Volonia

Republic of Volonia Republica Voloniei (Sarpo-Volonian) Репoублика Воионѥи (Volonian Cyrillic)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Patria și dreptul meu!" "Патриа ши дрептoул меoу!" (The Homeland and my right!)
Anthem: Salut la Steagul! Салoут ла Стеагoул "Hail to the Flag!"
Location	Location of Volonia (green) in Sarpedon (gray)
Capital and largest city	Caradej
Official languages	Sarpo-Volonian
Religion	Catholicism
Government	Unitary presidential republic
• National Tribune	Serghei Predoiu (MVU)
• Tribunal Speaker	Nicolae Iohannis (MVU)
• Upper house	House of Tribunes
• Lower house	National Assembly
Establishment
• Independence declared	9 November 1939
• Independence recognized	23 August 1943
• Constitution adopted	19 March 1970
Area
• Total	914,835.6 km2 (353,220.0 sq mi)
Population
• 2034 estimate	48,362,786
• Density	52.87/km2 (136.9/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$1,578,734,610,721
• Per capita	$32,644
Currency	Leu (VOL)
Mains electricity	120 V–60 Hz
Driving side	right
Calling code	+506
Internet TLD	.vo

The Republic of Volonia (Sarpo-Volonian: Republica Voloniei; Volonian Cyrillic: Репoублика Воионѥи) is a country in Sarpedon, located south of Caphiria, east of Pelaxia, and north of Chrobonsk. It shares a long cultural and political history with Caphiria, and currently enjoys close relations with the Imperium.

Before its establishment as an independent country, Volonia was initially a group of four small Slavic kingdoms before becoming the southern provinces of Caphiria. The area served as the cultural crossroads between the Latinic north of Sarpedon and the Slavic south. The modern Republic of Volonia became independent during the Second Great War after its own war of national liberation, which became a theater within the conflict. The Volonian Republic was officially proclaimed on 9 November 1939. With its independence recognized by the Treaty of Kartika in 1943, Volonia underwent decades of military rule under the Liberation Government before transitioning to democracy in the late 1960s. The modern democratic constitution of Volonia was inaugurated in 1970. Prior to independence, Volonia was a primarily agrarian region, but since the recognition of its independence in 1943 it has rapidly industrialized and modernized, catching up with its fellow Occidental nations within a few decades.

Volonia is a unitary state with administrative regions known as tribunates, of which there are five (one for each of the four old Slavic kingdoms, and one for Caradej, the nation's capital). The constitution organizes the Volonian government in the form of a presidential republic with a clearly-defined separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Volonia is a member of the League of Nations and Continental Diplomatic Arrangement Organization.

Etymology

The term Volonia was adopted gradually throughout the 19th century as a consensus term for the people native to Caphiria's southernmost provinces among a large number of possible alternative names. The term derives from a historical reference to "volones", a tribe of Slavic people who lived in the region during the time of the Republic of Caphiria. The origin of this name is uncertain, but some scholars have suggested it is adapted from a native term meaning "strong shield". An alternative explanation centres on the Proto-Slavic root *vol/vel-, meaning 'wet', in reference to its position between Lake Parima and the Vočisna Gulf. "Volonia" as a word was used to refer to the territory infrequently, but began to be used in the romantic and poetic sense around 1820. By around 1900, the term "Volonian provinces" was used in unofficial Caphirian government documents referring to the region, and by that time the term had entered common use.

Geography

Volonia is situated in the southern part of Sarpedon, bordered to the south by Lake Parima and on its other sides by rivers. A small, moderately low elevation mountain range sits in the center of the country and is considered the traditional dividing line between southern Volonia and the rest of the country. The mountains separate the most irrigated and settled parts of the country from the northern deserts.

Lake Parima is one of the defining parts of Volonia. The Lake, which is divided between Volonia, Aciria, and Caphiria, has been a major conduit of transportation and commerce since antiquity. The Lake's freshwater has allowed for significant agricultural activity throughout Volonia, and it has been the source of irrigation for what is now Volonia for thousands of years.

Climate and environment

Much of the landmass of Volonia is naturally desert, with large pockets of arable land along the rivers which stretch from north to south along the nation's borders as well as along Lake Parima, which has been responsible for irrigating significant parts of southern Volonia. Since independence, efforts have been made to transform Volonia's desert into viable land for development, and much of the nation's industrial base has been relocated into former tracts of desert. Volonia's southern coastal regions are wetter and cooler than the interior, but are still mostly warm year round. Winters are not meaningfully observed in the northern two-thirds of the country, but in the southern region temperatures can sometimes drop to around 50 F on very cool days, with the average being in the high 70s. The central mountain range of Volonia are mostly rocky elevations above the desert floor looking to the north while overlooking irrigated agricultural regions to the south.

History

Early history

The earliest known settlements in what is now Volonia date back to the Bronze Age. Many of these settlements were inhabited by the indigenous Sarpic peoples, from which the Slavic peoples of today trace their ancestry back to. Not much is really known about the early Sarpic inhabitants of modern-day Volonia asides from accounts that were written by both Latinic and Suratii scholars and record-keepers. Most of these records tell of settlements that hug the three rivers that surround the desert frontier of what is now northern Volonia; settlements that have been confirmed to have existed from that time after archaeological evidence of the early Sarpic peoples were discovered in the early 20th Century. Many of these settlements would go on to form small petty kingdoms that throughout the years have expanded, shrank, unified, and split apart as ambitious agricultural landlords sought for dominance in the region, with the most successful of them being able to establish moderately-sized domains.

Slavic Silver Age

Volonia was home to a period of Slavic political and cultural resurgence that arose against the advancing Caphiric First Imperium during the 5th and 6th centuries known as the Slavic Silver Age. During this period, Volonia was home to four major Slavic kingdoms, the names of which exist to this day as four of the five tribunates of the nation. The names of these kingdoms were as follows: the Kingdom of Costesti, the Kingdom of Titu, the Kingdom of Bradu, and the Kingdom of Mizil. It was during this age that these four kingdoms would reach their cultural peak as many works of early Slavic art and poetry were created during this time.

