Slirnia: Difference between revisions
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# | # Dražovice | ||
# | # [[File:Wappen Jena.svg|14px]] Šavnik | ||
# Andrijevica | # Andrijevica | ||
# Radovljica | # Radovljica |
Revision as of 16:09, 1 May 2020
Republic of Slirnia Republika Slirnija | |
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Capital and | Dražovice |
Official languages | Slirnian |
Recognised regional languages | Minilovan, Miersan, Gaullican, Amathian and Lemovician |
Government | |
Marko Bedeković Tomislav Ivo Stier Marija Žalac | |
Milo Jovanović | |
Legislature | Parliament of Slirnia |
Establishment | |
• Kingdom of Slirnia | 15 September 1784 |
• Socialist Republic of Slirnia | 3 November 1936 |
• Republic of Slirnia | 1 January 1980 |
Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 5,723,452 |
• 2010 census | 5,511,345 |
• Density | 102/km2 (264.2/sq mi) |
GDP (PPP) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $180.170 billion |
• Per capita | $32,690 |
GDP (nominal) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $70.126 billion |
• Per capita | $12,723 |
Gini (2020) | 23.1 low |
HDI (2020) | 0.849 very high |
Currency | Slirnian Tolar a (STO) |
Driving side | right |
Calling code | +578 |
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Slirnija, officially the Republic of Slirnia, is a landlocked mountainous country located in the continent of Euclea. It is bordered clockwise, by East Miersa, Gaullica, Amathia, Minilov, Lemovicia and West Miersa; its only coast is reduced to a lakeshore on its north. The territory of Slirnia covers [ ¿ ] kilometres square which distribute between snowed peaks and fertile plains, where the majority of its 5,723,452 inhabitants live.
Ruled by small duchies and principalities, the territory of today's Slirnia remained highly divided for several decades during the Middle Ages being the Duchy of Dražovice, the first entity traced to be a mark for the Slirnian identity. However, as conflicts were common throughout its history and stability was rare, Dražovice remained occupied by neighbouring monarchies for most of this time until the final revolt led by House of Belojević which achieved a total control of the territory and an early expansion. During the different invasions and conflicts over the Slirnian throne, the population saw the introduction of Christianism and the later predominance of adherence to the Catholic faith over other forms. The Belojević’s Kingdom of Slirnia, however, did not run with a special luck from its ancestor state and the Kingdom remained occupied by Functionalist Gaullica and the Kingdom of Amathia during most of the Great War. Once the conflict saw its end, the Community of Nations proclaimed in the historical area of influence of Slirnia, the Principality of Slirnia, which a few years later saw an abrupt end during the Revolution of 1936, in which its monarch and royal family ended executed by the revolutionaries forces and the means of production taken by the workers.
Slirnia lived under this form of government during most of the 20th century with relative progress and regional integration. Approaching the 60's, the authoritarian government of Slirnia caused a major break in the relations with Swetania and following the path of the Amathian Equalist Republic, the government took an even more totalitarian stance. The situation was followed by a gradual distancing from other socialist countries in Euclea and Kylaris and eventually led Slirnia to suffer electric shortages and a serious economic depression. As the decade continued, social discontent towards the government was discharged in largely suppressed riots and manifestations; during its last stage, the Council of the Socialist Republic of Slirnia applied several restrictions to the social life and media, damaging liberty and press freedom in the country. In 1974, the already damaged image of Slirnia in Euclea re-appeared as a discussion topic after the fire in the Krško Nuclear Plant caused a release of radioactive contamination across the country; the accident triggered the manifestations against the government and by 1979, the government of the Socialist Republic of Slirnia found itself incapable of continuing with the situation and after a year of almost civil war in the capital city and other important urban poles between pro-government and pro-liberalisation forces backed up by [ not socialist countries ] and the majority of the Slirnian diaspora, the council government of the Socialist Republic of Slirnia declared the return of elections and the gradual modernisation of its financial policies towards a market economy. In 1980, the country adopted its new Constitution, which established the Republic of Slirnia. The '90s and early '00s decades were marked by the first administrations of the Social Democrat and Socialists government which gradually started the process of denationalisation and privatisation of the economy as well as the shift on its foreign policy towards the west of Euclea. In the following years, Slirnia saw the accession of centre-right governments; in 2004, the Christian Democrats won their first elections in the history of Slirnia and governed during 15 years, leading the membership talks with the Euclean Community and a stronger privatisation process.
