User:Pixy/Afthonia (Sandbox)

Greater Afthonian State Μεγάλη Αφθονία Krátos (Afthonian)
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: Τάξη, Δύναμη και Πιστότητα Táxi, Dýnami kai Pistótita Order, Strength and Loyalty
Anthem: Προώθησε την Αφθονία Proóthise tin Afthonía Advance Afthonia
Capital	Ilus
Largest Metropolitan Area	Elpis
Official languages	Afthonian
Recognised regional languages	TBD
Ethnic groups (2023)	Afthonian 87% Others 13%
Religion	TBD
Demonym(s)	Afthonian
Government	De jure: Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Republic De facto: Unitary Authoritarian Directorial Stratocracy
• Sovereign Council	Apollon Lamprelis (High Councilor) Maria Mallaki (Deputy) TBD TBD TBD
Legislature	National Assembly
Establishment
• Kingdom of Elpis	Summer 80 BCE
• Kingdom of Afthonia	Winter 121 CE
• Afthonian Empire	20 August 554 CE
• Afthonian Confederation	19 April 1830
• Emergency Military Government	XX TBD 1951
• Greater Afthonian State	17 November 1960
Population
• 2023 estimate	79,914,715
• 2023 census	77,566,810
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$2.750 Trillion
• Per capita	$36,501
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$2.327 Trillion
• Per capita	$30,547
Gini (2023)	24.3 low
HDI (2023)	0.77 high
Currency	Asteri (AST)
• Summer (DST)	Not Observed
Date format	DD/MM/YYYY
Driving side	left
ISO 3166 code	AFT
Internet TLD	.aft

Afthonia (Afthonian: Αφθονία; script: Afthonía), officially referred to as the Greater Afthonian State (Afthonian: Μεγάλη Αφθονία Krátos; script: Megáli Afthonía Krátos) is a !NotEuropean country. The country has a population of 77 million people placing it as the XXth most populous nation and has an estimated total area of XXX million/hundred thousand square kilometer (XXX square miles) which places it as the XXth largest nation. The country has a total population density of XXX/km² (XXX/sq mi). The country is bordered by XXX to the XXX, XXX to the XXX and XXX to the XXX. It also shares maritime borders with XXX, XXX and XXX. The country claims and enforces an offshore exclusive economic zone that extneds 200 nautical miles which covers a total area of XXX km² (XXX sq mi). At the highest level Afthonia is administratively divided under XX Prefectures governed by an elected Prefect, XX Special Administrative Territories (SAT) governed by an elected Chief Executive, among which XX of SATs are considered as part of Afthonia's overseas territories. The city of Ilum is the nation's historical political center and has been designated as its capital, whereas Elpis is the country's center of commerce and culture. Afthonian is the country's official language alongside XXX, XXX and XXX which are considered as regional languages. The earliest evidence of civilization that appeared in the lands of modern day Afthonia were known as the Gionans who most historians generally agree as the ancestors of modern day Afthonians.

In the modern era, Afthonia is considered as a regional power and portrays itself as a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic where people who hold public office are elected in free and fair elections. In practice however the country is generally considered as a unitary authoritarian directorial stratocracy. The country is led by the Sovereign Council which is a cabinet composed of XX members who collectively represent the country's head of government and is led by a High Councilor who serves as a first among equals and serves as as the nation's head of state. Legislative power is held by the National Assembly, a unicameral parliament. From an economic perspective, Afthonia has a combined GDP of $2.3 trillion, whereas its official currency is the Asteri. The country has historically been regarded as one of the breadbaskets of the continent due to its vast fertile lands that supported a strong agriculture industry. The discovery of liquified natural gas reserves in the mid 20th century has allowed the country to gradually rebuild its industry and economy and has returned to be one of the continent’s agricultural hubs alongside thriving engineering & manufacturing sectors. Its armed forces is known as the Afthonia Armed Forces and is comprised of the Afthonian Navy, Afthonian Army and Afthonian Air Force

