Lubyak

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Dominion of the Lubyak
Flag of Lubyak Flag Seal of Lubyak Seal
Motto: "The Dominion Provides"
Anthem: For the Glory of the Dominion
Location of Lubyak
Capital	Erota
Official languages	Russian German English
Ethnic groups (2012)	Lubyakan 47.3% Rotanan 10.2% Reichlander 15.3% Felis 9.5% Jackal 7.8% Equestrian 4.6% Other 5.3%
Religion	Nonreligous: 74% Harmonism: 12.3% Rani.-Sirithilsim: 8.2% Other: 3% Christianity: 2.5%
Demonym(s)	Lubyakan, Lubyan
Government	Constitutional Autocracy
• Governor General	Lukas Alexandrov
• President of the Dominion Council	Tatyana Ovano
Establishment
• The Declaration of Lubyakan Republic	July 9, 1565
• Establishment of the Dominion	March 16, 1815
Area
• Total	15,768,900 km2 (6,088,400 sq mi)
Population
• 2% per year estimate	1,645,142,482
• Density	104.33/km2 (270.2/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	Æ 34.5 trillion
• Per capita	Æ 20,949.63
Currency	Lubyakan Thaler (Æ)
Time zone	UTC: -8 to -5
Date format	mm-dd-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+47
Internet TLD	.lub

The Dominion of the Lubyak is a meritocratic constitutional autocracy located in Borealia.

The Dominion of the Lubyak extends across the southern section of the continent of Tolkoya, extending from the Bay of Toman in the West to the Arglythe Sea, and the Tovakyan Ocean in the south, as well as extended deep inland to cover a total of over seven million square kilometers. In addition to its mainland, the Dominion of the Lubyak maintains several extra-territorial colonies, both in Northern Borealia, and in other regions around the globe.

The Dominion was founded in 1819, following the collapse of the Lubyakan Republic that had preceded it. Following its founding, the Dominion proceeded to embrace a policy of international isolation, focusing on securing and expanding its land borders against the threat of the Charnean Empire to the north. The years leading up the First Intercontinental War, saw the establishment of a far-flung Lubyakan colonial empire, which covered much of Borealia, and the First Intercontinental War confirmed Lubyakan hegemony. However, the reaction to threatened Lubyakan regional hegemony led to the Second Intercontinental War, which saw the Dominion removed from many of its colonial possessions, and established many of the other states of Borealia as true great power rivals to the Dominion.

Since then, the Dominion has remained a major power within Borealia, serving as one of the region's chief producers and exporters of heavy industrial and military goods, as well as a net exporter of rare earth metals and energy resources. In addition, the Dominion has been a large and important player within regional politics enabling the Dominion to express itself on the inter-regional stage. This trend has continued with the Dominion has established the Greater Borealian Security Pact.

Etymology

The history of the name 'Lubyak' stretches back more than 2000 years. The name is originally derived from the Ilenan word 'Lubacka' meaning, 'City of Metal and Stone'. This name was first recorded as a declaration of settlement to the south of what the Ilenan Solar Empire traditionally controlled, with the first evidence of Ilenan settlement appearing around 400 BCE.

This settlement--on the site of present day Erota--was named 'Lubacka', named for both the mountains that surround the Pass of Erota where the settlement stood, and for the vast mineral wealth that could be uncovered in those same mountains. From there, the name slowly changed over time to the current 'Lubyak'. The first recorded instance of the use of the actual name 'Lubyak' instead of 'Lubacka' or any number of transitional names was in an Ilenan Solar Empire administrative file in 1456, referring to mineral production in 'the Lubyak'. It was apparent that by this time, the name had taken on a new meaning, differing from the original Ilenan name. The Lubyak seemed to refer to the land between the Anyo and Eben Rivers bounded to the East by the Rotanov and Tolkoyan Mountain ranges. Multiple references exist to 'the Lubyak', and the name seems to have been adopted by both the settlers in what would one day be the 'core' of the Dominion of the Lubyak as well as Imperial officials in Ilena as the region's provincial name. In time, the people who lived in the region--distant from the core of the Ilenan Solar Empire, and growing increasingly wealthy in their own right began to refer to themselves as the 'Lubyakans', and lent the name to the democratic government that broke the territory of the Lubyak away from the Ilenan Solar Empire, during the Imperial Civil War.

'Lubyakan' is the most common name for both the people, and the demonym of the name 'Lubyak' e.g. the Lubyakan people, the Lubyakan state. Another term used to refer to citizenry of the Dominion is 'Lubyan' but this phrase is much less commonly used although its use remains popular in some of the eastern provinces of the Dominion of the Lubyak. The term 'the Dominion' is often used to refer to the current state, distinct from the preceding 'Lubyakan Republic. This semantic distinction is preserved--and encourage--to highlight the distinction between the nation and the state.

