Arkava

The Federal Republic of Arkava Федеральная Республика из Аркава
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Единство через Силу Unity through Strength
Arkava (gold), located in northern Tavlyria
Capital	Velirinsk
Largest	Capital
Official languages	Russian, English
Religion	Arkavan Orthodoxy
Demonym(s)	Arkavan
Government	Federal unitary autocracy
• President	Sergei Bruskov
• Prime Minister	Alexei Dragonovich
Area
•	800,000 km2 (310,000 sq mi)
Population
• 2024 estimate	92,403,712
• 2020 census	90,600,461
• Density	115/km2 (297.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	3.435 trillion
• Per capita	$37,580
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	2.653 trillion
• Per capita	$28,710
Currency	Arkavan Ruble
Time zone	MWQ+1
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.ark

Arkava, officially known as the Federal Republic of Arkava (Russian: Федеральная Республика из Аркава), is a federal unitary republic, which encompasses the north-central region of the continent of Talvyria in Teremara. The nation's territory is entirely situated on northern Talvyria, with three small islets around its coastline. Notably, the majority of the nation's population lives along the coast, with only a small percentage living further inland.

Arkava is a unitary autocratic republic, under the governance of the President and Prime Minister, who acts as the legislative head in parliament for the nation's only authorized political party, the APC. The nations President, Sergei Bruskov, currently rules the country as his predecessor's hand-picked replacement. The current Arkavan government was established after the 1991 Arkavan revolution where Alexander Minskov famously re-empowered the Arkavan church and purged the old government.

Currently, Arkava sits as somewhat of a pariah state in Teremaran affairs.

History

Arkavan revolution

Main article: 1991 Arkavan revolution

As ideological and political tensions persisted between Minskov and the Communist government, specifically General Secretary Ivanovich, discontent within the government began to grow regarding Ivanovich's ability to lead the nation and the party. Minskov's exile from the country after the 1981 bread riots exacerbated already high tensions within the party and highlighted Ivanovich's desire to rule autocratically. Minskov would go on to spend the majority of his exile in Pelz, where he began creating and distributing political dialogues on the corrupt nature of the Arkavan Communist Party, and envisioned new ways the country could be lead - specifically with the Arkavan Church as a major partner in the administration of the nation. It is believed Minskov gained his ideas for theocracy in Pelz, a theocracy itself, after his exile from Arkava as there hadn't been any mention of the church in his speeches given before he was exiled.

After Rollan Matveyev's call for a vote of no confidence in the Secretary General's leadership in 1987, Ivanovich tried Matveyev for treason, and he was executed two years later on 1 December 1990 at 12:01pm. This execution rallied members of the communist party base and fringes to call for Ivanovich to step down from leadership, which he did reluctantly, appointing a hand-picked successor many believed to be a puppet of Ivanovich's wishes. Upon an invitation from the Patriarch of the Arkavan Church, Alexander Minskov returned to Arkava. Following the April 1991 referendum, in which 97% of voters approved the shift to a federal theocratic republic, the government began to draft a Constitution, and Alexander Minskov emerged as President of Arkava in September of 1991. After Minskov's order to purge the government of officials loyal to Ivanovich and Kusma, and more generally the Communist Party, many former ministers and officials were executed. After the aftermath of the revolution, Arkava began to back religious militancy around the world to combat Catholic influence and establish Orthodox dominance in the region.

Geography

A topographic map of Arkava, as seen from above.

Politics

Arkavan People's Collective

Main article: Arkavan People's Collective

The Arkavan People's Collective (APC) is the only legal political party in Arkava. It was founded in 1985 by Alexander Minskov, a communist party oppositionist, during the waning years of communism, and called for a new approach to state governance and political ideology. Mainly, rather than traditional Marxist schools of thought around property ownership and the struggle between the bourgeois and working classes. The APC took a notable shift in re-empowering the Arkavan Orthodox Church in personal and government life. This action with the Church, as well as proposing more lenient government regulations around business ownership, foreign trade and some political reforms lead to the Arkavan Communist Party being removed from power during the 1991 Arkavan Revolution.