Conquest by Caphiria

The Slavic Silver Age came to an end with the conquest of the four Slavic kingdoms by the Caphiric Second Imperium in the 10th Century. To consolidate these Slavic lands, the Imperium made certain prominent families foederati subjects (meaning vassals) of the Imperator in exchange for the responsibilities of holding public offices in the newly-conquered lands. Among these Slavic foederati was a man by the name of Odobric who subsequently married into the imperial family and became the first governor of the newly-established Truřov Province, establishing one of the most prominent of Caphiro-Slavic dynasties in Caphiric history.

Caphiric Dark Age

The Great Civil War, which began in 1127, was the culmination of over a century of constant instability within the Second Imperium. The forty-five-year long conflict was rife with multiple usurpations per year, constant insurrections from the military, and conflicts within the frontier provinces. The civil war would not end until the collapse of the Second Imperium in 1172, leaving Caphiria open to multiple attacks from barbarian armies in the frontiers in an era known as the Caphiric Dark Period. The Truřov Province was quickly transformed into a principality under the rule of Odobric's descendants, a Caphiro-Slavic dynasty known as the Odobricci or even the "Truřovids", and soon got to work on setting up a new hegemony, taking in both former Caphiric cities in what is now modern-day Volonia as well as neighboring Slavic principalities as client states.

Truřovid conquests

Imperator Șerossaccir Patriarcha as depicted in a 17th Century fresco in Venceia.

By the end of the 12th Century, the newly-elevated Kingdom of Truřov was among the most prominent of realms in what would become Volonia during the medieval period, having consolidated its power in the past thirty years since the beginning of the Dark Period. In 1203, the Truřovids waged a major campaign of domination of the modern Caphiric south, including the modern provinces of Ranaella and Isuriana which would last until 1215. Although these regions had been never closely integrated into the Second Imperium, the Truřovid control from the southern coast through the central flatlands made it the emergent power in central Sarpedon, one that had a degree of Imperial-descendant legitimacy.

In 1283, King Șerossaccir Odobricci took the city of Venceia following a long campaign against the Venceian Republic. Rather than destroy the city, Șerossaccir Odobricci induced the Senate to recognize him as Augustus and proclaim his formal adoption by the last recognized Imperator of the Second Imperium. Șerossaccir assumed the responsibilities of Imperator, moving his court to Venceia and adopting Caphiric, rather than Slavic, laws and customs for his court. The newly formed Third Imperium would nonetheless have significant political and cultural Slavic influence. Due to the conquests, most of the lands of what would become Volonia was integrated into the Third Imperium, beginning eight centuries of Caphiric rule over the region. Due to being the home region of the Odobriccis, the lands around Truřov would receive significant benefits and Imperial favoritism for the next two centuries.

Third and Fourth Imperium

The early centuries of the Third Imperium era saw the reemergence of Caphiria as a major power in Sarpedon. Under Serossaccir, the new Imperium entered a period of stability and growth, with many of its major conquests retaking regions that were lost during the civil war and subsequent Dark Period, an era of Slavic prominence in the high echelons of Caphiric society, and an era of scientific discoveries as well as cultural and economic prosperity as the Renaissance was in full swing during this time. Many Caphiro-Slavic dynasties would reach their political and economic zenith during this time as the new elites of the Imperium.

However, this period of stability and prosperity was not to last. The rise in imperial authority and requests for increased clerical autonomy from the Pope, further spurred on by the disastrous Great Confessional War in the 16th Century brought into question the exact nature of the relationship between the Pope and the Imperator. This would eventually culminate in the Great Schism of 1615 wherein the Imperator had formally broke communion with the Catholic Church and established the Caphiric Church as a means to place the Church in Caphiria under the authority of the Imperator, something which had eluded previous Imperators in the previous three centuries. This move was extremely unpopular amongst those who remained loyal to the Pope, which led to the secession of the Imperium's western provinces and a rise in unrest amongst the Slavic populations in the southern provinces.

Ash War

Main article: Ash War

On the the first Sunday following Easter in the year 1627, 11 April 1627, the Reformations of 1627, a package of reforms throughout the Caphiric Church, took effect. Among other changes, the Reformations introduced the new universal liturgy was used throughout Caphiria. It included burning consecrated hosts into Sacred Ash. As liturgies proceeded throughout Caphiria's southern provinces that Sunday, crowds within Churches, who were already greatly opposed to the Great Schism, began to react violently as the priests attempted to burn the consecrated hosts. These crowds threw priests out of churches and began public riots, starting what would become the Ash War. The crowds began to coalesce around local leaders, preventing Caphiric-aligned priests from entering churches and eventually leading to a rejection of civil authority. A local Slavic noble and member of the Senate named Aleksandar Baciu managed to unite the mobs with other dissatisfied low level Slavic nobles, beginning an open revolt that would last for five years. Baciu's armies would ultimately be defeated in 1631 and he would be executed in Venceia, but the unrest continued until mid-1632.

Though the Ash War was ostensibly a conflict related to the Great Schism of 1615 and southern provincial Slavic loyalty to the Catholic Church and its teachings, the war would be a major source of pride and inspiration for the people of Volonia in the future. Baciu is recognized as one of the nation's founding fathers and national heroes.

Era of Retribution

With the defeat of Aleksander Baciu's army in 1631 and ultimate suppression of rebellion in the southern provinces in 1632, a period of harsh crackdowns and strict control from Venceia began. The worst of the so-called "Era of Retribution" came from 1632 to 1635, when the Imperial Legion systematically destroyed most Catholic Churches in the region, executed priests and nuns, appropriated convents and monasteries for the homes of generals and nobilities, and in many cases burnt villages that were housing priests or had been heavily involved in the uprisings. The most famous of these events came on 18 August 1634, when an aged Imperial Naval Fleet carrack was filled with 424 priests - most of the Catholic priests remaining in southern Caphiria and sank just off the southern coast of the country, with many village elders and other prominent locals forced to view as most of the clerics drowned to death.