The lands of modern day Afthonia has been controled by various powers throughout history, the most prominent of these include the League of Giona in late antiquity. Giona was eventually usurped by Elpis, a city state which eventually grew to establish the Kingdom of Elpis in 9 BCE. Elpis woud be succeeded by the Kingdom of Afthonia in the 1st century and expanded Afthonian influence in the region. King <INSERT NAME> would eventually reform the Kingdom into the Afthonian Empire in the year 554 when he consolidated his powers and eliminated the other ruling families. Afthonian civilization was able to sustain a large population growth due to its fertile lands which allowed it to cultivate a strong agricultural society to both sustain a growing population and trade its surplus products with its immediate neighbors to gain influence. By the mid 12th century the Empire had entered a period of stagnation, its territories beset by a series of rebelions, incursions by rival kingdoms and empires in the continent. In 1290 a succession crisis struck the Empire when <INSERT NAME>, heir apparent to Emperor <INSERT NAME>, was killed alongside her father in battle. The lack of a clear successor resulted in the Emperor's various children and distant relatives to lay claim to the throne. The Empire's complete disintegration was considered final by 1402, with each heir apparent establishing their own domains. The largest and most powerful of these powers included the Republic of Kastoria, League of Koroneia, League of Evinos, Republic of Prespa, Kingdom of Stratos and the League of Athos. It was during this period of time that the Afthonian states conducted various expeditions across the world, establishing a far flung trade network and outposts.

The Afthonians continued to remain divided until the late 18th century when the <INSERT NAME>, King of Stratos, proposed the establishment of a confederation between his Kingdom and various other small and middle Afthonian powers. This process eventually culmianted in the establishment of the Afthonian Confederation in 1830 with the express purpose uniting the Afthonian people under a common economic, foreign policy and defense umbrella. Modern day historians would categorize the confederation as one of the earliest examples of a supranational union and by 1855 the confederation had united all remaining Afthonian states. This confederation strived for closer integration, hoping to eventually transition from a confederal to a federal entity to solidify its legitimacy but this would not come to pass. An economic crisis in 1918 tested its member state's cohesion and unity with the confederation's central bank, which under the constitution was permitted to direct its member states monetary policy. The confederation's central bank was unable to effectively enforce its monetary policies due to some member states who did not abide by its direction and rulings. The situation reached a tipping point on July 1933 when Koroneia, one of the major Afthonian states, declared home rule and succeded from the confedaration marking the beginning of the Second Great Schism, a civil war. Prespa followed suit the following week as well. During this time the confederation's civilian leadership was usurped in a coup d'état by its armed forces, who assumed responsibility of governing the country and established an emergency military government. Active fighting was eventually ended on 3 May 1946 by an armistice though no formal peace treaty was signed between the warring factions. This led to a period of cold war known as the Shattered Union era where the divided Afthonian nations engaged in non-direct conflicts to absorb the other. On 15 November 1972 the Afthonian Confederation emerged victorious, officially annexing the remaining territories of Prespa & Koroneia. Not long after on 15 March 1973 the confederation was reorganized into the Greater Afthonian State and a civilian government restored.

History

Prehistory & Antiquity

Main article: Gionan civilization

The lands of modern day Afthonia has been inhabited by various species of archaic humans with fossil evidence dating back to 850,000 years ago. Archeological sites have been found near the cities of Elpis and Ilus with those of neanderthal origin being the most commonly found. Hunter-gatherer societies were most likely to be the most commonly found type of civilizations until the arrival of modern humans between 50,000 - 40,000 years ago who gradually became the dominant species by 35,000 BC. These modern humans would develop various cultures and societies in the area, though most of these were nomadic in nature due to the need to continuously migrate and seek out new hunting grounds to sustain themselves. The neolithic revolution, more popularly known as the agricultural revolution, allowed humans to transition away from a nomadic to a sedentery based society and established the first permanent villages and eventually towns. The oldest permanent human settlement found to date is Giona which was established in 1200 BCE and is the origin of the Gionan civilization who modern day archeologists identify as the cultural ancestors of the Afthonians with the modern Afthonian language having Gionan roots and origins. By 750 BC Giona had been developed an amassed a population to be considered a city-state governed under an elective monarchy whose reigning monarch is chosen amongst a family of nobles. Giona was able to establish itself as the hub and center of a large a network of trade routes that connected itself with a number of smaller villages and cities throughout the Afthonian peninsula. Although Giona did not in a sense directly control the villages and cities that participated in its trade network, it was able to exert some influence and spread its culture throughout the region. Many modern day cities of Afthonia can trace its origin as being founded during this period of time such as Elpis, Ilus, Amia and Dorona.