Geography and Environment

File:Geographic Map (Borealean Lubyak).png

Geographic Map of Lubyak

The mainland of the Dominion of the Lubyak is located on the continent of Tolkoya in Western Borealia, the last major landmass before the great ocean to the west that spans much of the rest of the world. The continent of Tolkoya itself is the junction of Borealia, serving as the stop gap between the Tacitus Ocean to the north, and the Tovakyan Ocean to the South and the East. Tolkoya is dominated by the eponymous Tolkoyan Mountain Range in its heartland, which rises to a height of over 6,000 meters at its highest point, although heights of 4,000 meters are much more common. The Tolkoyan Mountains form part of the northern boundary of the Dominion of the Lubyak, but significant portions of the range exist in the Dominion's territory.

The Dominion of the Lubyak mainland sprawls for more than fifteen million square kilometers of southern Tolkoya, stretching from the Bay of Toman on its western coast, to the Yamat River in the east. The geography of Lubyak is extremely diverse, with a very strong dividing line created by the twin ranges of the Tolkoyan and Rotanov Mountains. These two ranges--separated only by the 200 km wide Gap of Erota-- divide the territory ruled by the Dominion into two distinct sections, with wildly different geographic features and climate types, and an attached difference in peoples. .

The western territories tend to be rocky and are dominated by the foothills of the three great mountain ranges that are contained within it. However, the territory to the northwest of the Gap of Erota is part of a larger coastal plain descending from the Ilenan Solar Empire. Although not as massive as the Tovakyan Mountains, the Rotanov Mountains in the peninsula which shares their name are still large and impressive features, and the same can be said of the Tovakyan Mountains that dominate the Dominion's westernmost territories. Due to the prevailing winds that sweep over Tolkoya, and the sheer height of both the Tolkoyan and Rotanov Mountains, the western territories of the Dominion are often rain drenched, and the local ecology tends very strongly towards deciduous forest, with evergreen forests in the uplands. Although much of this forest has been lost to the passage of time, urbanization, and industrialization, the climate remains, and the western areas of the Dominion benefit from heavy rainfall, with clearly defined seasons. The climate is mostly temperate, with warm, dry summers and cool, wet, winters overall.

The eastern territories of the Dominion have a much different environment than the ones to the west. Overall, they are much flatter than the western areas, and their climate is much more similar to that of a grassland or steppe, due to lying in the rain shadow of the western mountain ranges. A Mediterranean climate dominates the coastal regions and the foothills of the mountains ranges, despite the direction of the prevailing winds, but the vast majority of the territory east of the mountain ranges in part of a vast steppe and grassland that extends north through to the Tacitus Ocean known as the Two Rivers Steppe.

With much of the moisture from the great oceans to the west of Tolkoya being spent west of the Tolkoyan Mountains, the eastern provinces of the Dominion, and the interior of Tolkoya in general are dominated by massive river systems fed by glaciers in the mountain ranges. Traveling for thousands of kilometers, the two most important rivers are the Yamat and Erotan Rivers. Although other rivers flow through the area, they mostly serve as tributaries to the Yamat and Erotan Rivers. When combined with their tributaries, the Two Rivers' Drainage Basin covers most of Tolkoya between the Tovakyan Mountains, and the Viveran Mountains in the far eastern portions of the continent. Additionally, these rivers provide the primary water source for much of the eastern portions of the Dominion, and are thus highly valuable for the agriculture dominated region.

Ecologically, the the territory the Dominion rules was originally very diverse as evidenced by the climate and environmental scene. However, years of industrialization and urbanization have had extremely negative impact on the biodiversity of the Dominion's territory. Several species have been driven to extinction, both in the industrialized west, and by the rise of large scale farming in the eastern plains. Large scale strip mining operations and other resource exploitation operations in the west have led to serious ecological issues throughout the western provinces, and the wide scale use of fertilizers in order to maintain the soil quality in the eastern areas have lead to similar ecological problems in the east.

Beyond the mainland on the continent of Tolkoya, the Dominon of the Lubyak also incorporates several other territories, both under the title of Dominion Protectorate, and as full provinces. Under the protectorate system, the island of Ilan, whose geography consists of hilly terrain descending from the Conmare Mountain range along its northern edge along with significant coastal plains, and the reasonably temperate Taros Islands are considered to be part of the Dominion of the Lubyak. As a result of more stringent environmental controls implemented by the local government as well as the lesser focus on industrial production and resource exploitation in comparison the mainland Lubyakan territories, the protectorates are widely considered to be more environmentally stable and benefit from the resultant ecological tourism.

