Slaconia

State of Slaconia Държава Слакония (Slaconian)
Flag Seal
Motto: Да обичаш дома си преди всичко! To love one's home above all!
Slaconia (dark green) and the claimed but uncontrolled Sydona Islands {green) in Sarpedon (gray)
Capital and largest city	Grad Beriya (Град Берия)
Official languages	Slaconian
Minority languages	Istroyan Pelian
Demonym(s)	Slaconian
Government	Constitutional parliamentary democracy under a de facto military dictatorship
• Regent	Lozan Razumikhin (XXX)
• Chief Minister	Vaeran Khiaseak (XXX)
Legislature	Emergency Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Commons
Establishment
• Istroyan civilization established in Slaconia	2500 BC
• Conquest by Oduniyyad Caliphate	ca. 700 AD
• Princiaplity of Slaconia founded by crusaders	1154 AD
• Kingdom of Slaconia founded	1188 AD
Area
• Total	1,184,531 km2 (457,350 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	85,476,530
• Census	85,450,000
• Density	72.2/km2 (187.0/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$1,337,292,500,000
• Per capita	$15,650
Currency	Phoenix Ф (SLC)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy AD
Mains electricity	120 V 60 Hz
Driving side	right
Calling code	+138
ISO 3166 code'	SL
Internet TLD	.sl

Slaconia, officially the State of Slaconia, is a country in southeastern Sarpedon. It is neighbored by the Sydona Islands and the Founders Sea.

Slaconia is a country primarily inhabited by Sarpic people with a significant Istroyan minority. In antiquity, Slaconia was the southern extent of the Ancient Istroyan homelands, though the Sarpic migration of mid-late antiquity began to change the cultural and ethnic makeup of the interior of Slaconia; historians suggest Sarpic-speaking people made up the vast majority of the people living in the hinterlands by 400 AD. Ancient Istroyan city-states maintained control over the coastal regions until the arrival of the Oduniyyad Caliphate in the first decades of the 8th century. The Caliphate destroyed the coastal city-states and directly integrated Slaconia as the southernmost portion of its holdings in Sarpedon. This annexation ended the coastal-interior distinction and began the process of establishing the modern Slaconian culture. Slaconia was liberated from the Caliphate during the Third and Fourth Crusades, and the first unified government for the territory - the Kingdom of Slaconia - was established. Though cultural integration gradually established a central cultural identity for Slaconia, the country remained culturally diverse throughout the medieval and early modern period, with Audonian converts to Christianity called Prechisten, a Pelian minority to the southwest, and a coastal Istroyan minority. These two groups contributed significantly to arts and culture within Slaconia. By the 19th century, however, the still-present minority groups began to agitate for independence as an outgrowth of nationalist thought spreading across Sarpedon. The country has undergone significant decline since the mid-1850s and is broadly considered a failed state in the 21st century as large portions of the country are under control of separatist and rebel groups.

Slaconia is abundant in natural resources like lithium, copper, nickel, zinc, coal, alongside significant deposits of iron, diamond, and especially natural gases in the southernmost reaches of the country. Historically, Slaconia had a substantial agriculture industry in the northernmost and more hospitable regions of the country. The industrialization of Slaconia was largely brought during the 19th and 20th centuries. Agriculture and industry were gradually dwarved by natural resource extraction and exportation over the course of the 20th century as centralized state power declined. Local factions lacked the capital and centralization to maintain extensive industrial systems and fighting sapped the useful agricultural land of the country, but those same factions managed to continue exploiting mines using purchased foreign equipment and conscripted local workers. As such, Slaconia remains a major exporter of natural resources despite significant political and economic turbulence, and the central government has consistently accused outside countries of funding local factions in exchange for unofficial trade agreements.

Slaconia is a member of the League of Nations.

Etymology

Slaconia, natively rendered as Слакония or Slakoniya, is derived from the name of the territory during its rule from the Oduniyyad Caliphate, "Slakoniyye". The origin of this term is disputed. Some scholars have suggested a corruption of one of the area's ancient Istroyan city-states into "Slaconium" into Audonian languages gave the area its name, though critics of this concept note that proponents have not identified any particular city which could have been corrupted this way, and have also noted no instances of it being used in pre-Caliphate sources. Regardless of its origin, "Slaconia", "Slakonia", and "Slaconium" began to appear in Caphirian sources for the area in the 910s, suggesting that it had been in common use among Occidentals for several decades by that time. The Latinized form of Slakoniyye entered official and standardized form following the establishment of a crusader state in the area called the Kingdom of Slaconia in the 1100s, providing the formal name for the country since.

History

Prehistory

Human activity in Slaconia is traced back millions of years and is comparable to activity found in other parts of southern Sarpedon. Prior to habitation by modern humans, Kikpari inhabited much of the interior of Slaconia. While not significantly settling the region, the Kikpari travelled across the land frequently, as seen in the wide distribution of stone tools, and later, fossilized bone. Homo sapiens migrated to Slaconia later, with remains from humans being dated as far back as approximately 200,000 years ago. There is no evidence suggesting cohabitation took place between the Kikpari and homo sapiens, with items of Eastern Kikpari culture not existing past 200,000 BCE.

