Svenskbygderna

Hverland Hverøyken
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Räna
Official languages	English, Hverlandic
Recognised national languages	Hverlandic
Recognised regional languages	Icelandic
Ethnic groups (2022)	79% Hverlandic 8% Icelandic 4% Scottish 3% Norwegian 3% Polish 3% Other
Religion	Church of Hverland
Demonym(s)	Hverlander
Government	Unitary multi-party parliamentary republic with significant elements of direct democracy
Legislature	Rokthing
Population
• 2020 estimate	130,435 (178th)
• Density	2.9/km2 (7.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$6.9 billion
• Per capita	$50,000
Gini (2017)	28.95 low
HDI (2020)	0.946 very high
Currency	Luther Mynt
Date format	dd/mm/yy (NG)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+54
ISO 3166 code	HV
Internet TLD	.hv

Hverland (Hverlandic: Hverøyken) is a small Nordic island country in the northern Atlantic Ocean. It is located around 300km southeast of Iceland and 100km from Norway. The capital city is Räna. It is home to around 305,000 people.

Hverland's recorded history began with the settlement by Viking explorers around 1259. The land was settled quickly, mainly by Swedes who may have been fleeing conflict or seeking new land to farm. In the early thirteenth century, both Iceland and Hverland became subjugated to Norwegian control which, in turn, was united with Sweden (1319) and then Denmark (1376). Eventually all of the Nordic states were united in one alliance, the Kalmar Union (1397–1523), but on its dissolution, Iceland fell under Danish rule, and Hverland fell under Swedish rule.

Hverland remained part of Sweden, but in keeping with the rise of nationalism around Europe in the nineteenth century, an independence movement emerged. Hverland shared the Swedish Monarchy until 1862, after which it declared independence.

Due to Hverland's isolated and heterogenous population, the nation demonstrates a cohesive national character more clearly than many countries. That character is attributed to the inhospitable landscape, the constant darkness of its winters, and the need to work together in order to survive. Hverlanders are highly agreeable and compassionate people, reflected in the state's strong social welfare system, while also harboring conscientiousness and responsibility, reflected by the high GDP per capita, high level of educational achievement, and more recently significant technological advancements. It is both tolerant, free and peaceful, as well as neutral and isolated. The country rests on the fault lines of differing philosophies.

Hverland comes across as a typical Scandinavian-inspired state: it has liberal views towards the LGBT community, gender equality, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty, although it is unique in its relatively restrictive abortion laws. It is home to a collective bargaining culture, a strong belief in both personal and more specifically digital privacy, a high degree of public safety and a complex social insurance scheme which mixes private and public funding and provision. Hverland has reluctantly accepted the need for firearms within its uniquely-positioned society and has legalized marijuana. The development of many of Hverland's significant social reforms have been instigated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hverland, which is the official state church of Hverland. Around 76% of citizens were members of the church in 2021.

Demographics

Hverland is one of the most ethnically homogenous societies in Europe, with 92% of the population identifying as ethnic Hverlanders (who themselves are decedents of Swedes, Icelanders, and Norwegians). The country resettled nearly 1,000 Jews during the second World War, and their numbers have slowly grown to about 3% of the population as of 2020. Over recent years, the immigrant population has been growing. In 2021, 5% of the population identifies as foreign-born, with the largest groups originating from Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine. However, since 2018, the centre-right government has placed more stringent requirements on obtaining citizenship.

The main language spoken in Hverland is Hverlandic, a close relative of old Swedish. It is the indigenous language of the country. Around 90% of Hverlanders are also fluent in English. Other common languages spoke are Swedish (8%), Icelandic (4%), Polish (2%), Yiddish (1%), Scots (1%), Lithuanian (1%), and Ukrainian (<1%). Hverlandic is the only official language of Hverland, but, Scots, Icelandic, Hebrew, and Yiddish are recognized minority languages. Recognized minority language status enshrines the right of speakers of these languages to receive schooling and other legal services in their language.

Administrative districts

Hverland is composed of 21 municipalities, The main tasks of the municipalities are regional planning, education, and emergency services. In addition, the public health services are usually organized on the basis of regions. Three municipalities, known collectively known as the Grundaríslands, have a special status within Hverland and have a much higher degree of autonomy than the others, with their own collective parliament and local laws, due to its unique history and the fact that the overwhelming majority of its people are Icelandic Hverlanders who speak Icelandic. Icelandic is rarely spoken outside of the Grundaríslands and does not have official status on the mainland (although has national minority recognition). The population of the Grundaríslands was 13,772 in 2021, or 4.5% of Hverland's total population.