By 1635, the southern provinces were considered pacified such that a permanent occupation by the Imperial Legion was no longer necessary. While most violence ended, the Era of Retribution continued as Imperial magistrates imposed heavy obligations on the people of the provinces and violence was still employed in order to bring about adherence to the Caphiric Church. Economic disruptions continued through the 1640s, as prominent local Catholic nobles and landowners were systematically expelled and their land re-appropriated to Legionary generals. The Imperial Senate passed many acts between 1629 and 1680 relating to suppression in the southern provinces. By the 1680s, all participants of the Ash War were long dead and the area was considered fully integrated back into the Imperium, ending both special legislation as well as the burdensome presence of additional magistrates.

Long Peace and Volonian nationalism

The "Long Peace" was inaugurated in the 1680s as Caphiria's focus shifted from adherence to the internal Great Schism of 1615 to external military and economic dominance in Sarpedon, and as such most retributive legislation against the southern provinces had expired or been repealed by 1700. While Catholic priests and liturgies continued to operate underground in the area, their existence was something of an open secret tolerated by authorities, though if caught Catholic adherents would be subject to significant penalties or even face execution. Following nearly a century of violence, however, the economic and agricultural output of the area began to rebound and soon exceeded 1600's economic output by the year 1715.

The Long Peace continued through much of the 1700s until notions of Romantic nationalism began to develop among the people of the southern provinces, who began to view themselves as a distinct ethnic group separate from both the Caphiric elites, who by the end of the 18th Century had been purged of any and all Slavic influences in favor of a return to Caphiria's Latinic roots during the Imperium's transformation into the Fourth Imperium, itself a consequence of Caphiria's loss in the Veltorine War of Independence in the year 1782, and were strict adherents of the Caphiric Church, as well as the neighboring Slavic peoples, who were nowhere near as latinized as the people in the Truřov Province (who, unlike most Slavic peoples in Sarpedon, had embraced a Romance language complete with a Latin-based alphabet). This was the beginnings of a distinct "Volonian" identity, born from opposition to the elites of Caphiria and the Caphiric Church.

The rise of this new Volonian identity was marked by a period of tensions between the Truřov Province and the imperial government which lasted from the end of the 18th Century until eventually boiling over during the Second Great War. During the latter decades leading up to the war of national liberation, nascent Volonian nationalist movements received material support from sympathetic Delepasian polities in the nearby region of Vallos. During this time, support mostly consisted of recruiting and training Volonian nationalist guerillas and supplying them. The most notable of these sympathetic polities was Bahia, of which the nation's military intelligence unit, the National Bureau (ON), held particular interest in supporting Volonian independence.

War of National Liberation

Main articles: Second Great War, Volonian Revolt, and Treaty of Kartika

G. C. Lorenzo, depicted here in 1945, was a major figure in the Volonian Revolt.

The War of National Liberation, better-known as the Volonian Revolt, was a theater of the Second Great War that began in 1939 with the secession of the Truřov Province from Caphiria, formally establishing the Republic of Volonia. It was also around this time that Delepasian involvement in the cause of Volonian independence had reached its peak, with many Delepasian operatives getting highly involved in the area. One of the most prominent of these Delepasians was a then-amateur-anthropologist-turned-ON-operative by the name of G. C. Lorenzo, better-known as Lorenzo of Volonia, who had already joined the rebels at the start of the Second Great War in 1934 and spent the half-decade leading up to the Revolt training and uniting the rebels, soon establishing the United Volonian Movement (MVU) on 20 July 1938.

The MVU was at the time a big-tent Volonian nationalist organization with members from all across the political spectrum from fervent monarchists on the far-right to die-hard communists on the far-left as well as members of more moderate ideologies in between. Lorenzo was the first leader of the MVU, having been chosen due to his status as a neutral figure. With the formation of the MVU in place, work soon began to covertly supply the movement. Through the ingenuity of Lorenzo's then-superior, Colonel Jorge Videla, this was accomplished through smuggling weapons, ammo, and other needed supplies inside of food delivery trucks which, so as to not arouse suspicion from Caphiric authorities, were hidden amongst canisters that genuinely contained food. It would take just over a year before the rebels have managed to gather enough supplies for the upcoming Revolt.

Shortly after the Volonian Revolt began in 1939, the rebels were quickly able to capture the city of Caradej within a few months. Throughout the revolt, the rebels were able to capture more and more of the Truřov Province from Caphiria, soon occupying the entirety of the province by the end of 1942. The Volonian Revolt proved to be an immense success, and the independence of the nascent Volonian nation was soon formally recognized by the international community in the Treaty of Kartika which came into effect in mid-1943, putting an end to just over one thousand years of Caphiric rule over Volonia.

Post-war period

Liberation Government

Main article: Volonian Liberation Government

Following the conclusion of the Second Great War, Volonia was governed by a military junta that proclaimed itself as the official governing body of the new republic towards the end of the fighting. This junta, which referred to itself as the Liberation Government, an ostensibly temporary body, was really a slightly reformed version of the United Volonia Movement established by G.C. Lorenzo. Given the coalition nature of the MVU, cracks began to form even before the official end of hostilities as ideological squabbles began to rear up now that there was no longer a common enemy to for the new nation rally against.