The Neolithic age is defined development of agricultural societies along the various rivers of Slaconia and the surrounding region. The Penel material culture traces its history back the furthest, with agricultural cultivation dating back to 10,000 BCE, though other agricultural societies existed further north and south along the rivers, with various different crops of choice. In addition to wheat, the staple crop of the rest of the Neolithic Occident, blackberry and pomegranate are also present in the archaeological record. The different agricultural societies formed different cultures, with the differing landscapes creating three distinct societies into the late Neolithic Era. Each of the various material cultures grew comfortable in their harvests and began burgeoning civilizations with room for more specialization. While southern Slaconia attained agricultural know-how, the north of the country remained dominated by hunter societies into the early Bronze Age as was the case for much of the Sarpedonic interior. These hunter societies remained numerous, and more closely resembled tribes than settlements, and relied on domesticating animals rather than settling in one place. Horses, cows, and goats were domesticated some time around 3000 BCE, and would travel alongside tribes or be tamed as needed. Evidence of conflict between the agricultural societies and hunting tribes is limited, but conflict documented by later scholars and following famine suggests technological innovation brought about such.

Early history

Though shrouded in legend, oral traditions documenting early Slaconian history exist. By around 2000 BC, the legends suggest the organization of various warbands led by warlords. The organization of Slaconia into warbands rather than kinship tribes is unique in eastern Sarpedon. The warlords led fragmented territories across the Slaconian interior, and fighting was seemingly bitter and fierce. Resources across the interior were minimal, leading to a scarce supply of adequate weaponry for battle. The power commanded by the warlords brought about tales of heroic combat between these powerful men, but the earliest ancient Istroyan sources paint a picture of a more grim reality on the war-torn steppe. They write of vast empty lands controlled by small cavalry units while the citizenry was regularly short on necessities. The arrival of the Istroyans came at the very end of the warlord period, providing the few written accounts of the pre-Slavic peoples in the interior.

Antiquity

Istroyan colonization

Slaconia was the site of significant colonization by the ancient Istroyan civilization beginning in around 2500 BC, though this figure is heavily disputed by a sizable minority of scholars who believe the northeastern and eastern corner of Slaconia is part of the cultural homeland and origin point for the ancient Istroyans. Regardless of whether or not the area was settled by a foreign civilization or the periphery of one, Istroyans quickly spread across the country with major cities on the southwestern coast of modern Slaconia by 1300 BC.

Sarpic migration

Main article: Sarpic migration

Slaconia was subject of successive waves of Sarpic migration throughout most of antiquity.

The final wave of the migration occurred in the mid-4th century. Unlike previous waves, this had little effect on the coastal cities but is known to have caused turbulence and violence in the Slaconian interior.

By about 400, the Slaconian interior was predominantly Sarpic speaking.

Uneasy coexistence

By late antiquity, the coastal Istroyan city-states arrived at a state of coexistence with the Sarpic tribes and small polities of the interior. Sources, both Istroyan and Caphirian, paint a vivid picture of the perspectives in Slaconia. From the perspective of the Istroyans, the interior was the territory of barbarians from whom peace could be bought at a pittance with various trade goods and coin. For the Sarpics living on the interior, the coastal Istroyans were little more than merchants and middlemen who nonetheless were useful in facilitating the buying and selling of their goods across the sea. Both views paint the picture of two societies more interwoven than traditional early modern histories suggest, with trade networks running throughout modern Slaconia. Coinage from Great Levantia found in large quantities in the interior testify to the relative success of the joint economic system.

Slaconia in 600 AD was dominated by about six major Istroyan cities and ten different Sarpic entities, including both tribes and cities. Beroia was the second most prominent city of the Istroyan city-states.

Medieval period

Caliphate

The intricate system of interior polities and coastal cities that had found a balance in the 7th century was suddenly and violently disrupted in the first two decades of the 8th century. Raiders from the Oduniyyad Caliphate - probably from the Melian Islands - first arrived in the country in 713 AD and tried (but failed) to sack the city.

The Crusades

First & Second Crusade

With Pope Gregory VII preaching for the reconquest of Sarpedon's lost lands in 1084 as a Christian emergency, thousands of men - predominantly Levantine but also Sarpics from central Levantia - took the call to action and took the Cross in order to destroy the Oduniyyad Caliphate. However, it would be some time before the masses could be made into an effective fighting force. Joint efforts were successful in some theaters in Sarpedon, liberating Halfway and later other territories to the northeast, but the Odduniyad Caliphate maintained its hold on southeast Istroya through the first and second crusades. In 1120, during the Second Crusade, forces from the Iddryitine Despotate in modern Sydona were able to make minor gains in the Founders Sea. Forces launched from the Sydona Islands were able to capture Prevoy and Zavoy from local occupants. These islands and the surrounding archipelago weren't directly controlled by the Caliphate but were held by subservient Odduniyad merchants as trade outposts to reach other states on the south of the continent. The islands had to be sieged due to intense fortifications but were quickly forced to capitulate with Iddryitine naval superiority cutting off supply to the islands long enough. Tydoaea was seized in 1130 and led to a campaign to retake the islands of the Founders Sea for the Despotate. Taken together, these actions created a strong forward position from which Christians could attack Caliphate territories in southeastern Sarpedon.