Political Divisions

File:Province Map (Borealean Lubyak).png

Political Map of Lubyak

History

Expansion and Industrialization

In 1890, the Dominion partook in the War of Union, in order to secure the formerly Fillician island of Ilan as a Dominion Protectorate.

The Intercontinental Wars

See Also: First Intercontinental War, Second Intercontinental War

Government

File:Alexandrov.jpg

Governor-General Lukas Alexandrov

The Dominion's government consists of several state level entities, and an overarching federal government which controls the military and foreign policy, and generally directs the policy of the entirety of the Dominion. The central government, commonly termed 'the Dominion' exerts direct control over a large portion of the total territory of the Dominion of the Lubyak, while the state level entities generally exercise control of their own territory. The Dominion Charter, the governing document of the Dominion of the Lubyak sets up the general governmental structure of the whole state, but much of the current structure has been created through years of development and interpretation of the Charter.

The Judiciary

Main Article: Judiciary of the Dominion

The Judiciary of the Dominion of the Lubyak is one of the Dominion's most peculiar institutions, taking upon the role of what would--in most other states--be authority divided up amongst several organizations. As set down in the Dominion Charter, the Judiciary holds two primary responsibilities within the Dominion: the maintenance of lawful conduct both by the people and the state, and the provision of necessary information in order to accomplish the first duty. Originally, the Judiciary was intended mostly as a watchdog group, reporting troublesome officials or citizens to the Dominion Courts for prosecution, if they were in violation of the Dominion Charter. The Judiciary continues to hold true to these core principles, its role has expanded significantly since the Dominion was first established, and it has become the third key branch of the Dominion, and serves the role of policing both the other branches of the Dominion, as well as the Lubyakan people.

The Judiciary in its modern form is divided into three Directorates, each holding responsibility for a separate area of responsibility and speciality. The First Directorate serves as a state police force, the Second Directorate as a foreign intelligence gathering service, while the Third Directorate supervises the conduct of the Dominion itself. This division of authority is intended to respect the fact that the wide spread reach and power of the Judiciary is far too broad for any one organization system to control all of it, as well as to provide a certain level of compartmentalisation and impartiality in case of cross Directorate operations.The one common feature of the Judiciary across all of its Directorates is the tile of 'Justicar' provided to its agents, regardless of their position. While there are different grades of Justicars, most senior agents of the Judiciary are known as Justicars, and such agents are the most commonly known face of the Judiciary. All three Directorates have a reputation for being highly secretive, and among the most opaque in terms of operation. In recent years, demands have been made for the Judiciary to publish its expense reports, but multiple Governor-Generals have repeatedly blocked attempts by the Dominion Council to order the Judiciary to do so. This lack of information has led to the creation of a wide variety of conspiracy theories surrounding the Judiciary and its operations, along with many allegations that it has ties to other disreputable organisations, and disregards sentient rights in its operations.

Economy

The Dominion of the Lubyak has a capitalist mixed economy, although the influence of the government is minimized to a great extent as possible. Dominion economic policy is based upon the role of government as proposed by Adam Smith, namely, that the government's role in the economy is limited to that of ensuring that collusion between corporations and businesses do not serve to negatively affect the performance of the free market. Most other regulations common in other mixed economies are not found within the Dominion of the Lubyak, a fact that has been blamed for the rampant industrialization and exploitation of Lubyakan ecology, in its current state. Dominion economic policies are also criticized for creating a large rich-poor divide. The Lubyakan economy is dominated by the private sector, which makes up more than 80% of the economy.

Major corporate entities and companies within the Dominion of the Lubyak include: Crepusculum Investment Bank, Erotan Heavy Engineering, Turvokan-Farmer Aerospace, Bucephalus Global Banking and many other organizations of national and regional importance. Lubyakan firms rank among the largest corporate entities in the region, excluding corporatocracies and other such state like entities. Lubyakan corporations have become key players in the field of finance in Borealia as a whole, and Lubyakan manufacturers and resource producers are heavily involved in the economies of many nations in the region.. This economic influence is often utilized as a key part of Dominion part foreign policy.