By January 1943, General Timotei Nicolescu managed to become the Chairman of the Liberation Government, and began to immediately consolidate power. Nicolescu, who had represented Volonia at the Treaty of Kartika, was hailed by the Volonian people as the man who had finally led them to independence following many centuries of Caphiric domination. He used his popularity to first launch a political purge against the left-wing factions of the MVU, with key leaders and local organizers of the Socialist Party of the Volonian Nation (PSNV) arrested on the night of 22 March 1945. Following the purge of the MVU's left-wing factions and independent left-wing parties, Nicolescu sought alliances with the MVU's right-wing factions and other right-wing parties, securing the support of the Catholic Party as well as a number of groups who sought the establishment of a Levantine-style monarchy in Volonia. Nicolescu managed to dominate these groups as well, and eventually purged those who have not folded into the MVU as well on 4 November 1949.

By 1950, Nicolescu ruled Volonia unopposed, taking the title of President on 1 January of that year. Nicolescu also assumed the title Tribuna Revoluției ("Tribune of the Revolution") and reorganized the United Volonia Movement as a formal political party under his direct control, serving as the political arm of the junta. His two titles would be later consolidated under the title of Tribuna Națională ("National Tribune") in 1955, a title that is still used to this day to refer to the Volonian head of state.

Nicolescu's Liberation Government pursued close relations with Levantia and the Delepasian polities, committing Volonia to the Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association as well as taking some inspiration from the economic policies of Fernando Pascual's Estado Social, of which Nicolescu had greatly admired for turning an unstable republic in Rosaria into a robust yet pragmatic nationalistic regime. The nation received significant infrastructure investments from Urcea and Burgundie during the 1950s as well as technical experts, bringing Volonia to modernity with respect to its industrial and economic capabilities. Most of the benefit of the economic growth, however, remained in the hands of a small clique of Nicolescu's friends and insiders, and the daily lives of Volonians were actually slightly worse in 1960 than they had been prior to the nation's independence.

General Nicolescu eventually passed away on 30 September 1965. He was succeeded as National Tribune by General Andrei Diaconu, a close confidant. Diaconu, however, was outmanuevered within the Liberation Government by General Paul Torje, who made alliances with reformers and traditionalist conservatives alike. General Diaconu was forced to step down as National Tribune on 7 December 1968, ceding authority to Torje. Torje soon announced that a transition to democracy would begin, calling for a constitutional convention to begin the following year. While still wielding dictatorial authority, Torje began to unilaterally liberalize the economy in early 1969 as much of the economy was still in the hands of Nicolescu's allies who sought to restore Diaconu to authority.

Constitutional reform and rapprochement

The Constitution of 1970 took effect on 1 July 1970 following a year and a half of formulation. The 1969-70 Constitutional Convention included many of Torje's military allies, but the majority of its members were legal scholars, diplomats, and a few members of the clergy. The Constitution was largely based on the governing systems of Pelaxia and Cartadania, instituting a moderately liberal democracy in Volonia. Elections were held in June 1970, and Torje was reelected as National Tribune and the United Volonia Movement won a plurality of seats in both houses of the legislature. Following his election, Torje formally resigned his military command and transferred authority to a non-MVU-affiliated Minister of Defense, signaling a partial transition of power in the country.

While the constitutional reform was underway, Torje was undertaking secret negotiations with Caphiria to rebuild relations with its northern neighbor. Technical and economic assistance from Levantia had dwindled since 1960 and had ceased with beginning of Operation Kipling, and the benefits to Volonia were dwindling. Trade with Caphiria would significantly boost the Volonian economy. Torje extracted a promise from Caphiria to recognize Volonia's sovereignty and even issue a statement of apology for the Era of Retribution and atrocities committed during the Ash War. With a popular mandate established, Torje announced on 18 August 1970 that Volonia would be leaving the Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association and would distance themselves from the formerly-close relations that it once enjoyed with Pascual's regime in Rosaria. Volonia would be joining the new Continental Diplomatic Arrangement Organization with Caphiria and Pelaxia and would offer its obligations to the Imperator once more. While this decision was controversial, and the United Volonia Movement lost its majority in the House of Tribunes in the 1974 election, the economic benefits to Volonia were undeniable. Torje remained in power through the 1986 elections, when he retired. Despite the Constitution placing limitations upon the authority of the office of the National Tribune, Torje received considerable criticism for his heavy-handed authority exercised over the government of Volonia, and many modern scholars believe the "true" democratic era only began with the inauguration of the first non-MVU National Tribune in 1987.

Modern era

Volonia's modern period is traditionally attributed to the victory of the big-tent Justice and Progress Party, the first party besides the United Volonia Movement to elect a National Tribune in the history of the nation. The first decades of this period largely focused on institutional reforms. The incoming Justice and Progress Party found that, though the nation had shifted towards a liberal democracy, many state contractors and benefactors of public projects had been politically-connected MVU members or their friends and allies, and as a result, the nation's institutional outcomes were weak in many sectors, including healthcare, education, and the economy. The significant infrastructure investments from abroad in the 1950s had been largely consumed as graft, leaving the nation's rail networks, ports, and highways in much worse condition than the public was even aware of. The 1990s in Volonia saw a dual focus on new investments in these sectors as well as a sweeping and controversial anti-corruption campaign. The MVU and other minority parties criticized the mass firings and investigations as politically motivated witch hunts. Several highly publicized incidents of Justice and Progress Party members investigating and prosecuting their political enemies were recorded, but by 2000 most international observers suggested corruption in Volonia's political administration had been greatly reduced.

Infrastructure, education, healthcare, and other similar social institutions had been greatly transformed in the intervening decade and a half. Despite these successes, the often caustic approach of the Justice and Progress Party to reform alienated many voters who sought normalcy and stability, and the United Volonia Movement won a landslide victory in 2002. With corruption having been mostly eliminated, the Justice and Progress Party became victims of their own success, as reform issues were no longer a winning political issue. The party dissolved in 2010, with many of its key constituencies moving to the rival United Volonia Movement or the upstart Commonwealth Party.