Third Crusade

• 
  Istroya as of the First Crusade
• 
  Istroya as of the Second Crusade
• 
  Istroya as of the Third Crusade
• 
  Istroya as of the Fourth Crusade

As a Third Crusade was called, a large number of forces once again coalesced in the Iddryitine Despotate in Sydona. Making landfall north of the islands, the crusading army marched north and secured most of what is today western Slaconia for the Iddryitine Despotate. Marching eastward, the crusaders then besieged the city of Beroia, the primary port in southeastern Slaconia. The crusaders formed a beachhead at the tip of Beroia island and cut off the island from the nearby mainland via the Obkhovid Canal. The knights were led by a knight called Ovidio who originated in modern Rhotia. Ovidio had previously led a failed siege of the Melian Islands in 1139 after the northern islands were reconquered by the Odduniyad Caliphate but was honored and well-regarded for his devotion to the Catholic faith. This was until the Siege of Beroia in 1154. Ovidio was charged with leading a cohort of knights past enemy lines to secure passage of crusader forces across the Obkhovid Canal. In doing so, he successfully cut off any lines of reinforcement for the city, which promptly surrendered to him in August 1154. Ovidio was invested as the first Prince of Slaconia by both his peers and the clerics on hand. The small Principality, by the end of the war, would include only Beroia island and a small buffer of territory on the mainland, though almost all of modern western Slaconia was occupied by the Iddryitine Despotate.

Principality of Slaconia

Prince Ovidio I set to work establishing his new principality throughout the 1140s and 1150s. A majority of the population were Christians, with the territory he ruled at first being approximately half Slaconian-speaking and half Istroyan-speaking. Besides organizing dioceses on behalf of the Catholic Church, converting mosques into churches, and building a series of castles throughout the land, he also focused on the forced conversion of the country's Muslim minority. The conversions, which would continue through the end of the medieval period, became a defining cultural characteristic of Slaconia, creating a major demographic of Audonian descendants who retained a sense of otherness despite their newfound Christianity known as the Prechisten. Ovidio would die in 1162 and leave the principality to his son Galeazzo, continuing the newly formed Ovidic dynasty. While the Caliphate was sufficiently chastened two decades prior, Galeazzo realized the principality's defenses were woefully inadequate should the Caliphate reinforce its westernmost possessions. As such, he began to expand the army while inviting knights from Levantia to settle in the country. The influx of men seeking employment was such that Galeazzo began to take land away from Christian peasants, first focusing on those who had been converted; in addition to alienating the locals and improving the principality's military, this had the effect of dramatically urbanizing the small realm as people were forced to move to cities.

Medieval kingdom

Following the collapse of the Caliphate in Sarpedon the new Kingdom of Slaconia would assume the role of the trade hub of the south of the continent. While other major powers were mired by internal conflict through this period, the realm would maintain its place as trade hubs despite a new authority. Slaconia would lean into its position as a bridge between cultures and continents. Though formerly at odds with the Caliphate, Audonian rulers would remain amicable with the Kingdom as to maintain a semblance of influence on the continent due to strong trade ties.

In 1197, the Crusading Elamite Order launched a coup d'état against the Iddryitine Despotate and seized control of Sydona. In a corresponding move, King Galeazzo II rushed his army to the west and conquered the Despotate's mainland possessions. The sources are in significant disagreement as to Galeazzo's relationship to the coup. In the Slaconian court sources, Galeazzo was alarmed by the coup and moved to secure the mainland possessions from the Elamites because he believed they would soon be excommunicated and the order suppressed, leading to certain anarchy in the territories. In Caphirian and later Elamite sources, Galeazzo was a ready collaborator in the plan and knew of the coup months ahead of time, and he furnished both monetary and diplomatic support for the coup in exchange for the mainland territories. Whichever version is true, both the Elamites and Galeazzo were condemned by the Pope but not excommunicated. The mainland territories, which had both Slaconian people as well as Pelians, was organized as the Duchy of Elephantaria-in-Salesia, commonly referred to as "East Salesia". East Salesia was predominantly governed by Pelians in the King's name and remained a mostly autonomous part of the Kingdom until the 1700s.

The Ovidic dynasty would gradually abandon its Rhotian cultural traditions and adopt the culture of their Slaconian subjects. As a sign of this, Beroia finally began to take on its Slaconian spelling - Beriya - in official decrees and sources by the mid-13th century.

20th century

Treaty of Kartika

On May 19th, 1953, representatives from the belligerent nations arrived in Kartika, Kiravia to sign the end if the Second Great War.