As of late 2013, the Dominion of the Lubyak has a GDP of NS$76,250,314,100,000, and a GDP per capita of NS$ 46,348.76. Its economy varies greatly by region, with certain parts of the country existing in a post-industrial state, while others remain heavily industrial or agricultural in nature. The regional divide in terms of economic activity has often served as a source of tension in Dominion domestic politics, especially in the relationship between the Federal Cities and their surrounding provinces. The large rich-poor gap is also exacerbated by the economic divide, which often further exacerbates issues regarding social welfare. The Lubyakan economy enjoys a large export surplus, made up of the exports of heavy industrial goods, military equipment, raw materials, and processed materials.The Lubyakan labor force is estimated to be 1,138,491,750 sapient beings. Relatively few of these workers are unionized, with unionized workers making up less than ~5% of the total labor force.

Resource Extraction

The Dominion of the Lubyak's industrial economy is heavily based on the ability of the Dominion's territory to provide ample resources for industrial production both domestically, and from abroad. As such,the Dominion of the Lubyak does posses a well developed resource extraction industry. This industry is primarily concentrated in the southwestern part of the nation, particularly in the area around the Rotanov and Tovakyan Mountains. These areas specialize in industrial scale mining, and produce large quantities of: iron, copper, coal, potash, bauxite with lesser amounts of a wide variety of materials. While the mines in these two areas account for the majority of the Lubyakan mining industry, other mining activities occur around the nation, especially further north in the Tolkoyan Mountains. Mines in the Tovakyan Mountains provide titanium, coal, manganese, chromium, uranium along with smaller amounts of the precious and rare earth metals and other important resources. As of the modern period, the Dominion has become a net exporter of these natural resources, supplying large amounts to many states around the region.

In addition to classic resource extraction, the Dominion of the Lubyak has a well developed energy extraction industry, producing large amounts of both oil and natural gas. Energy extraction operations are mostly concentrated around the hydrocarbon rich Bay of Toman area, which has proved sufficient to enable the Dominion of the Lubyak to approach self sufficiency in fossil fuels, although imports are often needed to meet demand. In more recent years, exploration missions into the Shadow Desert in the eastern half of the Dominion of the Lubyak, has raised questions about the potential presence of other exploitable hydrocarbon resources outside of the Bay of Toman Area. Of these, oil and gas fields around the Taros Islands have been the most promising, with the development of some extraction structures showing great promise.

Industrial Production and Manufacturing

As the Dominion of the Lubyak is a manufacturing powerhouse within Borealia, the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the Lubyakan economy are major portions of the overall economic picture, and a significant player on the regional stage. Heavy competition within both the domestic industrial sector, and with foreign producers have created an industry which is renowned for efficiency and skill. Lubyakan industry remains centered around heavy industrial capital goods production, with a lesser focus on the production of consumer goods, although the sheer scale of Lubyakan industry results in a significant amount of consumer goods production as well.

In addition, the movement of raw resources and industrial goods throughout the territory under the Dominion's jurisdiction also serves to add to the overall economic activity of the nation, with some portions of the nation relying heavily on the transit of goods for economic activity, including both domestic and international trade, with Lubyakan harbours being among the busiest in the region in terms of commercial shipping. The Rota Valley is known as one of the largest and most concentrated centres of industry in Borealia, being almost entirely covered in factories and other industrial facilities.

Overall, the industrial sector is the primary influence on the nature of trade the Dominion faces. With its high production levels of heavy industrial capital goods and vast production of natural resources, the Dominion of the Lubyak tends to be an exporter of processed natural resources (e.g. steel, gasoline, aluminium). The Dominion also exports a large amount of finished heavy industrial product and capital goods, while also being a major exporter of military hardware. In more recent years, Lubyakan companies have begun attempts to compete in the regional automotive and civilian aeronautical and marine markets with some degrees of success. However, the Lubyakan focus on heavy industrial production has left a large economic niche--especially in terms of electronics--which is often filled by importation.

Agriculture

The Dominion's agriculture is almost exclusive focused on food production, with very limited resources set aside for cash crop production. Food production takes place primarily in the Two Rivers Plain to the east of the Gap of Erota and the Tolkoyan Mountains. Although these plains are in the rainshadow of the large mountain ranges, they are relatively well watered thanks to a combination of large river and man built irrigation systems flowing throughout the plains. The net result is that the Dominion is often able to field mass exports of staple foods, even while forced to import most cash crops.

The primary crops grown within in the Dominion are staple food crops such as wheat, corn, and potatoes with cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, and sugar cane almost non-existent, except for limited production in some southern areas. In addition, the nature of the farmland the Dominion possesses limits the type of crops grown. Rice production is greatly limited, due to lack of land suitable for such growth, and many food crops that require certain weather conditions such as cocoa and coffee are also not grown within the Dominion, and must be imported from abroad. In addition to standard plant based agriculture, the eastern plains are also home to large numbers livestock ranches, of which cattle is the most common.