The decade and a half of reform led to significant social and cultural changes within Volonia, as the economic returns of democracy and liberalization finally came to fruition in the early 1990s. This era saw the rise of major sports leagues within Volonia as well as the levels of disposable income necessary for the pursuit of popular media forms, including a television and novel writing boom in the mid-1990s. During this period, popular Urcean music began to spread to the country, becoming popularized and adapted by local artists. It was also during the 1990s that the Volonian government sought to revert to having closer relations with the Delepasians of the relatively recently-unified Delepasian Commonwealth, which by that point had left LOTA as part of its liberalizing reforms under then-prime minister Nicolas Torres. These relations would persist even after the fall of the Estado Social in 1994 and the subsequent rise of the socialist government of the newly re-christened Rumahoki, and to this day Rumahokian dignitaries (including but not limited to the living relatives of G. C. Lorenzo and the mayor of Flordetierra) are invited to attend the annual celebrations that mark the anniversary of the Volonian Revolt on 9 November every year.

Government and politics

Volonia is a constitutional republic governed according to the principles of the Constitution of 1970. The Constitution features a Presidential system under the leadership of a National Tribune and a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the House of Tribunes, which represents certain geographical areas and social institutions, and the National Assembly, which represents the population at large. Elections for the National Tribune are held every four years beginning with the 1970 election. Both houses of the legislature are elected to four year terms, but their elections are staggered, with the House of Tribunes electing during the election cycle of the National Tribune and the National Assembly electing during the other even numbered years between the Tribunal cycle. Volonia is a unitary republic, but it does have specific geographic areas, known as tribunates, with uneven populations which are represented in the House of Tribunes.

National Tribune

The National Tribune is the chief executive and head of state of Volonia, serving four year terms with no term limits. As Volonia employs a presidential system, the National Tribune has broad discretion to implement policy within the national bureaucracy and also has significant legislative powers. The National Tribune is entitled to speak on the floor of the House of Tribunes if he wishes, and also has the power to issue suspensive vetoes, requiring legislation to be tabled until the next session of both the House of Tribunes and National Assembly. The National Tribune also serves as functional head of the armed forces as the Minister of Defense, the civilian head of the military, is answerable to the National Tribune.

Legislature

House of Tribunes

The House of Tribunes is the upper house of the Volonian Legislature. It consists of elected representatives for each of the five tribunates, plus an additional two tribunates each for the Catholic Church and the five collegium within the country. The Catholic members are not elected and instead appointed and typically sit as neutral members of the House, with each representative rotating as Speaker. Under the 1970 Constitution, the tribunates each receive five tribunes as a base allocation plus an additional tribune for every five million people living in Volonia determined every five elections. The last calculation was in 2026. Accordingly, tribunal elections and subsequent sessions of the House of Tribunes are typically recorded in their "quintuple" group of five sessions where representation remained the same. Following the 2026, calculation, there were 45 tribunes within the House of Tribunes.

Constituency	Number of Tribunes
Caradej	8
Costeşti	7
Titu	6
Bradu	6
Mizil	6
Catholic Church	2
Soldiers' Collegium	2
Farmers' Collegium	2
Industrialists' Collegium	2
Urbanists' Collegium	2
National Collegium	2

National Assembly

The National Assembly is the lower house of the Volonian legislature, and is comprised of 225 members who are elected on the basis of party-list proportional representation, with all parties passing a threshold of five percent in national voting receiving seats in the National Assembly based on the share of votes they received of all eligible parties. Elections are held every four years, in years where the National Tribune and House of Tribunes are not on the ballot. The President of the Assembly is elected at the beginning of each four year term and is the only constitutionally named officer in the line of succession in the event of the death of the National Tribune. The President serves both as a partisan party leader as well as organizing officer of the house.

Tribunates

Volonia is divided into five tribunates, approximately corresponding to the four ancient Slavic kingdoms as well as Caradej, the capital city of Volonia. These areas represent distinct cultural and historical regions within the country. The tribunates do not have local legislatures but instead are used as administrative units, providing for judicial circuits as well as taxing districts. Besides Caradej, the four tribunates are Costeşti, Titu, Bradu, and Mizil, each named for the largest city in their respective tribunate as of 1950.

Name of Tribunate	Population (est. 2025)
Caradej	17,500,000
Costeşti	10,500,000
Titu	7,000,000
Bradu	5,500,000
Mizil	5,000,000

Political parties

Volonia is under a dominant-party system wherein although there exists multiple legal and independently-operating political parties, the vast majority of elections are continuously dominated by a single political party. Asides from the dominant party, there exists two other political parties that have consistently won legislative representation and in some cases have even became the governing party for a brief time.

The largest and oldest of the nation's political parties is the United Volonia Movement (MVU), a successor to the organization formed by G.C. Lorenzo during the Second Great War. The MVU was originally the political arm of the post-war military junta which ruled the country as the sole legal party until democratization, but has since transitioned towards a big tent political party which is typically categorized as a center-right party. It supports strong relations with Caphiria, though not necessarily to the exclusion of any other nation, a strong national defense, a liberalized economy, a moderate social safety net, and free trade. The United Volonia Movement has won a majority of the elections since the implementation of the current constitution in 1970 and is presently the incumbent governing party.

The usual main opposition party in Volonia is the Party of National and Traditional Defense (PANT), which is usually positioned to the right-wing or even far-right of the political spectrum. It is an anti-Caphiric political party and has significant Levantine sympathies. The PANT calls for more distant relationship with Caphiria, an alliance with Levantine nations, a furtherance of Catholic social teaching, amending the constitution to allow for the legal enforcement of the Catholic faith, and upholding of traditional Volonian values. The party also calls for the rearmament of Volonia as well as making Volonian Cyrillic the official script of the Sarpo-Volonian language instead of the Latin-based alphabet that is currently in place. From 1970 until 1994, the party also called for the replacement of the National Tribune in favor of a constitutional monarch as part of its political platform.