The Treaty of Kartika enlarged the Independent State of Bussdaberria(formerly the Grand Principality of Greater Avamax, the Imperial Crown Colony of Bussdaberria & the Dominion of l’Oríellade d’Onísa etc) a total of 67 percent. However of the 23 million inhabitants resided in the territories annexed via the treaty, less than a quarter of the who lived in the annexed territories were Levantines, while the rest were a myriad of ethnic minorities who either lived as national minorities or residing in states of their own.

A total 13 million new inhabitants were therefore consigned to the new enlarged successor state. Despite the declared objective of the arbiters of post-war peace to redraw the map in Eastern Sarpedon according to Professor Wilson MacNamara, "the principle of self-determination cannot be erased with a pen on a map even if bayonets enforce it". According to modern historians, it prophesied the fragility of such a nation-state building. The census of 1912 classified residents in the Imperial Crown Colony of Bussdaberria alone by their native languages and religions affiliation, so it presents the preferred language of the individual, which may or may not correspond to the individual's ethnic identity. To make the situation even more complex, in the multilingual annexed territories with ethnically mixed populations where people spoke two or even three languages natively. While several demographers state that the outcome of the census is reasonably accurate, manipulations of Levantization had been attempted.

The Treaty of Kartika specifically defined new borders primarily in order to transfer the vital railway lines that ran through these areas to the latter states for easier exploit and transfer of natural resources. Post-Kartika Bussdaberria increased 90% of the engineering and printing industry compared to pre-war census, while a reasonable 11% of timber and 16% of iron was increased. In addition other increases, 41% of arable land, 46% of public roads, 75% of canals, 62% of railroads, 64% of hard surface roads, 83% of pig iron output, 55% of industrial plants, and 67% of credit and banking institutions now lay within the new territories. New borders also bisected transport links the railway network running along the newly defined borders and interlinking radial transport lines, ended up in different highly introvert with Άvamax as its center. Hence, much of the rail cargo traffic of the neighboring emergent states was virtually paralysed. These factors all combined created some imbalances pushed by Bussdaberria's autarkic measures to create a single economic unit with mixed success on specialization.

Disseminating economic problems had been noted as a serious potential aftermath of the treaty. This opinion was not taken into account during the negotiations. Thus, the resulting uneasiness and despondency of one part of the concerned population was later one of the main antecedents of the collapse into the next century. Unemployment levels were dangerously high, and industrial output dropped by half. With the creation of customs barriers and protectionist trade policies, the economic growth and outlook in the region sharply declined,ultimately culminating in a deep recession.

The Treaty of Kartika also banned military conscription in the newly Independent State, stipulating that the all-volunteer Local Defense Volunteers could recruit no more than 35,000 soldiers(It didn't include the Royal Constabulary or police service restrictions), and also prohibited the country from purchasing (but not manufacturing) tanks, armored vehicles and war planes. The treaty also specified that the Independent State of Bussdaberria would have to respect these stipulations for a 30-year period grace beginning in 1954 followed by the steady demobilization and withdrawal of both foreign and domestic 290 thousand strong men-at-arms.

The Assembly of the Commons gladly accepted the treaty pushing for faster post-war reconstruction efforts but the House of Lords reluctantly ratified the treaty on November 15th, and enacted the treaty into law twenty days later.

Post-War Reconstruction

After the treaty took effect and resulted in a starving of capital in former independent regions, which led to a deep recession. A fifth of the rural population could find no work, and industry was in no position to absorb them leading to disintegration and massive revolts that would be crushed by violent means.

Crown collapse

The Ovidic dynasty - now on its sixth ruling cadet branch - finally died out in the male line in 1962 with the death of King Galeazzo VI. This event precipitated massive unrest and civil war that continues through the present.

The Terror

During this period of nearly 9 years, Bussdaberria was an authoritarian democracy with a functioning multi-party parliament, though with significant restrictions on civil liberties and political pluralism. The main objectives of governments functioning in the new kingdom: in domestic terms, to strengthen a neo-feudal Levantine Catholic foundation and keep its territorial integrity intact; and, in subsequent terms, to contain the spread of communism & separatism as various revolutions sprung up. In order to achieve the latter objective, military operations that formed so-called "detachments" (Certifié chasseurs de têtes) in order to conduct reprisals for the Red Terror that had claimed thousand lives in the region by the Red Peasants by the Soviet Republic and other warlords. With the passive compliance of the authorities over 400,000 reported to either died or suffered force relocation.

Following the end of the war, Albert Werkner was appointed defense minister by the royal government, formed in liberated Άvamax. As head of the counter-revolutionary forces, he began raising the LDV in June of '54 with the objective of crushing all opposition. In order to oversee the formation of a new government and national legislature that would possess both the domestic and international authority necessary to legitimately ratify the post-war peace treaty. Assigned the task of persuading foreign armies to freeze their withdrawal in order not to cede control of territories to revolutionaries - alas with mixed results as in some cases even veteran armies couldn't stem the tide of all-out peasant and political revolts.