An additional note on the Lubyakan agricultural sector is that the influence of the agricultural sector extends beyond the simple production of raw foodstuffs, as the transportation and processing of raw foodstuffs into consumer grade products forms a significant portion of the industrial and trade activity of eastern inland cities.

Consumption and Finance

While industry and agriculture remain key parts of the Lubyakan economy, more advanced sectors also contribute significantly to the overall Lubyakan economy. Consumer consumption is high, with demand for consumer goods often outstripping domestic supply, leading to a net trade deficit, despite heavy industrial output. As such, the retail sector's contributions to Lubyakan GDP is not as great as would be expected for such a high rate of consumer consumption, as much of the money spent on such goods is added to other nation's economies.

Perhaps more significant to the Lubyakan Economy is its status as one of the leading investors of capital in the region. With high levels of heavy industrial output, the Dominion of the Lubyak often contributes much capital to other nations, especially with the rise of major multinational corporations such as Erotan Heavy Engineering and Crepusculum Investments Inc. within Lubyak.

Finally, the Lubyakan financial sector is a highly important sector of both the Lubyakan, and the regional economy at large. With high levels of investment around the region, as well as being a key piece of the regional economy overall, the Lubyakan finance sector controls a large amount of the region's liquid capital, and the ups and downs of the Lasala Stock Exchange (LSE), the largest Lubyakan stock market are commonly used as a barometer for the regional economy as a whole.

Infrastructure

Alongside defence and the maintenance of the free market, infrastructure is one of the key responsibilities of the Dominion, and the creation and maintenance of a world class infrastructure is considered amongst the Lubyakan people to be the largest, and perhaps most important promise the Dominion is expected to keep to the Lubyakan people, in exchange for political rule over them. As such, infrastructure is one of the few areas within the Dominion of the Lubyak's economy that plays host to monopolies or state owned corporations. Perhaps interestingly, education is considered a part of the infrastructure promised to the Lubyakan people, alongside more traditional areas of infrastructure such as transportation, water and energy delivery.

Within the Dominion, infrastructure falls under the responsibility of the Department of the Interior, although the national Department's direct responsibilities tend to be limited to major energy production areas--such as the dams in the Tolkoya Mountains--interprovincial roads/railways, and major ports and airports, that may simply be beyond the capabilities of an individual province to maintain. Most responsibilities for provincial roads and education tend to be delegated to individual provinces with the Department of the Interior's role limited mostly to oversight and administration, although it may occasionally become involved during conflicts between various provinces, in order to provide arbitration.

Transportation

The Dominion of the Lubyak's transportation infrastructure is wide and diverse, and includes a wide and far reaching road and rail network within its territory. Additionally, the Dominion's reliance and attachment to foreign trade has resulted in a network of well developed ports and harbors, especially along the coast in the west, and along river mouths in the east. These harbours--classified as 'major harbours'--are built and maintained by the Dominion, as they are considered both too expensive and too valuable to be entrusted to the care of any single province, and smaller facilities are often delegated to provincial control. These smaller facilities often include river ports, which can often be considered the lifeblood of the Dominion, especially in the eastern provinces, where river travel is often cheaper and more efficient than road transfer. These same conditions that apply to seaports also apply to airports, with large air ports that serve as major points of entry into the Dominion of the Lubyak being taken under the responsibility of the Department of the Interior, while smaller airports are left to provincial authority.

In addition to the construction of infrastructure, the Dominion also considers some form of public transportation to be implied in the mandate provided to it by the Dominion Charter. This is most prevalent in large major cities, where the construction of bus stations and subway lines are often included as part of the province's responsibility for providing local infrastructure. However, in line with its policies to support the free market when possible, the Dominion attempts to provide as much opportunity for privatization of public transportation when possible, preferring to introduce government control only when economics would dictate that the maintenance of a state owned monopoly to carry greater benefit than immediate privatization.

Energy

The Dominion of the Lubyak is self sufficient in electricity generation. The primary sources of electricity in the Dominion of the Lubyak are: nuclear, hydro, and fossil fuels, in that order. Nuclear power provides over 50% of Lubyakan electricity, espescially in the eastern plains areas, where nuclear power stations can be constructed far away from urban areas and other population centers.

Hydroelectric power provides the second largest amount of power within the Dominion of the Lubyak, and it is most common in the Western areas, espescially in cities within the industrial Rota Valley and the hilly areas west of the Gap of Erota. These areas are powered by dams built high in the Tolkoyan and Rotanov Mountains, and thus--ironically--provide large amounts of clean electricity to the largest industrial areas within the Dominion of the Lubyak.