Economy

Economically, Hverland might typically be thought of as a socialist state: incredibly generous paternity leave, government-funded job training for the unemployed, and free healthcare. But underlying these interventionist policies is a core of liberal economics. Public spending is 23% of GDP, but this has been in decline for nearly two decades and is continuing its downward trend. In the same period, public debt has more than halved from 70% of GDP to 34% thanks to a shift in the budget from an 11% deficit to a 0.8% surplus. A lot of this has come about by allowing private companies to provide public goods by competing for contracts alongside public providers. What this sort of system amounts to is not the free market guiding the public sector, but being allowed to contribute to a well-developed welfare state. Since the initial wave of liberalisation efficiency savings haven't budged much and there is continued debate about whether private firms provide the same quality as public-run services. In essence, Hverland attempts to balance a competitive business environment with a high level of public provision of goods and services. It does not do so by sticking rigidly to the traditional free-market vs. planned economy dichotomy, but by focusing on the ends it wants to achieve (such as a higher quality of life, happiness and individual autonomy, among others) and determining which means will best accomplish them.

Hverland's political system is well suited to this economic approach. Human capital is at the centre of the government's economic agenda, and its directorial democratic institutions offer an atmosphere of trust and stability which facilitates continued safe investment. Society's egalitarian nature and easy mobility further reassures Hverlanders of the system's success and ensures their support for it. While the state does employ around 30% of the labour force, the focus of policy is on individual autonomy within an open economy rather than on state direction. This is why the private sector has been brought back into state policy after clumsy top-down planning of the mid-to-late 20th century. As one example of 'intelligent government', Hverland uses a form of 'flexicurity' that allows firms to sack employees with considerable ease, but then uses government resources and facilities to provide these unemployed citizens with generous benefits and considerable assistance in finding new work. Similarly, the government uses resources to invest in innovation within problem areas, rather than trying to solve those problems through taxes which historically proved ineffective within Hverland. Essentially, the government tends to turn political projects into business plans. In other areas, such as education, the government refuses to consider private involvement, but in these cases tends to offer a considerable degree of autonomy to the local providers rather than centrally-directing efforts.

In the 1990s, Hverland suffered a deep recession following the collapse of a telecommunications bubble The government's long-term response has been to encourage a wider range of vocational courses throughout the education system and to support graduates in creating diverse start-ups through a venture-capital fund. The fund is controlled by the Federal Technological Innovation Agency, which works alongside large businesses to provide support and advice to high-potential start-ups. This example is simply to show that innovation and entrepreneurism are strongly encouraged in the Hverlandic economic system. Its flaws are twofold: (1) many start-ups remain small in scale, or (2) they move abroad when they do begin to significantly expand. Recent government efforts to counter these problems have seen corporation tax reduced from 32% to 25%, and there is talk of further cuts.

Culture

Hverlandic culture is often seen to have arisen as a fusion of the Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic elements. While Hverlandic attitudes around most cultural issues tend to be quite liberal like the rest of Scandinavia, one area where the nation is a notable outlier relates to sexual morality – sexual relations outside marriage are controversial and promiscuity is looked down upon. Social scientists disagree on why this taboo exists.

Hverlandic music has had long folk and popular traditions. Hverlandic folk music is believed to have started with the setting of poetry and Christian and Lutheran prayers to musical backing, for group entertainment and worship, and of purely instrumental tracks played at social gatherings for entertainment, often featuring group dancing. Traditional instruments that these were played on generally consist of pipes and fiddles.

The fusion of these folk ballads and instrumental dance pieces with the work songs found by many in the cities led to popular music in the late 19th century; performers turned away from the poetic or religious lyrics of traditional folk music towards singing about every day issues many of its singers faced, such as the hardships of labour or romantic pursuits; many would start performing these songs at bars in Östsjö, gaining larger audiences. In the modern day, these styles of music have grown into Hverlandic styles of schlager, which in the modern day has seen many electronic influences, yet the ballads detailing people's ordinary lives still persist.

Hverlandic philosophy has developed as a particularly rich field over the years, with philosophers exploring many questions within the subject within their works. Notably, Hverlanders have done much to explore the philosophy of Lutheranism, its implications on the world, and the development of Hverlandic Lutheranism; much of this philosophy has had a great influence on the policies of Hverlandic governments in both a religious and secular form.

International

Despite the nation being known for its state of neutrality, this has been questioned in recent years, with Hverland becoming a member of NATO in 2017. Though Hverland is philosophically and constitutionally a pacifist country, it continues to maintain a minimal defense force that consists of a coast guard and national guard. Hverland is also a member of the UN, OECD, and the Nordic Council. Hverland ranks high in economic, democratic, social stability, and equality. It is consistently ranked as one of the most developed countries in the world and high on the Global Peace Index. The country runs entirely on renewable energy.