The LDV was tasked a mission beyond its capabilities, to occupy the military demarcation lines in Tuzla. Following a Red Peasant attack along the Ilhamaniev, causing the collapse of retreating allied armies and subsequently occupied Lukata Valley that had come under the control of the National Army. The LDV began to systematically requisition railway locomotives and wagons, industrial machinery, medical equipment and food in cities under the pretext of securing the campaign. The act was enforced, entailing extreme crisis and contributing to a famine.

It is speculated the government instituted the program of food requisitioning, ostensibly to attack local seperatist/nationalist movements. Whilst the communist revolutionaries instituted a violent collectivization programm of similar ferocity, depriving persons of their properties, a large proportion of peoples attempted to escape from each other region only to be shot by opposing forces. Rendering the peoples of Bussdaberria with no means of survival. These poor administration policies and the lack of relevant general management. Significant amounts of grain remained unharvested - a contradicting image considering Bussdaberria was in a position to export grain not suffering from famine.

Recent history

Slaconia suffers from an ineffective government, famine, disease, piracy, militant extremism, and frequent external intervention.

Geography

• 
  Picturesque view of the Grad Beriya waterfront.
• 
  The Tricameral Towers pictured in the background of the Grad Beriya Historical District.
• 
  The twin peaks of Little Dia and Big Dia on the island of Diakrunum.

Slaconia is located on the southeastern corner of Sarpedon.

Climate and environment

Is your country hot or cold?

Government and Politics

Slaconia is a de jure liberal constitutional monarchy under a perpetual regency which governs the nation alongside a bicameral legislature. In practice, Slaconia is a failed state, and the internationally recognized government only controls a portion of the country's overall territory, with several rebel factions controlling the remainder of the country. This decades-old situation has largely solidified the governing institutions of the various segments of Slaconia, and as such the constitutional central government maintains broadly functional, if weakened, institutitonal government.

Constitutional government

Executive

The Constitution of Slaconia provides that executive authority be invested in "the King of Slaconia...or any individual designated by the government in his stead". In practice, this has meant a perpetual regency in the country. In theory the obligation of the regent is to restore the succesion, but such responsibility is considered nominal only. As such, Slaconia renamed itself to be a "State" rather than a "Kingdom" in 1974. The office of Regent serves as head of state and head of the military, and as such exercises most major diplomatic and military decisions over the constitutional government. The Constitution provided for a "Chief Minister to be called upon by the King from the Commons to form a government in his name". Under the current constitutional order, this functionally means that the Regent selects an individual from the Commons to handle the day-to-day governing affairs of the state. Because the state emergency has suborned most civil function to military necessity, the actual authority of the Chief Minister and the Cabinet is limited to low-level administrative functions.

The succession for the office of Regent is not clearly established by the Constitution, only providing that they be "designated by the government". Since 1962 there have been six Slaconian Regents, and though each has received nominal approval from the House of Commons, this is considered to be largely to be a rubber stamp to give the Regent legitimacy. In actuality, the first Regent of this period was actually appointed by the House of Commons and then was succeeded by his son. This second Regent retired due to old age and designated a third Regent. The third Regent was functionally removed in a palace coup. The fourth Regent. Since 2002, two men - Lozan Razumikhin and Orlin Manev - have alterated as fifth and sixth Regent, largely based on internal power and popularity within the government and military apparatus. After four non-consecutive terms, Razumikhin resumed the Regency in 2031 and has held the position since. Though the Regent resigns his military commission and joins one of Slaconia's political parties after being invested with office, the Regency is considered by most foreign military observers to be a de facto military dictatorship.

Legislature

Slaconia has a bicameral legislature consisting of a House of Commons and a Senate.

The Senate is the upper house of the Slaconian legislature and was created with equal representation from all regions, nominally giving it 48 members. The lower house, the House of Commons, currently has 338 members elected in single-member districts using first past the post.

Both houses of the legislature are significantly hobbled by the lack of central control; the House of Commons has a nominal capacity of 596 members (last apportioned in 1960), and the Senate has not been able to form a quorum since 1983, effecitvely making the House of Commons the sole governing body. The Constitution of Slaconia provides for free and fair elections for both houses of the legislature every seven years or when dissolved except in cases of extreme national emergency as provided for by the executive. In practice, the current legislature - the Emergency Parliament, which is comprised of functionally only the House of Commons - has been in constant session since 1963. No regular elections for all seats have been held during that time, though special elections for these seats are still held periodically to replace members who die, retire, or otherwise no longer serve. Given the length of the emergency, every current member of the Emergency Parliament was elected through such special elections.

The House of Commons is significantly hampered by the existence of rotten boroughs. The central government's military control often extends to very small portions of existing House of Commons districts. In those districts, elections are held often consisting of just those military personnel present within the district, sending non-representative members to the House of Commons often for a lifetime term. Some observers have accused the government of strategically planning advances into enemy territory just to seize small portions of Commons districts in order to elect new member loyal to the executive.