Finally, like most industrialized states, the Dominion of the Lubyak generates a large amount of electricity from fossil fuels, mostly from coal, oil, and natural gas. Nearly all of the fossil fuels consumed for power generation within the Lubyak are produced domestically, either from the oil and gas production facilities in Toman Bay or from Tovakyan coal mines, but due to the prevalence of nuclear and hydroelectric power within the Dominion of the Lubyak, fossil fuel power generation is far rarer than in most industrialized and manufacturing centric nations. Of course, much natural gas is used for home heating, especially in the colder regions of the Dominion, but the relative lack of reliance on fossil fuels for electricity generation has resulted in consistently lower gasoline and other petroleum and fossil fuel derived fuel prices within the Dominon of the Lubyak, which has resulted in a lack of research into more renewable sources of energy.

Education

Within the Dominion of the Lubyak, the provision of general education is considered to be one of the responsibilities of the Dominion, falling under the principle of maintaining infrastructure for the Lubyakan people. It is beloved that education is something that is absolutely vital to the future of the Dominion of the Lubyak, as an uneducated public is one that will be unproductive and inefficient in the future, as well as being easily misled by potential demagogues running for office as a provincial representative.

The Dominion of the Lubyak provides public education for all students from Kindergarten through Secondary School, beginning at an approximate age of 6 and going to approximately 18, with provisions for inexpensive public colleges and universities. Funding for the public education system is derived through standard taxation, and the public school system provides books, educational supplies, and uniforms for students free of charge, in order to provide the most effective system possible to all children. Within the public school system, education primarily focuses on the ability to take in and analyze information, rather than the memorization of facts. Attainment within the public school system is determined by a combination of federally instituted standardized exams in combination with written statements from instructors who know the student personally.

In addition to the public education system, the Dominion of the Lubyak also houses a robust private educational system, with private schools ranging from pre-Kindergarten institutions, Primary and Secondary Schools, Trade Schools, and a large number of private universities. Although private educational institutes must be accredited by inspectors from the Ministry of the Interior, Dominion law allows private institutes great latitude in their methods and details of education, although private education institutions are expected to conform to the same standardized exams issued by the Dominion and the written critiques and statements provided by a student's instructors.

Foreign Affairs

Main Article: Foreign Relations of Lubyak

In terms of foreign affairs, the Dominion of the Lubyak has been known to conform to theories of structural realism in its relations with other states in and around the region, and has a marked tendency to defensive realism over aggressive realism. As a result, the Dominion's foreign policy does not rely on attachment or spread of any ideal, and is much more concerned with preserving the status quo and what power it has rather than attempts to aggressively expand its power base. Expansions of the Dominion's international influence tend to be subtle, and of a limited nature to avoid drawing to much attention to the Dominion's ambitions out of a fear that overly aggressive expansion would lead to a coalition of states forming to oppose the Dominion.

Beyond general terms of policy, the Dominion of the Lubyak posesses an embassy program which currently hosts more than a dozen foreign embassies, while the Dominion itself has created missions in multiple foreign nations, further developing Lubyakan relations with the rest of the world. However, Lubyakan interested tend to remain closely focused within the region, although it has recently begun to develop both economic and military interests in nearby regions.

Lubyakan businesses and other organizations have begun the rise to becoming major international corporations, and many corporations within Borealia have stocks and shares traded on the Erota Stock Exchange. Militarily, the Dominion's influence has begun to be seen, as nations friendly to the Dominion and its interests have allowed the construction of Lubyakan military installations within their own soil.

Trade

Trade is a key piece of the Lubyakan economy, and the development of trade relations with foreign states is one of the key areas of responsibility for the Dominion, in terms of both foreign relations and regulation of the economy. Currently, the Dominion Policy Committee has espoused a policy of free trade for most nations, with tariffs only imposed on certain states or a strictly selected variety of goods. The overwhelming majority of Lubyakan trade takes place over water and with more distant countries. While trade does continue amongst the various nations that border the Dominion of the Lubyak directly, it is relatively minor when compared to the trade that takes place over water routes within and beyond Borealia.

The primary import goods for the Dominion of the Lubyak include consumer and luxury products, advanced electronics, and certain resources--such as helium--that are not found in wide abundance within the Dominion's territory. Primary export products are completed heavy industrial capital goods, military products, and staple food products. The Dominion of the Lubyak currently enjoys a relatively favourable balance of trade, with consumer goods import being balanced out by exports of military hardware. Trade has become a major highway of liquid capital into the Dominion of the Lubyak,as well as providing access to high end electronics from nations like Malgrave. The massive benefits of trade on the Lubyakan economy has led to the development of a large commercial shipbuilding industry intended to meet the demands of the export sector.