Although it is catalogued as a high income open market economy, it has kept a large welfare and social security scheme which dates from the Socialist ties. The country, ranks high in women participation, civil liberties, press freedom and democratic governance. Slirnia is a member of the Euclean Common Defense Treaty Organization, the Community of Nations, the Global Institute for Fiscal Affairs and the International Trade Organization. In 2009, Slirnia became an official member of the Association for Economic Development and Cooperation and as of 2020, it is an officially recognised candidate for a membership of the Euclean Community.
History
Early settlements
Duchy of Dražovice
Belojević's Kingdom of Slirnia
[ short living Kingdom / Gaullican and Amathian occupation ]
Great War and Principality of Slirnia
[ People fight / fight is bad ]
During most of the course of the Great War in Euclea, the territory of what is today Slirnia remained total or partially occupied by the Entente forces of Gaullica Amathia, with its native people, the Slirnians, suffering of their daily lives being attached to the regional tensions and the authoritianism of the occupying forces. It was only at the end of the war and with the victory of the Grand Alliance's forces, when the territory that at some previous moment had been of the Slirnians, was brought back to them under the conditions of the [ treaty name ] Treaty, which specified the establishment of the Principality of Slirnia as a predecessor of the former Belojević's Kingdom of Slirnia.
The recently created Duchy was granted by the Community of Nations with the responsibility of keeping itself independent from foreign interventions and a new geopolitical map of Euclea provided Slirnians with what was remembered as their historical area of influence, from the northernmost point of Minilov to the southernmost coast of the [ ] Lake, creating a luck of buffer state to cover a large area in Central Euclea. During the first year under the reign of the Prince Tomislav I, Slirnia saw the formal promulgation of its first constitution, which was created in a Prince's attempt to keep the population unified. However, his process of keeping peace shortly failed as the popular feeling of a puppet monarch raised among the population; at the same time, in the neighbouring Kingdom of Amathia, people was living the establishment of the Amathian Equalist Republic that consolidated Swetanian influence in the area for the upcoming decades.
Socialist Republic of Slirnia
The pretention of the Prince to keep Slirnia under a constitutional monarchy met its end shortly after the fall of the Kingdom of Amathia. In the Slirninan countryside, the population, heavily affected by hunger, famines and poverty found in the ideas of its neighbourhoods, the manner to fight the rising inequalities between Dražovice and the rural areas and the complete indifference of the monarchy towards their situation. The irregular front, composed by socialists and anarchists, rapidly acquired the sympathy of the rural populations, which enabled the revolutionaries to take the control of several towns and villages in less than a couple months before the Princely forces could notice; it was long after, in February 1936, when the monarchists forces, seeing themselves reduced to control the capital city and a handful important cities, launched their offensive giving the start to a shirt but crude civil war.
Backed up by the recently established Amathian Equalist Republic, the partisans composed an informal but rather well-equipped army that consolidated itself with the several enlistments of men and women from the towns they liberated from the monarchist forces. During the course of 1936, partisans were deployed over most of the south and east of Slirnia encircling the capital, which was living a specially tumultuous period with constant manifestations from workers, which were suppressed by the Princely Police Corps. Of the many, the most recognised was the pacific manifestation at the [ name fo factory ] factory, in which workers were incinerated during the [ - Massacre ]. By September of the same year, manifestations turned into riots that counted with a strong presence and influence of the partisans over the workers and farmers that lived in the outskirts of Dražovice; with the a revolution and a civil war taking place in the streets of the city and the countryside, the irregular was sure about their decision of overthrowing the monarchy.
