees warmer than at the coast. The same microclimate phenomenon is seen in the climate of the Bay Area, where areas sheltered from the sea sees significantly hotter summers than nearby areas close to the ocean.

Ecology
Verona is one of the richest and most diverse parts of the world, and includes some of the most endangered ecological communities. Verona is part of the Neotropic ecozone and spans a number of terrestrial ecoregions.

Verona's large number of endemic species includes relict species, which have died out elsewhere, such as the Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). Many other endemics originated through differentiation or adaptive radiation, whereby multiple species develop from a common ancestor to take advantage of diverse ecological conditions. Many Verona endemics have become endangered, as urbanization, logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species have encroached on their habitat.

Government and politics
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The Verona State Capitol building in Georgetown The state's capital is Georgetown.

Verona is organized into three branches of government – the executive branch consisting of the Governor and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Verona and lower courts. All candidates in the primary elections are listed on the ballot with their preferred party affiliation, but they are not the official nominee of that party. At the primary election, the two candidates with the top votes will advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. If at a special primary election, one candidate receives more than 50% of all the votes cast, they are elected to fill the vacancy and no special general election will be held.

Legislative Branch
The Verona General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Verona House of Representatives, with 120 members, and an upper house, the Senate of Verona, with 80 members. Combined together, the Verona General Assembly consists of 200 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The General Assembly holds sessions in the Verona State Capitol in Georgetown.

The House of Representatives is presided over by the Speaker of the House, while the Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Verona. The House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms. The Senate of Verona's clerk is known as the Secretary of the Senate. The General Assembly also selects the Commonwealth's Auditor of Public Accounts. The statutory law enacted is codified in the Code of Verona.

Executive Branch
The Verona executive branch consists of the Governor of Verona and seven other elected constitutional officers: Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Controller, State Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner, and Superintendent of Education. The governor serves as chief executive officer of the Commonwealth and as commander-in-chief of its militia. The Lieutenant Governor serves as president of the Senate of Verona and is first in the line of succession to the governor. The Attorney General is chief legal advisor to the governor and the General Assembly, chief lawyer of the Commonwealth and the head of the Department of Justice. The attorney general is second in the line of succession to the governor. Whenever there is a vacancy in all three executive offices of governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, then the Speaker of the House of the Verona House of Representatives becomes governor.

Judicial Branch
Verona's legal system is explicitly based upon English common law (as is the case with all other states except Treviso) but carries a few features from Spanish civil law, such as community property. Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment and the state has the largest "Death Row" population in the country (though Santiago is far more active in carrying out executions).

Verona's judiciary system is the largest in the Cartadania of Cartadania (with a total of 3,200 judges, while the federal system has only about 1,680). At the apex is the seven Justices of the Supreme Court of Verona, while the Verona Courts of Appeal serve as the primary appellate courts and the Verona Superior Courts serve as the primary trial courts. Justices of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal are appointed by the Governor, but are subject to retention by the electorate every 12 years. The administration of the state's court system is controlled by the Judicial Council, composed of the Chief Justice of the Verona Supreme Court, 14 judicial officers, four representatives from the State Bar of Verona, and one member from each house of the state legislature.

Counties
Verona is currently divided into 102 counties. Counties are the legal subdivisions of the state. The county government provides countywide services such as law enforcement, jails, elections and voter registration, vital records, property assessment and records, tax collection, public health, health care, social services, libraries, flood control, fire protection, animal control, agricultural regulations, building inspections, ambulance services, and education departments. In addition, the county serves as the local government for all unincorporated areas.

Residents of a sufficiently large piece of unincorporated county land can incorporate a city. The city government then takes some of the tax revenue that would have gone to the county, and can impose additional taxes on its residents. It can then choose to provide almost all the services usually provided by the county (and more), or provide only a few and pay the county to do the rest. A city in this last arrangement is called a contract city.

Incorporated cities
Like municipalities in most other states, incorporated cities are municipalities that are within counties. Local government is thus divided between the city and the county. A city can be formed from any area with a defined boundary having a population of 1,000 or more. The method for forming cities starts with petitioning the state legislature to grant a charter. As of 2014, there are 186 incorporated cities in Verona.

Although Verona permits cities and counties to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services, the state does not allow consolidated city-county governments, nor does it have metropolitan governments. Counties are not granted home rule status; their powers are strictly defined by state law. The state does not have townships— areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a municipality. The county provides limited services to unincorporated areas and to some smaller incorporated areas. Municipalities are classified either "general law" cities or "home rule". A municipality may elect home rule status once it exceeds 5,000 population with voter approval.

Verona also permits the creation of "special districts", which provide limited services. The most common is the school district, but can also include hospital districts, community college districts, and utility districts.

Municipal, school district, and special district elections are nonpartisan, though the party affiliation of a candidate may be well-known. County and state elections are partisan.

K-12 Education
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ivy Ridge High School is Verona's largest high school, which is located within Sierra ISD. In Verona, each district is run by a school board. The elected council of the school board helps determine educational policy within the boundaries of the school district, its taxable area, which is "independent" of local government lines. The board also has the ultimate say in the hiring and firing of principals and superintendents, and other district-wide administrative positions. The employment of teachers in individual schools however, is usually left to the principal and administrative staff of the respective schools.