Dominion Protectorates

Dominion Protectorates are the remnants of the Lubyakan colonial empire that was established during the time of the Lubyakan Republic, although it has been expanded in some ways in more recent years. Dominion Protectorates hold a special relationship with the Dominion of the Lubyak. They are not formally a part of the Dominion, although they enjoy the protection of the Dominion and any attack upon them is interpreted the same as an attack upon the Lubyakan mainland. They posses their own local governments, which are subject to the oversight of the four Ministries, along with the Judiciary, even though the Dominion does not rule them directly, except in terms of foreign relations, in which case the Protectorate has forfeited its sovereignty to the Dominion of the Lubyak. In exchange for this oversight, Dominion Protectorates are authorized to send a pair of representatives to the Dominion Council in Erota to properly represent their interests, thus giving them representative rights on par with any Lubyakan mainland province. More recently however, the Protectorates have become more integrated with the overall Dominion administration, and movements have been made to recognize them as full provinces under the Dominion banner.

Kingdom of Ilan

Main Article: Ilan

File:Ilan Map (Borealean Lubyak).png

Map of Ilan

Acquired in 1892 as part of the peace settlement of the War of Union, the Kingdom of Ilan is the jewel in the Lubyakan imperial crown. Located on the island of Cambreth, a large island of 620,640 square kilometers and a population of 40,527,792, located in the Cambreth Sea roughly half way between the two northern continents, although the Kingdom also includes a wide number of smaller islands throughout the Cambreth Sea, many of which are unsettled.

The island is dominated by the Conmarea Mountains to the north, which gradually descend into a southern coastal plain. The hills descend down from the Conmare Mountains on the island's northern shore and are cut through with rivers fed by sources in the Uplands, eventually leveling into the coastal plain. Ilaan's climate tends to evergreen forest in the Uplands and deciduous forest in the Lowlands and coastal plain. Ilan's weather reflects its position and is characterized by significant amounts of rainfall from ocean storms, with a long 'storm season' that stretches throughout the winter months, during which the island is often the victim of large storm systems passing through the region.

The island's main industry is agriculture, both of crops and of livestock. The coastal plains are highly fertile with silt from the river systems, and are extremely productive in terms of wheat, potatoes, and other key staple crops. Further north, closer to the mountains, livestock raising becomes increasingly important. Sheep are one of the most important livestock raised in this area, with traditional methods being maintained as opposed to more industrial raising methods, causing Ilanian wool to be marketed as 'high quality, naturally made' products. Supplementing agriculture, tourism is also a major industry on the island. Due to its location, the Kingdom of Ilan had been a popular stop for merchant shipping and aircraft, and environmental legislation has maintained the island's natural beauty, causing millions of tourists to arrive every year.

However, beyond agriculture and tourism, Ilan also represents a strategically important asset to the Dominion of the Lubyak, principally its position near Montesardo-East Adanzi. As a result, the city of Cambreth on the islands northern shore has become a major military base and shipyard, responsible for Lubyakan power projection throughout the region. The islands that dot the Harp Bay to the north of Ilan are littered with military fortifications and command and control centers, making Cambreth one of the most important Lubyakan military installations in the region, second only to the Mount Yamat Command Bunker in the Tolkoyan Mountains on the Lubyakan mainland.

Taros Islands

Main Article: Taros Islands

File:Taros Map (Borealean Lubyak).png

Map of the Taros Islands

Like Ilan, the Taros Islands are also a part of the Dominion Protectorate system. However, unlike the Kingdom of Ilan, the Taros Islands have been fully integrated into the Dominion's government structure, and have no independent system of government. The Taros Islands are an archipelago located in the Tacitus Ocean, north east of Tolkoya and approximately 2,700 km south west of Ilan, and home to 3,581,701 sentient beings. The islands are volcanic in nature, being the remnants of a much larger island that has since been heavily eroded, with the largest island--Taros Island--believed to be the remains of the volcanic cone. The erosion of the volcanic island has enabled Taros Island to develop an exceptionally large natural harbor, which continues to serve as the primary source of economic activity on the islands, with tourism serving as the second largest industry. However, this industry has fallen off in recent years, as internal tensions within the islands increase.

The Taros Islands have historically been considered 'the Gates to the North', and represented the main forward base of Lykosia in northern Borealia. The islands were invaded and taken by the Dominion in the First Intercontinental War.