Ancient Afthonia

Main articles: Kingdom of Elpis and Kingdom of Afthonia

By 90 BCE Gionan civilization had entered a period of decline which allowed other city states in the region to vie for control over the Gionan's trade network. The city state of Elpis would eventually emerge as one of the city states that was able to take over the mantle of leadership over from the Gionans. Unlike its predecessor, Elpis was more ambitious and began to exert direct control over its neighboring towns and villages. This was made possible by Elpis's gradual establishment of an army and its transition from a city state into a Kingdom proper on 80 CE. Prior to this most armies were centered around war bands from the population of each village, town and city which were only called to arms during times of conflict. Initially, Elpis's armies followed this concept although recruits were placed through a series of standardized training regimes in order to ensure a certain level of competency within its troops. As the number of tributary and vassal city states grew, the need to protect them from barbarian incurssions grew. An army that was only fielded in times of need and then disbanded was no longer feasible and a permanent and professional standing army was required. Elpis continued to increase its network of tributaries and vassals and reached its peak in 120 CE when it had control over three quarters of the Afthonian peninsula. Linus, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Elpis, reformed Elpis as the Kingdom of Afthonia on 121 CE to mark the beginning of a new era of expansion and bring forht a sense of unity to the inhabitants of the peninsula who while shared a common linguistic and cultural background, were politically divided among city-states and family allegiances.

Middle Ages

Main articles: Afthonian Empire and First Great Schism

Unification

Main articles: Unification of Afthonia and Afthonian Confederation

Civil War & Fragmentation

Main articles: Second Great Schism and Shattered Union (Afthonia)

Reunification

Main article: Afthonian reunification

Government & Politics

Main articles: Sovereign Council (Afthonia), National Assembly (Afthonia), Supreme Court of Afthonia, and Constitutional Court of Afthonia

Afthonia's government is divided into three main components: the Sovereign Council as the nation's executive branch, the National Assembly as the nation's legislature and the Supreme Court of Afthonia and Constitutional Court of Afthonia who both collectively represent the nation's highest judicial system. The Sovereign Council is a cabinet composed of XX memers who collectively serve as the nation's head of government whose members are referred to as Councilors. Each Councilor holds a ministerial position in government and is led by a High Councilor who is position of first among equals and serves as as the nation's head of state. The High Councilor is bestowed with special powers to allow the Sovereign Council to act decisively in times of emergencies. The role and power of the Sovereign Council is to propose bills to be reviewed by the National Assembly. Councilors are tyhpically leaders of political parties that have formed government in the National Assembly. In theory, as a legislative body, the National Assembly has the authority and power to serve as a check & balance the nation's executive branch as the National Assembly holds the power to pass or block any bill it receives from the executive. In practice however the National Assembly has been critcized to be merely ceremonial in nature, having rarely blocked any law or bill it received from the Sovereign Council. Members of the National Assembly are elected in what is largely considered as free elections althhough observers consider Afthonia nominally as a one-party state. This perception is the result of the National Assembly being largely dominated by the Patriotic Front, the dominant party that is supported by a network of smaller parties who are entirely subservient to the Patriotic Front in a grand coalition. Leaders of parties within the grand coalition are all previous members of the armed forces who have retired. The nation's judicial branch is in theory independent of both the executive and legislative branches of government. It is comprised of two components: the Supreme Court of Afthonia and the Constitutional Court of Afthonia. The former serves as the nation's highest court of appeal which sits above all other courts and the latter serves to, among other things, review the constitutionality of bills and laws passed by the government and the resolution of disputes over the power of state institutions. Members of both courts are selected by the Sovereign Council and subject to approval of the National Assembly.