With the revolutionary forces effectively setting a provisional council republic with its capital established in the city of [ ], the monarchists forces and the Princely family in Dražovice were challenged to face the reality of a dual power. The recently established council republic rapidly gained the attention of an even larger portion of workers and farmers that by October, had increased the membership of the partisan's army in a 55%, making it more visible a closer invasion of the Princely Palace and the final takeover of Dražovice, which eventually took place during the morning of 3 November 1936, when after a long fight the previous night, revolutionary forces burst into the Princely Palace of the city, imprisoning the royal family and executing the members of the counter-revolutionary army. Poor records of the event in the Slirnian National Archive have left open this last chapter in the history of the Slirnian Revolution, and although, some historians say the family was granted their life and exiled, others have confirmed their execution days after the Socialist Republic of Slirnia was established.
The same day after taking the Princely Palace in Dražovice, the revolution established the Socialist Republic of Slirnia following the Swetanian model of council republic. However, as the years followed, the SRS veered towards a more authoritarian model of governance; local councils remained under a strong military presence and centralisation towards the capital city gradually became an issue as the central council grew bureaucratically under the presidency of Slobodan Bijedić in 1965. During most of the 50's and 60's, Slirnia kept its political alignment with its southern neighbourhood, Amathia, whose economic prosperity created a favourable environment in Slirnia for the country to develop an early industry, that gradually grew with the time, switching the country's economy from a mainly agro-exported based one, to an industrially based. But on the other side, diplomatic relations with Swetania remained tense during most of the existence of the SRS, due to the authoritarian stance the Slirnian council took with the pass of the time.
Together with the strong economic growth the Amathian Equalist Republic lived, Slirnia became economical and energetically dependant of the country to develop its industry, but as the former submerged in a complicated internal situation and Swetania marked its distancing, Slirnia was left with few alternatives, which eventually led to a period of increasing inflation, financial problems and electric shortages; as the society of the SRS grew their discontent with the council government, this applied several restrictions to political and press freedom following the path of Amathia with its League of Equalist Unity; Slirnian fragile politics were broken during the civic-military coup of 1972 with the armed forces taking the effective control of most of the institutions. By 1973, the tumultuous life in the cities across the SRS led to pacific manifestations and later riots to denounce the lack of personal freedom in the country but as these became largely suppressed by the government and its informal forces, the situation became unsustainable. During much of the decade, Slirnia submerged itself in isolation from the rest of Euclea to protect itself from international sanctions, but in 1974 a fire in the Krško Nuclear Plant caused a release of radioactive contamination across the country; the exaggerated government efforts to shut down the press about the incident (which was later reported to be INES Level 3 by the Atomic Energy Commission) ended provoking mass manifestations in Dražovice and the international community to look at the social situation of the country.
International sanctions, the preoccupation of the Community of Nations about a new conflict in the continent, the tense relations with Swetania and the collapse of the Equalist regime in Amathia, proved to the government of the Socialist Republic of Slirnia the difficult situation in which the country was positioned to face the future. In the same line, the Party for the People's Victory nominated the Social Democratic Party to lead a gradual open up of the Slirnian society and economy and in 1979, the country proclaimed the constitution to a year later, establish the Republic of Slirnia with the first elections in democracy. The country kept the form of council republic for over two more terms, until in 1994, a referendum was celebrated to change its composition and duties, creating the position of Prime Minister of Slirnia and reducing the council presidency from seven to three members.
Republic of Slirnia
The Republic of Slirnia was finally established with the promulgation of the Constitution of Slirnia in 1979, which came into force in 1 January 1980. Since then, the country has lived many transformations towards a liberal democracy and market economy as the rest of east Euclea. The political, social and cultural scene of the country since then, has been marked by the return of democracy and the administrations of the Social Democrat Party and the Sotirian Democrats; both parties, representing opposite ideological positions, have led Slirnia under consensus towards the liberalisation of the economy and the introduction of Slirnia to the liberal democracy. During the first administrations of the SDP, the party granted the pacific transition while keeping the collegiated form of government, in the same line, the party introduced several initial reforms (heavily questioned at first by neo-liberal economists) on the economy aimed to the denationalisation and privatisation of the state-owned companies. The global recession during the 80's provoked in Slirnia a general discontent towards the social democrat government, to which the population started to see as a continuation of the previous regime. However, in 1994, before the electoral year of 1995, Slirnia celebrated a referendum to decide the continuity of the council and in which form. A year later, during the elections of 1995, Slirnia elected its first Prime Minister and reduced the council composition to three as well as reducing its role on the daily politics.