The APC relies heavily on the influence of the Arkavan Church for moral and religious authority throughout the nation, as well as supporting its conversion efforts in the southeastern administrations of Arkava. Today, the APC continues to consolidate its domestic control through continued operations in surveillance, anti-terrorism and anti-treason. The Internal Security Bureau, known by its cyrillic abbreviation BVB, is a division of the Arkavan Gendarmerie solely controlled by the President, Sergei Bruskov. It is tasked with anti-corruption and anti-treason investigations, as well as monitoring wholesale surveillance of the population in Arkava. Its widely considered to be made up of the most fanatical supporters of the President and his policies, and has been labeled the President's "personal police, for investigations in which the outcome is always predetermined" by foreign press.

Government

Main article: Government of Arkava

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Arkava

In the modern era, Arkava remains largely a pariah state on the international stage due to its strong-handed internal politics and persecutions of religious minorities. In recent years, there have been various discussions on Arkava joining the Teremaran economic bloc UTEC, which seeks to encourage tariff-free trade and more standardized trade practices and regulations throughout its member-states. Discussions have also been held on Arkava joining the Mutual Assistance League of Eastern Tavlyria (MALET), but as of yet Arkava has not become a signatory.

Relations with its direct neighbors, Glisandia and Greater Orcadia remain frosty, especially after Glisandia's internal civil war with Christian terrorist group the Holy Dominion. Unconfirmed reports stated that the Arkavan Secret Intelligence Group offered training and munitions support to the Holy Dominion during their campaigns.

Military

Main article: Arkavan Armed Forces

A soldier from the Arkavan Army aims at a target during military readiness exercises in 2023.

The Arkavan Armed Forces are the military and paramilitary forces of Arkava, under the President as their commander-in-chief. They consist of the Arkavan Army, Arkavan Navy, and Arkavan Air Force. Currently, the Arkavan military has 700,000 active duty personnel, and an additional 420,000 reserve personnel available to be called into active service in the event of war. Conscription is a cornerstone of Arkavan national defense, and service in the military or Gendarmerie is mandatory for all men once they turn 18. Special waivers can be applied for to pursue higher education degrees, as well as for family dependencies and medical or psychological problems. Once 18, Arkavan men typically have until the age of 24 to report for their mandatory 3-year service period.

Arkava currently spends roughly 4% of the national GDP on national defense, equating to roughly $138 billion NSD, or ₽186 billion rubles. Arkava is a founding member of the Mutual Assistance League of Eastern Talyvria, or MALET, which is a defensive military and economic alliance providing for mutual defense in the event of attack. Arkava currently does manufacture nuclear weapons, but does lease its own nuclear weapons from Falkasia through a nuclear sharing program through MALET. Arkava does, however, mine and refine uranium for energy uses in power plants and nuclear powered submarines.

Notably, the Arkavan Navy operates two of the largest ice breakers in Teremara, the PRV Valchek and the PRV Yelkev, which routinely conduct freedom of navigation operations as well as scientific exploration and trade initiatives.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Arkava

The economy of Arkava is heavily centered around agriculture, lumber and mineral and raw materials extraction. Most telecommunications companies are owned by a majority share by the state, thus the services industry has not fully grown to its potential in the country. In recent years, though, more access to the international market has allowed for greater freedoms in business ownership which has bolstered the Arkavan economy as a whole.

Protectionism still plays a major role in government decision-making and practices towards the economy. Even after the fall of communism, Arkava remains partly as a planned economy due to the government's unwillingness to relinquish majorty control in various state-owned corporations. In 2005, the government announced the partial privatization of three major conglomerates: the Arkavan Mining Consortium, the Arkavan Infrastructure Fund, and ArkOil, the national drilling corporation. While the initial legislation prevented the sale of over 20% of the government's stake in these companies to ensure they retained ownership, initial offerings of between 5%-10% of the companies were offered to different foreign bidders. Throughout the years, addendums have been passed to allow the further privatization of national assets, and today allows the sale of up to 49% of nationalized corporations.