The nation's main third party, and one of the newest, is the Commonwealth Party (PCV). Considered to be on the center-left of the political spectrum, the Commonwealth Party views western Sarpedon as a single cultural and economic continuity, and thus seeks to eschew both Caphiric and Levantine influences in favor of those of Cartadania and Pelaxia as well as seeking closer relations with other Romance nations in Sarpedon. The Commonwealth Party is a strong proponent of Volonia's entrance into UNESARP, but also seeks to enhance Volonia's social safety net. The Commonwealth Party also aims to make the Cyrillic- and Latin-based Volonian alphabets co-official scripts of the Volonian language on an equal basis with a minor faction supporting the adoption of a Cyrillic-Latin fusion alphabet. The constitution of the Commonwealth Party views Cartadania specifically as a model for Volonians to emulate.

Several minor political parties exist, including the far-left Party of the Revolution in Sarpedon (PRS), the monarchist and Urceanist Julian Party of Volonia (PIV) that was formed in 1980 by a splinter faction of the PANT that supported enthroning a Julian monarch instead of a de Bruce monarch like the rest of the party had declared support for during that year's party congress, and regional interest parties such as the Frontier Party, a small party which seeks a referendum on whether or not the northernmost parts of the nation should secede from Volonia and reunite with Caphiria.

Law and Judiciary

Volonia employs a civil law system wherein the 1970 Constitution is the ultimate legal authority. The Constitution provides for the form of government of Volonia, provides for basic civil rights, and also includes a well developed section on civil law theory and the binding legal nature of legislation as passed by the national legislature.

Volonia's legal system is based on its codified criminal code. As such, the decisions of appellate courts do not directly alter the criminal code, though landmark cases have been known to lead to legislative amendments in the code following major legal decisions. The code itself has been altered and revised many times since its inception. Naturally, a great deal of the national legislature's work is devoted to statute which then must be affirmed by the nation's Supreme Court. As such, it is very rare that such a thing comes to pass which is why it typically inspires statutory change if such an event does occur.

Volonia employs a judicial system based around the geographical boundaries of the tribunates, with the Caradej Tribunal Court functionally serving as the nation's highest court of appeals as a prime court. Tribunal courts are comprised of five members serving ten year terms, appointed by the National Tribune and confirmed by the National Assembly. Judicial systems within local areas are organized by the tribunal courts.

Demographics

Ethnicity

Volonia is a largely homogeneous nation with over 90 percent of the population self-identifying as being ethnic Volonians, a Slavic ethnic group that have been Latinised due to the many years of being under Caphiric rule. The next-biggest group is the nation's Caphiric minority, making up just over four percent of the population. Many of the Caphiric people in Volonia are descendants of Caphiric settlers in the area back when Volonia was a part of Caphiria. Due to Volonia's close proximity to Caphiria, and most especially since the government sought closer relations with their northern neighbour, the Caphiric minority have generally been treated rather decently. The final three groups are the Cartadanians, the Qustantis, and an assorted amount of ethnic groups too small to be given their own category. The Constitution of Volonia as drafted in 1970 guarantees equal rights for all ethnic minorities in Volonia, declaring discrimination based on ethnicity to be unlawful.

Self-reported ethnic origin in Volonia (2025)

  Volonian (90.6%)

  Caphiric (4.1%)

  Cartadanian (2.9%)

  Qustanti (2%)

  Other (.4%)

Language

Further information: Volonian alphabet debate

The official language of Volonia is Sarpo-Volonian, or Volonian for short, a Romance language with commonalities with Cartadanian, Isurian, and Pelaxian, though its closest relative may be Larianic. Unlike most other Romance languages, Sarpo-Volonian has historically had a larger share of foreign influences, with its most significant Romance influences being Larianic and Charentais. Its other influences come from their Slavic-speaking neighbours to their south such as ancient forms of what is now the Suratian language. Because of these influences and the political history of Volonia for the past several decades, it is often argued that there are two forms of the Volonian language: Caphiro-Volonian and Suratio-Volonian. Caphiro-Volonian is the most recognized and the official form of Sarpo-Volonian as a direct result of the Volonian government's pro-Caphiria stance, making use of a Latin-based alphabet much like its closest linguistic relatives and is the form of the Volonian language that can be found amongst citizens who support continued close relations with Caphiria and from the governing MVU, seeing it as a means of making written communication much easier by removing the perceived hassle of transliteration. Suratio-Volonian is lesser-known, found primarily amongst citizens and political parties who wish to drift Volonia away from Caphiria, and makes use of the Cyrillic script; it is officially recognized as a minor variant of the language and thus certain government documents are often transliterated on occasion. As implied, what form of the Volonian language being used depends on geopolitical viewpoints, that being between the mostly pro-Caphiric MVU and the often anti-Caphiric opposition parties.

Religion

Main article: Catholic Church in Volonia

Religious affiliations in Volonia (2025)

  Levantine Catholicism (78.5%)

  Caphiric Catholicism (10.5%)

  Irreligion (7%)

  Qustanti Islam (2%)

  Assemblist (1%)

  Other (1%)

The vast majority of Volonians adhere to the Catholic Church, of which 89% of the population are affiliated with. Although the vast majority of Catholics in Volonia are affiliated with the main Levantine Church (88.2%% of Catholics; 78.5% in total), there exists a sizeable minority of Catholics who are instead affiliated with the Caphiric Church, a particular church in full communion with the Pope in Urceopolis (11.8% of Catholics; 10.5% in total). There is also a very small minority of Protestant Christians, approximately 1% of the population, which are members of the Ecclesiastical Assembly of Sarpedon. The largest non-Christian group that Volonians are affiliated with are the seven percent of the population who adhere to no religion in particular, followed by the two percent of the population who adhere to the Qustanti form of Islam, the religion of the Qustanti minority in Volonia, and a further combined one percent of the population who adhere to other forms of religion but are too small in numbers to make up a significant amount.

Although the Catholic Church is the state religion of Volonia, the constitution forbids the existence of any law designed to legally enforce the Catholic faith upon the populace, thus implicitly and tacitly granting freedom of religion although without a formal and explicit constitutional guarantee to protect this freedom.