The elections of 1995 saw the victory of the Sotirian Democrats, being the first centre-right party to win the elections in Slirnia. The party, under the leadership of [ name surname ], led the first contacts of the country with the Euclean Community and started a stronger scheme of privatisations, which concluded with the total sell of Škavak Auto to [ Weranian !VW ] and Dražovice Banka to Slirnian capitals. [ name surname ]'s administration was heavily criticised by the opposition and the Slirnian Democratic Centre by the strong austerity reforms introduced to palliate the effects of the previous recession. The political performance of the SDC took the party to lead polls and eventually win the elections; the SDC governed, with coalitions with the Sotirian Democrats until 2020.
Geography
Horses in the plains of Andrijevica, near the River Čik.
With _ mts, the Štiavnica Mountain is the highest peak of Slirnia and delimites the border with Lemovicia.
Winter landscape near Pljevlja, highlands here mark the limit with East Miersa.
Church of the town of Herceg in Illirska during Winter.
Cattle near Orrantia, Illirskan enclave in Vitanje.
Farm in the Vitanje region overlooking the highlands.
Climate
Climate data for Dražovice International Airport (1981–2018) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 19.8 (67.6) |
19.1 (66.4) |
25.0 (77.0) |
30.3 (86.5) |
33.4 (92.1) |
36.3 (97.3) |
38.2 (100.8) |
39.3 (102.7) |
34.0 (93.2) |
30.0 (86.0) |
21.3 (70.3) |
17.9 (64.2) |
39.3 (102.7) |
Average high °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) |
5.1 (41.2) |
10.3 (50.5) |
16.7 (62.1) |
21.8 (71.2) |
24.9 (76.8) |
27.5 (81.5) |
27.0 (80.6) |
21.7 (71.1) |
15.6 (60.1) |
8.2 (46.8) |
3.3 (37.9) |
15.4 (59.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.4 (31.3) |
1.2 (34.2) |
5.5 (41.9) |
11.0 (51.8) |
16.0 (60.8) |
19.1 (66.4) |
21.3 (70.3) |
20.7 (69.3) |
15.9 (60.6) |
10.4 (50.7) |
4.9 (40.8) |
0.7 (33.3) |
10.5 (50.9) |
Average low °C (°F) | −3.4 (25.9) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
1.3 (34.3) |
5.4 (41.7) |
10.2 (50.4) |
13.4 (56.1) |
15.4 (59.7) |
15.0 (59.0) |
11.0 (51.8) |
6.1 (43.0) |
1.8 (35.2) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
6.0 (42.8) |
Record low °C (°F) | −24.6 (−12.3) |
−20 (−4) |
−15.1 (4.8) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
−2 (28) |
3.0 (37.4) |
7.0 (44.6) |
5.0 (41.0) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
−8 (18) |
−12 (10) |
−20 (−4) |
−24.6 (−12.3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 39 (1.5) |
37 (1.5) |
38 (1.5) |
34 (1.3) |
55 (2.2) |
57 (2.2) |
53 (2.1) |
59 (2.3) |
55 (2.2) |
38 (1.5) |
54 (2.1) |
46 (1.8) |
565 (22.2) |
Average relative humidity (%) | 83 | 78 | 71 | 64 | 67 | 66 | 64 | 65 | 73 | 78 | 83 | 85 | 73 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 65.1 | 81.9 | 151.9 | 204.0 | 263.5 | 270.0 | 275.9 | 269.7 | 207.0 | 142.6 | 60.0 | 46.5 | 2,038.1 |
Average ultraviolet index | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Source: Slirnije Meteorološka Služba |
Politics
Slirnia has a rich political history, that goes through the three most important periods of its history to the present republic and its constitution is a clear reflect of this; adopted after the revolts against the absolute monarchs of the Kingdom of Slirnia, the country adopted its first constitution in [] and later, after the Revolution of 1934, the socialist regime underwent several reforms on the carta magna. The current constitution, was composed and voted in 1979 and promulgated in 1980 establishing the Republic of Slirnia. Since then, the country has maintained it, adapting it in multiple times with plebiscited reforms. Although the establishment of the Republic of Slirnia marked a strong separation from the past Socialist Republic, the contitution still maintained several articles, which preceded the constitution of the SRS, such as the protection of the personal freedom, the collective propriety and an egalitarian view on issues like marriage and divorce. Despite the Catholic faith remains the largest faith in numbers among the Slirnian society, the constitution does not define any religion as official for the state and keeps several articles that make reforms on this, unconstitutional. Since 1980, the power in Slirnia is separated into Legislative, Executive and Judicial, each of them with their special duties and independence. The country has a collective presidency composed by three members that act as Heads of State and a Head of Government, called Presidency (Predsednik Slirnije) and Prime Minister (Premijer Slirnije) respectively.