Security apparatus

In practice, Slaconia is a securocracy. The security apparatus dominates the political landscape of the country. Securocrats are officials located in the security establishment - the police, intelligence services and the military - that have the power to influence government policy in their favor despite popular opinion. They dominate government decision-making in the name of the preservation of the constitutional government according to most observers and sources. While international democracy watchdogs have criticized their interference in the civil government, many scholars have noted that the effectiveness of the security establishment is what ensures the central government's survival.

Administrative regions

Though the central government possesses only a portion of the country's overall territory, the country's administrative divisions - established in 1956 - are recognized by virtually all major factions in Slaconia and serve an important part of the country's overall political organization.

Conceptually, as a unitary republic, Slaconia has administrative units whose non-partisan administrators are to be appointed by and responsible to the government in Grad Beriya. Their formal mandate is extremely limited, and from a legal point of view the regions exist mainly to administer the national census. These regions are defined by a variety of cultural, environmental, geographic, and historical factors, among others. Beyond their limited authority, the primary social use of the regions of Slaconia is to allow the citizens of each region a broader entity to associate with outside of their municipal unit or local area. In practice, even those regional administrators loyal to the central government exercise significant autonomy above and beyond that envisioned by the constitution - the only difference between them and their insurrectionary counterparts is that they remain answerable to the government in Grad Beriya.

There are twelve regions of Slaconia.

Factionalism

Slaconian political life is dominated by armed political factions, and most scholars have observed that the notion of "political life" (i.e. the solving of disputes through institutional discourse) has eroded completely in the past several decades.

There are, besides the government, six major rebel factions and a constellation of smaller entities which control minor territories, some of which are in loose alliance with larger factions. There are three main ethnic factions while the remainder are organized along political or personal allegiances.

Law

What kind of laws and legal system does your country employ?

Demographics

What kind of people live in your country?

Ethnicity

Self-reported ethnic origin in the State of Slaconia (2030)

  Slaconians (65.5%)

  Prechistens (14.5%)

  Istroyans (10.6%)

  Pelians (8.4%)

  Other (1%)

Slaconia is a multiethnic country with four main ethnic groups, though ethnic Slaconians make up a large majority of the country.

Istroyans

Main article: Istroyan people

Pelians

Main article: Pelians

Language

What language or languages do your country's people use? Are there any previously used languages no longer common? Are these languages native to your country or shared with another?

Healthcare

Healthcare statistics in Slaconia are generally poor. The life expectancy in Slaconia was 68 years in 1955, considered high at that time. Since then, no research has been conducted on the subject, though most scholars believe it falls well below the Occidental average. According to international health organizations, it spends more on healthcare than industrialized nations in the world. It still suffers, having one of the highest or near-highest infant mortality, heart and lung disease, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancies, injuries, homicides, and disabilities in Sarpedon.

Religion

Religious affiliations in the State of Slaconia (2030)

  Catholic Christianity (86.6%)

  Audonian Christianity (10.6%)

  Other (2.8%)

Slaconia is a predomiantly Catholic country, with the vast majority of residents adhering to the Catholic Church. It is similar to most other parts of Sarpedon in this respect.

A sizable minority of Slaconians are part of the Audonian Christian tradition under the Eparchate of Grad Beriya (which is subject to the Patriarch of Philadelphia). Audonian Christianity spread rapidly in the 19th century among the country's culturally Audonian minority converted - the Prechisten - during the Crusades. While Islam had been vanquished for centuries, many of these individuals sought to reclaim what they called the "authentic religion of their ancestors" contrary to the ethnic majority of Slaconia as part of the overall trend of nationalism growing in the country. This restorationist movement was accelerated by the support of Church officials for the central government during the 19th century, alienating anti-state actors. One of the world's most successful restorationist movements, Audonian Christians now number about 10% of the Slaconian population. It remained illegal but mostly tolerated until 1896 when it received official legal sanction.

There are a small number of irreligious people in Slaconia as well as a very small group of Assemblist Protestant Christians.

Education

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Culture and Society

Slaconian culture combines a limited number of pre-Sarpic, pre-Istroyan cultural traditions with the Sarpic, Istroyan, and Catholic influences brought over to Slaconia over time. Due to Slaconia's status as a multiethnic country, regions have significant cultural and linguistic differences from the Grad Beriya core region.

Cuisine

Slaconian cuisine has a relatively short history and not largely known outside of Slaconian. Historic and current instability caused people to prefer simple cuisines based on the meats, fish or various crops grown in their local area, and even these changed from ethnicity to ethnicity. It wasn't until the 1850s when a "High Slaconian" cuisine was uplifted from its humble roots due to wanting to change the public perception of the nation from a backwater unstable country to a sophisticated, modern 19th century state. One of the most well-known dishes of this era is shunki na para, lit. Steamed Hams. It is the most widely known Slaconian dish, with traditionally a steamed pork cutlet in the middle with buns both under and above it. Various condiments are usually enjoyed with it.