Education

Volonian educational attainment is considered high by global standards, with it ranking above average in most global metrics. Prior to independence, educational attainment in Volonia lagged behind that of most other nations in western Sarpedon as well as most developed nations in Levantia. During the period of the Liberation Government, extensive school building occurred between 1950 and 1955, with significant additional investments coming to the system following the transition to democracy in 1970. By 1985, educational attainment had reached world average levels, which it has since exceeded.

Culture and Society

Education

As Volonia is a deeply religious society that maintains a close relationship with the Catholic Church, the vast majority of schools in the country have religious studies classes which are mandatory unless a student or their parents request to be opted out of those classes. This opt-out was a more recent addition, having been added in 1989 by the Justice and Progress Party government to strengthen religious freedoms, but subsequent governments have made the pre-requisites for an opt-out more stringent with the only reasoning that is consistently accepted being if the student in question is of a different faith from that of the Catholic Church. Irreligious and Protestant students (and their parents if said parents are also irreligious or Protestants) have reported having had their opt-out requests denied on the basis of perceived fraud, and some have even reported having never been given a follow-through on whether or not their opt-out requests have been accepted or rejected. Irreligious people, Protestants, and those among the political left have criticized this as the Volonian state enforcing the Catholic faith onto students, something which the Volonian government has vehemently denied over the years while the nation's Caphiric Catholic (save for larger cities that often do have religious studies classes for Caphiric Catholics alongside classes for Levantine Catholics) and Qustanti Muslim minorities have reported having had no issues with their opt-out requests being accepted with many even reporting how fast these opt-out requests are fulfilled.

Attitudes and worldview

The attitudes and worldview that a Volonian citizen may hold depends entirely on a couple of factors, those being geopolitical beliefs and perceived cultural identity. In general, Volonian citizens see themselves as a Sarpo-Latinic fusion with elements from both the indigenous Sarpic peoples and some Latinic influences from the centuries under Caphiric rule. However, there exists a minority of Volonians who wish to purify Volonian culture of as many Latinic influences as possible, instead looking towards the Suratians of Chrobonsk for cultural inspiration; these people seek to distance their country from Caphiria in favor of closer ties with the Levantines. There are also those who, although they have no issue with the Latinic influences, wish to take in some influences from neighboring Romance cultures such as those of Pelaxia and Cartadania; they see Volonia's natural future as one that picks neither Caphiria nor the Levantines, but rather closer ties with UNESARP. The vast majority of Volonians, on the other hand, are content with the current cultural makeup of their society and their country's close ties with Caphiria.

Kinship and family

The heavy influence of the Catholic Church on Volonian society has put a great emphasis on the nuclear family structure; young adults are expected to get married by the age of 21 and have at least two or more children by the age of 24. Unmarried young adults, unless they are somehow widowed, are deemed to be highly taboo and are expected to join a monastery or a nunnery if they are unable to get married and have children. Childless couples are viewed with suspicion unless one or both partners are infertile, and thus are encouraged to adopt. Adult offspring are expected to keep an eye on their aging parents' welfare, the idea being that they may have to take care of their parents someday if they are unable to take care of themselves; multi-generational households are seen as the end goal of the cycle of the proper Volonian family structure. The strong Catholic influence also means that the institution of marriage is seen as being reserved for heterosexual couples; same-sex couples may apply for a civil union, but are unable to adopt.

Religion

The Catholic Church is the official religion of Volonia and is officially represented in the House of Tribunes. The 1970 Constitution states that the Volonian people "are intrinsically and forever tied to the Apostolic Catholic Faith and forever sit in communion with the Pope. The Catholic faith, though it may not be enforced by law, is an indelible characteristic of the Volonian people and their state." Volonians have long been associated with Catholicism in Sarpedon, and were subject to persecution for it during Caphiria's control of the area in the midst of the Great Schism of 1615 and most especially during the disastrous Ash War when the persecution was at its worst.

Economy and Infrastructure

Major Industries

Calingra Quarry

Volonia’s economy is widely diversified, in part due to the availability of resources within the northern desert portion of the country as well as major population densities within the southern portions of the country. The largest national industry, by far, would be the mining industry about the central mountain range which plays host to large deposits of iron ore, lignite, uranium, copper, nickel, while smaller deposits exist of gold, silver, zinc, manganese, and tin. The mining of these ores accounts for a large number of jobs within the country which are both sold abroad and sold to other domestic corporations for use locally. Due to the placement of these deposits, underground mining and in-situ leaching are the most common forms of methods while only two open quarries exist on the northern side of the country. Historically, the availability of metals made Volonia a prized territorial possession of Caphiria.

The fishing industry within the country is also a major source of economic strength, with a total of a half a million tonnes of fish caught from Lake Parima every year on average due to long ranging fishing vessels employing mainly purse seining. The proliferation of vessels often is likened to civilian fleets, which ships rotating in a shift-line manner to reduce stress and fatigue on crew members.

Due to somewhat forested areas to both the north and south of the central mountain range, the timber industry is a major contributor to Volonia’s GDP as well as employing significant numbers of the rural population. Due to the perfection of silvicide and herbicide use, specific trees are enabled to grow in contrast to others while selected areas are kept off-limits to timber companies, enabling a continuous cycle of fully renewable forestry. As can be expected, significant oversight is present within the timber industry by both state and federal governments due to the importance of ensuring that such efforts do not hold more damage than the money they bring in. In addition to this, civil programs are in place to ensure invasive species are kept limited and controlled, as such species could prove to be exceptional damaging to the ecology and by extension the economy.

A manufacturing industry is present within Volonia, producing a variety of both civil and military goods for domestic and foreign use. The industrialization of the country that took place in the 20th century allowed Volonia to divert much of its natural resource extraction to domestic, rather than foreign, factories, creating an economic boom.