Military

Main Article: Lubyakan Armed Forces

The Lubyakan military is considered to be one of the most important responsibilities of the Dominion, as the protection of the Dominion's sovereignty from threats both foreign and domestic, as well as the protection of the Dominion's interests in and around Borealia and its neighbours.

The Lubyakan Armed Forces are a significant regional force, with a force of over sixteen million beings on active duty, and another thirty million more maintained as reserves (also known as militia,Landwehr, or Home Guard), capable of being formed into active duty formations in five weeks times or less. As maintaining the potency and ability of the Lubyakan Military and is one of the most important functions of the Dominion, the Lubyakan Military receives a significant portion of the total Lubyakan budget, with a yearly average of approximately 33% of the budget being spent on defense. This amount translates into an approximately LUÆ 2.25 trillion annual budget.

Conscription is legal, and all beings between the pan-species equivalent (PSE) ages of 18 and 45 are required to register for conscription. However, the vast majority of Lubyakan military combat formations are made up of volunteers, as it is believed volunteers serve as a much more potent fighting force. When shortfalls in required personnel arise, conscription is used to fill out the ranks, with most conscripts serving in rear area formations, rather than combat ones. In addition, civilian consultants are often used for certain projects, and while they are considered to be 'part of the military', they are usually only temporarily employed before being returned to civilian life.

The Lubyakan Armed Forces are divided into three branches: the Lubyakan Army, the Lubyakan Navy, and the Lubyakan Air Troops. The Lubyakan Armed Forces also possesses a large stockpile of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, which are spread amongst the three branches to create a nearly complete nuclear triad, in an attempt to create a complete deterrence.

The Dominion of the Lubyak is relatively rare in that it has a large endogenous arms production industry, and is relatively independent of imports of foreign military equipment. As a result, it is a major supplier of arms for regional purposes, having sold weapons to various nations through private sector endeavors, and government approved sales to allied states.

Demographics

Species

Main Article: Interspecies Relations in Lubyak

Species Classification	Numbers	Percentage
Homo sapiens	X	X%
Equus sapiens	X	X%
Homo sapiens felis	X	X%
Homo sapiens canis	X	X%
Other	X	X%
Total	1,644,142,482	100.0%

The population of the Dominion of the Lubyak is primarily divided along species lines into a human majority and a pony minority. Historically, the eastern plains were populated by nomadic tribes of pegasi hunter-gatherers and a combination of earth-unicorn farming and trade settlements. These settlements were later incorporated into the expanding Lubyakan state as first the Republic and then the Dominion expanded east. The species divide complements the geographic and economic divide between east and west in the Dominion, with a largely human, densely populated and industrial west as compared to a much more pony and thinly populated agricultural east. However, in more recent years, the population of the Dominion has become more homogeneous due to population migration. Although the Dominion as a whole retains a majority human population, ponies have become well established minorities in what had once been nearly human-exclusive cities. Although the species divide has led to tensions between the different species, relations between the Dominion's human and pony populations have been largely cordial for the majority of the Dominion's history.

Ethnic Groups

Ethnic Group	Population	Percentage
Lubyakan	X	X%
Rotanan	X	X%
Reichlander	X	X%
Equestrian	X	X%
Nekomimi	X	X%
Charnean	X	X%
Other	X	X%
	1,644,142,482	100.0%

The Dominion of the Lubyak is an empire by most definitions of the term, consisting of multiple ethnic groups, united under one government. However, none of the various ethnic groups which make up the Dominion of the Lubyak could be seen as truly 'dominant', with all ethnicity participating in the government of the Dominion, although many institutions are concentrated in the Lubyakan city of Erota. The centralised nature of the Dominion's governing and administrative structure has been of great assistance to this multi-ethnic mix, as it has encouraged greater political and--to some extent--cultural unification over the past few hundred years. Major ethnic groups within the Dominion of the Lubyak consist of: Lubyakan, Rotanan, Reichlander, and Equestrian, with Novaskian, Pyrillic, and Pegasi as minorities.

Lubyakan

The Lubyakan ethnic group is the most populous one within the Dominion of the Lubyak, making up slightly less than fifty percent of the Dominion population. Lubyakans originated in the Gap of Erota area in the current province of Lubyaka Major. Lubyakans became an increasingly dominant portion of the overall population of the Dominion over the period of industrialisation, and a series of large scale population ships saw Lubyakans replace Rotanans throughout much of the former Kingdom of Rotana.

Largest Cities

Lubyakan urban centres are predominantly located in the west, with the highest population densities in the Rota Valley and other areas of Rotana. However, despite this, the largest cities tend to be located in the East, where they are often dominate large sections of countryside.