The government of Slirnia is led by the three figures that compose the collective presidency, who are elected by universal and direct suffrage to serve a six year term in total and divided in terms of two years each. However, this position is de facto ceremonially, its powers on the political scene are only limited to act as a guarantee for the respect of liberty and common aims in the Slirnian society. The Prime Minister of Slirnia, on the other side, is who reflects the country's leading political figure; Prime Ministers are elected during general elections and serve for terms usually no longer than five years, these are responsible to the Parliament of Slirnia and command the confidence of the rest of the members of the parliament. In case of failing to get the confidence or loosing it, it is the Presidency of Slirnia who dissolves the legislature and calls for new general elections. The constitution of Slirnia prevents Presidents of exercising more than two consecutive administrations as these are regarded to in the political and social life of the country as neutral, however, if a Prime Minister is elected during an internal election as party leader, wins the majority of the votes during a general election and gains the confidence of the party, these are not limited to continue exercising the office.
The legislative power of the republic is vested on the unicameral Parliament of Slirnia (Parlament Slirnije), which is composed by 179 representatives or parliamentarians that are elected during the general elections by universal suffrage, and whose duties are to represent voters and its interests. The Parliament of Slirnia is the responsible of handing confidence to the Prime Ministers after these are nominated by the Presidents and of passing laws, allowing referendums and discussing national matters of importance. Since the last General Elections in 2020, the Slirnian legislature is composed by the Social Democratic Party, the Socialists-Greens Alliance and Progressive Slirnia on the government and the Sotirian Democrats, Slirnian Democratic Centre and Liberals-Možemo on the opposition. Without parliamentary presence, there are several other minor parties in the politics of Slirnia such as the far-left Communist Party of Slirnia or the far-right populist Nationalist League of Slirnia.
Foreign Relations
As a landlocked nation of medium size, Slirnia is a recognised as a small power which seeks to project its influence through diplomatic, cultural and economic ties, as a result, the country maintains good relations with embassies or consulates in most nations of the world. Although its foreign policy since the return of the democracy in 1980 have been rooted in the neutrality and cooperation, the country does maintain strong ties with intergovernmental organisations as observer or member. Since the establishment of the Republic of Slirnia, the country has contributed the international scene with an active profile of cooperation and aiming to bring socio-political stability to the region. Slirnian governments over the last decades have reached consensus among all political parties in proactively contributing to the protection of Slirnian sovereignty through the diplomatic path keeping foreign relations far from the politicisation.
As of 2020, Slirnia is an official candidate for a future membership of the Euclean Community; however, the Euclean Community continues being a discussion point in the politics of the republic with several parties and a large number of citizens willing to keep the country as an associate of the community rather than being an official member. Slirnia is a member of the Euclean Common Defense Treaty Organization, the Community of Nations, the Global Institute for Fiscal Affairs and the International Trade Organization. In 2009, Slirnia became an official member of the Association for Economic Development and Cooperation.
Administrative divisions
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Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of Slirnia —Oružane snage Slirnije Republike— are the military service of the republic, they comprise two branches, the Air Force of Slirnia (uwu) and the Army of Slirnia (owo), which are commanded independently and subordinated to the President of Slirnia (Commander-in-Chief) and the Minister of National Defence. Due to its condition as a landlocked nation, Slirnia does not count with a Navy; however, the police is the force in charge of the coast in the [] Lake. As it is established in the constitution of the republic, the primary mission of the Armed Forces is to safeguard Slirnian independence, sovereignty and territory from foreign interventions; however, in recent times, the Slirnian Armed Forces have also provided the government with an effective emergency relief team during national disasters. Conscription in Slirnia is voluntary since the referendum of 1998 and annually, there is an average of 150 new trainees.
