Juznia

Juznik Republic Juznikijos Respublika
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Juznia (dark green) – on Gaia (light grey, light green and grey) – in Erdara (grey and green)
Capital and largest city	Višnevas
Official languages	Juznik
Recognised national languages	Hytek
Ethnic groups (2017)	Juznik (80.4%) Hytek (16.5%) Other (3.1%)
Religion	Ditanery
Demonym(s)	Juznik Juznian
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
• President	Saulius Gudaitis
• Prime Minister	Ieva Kleizaitė
Legislature	Taryba
Independence
• Duchy of Višnevas	tbd
• Union with Hytekia	1860
• Kingdom of Hytekojuznia	1884
• Hytekojuznik revolution	1913
• Hytekojuznik FSR	1918-1981
• War of Juznik Independence	1986-1989
• Višnevas Accords	October 27, 1989
Area
• Total	168,651 km2 (65,117 sq mi)
Population
• 2017 estimate	14,015,335
• Density	83.1/km2 (215.2/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$127.6 billion
• Per capita	$9,107
Gini (2019)	30.7 medium
HDI (2019)	0.802 very high
Currency	Dukatas (JZD)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+94
Internet TLD	.jz

Juznia (Juznik: Juznija), officially the Juznik Republic (Juznik: Juznikijos Respublika) is a country in northern Erdara in Gaia. It is bordered by The Sea to the north and west, Mascylla to the east and Hytekia to the south. Juznia's territory spans 00,000 km2 (00,000 sq mi) and is mostly hills and lowlands. The population is around 14 million and consists mostly of Juzniks with a significant Hytek minority. The capital and largest city is Višnevas. The official language is Juznik.

History

Ragucin Empire

Main article: Ragucin Empire

Duchy of Višnevas

Main article: Duchy of Višnevas

With the end of the Ragucin Empire new states began to form in modern-day Juznik territory, the most prominent of these was the Duchy of Višnevas. At its height the Duchy controlled vast amounts of territory in southern and eastern Juznia with it's northernmost point being the town of Ariogala and it's southernmost point being the town of Klinkos, it also controlled towns such as Ukmergė, Kalvarija and Simnas with it's main settlement being Višnevas, the modern-day capital of Juznia. Furthermore many surrounding towns and cities such as Greninga became highly dependent on the Duchy. With the growing power of the Margraviate of Ezeravira between the 16th and early 19th century the Duchy began to lose a grip over it's territory and entered a protracted decline. By the 1810s the Duchy had become a vassal state of Hytekia and in 1860 the Margrave of Hytekia, Johannes III, became the Duke of Višnevas. During the early years the Duchy maintained some independence but with the ascension of Johannes IV to the throne this came to an end. Hytekia and Višnevas were united as the Kingdom of Hytekojuznia.

Hytekojuznia and Great War

Main article: Kingdom of Hytekojuznia

Communist Hytekojuznia

Main article: People's State of Hytekojuznia

Civil war and Independence

Main article: Hytekojuznik Civil War

Politics

Main article: Politics of Juznia

Juznia is a parliamentary republic, with the government divided into legislative, executive and judiciary branches. The current constitution was adopted in 2005 with amendments having been made since then. The Constitutional Court decides on all matters of constitutional law.

The President is the head of state who is elected by popular vote to a five-year term. The President serves as the commander-in-chief of the military and also appoints the prime minister, has the power to veto a law without an absolute majority and has the power to dissolve the Taryba. Saulius Gudaitis, an independent, is the incumbent President following the 2015 presidential election. The seat of the Presidency is the Royal Palace in Višnevas.

The Government is composed of the Prime Minister and the cabinet ministers. The government is responsible for proposing legislation and the budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies. The incumbent Prime Minister is Ieva Kleizaitė of Renew Juznia.

The Taryba is a unicameral legislative body. The Taryba has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers, declare war, and ratify international treaties and agreements. It is composed of 180 members who are elected to serve four-year-terms. All of the members are elected through proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. A party or coalition must reach the 7% threshold to win seats in the multi-member constituencies. The most recent election was held in 2017 with the next due in 2021.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

According to the most recent estimates Juzniks account for over fourth-fifths of the country's population at 80.4% of the population, an increase from accounting for 69.4% of the population in 1989. The second largest ethnic group are the Hyteks who account for 16.5% of the population. The remaining 3.1% of the population belongs to various other groups including Allemanic groups, Liidurians and not!Frisians.

Urbanisation

Under the People's State the population of Juznia rapidly urbanised as traditionally farming groups were moved to new apartment buildings built by the communist government. This led to the country's rate of urbanisation reaching a peak of 73.4% living in urban areas in 1986. As people fled the urban centres in the south of Juznia during the war of independence and it's aftermath this rate fell to 67.6% in 1994. Since 1994 the urban population has been growing with 72.6% of the population living in urban areas. It is currently projected that the percentage of the population living in urban areas will reach 80% by 2030.

Religion

Ditanery has traditionally been the dominant religion in Juznia with no significant religious minorities living within the area. Under the People's state Ditanery was heavily persecuted and atheism was enforced by the state leading to a decline in public religiosity. However, underground apothecaries in homes were common during this period. Following the outbreak of the war of independence in 1986 many Juzniks were attracted to the Cathartic Temple during the turbulent times they lived through.

According to a 2017 survey 79.5% of the population claims to be Ditanist, 16% claims to be unaffiliated to any religion, and 4.5% of the population claim to belong to another religion. A 2005 survey by the Cathartic Temple found that 48% of Juzniks believe "there is a god", 34% believe "there is a spiritual force", 11% believe "there is no god or spiritual force" and 7% "do not know".