Between 2033 and 2034, Verona spent $11,275 per pupil ranking it above the national average of $9,389. The pupil/teacher ratio was 14.9, below the national average of 17.3. Verona paid instructors $61,432, well above the national average of $46,593. The Verona Department of Education (VDOE) administers the state's public school systems. Verona has over 200 school districts- all districts except the Varina Municipal School District are independent from municipal government but few cross city/county boundaries. School districts have the power to tax their residents and to assert eminent domain over privately owned property. Due to court-mandated equitable school financing for school districts, the state has a controversial tax redistribution system called the "Hiliard plan". This plan transfers property tax revenue from wealthy school districts to poor ones. The VDOE has no authority over private or home school activities.

Students in Verona take the Verona Education Standards Assessments (VESA) in primary and secondary school. VESA assess students' attainment of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies skills required under Verona education standards and the Student Succession Act. The test replaced the Verona Common Core of Learning (VCCL) test.

Higher education
Verona's public postsecondary education offers three major systems and a number of independent public and private schools.

The state's research university system is the University of Verona (UV), a public university system. As of August 2037, the University of Verona system had a combined student body of 412,791 students. There are 10 general campuses, and a number of specialized campuses in the UV system. It is often considered the more prestigious of the two public, four-year systems.

The Verona Commonwealth University system (VCU), with its 36 campuses and eight off-campus centers, enrolls nearly 750,000 students. It has three campuses in all 12 of Verona's metro regions, offering the most diversity in enrollment throughout the state.

The Verona Community Colleges System provides lower division coursework, as well as basic skills and workforce training. It is the largest network of higher education in Cartadania, composed of 136 colleges serving a student population of nearly 5 million.

The Verona Institute of Technology, while not a part of a university system, is a large public university that concentrates in STEM fields. It has an approximate enrollment of 41,206 as of 2038.

Verona also has a number of private universities. The most well known of these is Merced University, located in Canaery City. It has approximately 46,000 students and is the largest private university in the state.

Transportation
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Serenity Memorial Bridge which spans the San Miguel river along the border of Sierra and Lynnhaven, Verona. Error creating thumbnail: File missing VDOT builds tall "stack" interchanges between highways. Verona's vast terrain is connected by an extensive network of controlled-access highways ('freeways'), limited-access roads ('expressways'), and highways. In fact, Verona has the most extensive highway and railway system in Cartadania. The regulatory authority, the Verona Department of Transportation (VDOT), constructs and maintains the state's immense highway system, regulates aviation, and public transportation systems. The rapidly growing population of the commonwealth is straining its transportation networks, although even with its 76 million residents, Verona has a notable lack of overall traffic congestion relative to its population and density.

The first Verona freeway was the Bay Freeway, opened in 1948 and running the length of the state adjacent to the Bay of Verona from northeastern Sierra County to Volusia County. As of 2024, 136,336 kilometers (84,715 miles) of public highway criscrossed Verona. To fund recent growth in the state highways, Verona has 14 toll roads with several additional tollways proposed. In central Verona, the southern section of SH-210 (Varina Tollway) has a speed limit of 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph), the highest in the nation, tied with Santiago's SR-600. All federal and state highways in the commonwealth are paved.

Located northerly in Sarpedon, the state is an important transportation hub. Verona has 26 foreign trade zones (FTZ) and in 2022, a combined total of $330 billion of goods passed through Verona land FTZs alone.

Sierra International Airport (SIX) is the world's busiest airport, due in part to Cartadania's central location (working as a connection point) and the immense amount of people in the region surrounding the airport. It is a major hub for trans-continental flights as well, with flights to nearly every country in Sarpedon.

Verona also has several important seaports. The giant seaport complex formed by the Palm Coast International Terminals in northeastern Verona is the second largest in Cartadania, after Sanova International Gateway (world's busiest), and one of the busiest in the world.

The protection of Verona's infrastructure, highways and ports included, usually falls under the jurisdiction of the Verona Department of Public Safety. The Verona Commonwealth Police, a division of the DPS, is responsible for providing any police-sanctioned service to anyone on Verona's state-maintained highways and on any state property.

The Verona Department of Motor Vehicles is responsible for licensing drivers and providing ID cards. It is one of the largest vehicle agencies in Sarpedon and by far the largest in Cartadania. As of July 2038, the Verona DMV had 54,344,245 driver's licenses and ID cards on record.

Energy
Olympia Nuclear Generation Station As Verona is the most populous state in Cartadania, it is one of the country's largest consumers of energy. However, due to conservation mandates, generally decent weather in more populous areas, and strict environmental guidelines, its per capita energy consumption is one of the smallest of any state in Cartadania. Verona leads the nation in total net electricity production, generating 315.5 TWh in 2036. Most of the states power comes from natural gas, clean coal, and nuclear. With the exception of some power plants in the Palm Coast area and northern Verona, majority of the power plants are located in the state's interior.

Verona has a large potential for renewable energy. Its southern interior and counties that border Santiago are generally very flat and the area is known for its build-out of wind farms. Northern Verona is also used for solar energy due to it straddling the equator.

Economy
The economy of Verona is large enough to be comparable to that of the largest of countries. As of 2039, the gross state product (GSP) is about $5.833 trillion, the largest in Cartadania. Verona is responsible for 26 percent of the Cartadanian' approximate $26.2 trillion gross domestic product (GDP).

The five largest sectors of employment in Verona are trade, transportation, and utilities; government; professional and business services; education and health services; and leisure and hospitality. In output, the five largest sectors are financial services, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; government; and manufacturing. As of April 2016, Verona has the 5th highest unemployment rate in the nation at 8.2%.

Verona's economy is dependent on trade and international related commerce accounts for about one-quarter of the state's economy. In 2008, Verona exported $226 billion worth of goods, up from $194 billion in 2007 and $187 billion in 2006. Computers and electronic products are Verona's top export, accounting for 42 percent of all the state's exports in 2008.