Although their presence in the social and political life of Slirnia has decreased immeasurably since the return of the country to the democracy in 1979, the Armed Forces of Slirnia have kept an active participation in Euclea, Bahia and Coius during peacekeeping missions and joint exercises with members of alliances. Since the integration of the country to the Euclean Common Defense Treaty Organization, the Slirnian armed forces have adopted the protection and support of international peace as a core value in their tasks. In 2019, the country reported a total spending of 0.91% of the country's GDP in their military budget.
Economy
The economy of Slirnia is a high-income economy, sometimes described as social market due to the large welfare program that provides to its citizens. Although its GDP equals those seen in the west portion of Euclea, the country suffers social inequalities in some of its regions. The total GDP of Slirnia was estimated in 2019 in $223.677 billions while the GDP per capita was seen in $40,585; on the same line, several organisations such as the Association for Economic Development and Cooperation and the Euclean Community have noted the efforts of the governments to maintain high life standards and low public debt. Depite its past as a centrally planned socialist economy, Slirnia successfully made the transition to a market driven economy with an important private sector; today, the country ranks regionally high or very high in economic competitiveness, freedom of business and globalisation. In 2018, poverty was reported to be at 5.1% and the population in risk of poverty at 1.9%, in the same line, unemployment was reported to be at 4,9%, signifying a gradual increase of 0,2% since the last report.
The economy of Slirnia is driven on its majority by a large export-oriented agricultural sector and an important industrial sector that predates the Socialist Republic of Slirnia. However, both sectors have seen a decline in the last years with the predominance of the tertiary services sector, in which the financial and technological sectors have increased in their importance. Today, industry comprises a 22.7% of the total national GDP; for the Slirnian industry, the national automotive company Škavak Auto is the largest contributor. The agricultural sector is rooted largely on the exports of meat and live cattle, mostly to other Euclean nations, where the traceability of Slirnian cattle is considered an aggregated value. Services remain being the largest economic sector, accounting for over 61.2% of the total economic activity of Slirnia, its importance resides on the financial and banking sector, the technology and software production and in a large retail sector.
During the 80's and 90's, after the establishment of the republic, the country underwent one of the most ambitious programmes of privatisation of its economy to face the transition towards a social market economy. The first Social Democrat governments and later liberal conservatives Christian Democrats and SDC administrations pursued macroeconomic stabilization and several structural reforms that led Slirnia's state to sell partially or totally most of its state-owned companies. Although this process is regarded to by the political establishment to be already finished, Slirnia still owns several shares in most former state-owned companies, which has assured over the decades, economic prosperity. Some important and international or regionally recognised Slirnian companies are Škavak Auto, Dražovice Banka and the department stores and retail related chain Elle.
Energy and infrastructure
The energy market, as well as the telecommunications, are some of the areas in which the government of Slirnia still keeps participation, ealving then not only at the mercy of private capitals. Energy utilities are today heavily controlled by the government through the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Industry and although, private companies are allowed to invest in several areas, the state keeps a large share in the electric utility company [ name ]. This stocks, as well as in other state-owned companies, are protected by the [ ] Agreement between the different major parties of Slirnia and consolidates the semi-privatisation of the Slirnian economy and markets.
Although in previous years Slirnia was a country whose domestic production was not enough to fully cover the domestic electricity consumption, since the 90's and together with the privatisations, a modernisation of the whole energy model of Slirnia was took into consideration and with subsidies and further investments, the country has advanced in its electrical independence from neighbouring countries. In 2018, domestic electricity consumption was covered by a 85% of domestically produced energy. The geography of Slirnia has been advantage for its electricity production, specially of non-renewable resources; with a vast network of rivers, electric utilities rely on the hydro power while on the plains and mountains, energy utilities have invested on the construction of wind farms.