Soups are rare in Slaconia other than the southwestern Pelian region due to soups being perceived as poverty food. Even the lower social classes in wartorn areas do their best to avoid soup to avoid being seen as poor or lower class; the Pelian region has various soups that have become popular with the upper classes there and in Sydona. These often include mushrooms, deer or boar and potatoes.

Entertainment

A photo taken during the production of season one of Whispers of Patriots.

Slaconian entertainment industry has quickly risen from basically nonexistent to a billion phoenix industry since the beginning of the 20th century despite the limited reach of Slaconian media. The most widely appreciated piece of Slaconian entertainment is Zvezdna Bitka, a space opera set in a galaxy long time ago, far, far away. The creator Dzhordzh Lukas rose to international fame shortly after the release of the first movie in the franchise in the 1970s; the movie (and resulting franchise) is a treatment of the political and military divisions in Slaconia covered in heavy allegory. Most Slaconian entertainment is directed at the Slaconian market, with majority of it being exclusively in Slacoian. Popular domestic products often are subtitled or dubbed and shipped to foreign markets, but in small amounts due to little demand. Slaconian detective dramas are popular on foreign markets, particularly titles such as Doubting my Visions, The Phantom with Silver Hair and Whispers of Patriots. The appreciation of Slaconian entertainment on the international markets has started slow expansion of the film industry with both private and government investments, with putting emphasis on quality subtitling or dubbing to make Slaconian language entertainment less intimidating to foreign markets. The majority of the entertainment industry is located in Grad Beriya.

Until the late 1970s, the music genres which were allowed to be performed in public or played on the radio were strictly controlled by the government. Due to this, even rock music was near non-existent in Slaconia, other than few underground groups performing for the youth of the nation, also providing a suitable outlet for the youth to "fight the power", the government decided to not crack down on it despite knowing of its existence. The reforms made in the 1970s then allowed both public performances and radio play of all genres of music, which then quickly sprouted a vibrant culture of music in the nation and the birth of various subcultures. Due to the restrictions til the late 1970s, much of the older generations look down on the newly arrived genres as decadent.

Mass media, mainstream Slaconian culture typically originates within government-controlled areas. Lower quality media is produced in rebel controlled areas and occasionally disseminated internationally via the internet. This material, known as "Underground Sarpia", has a niche audience abroad and is considered to be enjoyed by Occidental audiences ironically.

Sports

Slaconian sports play an outsized role in the imagination of the Slaconian people, with international sporting events with Slaconian teams followed closely by both the people and the media. Given the poor state of both the domestic economy and political situation, academics have noted that sports are the primary area that the Slaconian people can have national pride on an international stage. Various types of sports are played and followed in Slaconia, with the most popular being football, where the most successful teams and players come from. Other regional favorites are sailing in the marine regions near Grad Beriyaand skiing and archery in the more mountainous region.

Sports organizations for both young and old receive minor funding from the government to encourage better physical health for the population, and to particularly ensure that the men remain in shape for either their coming military conscription or be able to serve in the military in Slaconia's endless internal conflicts. Womens sports organizations receive less funding, the government offering funding to sports which develop the muscles required in childbirth to encourage safer and more numerous birthing in the nation.

Education

What is your country's education system like? How do the schools work? What do people think about education?

Attitudes and worldview

How do your country's people view life?

Kinship and family

How are families or kinship groups structured in your country?

Religion

What do your people believe? Rather than demographics, as above, think about how important religion is to your people and their view about their own and other religions. What is the relationship between the prevailing view and minority religious groups? Is it an official religion, and do any laws exist about free worship?

Arts and Literature

What type of art do your people make? Do they have a tradition of painted art, well-crafted television shows, or great music?

Symbols

The phoenix is the prominent symbol of Slaconia and the official symbol of the central government. It is also used as the name for the Slaconian currency, the phoenix (Феникс; feniks). While the symbol has a very old association with the country dating back to the crusader reconquest of the territory, it has been increasingly appropriated by the central government as a symbol of the pending reunification of the country under central authority. Some scholars have stated that the phoenix is "not only a symbol but a mission statement of the Slaconian government", and as such the symbol increasingly appears as a form of government propaganda. It appears on the national flag and coat of arms. Several non-government factions within the country previously used a form of it but have eschewed it in recent years due to the phoenix's increasingly close association with the government.

Economy and Infrastructure

Slaconia has a nominally market economy with a state welfare apparatus. In practice, Slaconia has what a consortium of scholars has referred to as "economic schizophrenia"; the policies of the central government and various rebel groups are often significantly at odds, and as such when territorial control shifts the result is economic devastation from a change in policy in addition to the warfare related to taking the territory. As such, only certain areas - those core areas of the central government as well as some small core regions of rebel groups - have a significantly stable economic model. The rest of the country, which includes a majority of its land mass, is among the poorest and least developed areas in the Occident. In the past, Slaconia was frequently regarded as a potential regional economic because of its more than 80 million inhabitants. Compared to other Sarpedon nations, it had significantly inefficient overall production levels and income were due to the high variation in economic development among the kingdom's regions. Some regions were highly industrialized, like Grad Beriya, whose income level corresponded more or less to other major Occidental cities, while the remainder of Slaconian cities had just started industrial development and effectively remained substantially lower than foreseen estimates. Therefore, Slaconia's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita remained significantly lower than that of most other countries in Sarpedon even prior to the significant divisions that now exist throughout the country.