Arkava is also a major oil exporter, with the Saratrov Field being completely owned by the state and the nationalized entity of ArkOil running all drilling operations. The estimated recoverable oil of the Saratrov gas field is around 30 billion barrels, with current production set to around 200,000 barrels per day. The drilling rate can be reduced or increased depending on national needs and market prices.

Additionally, Arkava has the deepest mine in Teremara, the Tasarkan Deep Mine, which currently sits just over 3.5km (2.1 miles) deep, mainly extracting gold and uranium.

Wealth

See also: Income inequality in Arkava

In recent years, Arkava has sought to gain acces to UTEC, a united Teremaran economic bloc that promotes tariff-free trade and standardized import and export practices across the region to promote economic growth and free market ideologies. This push has been seen as reflections of the oligarch class wanting greater access to the international market, as the government still controls large swaths of the major enterprises around the country. Arkava has become somewhat of an untapped potential to investors on the international stage, though currently the government is wary to allow too much foreign involvement in state affairs.

Income inequality is rampant in Arkava as well, with college-educated workers earning on average 200% more than their counterparts that don't have secondary degrees. The majority of Arkavans earn less than $40,000NSD annually, with a large portion of ethnic or religious minorities living in poverty. Social mobility is often only accessible for the individuals who are able to afford secondary education and or volunteer for military or government service.

Infrastructure

A road map of Arkava, as seen from above.

High speed rail

In a speech given at the Arkavan Infrastructure Fund corporate headquarters in Velirinsk, president Sergei Bruskov announced the approval of a new high speed rail line from the nation's capital, Velirinsk, to the nation's southeastern port cities of Kybinsk and Kisevgrad, named the Prosperity Line. The line is estimated to be about 900 kilometers in length (560 miles), with an estimated price tag of around $6.25 billion NSD, or around ₽8.35 billion rubles. The construction of the line is estimated to be finished in 2028. The Prosperity Line is the first of a larger push for multiple high speed rail lines across the country, mainly along the coastline of the Narrow Sea to connect Velirinsk with cities across the mainland. The plan calls for an additional 3,250 kilometers (2,019 miles) of track to be laid across the country, constituting the largest infrastructure project in Talyvria, and in Arkava since the construction of the Arsensk Dam Project. In total, its estimated the entire high speed rail system will cost Arkava around $40 billion NSD, or ₽50 billion rubles, with a completion date set for 2032.

Demographics

Population distribution

The majority of Arkava's people live in coastal areas, with the greatest concentration in a strip from Minevda to Velirinsk, the capital, and Lykan, Nakiye, and Kisolensk. This densely populated area of Arkava is referred to as the "Blood Belt", as around 22 million Arkavans, about 23% of the national population, live along the coast of the Narrow Sea. Most major cities are coastal or located on long, navigable rivers that facilitate trade, such as Kaluvda, Yarnovsk, Farnozhevsk and Minezran, respectively. Other major population centers include the lower Korosevsk valley, and the Tavartsiv Peninsula, where Kisevgrad and Kybinsk are located, two major port cities.

Arkava's southern and southeastern landmass are more sparsely-populated than the north and west coastlines: with a population of just 2 million encompassing more than 25% of the land area of the entire country.

Largest cities

See also: List of urban areas in Arkava by population

Religion

Religious affiliation in Arkava, per Wright & Apollo (2024)

  Arkavan Orthodoxy (78%)

  Protestantism (11%)

  Catholicism (5%)

  Islam (3%)

  Judaism (2%)

  Unaffiliated with organized forms of religion (1%)