Slirnia is extensively covered by a large network of roads and railroads, which dates back from the industrialisation period during the socialist era. Over the years, transport has been a point in focus by government investments as a method to increase the quality of infrastructure in the country and thus affecting other economical aspects of the country such as tourism which already represents a large share in Slirnia's income. The most important motorway is the A1, which connects the south border with Amathia with several towns until it meets Dražovice and continues farther to the border with Gaullica; other important motorways are the A2 and A3, which are complemented with the large network of expressways and other regional and municipal roads. However, despite the large motorways network of Slirnia, the vast majority of the freight and passengers transport is covered by railways. The country operates a semi-privatised company, Železnice Slirnije, which counts with a large operations network in the country connecting many times, important cities with the rest of Euclea. Železnice Slirnije is the operator of the high-speed lines in Slirnia and other important suburban lines in major urban poles.
Demographics
During the 2010 national census, Slirna was reported to have a total population of about 5,511,345 inhabitants, whose majority, was concentrated in the capital city Dražovice and other urban poles across the country. Although this last census to the population of Slirnia showed a gradual deceleration of growth, mainly associated with a higher human development and increased consumption, the Slirnian population has been in constant growth since the 70's. Regional integration in recent times has increased the mobility of Slirnians and since the 2010's, the rates of immigration and emigration from and to other Euclean countries have been cases in study in the demographics of the Slirnia, most notably, students exchange programs between universities have had the strongest effect on younger generations. In rough lines, the largest foreign groups in the country persist being Lemovicians, Minilovans, Amathians and Gaullicians; most of these groups are found mainly concentrated in areas near the borders with their respective countries or in Dražovice.
Ethnically speaking, the population of Slirnia tends to be homogeneous although with a recent mixture. Traditional groups that settled in the country centuries ago are found in the northernmost region of Radovljica (consisting mainly in Selórzans) and in the bordering regions with Lemovicia of Pljevlija and Illirska, groups of Lemovicians; minor groups of ethnically Minilovans-Slirnians live in the south of the Vitanje region. As a developed country, Slirnia has a very high life expectncy at birth with an average 81.5 years, one of the highest in the AEDC.
Healthcare
Healthcare has been, over the years, a major preoccupation for the governments of Slrinia; the country ranks very high in healthcare coverage and with its system inherited from the Socialist era, it has eradicated or controlled a number of diseases. Slirnia has a total health spending accounted for 9.4% of GDP, slightly above the AEDC average and near the top in the Euclean continent. The public healthcare is delivered on a basis of Universal health care and through the National Healthcare Service of Slirnia, which covers more than 85% of the population through a compulsory system of insurances payed by a 6.5% of tax by all employees. The NHSS is also the responsible authority in Slirnia to control other private healthcare providers and assures the right mobilisation and allocation of state funds for hospitals; the State's compulsory insurance provides emergency facilities, treatments and specialised medicine besides of other basic healthcare services. Users have also the opportunity to pay for private insurances, which are usually more costly.
Religion
While Slirnia has no official state religion and the church has been separated from the state since 1936 with the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Slirnia, the population is marked by a heavy Catholic heritage. During the Socialist era, the country faced the censorship of many religious rites and underwent a gradual secularisation process which culminated in 1980; however, at its final stages, the totalitarian regime reduced its control and persecution over religious communities. The Constitution today guarantees the freedom of religion and the protection of all adherents regardless of their adherence. In rough numbers, the majority of the population is still adherent to the Catholic faith, representing some 71.5% of the total population, the group is followed by agnostics or irreligious people, which account for a 21.3%, and other denominations of Christianism, such as Amendists (with a 2.1%) and Episemialists (3.5%, whose majority is adherent to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Arciluco). Catholicism is believed to have been brought to the territory in which is today Slirnia by the Selórzans people, mainly in the northern region of Radovljica. Like the Amendists, the Episemialist Church had moments in the religious history of Slirnia in which both counted with large adherence among the Slirnian society; however, as the decades followed, the Solarian Catholic Church gradually recovered its control over the territory, an effect later consolidated with the Gaullican occupation.
Although Catholicism still plays a major role in the traditional and rural life of the Slirnians, the Solarian Catholic Church in Slirnia has kept a low profile, advocated to humanitarian and community works as well as the promotion of education. Its social importance has seen a gradual decrease over the last decades, and although most of the population self-identifies as adherent, most of them are counted as lapsed Catholics. In more recent times, small groups of Catholics in Slirnia have been linked to lobbyist groups against the approbation of abortion, euthanasia and LGBT rights.