Within the modern divided country framework, the areas controlled by the central government resemble a functioning, if lower-end, Occidental economy. Private investment in commercial activities have been largely financed internally but remain limited, and includes trade and marketing, money transfer services, communications, industrial equipment, airlines, telecommunications, education, health, construction and hotels. Investment in transportation infrastructure in particular is far below the level necessary to maintain a functional system, and only Grad Beriya and its immediately surrounding areas have reliable forms of transportation. Territories belonging to belligerent groups, on the other hand, are significantly impoverished. Most of the economic models of these areas rely solely on natural resource extraction. The central government has long alleged to the League of Nations that many rebel groups serve as de facto economic satellites to other countries where nominally sanctioned natural resource exports are delivered. A plurality of the country's mineral resources eventually are consumed by firms within central government territory, acquired via the black market with significant markup. The central government controls many of the major urban areas but few major natural resource deposits, and as such it maintains a more robust service economy but cannot leverage the country's significant natural resource wealth into capital investments.

Given the dependency of Slaconia on natural resource extraction, mining is among the largest industries in the country. In the areas controlled by the central government, mining is conducted mostly by private enterprise. Rebel groups meanwhile control every aspect of mining within their territory, and the proeeds from these goods are typically either invested in imported mining equipment or consumed by the faction. Agriculture is a secondary major industry in areas controlled by the central government, though most of the country's best agricultural land has laid fallow for decades due to the ongoing civil hostilities. Urban service sector economies rank a distant third behind these two sectors. Continued dependence on mineral exports has subjected Slaconia to various economic challenges, namely, economic vulnerability due to global market fluctuations of mineral prices. Additionally, the overreliance on mineral exports has led to a phenomenon known as the "Burgoignesc Disease." This has adversely impacted other sectors of the economy, making Slaconia's non-mineral industries less competitive in the international market. Intensive mining activities have taken a toll on the nation's environment, resulting in habitat destruction, deforestation, and water pollution. Slaconia has had to grapple with the long-term environmental consequences of its mineral extraction industry.

Currency

Sylirian Currency the Sylirian Dinar usually exchanged for 600 Dinar equals one Levantine Talor, However it is enough for most to get by in Syliria, and survive.

Healthcare

Slaconia's healthcare facilities are largely owned and operated by the government. Most of the population under 67 is insured by their or a family member's employer, some buy health insurance (dual insurance) on their own, and the remainder are uninsured (or partially insured). Health insurance for public sector employees is provided by the government. The National Health Agency (government's insurance and healthcare service) is the government insurance that functions as both poor insurance and old age health insurance. This policy was adopted in 1954. Prior to the nationalization of healthcare and insurance services, it was provided by the private sector but it was no longer viable; in practice, some rebel factions and private firms provide private insurance in those areas outside the area of government control.

Humanitarian health organizations have opened up operations across Slaconia in order to assist individuals who have inadequate access to medical facilities. Humanitarian facilities are primarily located in non-government controlled areas of the country, although movable hospital camps are also stationed near cities to deal with the disenfranchised urban populations of the country. It is estimated ten thousand members from humanitarian agencies operate in Slaconia at any given time.

Labor

Sylirian Labor is organized by the Government any complaint on Conditions should go to The local Governates Office, then go to The Peoples Assembly, However most Complaints on Conditions are often met with a no and are never resolved, Syliria does own All if not most Construction Companies and often use them to build monuments to The party or Centers for Tourist, If not then Oil Refineries and other infestructure and Industry.

Transportation

Sylirians Often use Bikes or Cars to get around, As Syliria is home to a major highway system which goes from Alsayf to the entire coast, aswell as important Cities more inland to make commerce between Governates much easier. Syliria once has 2 international Airports in Sylirian Tourist Hotspots, those being Alsayf and Haqiqatun, These two cities receive the most traffic. In more Rural Areas Sylirian's use less motorized transporation methods such as camels or Horses, as horses have been used in Syliria for thausands of years.

Energy

Syliria is still using Fossil fuels such as Natural Gas and Oil which it doesnt Import, Syliria powers itself, though some complain in more Rural Villages that Electricity is very rare, some getting 2 or 1 hour of Electricity per day, However Sylirian plants for Major Cities often Meet demands well enough so that it isnt a problem, Though rarely do blackouts ever happen in The capital.

Technology

Syliria is industrized somewhat in a Sense, It uses outdated Farming equipment such as older Tractors from The 60s and 70s, The capital is also A bit behind

Military

Even Syliria's Military is outdated, largely Equiped with AKM's and older Tanks, with its Air force using MIG 29's as its main fighter.