Healthcare

Volonia has legalized a universal, tax-based health care system based around a series of taxes and tariffs. These include taxes against the person, of which can be considered minor in their scale and impact on most of the population while not afflicting those below the poverty line, as well as corporate taxes for foreign based companies and conglomerates operating within Volonia. Due to this taxation effort, funding from the government in order to make up the extra slack is lessened, popularizing the idea among Volonian politicians while the civilian populace continues to enjoy the benefits of a universal system. In 2030, Volonia ranked highly internationally with an average life expectancy of 78 for men, 84 for women, as well as a low infant mortality rate (4.4 per 1,000 live births). Practicing physicians were approximately 4.2 per 1,000. In a government survey in 2033, outcomes, hospital wait times, and quality of care were considered to be good by 78% of the participants across the nation, average by 20% of those participants, and poor by the remaining 2%.

Currency

Main article: Leu

The Volonian leu (plural: lei; sign: Ł; code: VOL) is the official currency of Volonia. Like most other extant currencies, it is a decimal currency, meaning that it is subdivided into one hundred portions. The name of these portions, originally named the ban (plural: bani: sign: ƀ) until 1990, is the cent (plural: cenți; sign: ꞓ), named after the centavo, the subdivision of the escudo, the former currency of Cartadania until it was replaced by the Real in 2028 and was formally phased out by 2030.

Labor

By law, all workers within Volonia are organized into five publicly sponsored labor unions known as "collegium". They are the Soldiers' Collegium, the Famers' Collegium, the Industrialists' Collegium, the Urbanists' Collegium, and the National Collegium. Within the collegium, "Industrialists" means workers employed in industry or in service associated with heavy industry, "Urbanists" means service sector employees generally, and the National Collegium includes workers who do not fit within any of the other categories, typically employees of the government or the Catholic Church. The Collegium are represented within the House of Tribunes and elect leaders every two years to represent their interests in labor negotiations.

Transportation

As most of the Volonian population lives in or around the major cities, transportation consists mainly of busses, metros, and high-speed trains or ferries between metropolitan regions. Volonia has two international airports, one in Caradej and one outside of Titu. Titu also has a natural deep-water port. The government's Agenda 2040 plans to artificially deepen a corridor for modern container ships to pass in Lake Parima to make the northern shore of Volonia open for trade.

Military

Composed of the Armata Republicană (Republican Army), Marina Republicană (Navy), and Forța Aeriană Republicană (Air Force), the Armed Forces of the Republic of Volonia operate with a total of 206,104 active and 648,880 reserve service members. While Special Forces are employed, they are not employed under their own branch and are instead largely subservient under the Armata Republicană due to their nature as land-based operatives. However, the Marina Republicană does employ specialists in boarding operations and shipborne security, while the Forța Aeriană Republicană operates a cadre of combat air controllers. With a total budget of $65.8 billion, 4% of the national GDP, and comports of a significant portion of the government’s federal spending per year. Volonia's armed forces heavily source equipment from Urcea, Caphiria, and Cartadania, and accordingly much of its equipment is considered state of the art.

Currently the Armata Republicană stands as among the most modern armies in southern Sarpedon, utilizing a heavy degree of helicopter-borne infantry with both attack and transportation models, as well as motorization and mechanization across all units. Rear echelon commands, such as supply and artillery units, are most commonly motorized with only rare examples of equipping such forces with armored personnel carriers, which combat units are equipped with those as standard. The tanks, integrated organically in tank companies with the infantry force, are generally heavily armored, well-equipped units armed with both a main gun and anti-tank missiles. Both larger and smaller unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are in service, with the former requiring airfields to operate and the latter being able to be launched from armored personnel carriers, trucks, tanks, and even from the ground. These are universally used to gain intelligence on immediate and afar surroundings, though some larger UAVs have secondary missions in the ground attack role. Unmanned ground vehicles are also in use by the Armata Republicană in the role of urban combat, bomb disposal, and intelligence, though its use in the last role has come under critique by many advocates of the UAVs. Currently the Armata is fully developed for third-generation warfare, utilizing superiority in speed, ability to maneuver, and firepower to gain the tactical advantage, with ongoing efforts underway to support asymmetric warfare operations.

The Marina Republicană is the smallest branch of service and is equipped as a brown water navy capable of projecting force throughout Lake Parima, with a surface fleet of vessels in the form of destroyers, frigates, as well as a significant submarine force. Currently the Marina Republicană is conventional in nature, capable of engaging in third-generation warfare, though lacks much of the major capability in countering asymmetric threats. Current mission profiles for thr Navy include freedom of the seas navigation, support for amphibious assaults by the Armata, as well as duties more commonly assigned to a national coast guard such as search and rescue, anti-drug operations, and smuggling interdictions. The only theatre of operations for the Marina Republicană is Lake Parima, which is patrolled regularly. Port calls in foreign nations are uncommon at best, with most vessels staying underway for a majority of their deployment. The Marina Republicană also performs continuous combat patrols with the submarine force, both to keep the Lake's sealane open for commercial traffic. Exercises with the Imperial Naval Fleet are also commonly performed, with OPFOR simulated by a variety of combatants.

The Forța Aeriană Republicană operates primarily as a defensive force against enemy aerial attack, though a degree of offensive capability is kept by virtue of potential necessity. With over a dozen fighter squadrons as well as elements to provide for AWACS and EW, the Forța Aeriană is equipped well for that role. The Forța Aeriană does not operate any unmanned aerial vehicles, with such responsibilities falling to the Armata due to the inherent nature that comes with the taskings for those craft. Currently the Forța Aeriană Republicană is expanding in order to better combat enemy ground threats. Mission profiles include localized aerial supremacy, ground attack, and limited strategic bombing.

Currently the Volonial armed forces operate as an all-volunteer force, using a series of recruitment centers around the country to ensure any citizen has ample access to recruitment resources. Citizens are able to enlist as early as 16 years old with parental permission, following which is a four to six year contract.