Largest cities
While the estimated population of Slirnia is of 5,723,452 inhabitants, the density is reported to be at 102/km2. As a developed country, Slirnia counts with a high urbanisation rate that has been reported to continuously grow as time passes. Most of the population is concentrated in large urban poles, such as Dražovice and its metropolitan area, Graštnik and Kamnik. In these three main cities, people has seen its own inhabitants moving from the city centres to the surrounding suburban areas, which has increased the sizes of the cities and traffic jams. Nevertheless, most of the Slirnian population is equally distributed across the territory.
Largest cities or towns in Slirnia
Source? | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Regions | Pop. | ||||||
Dražovice Graštnik |
1 | Dražovice | Dražovice | 780,551 | Kamnik Krško | ||||
2 | Graštnik | Andrijevica | 223,468 | ||||||
3 | Kamnik | Pljevlija | 110,234 | ||||||
4 | Krško | Vitanje | 81,630 | ||||||
5 | Sveta Nedelja | Vitanje | 60,235 | ||||||
6 | Škavak | Radovljica | 55,892 | ||||||
7 | Zapregrad | Pljevlija | 51,622 | ||||||
8 | Idrivenska | Illirska | 48,230 | ||||||
9 | Bistrica | Šavnik | 44,287 | ||||||
10 | Postojna | Radovljica | 38,540 |
Education
The educative system of Slirnia is divided between kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. Its funding and control is responsibility of the Ministry of Education, which is also the government level from where educative policies are dictated. Kindergartens are often taken as optional for children between two and three years old, although it has recently been approved a project to make it compulsory for all children from the age of three to six years old. Primary and secondary education are later divided into pre-school, basic and secondary, where in the last two years, puppils receive a general understanding of their choice that is supposed to serve as a base for further tertiary education. In general lines, the Slirnian educative system is based on general, vocational and hobby, principles that were first introduced during the Socialist Republic of Slirnia and later perfectioned through multiple educative reforms.
The performance levels of education in Slirnia are among the highest in the region; the country ranks high in the AEDC's Programme for International Student Assessment, specially in mathematics and science and as of 2018, the country had an 87% of its adult population holding a high-school degree. Furthermore, a 58% of the population held a tertiary education degree. In 2019, the government spent 5% of its total GDP on education plus a 1% in science and investigations.
Higher education in Slirnia is led by the autonomous University of Slirnia, which is the oldest and largest tertiary education in the country. The University of Slirnia was founded in _ and in 1956, the government of the SRS granted the institution with the independence from the Ministry of Education and its own budget, separated from the other branches of education. Today, public universities in Slirnia are in charge of organising the academic life of te institution, holding universitary elections to choose rector, create new curricula and approving budget's administration. Other important tertiary education institutes are the Slirnian University of Arts, the Slirnian Academy of Sciences, the Slirnian University of Technology and the University of Graštnik.
Culture
Sports
Holidays
As of 2020, Slirnia has 11 public holidays days. Although most of them keep a traditional Catholic background, these public holidays are now celebrated in non-religious ways and most of them used as cultural or typical holidays. Slirnia has three special national days; the Slirnian Identity day, which is often refered to as the Slirnian Culture Day, is a day in which museums, art galleries and parks are opened with special exhibitions and activities to celebrate the national identity; the Day of Restoration of the Slirnian Republic, which marks the day of the fall of the Socialist Republic of Slirnia and finally, the Unity day, which celebrates the day in which the referendum over the Constitution was celebrated in 1979, although the referendum was celebrated in September of that year, since 1995 the Unity Day is celebrated after Christmas as a way to commemorate the establishment of the Republic of Slirnia the 1st of January of 1980.
Public holidays in Slirnia | Date |
---|---|
New Year's Day | 1 January |
Slirnian Identity Day | 3 February |
Good Friday | moveable |
Easter Sunday | moveable |
Workers' Day | 1 May |
Pentecost | moveable |
Day of Restoration of the Slirnian Republic | 20 June |
Midsummer Day | 24 June |
Christmas Eve | 24 December |
Christmas Day | 25 December |
Unity day | 27 December |