Vetonia

Veton Republic Republic vetonien (ja) République vetonienne (iv) Repùblica vetonianna (ro)
Flag Coat of arms of Vetonia Coat of arms
Motto: Homo mensura (Old Aesculian) "Man [is] the measure [of all things]"
Anthem: Od á la Patria (Javol) ("Ode to the Motherland")
Vetonia (dark green) in Narisis (grey)
Capital and largest city	Andraid
Official languages	None
Recognised national languages	Javol Iverdonian
Recognised regional languages	Silurian Rodenese Tarbel
Ethnic groups (2016)	Javol (45.8%) Iverdognan (22.3%) Silurian (16.2%) Rodenese (7.2%) Tarbel (5.6%) Aesculian (0.9%) Other (2%)
Demonym(s)	Vetonian (vetonien)
Government	Federal parliamentary constitutional republic
• President	Agate Fromantin
• Prime Minister	Pierre Goulard
• President of the Chamber	xx
• President of the Senate	xx
Legislature	National Assembly
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Independence  from Aesculia
• ?	?
• Independence declared	1913
• Constitution adopted	29 February 1916
• Treaty of ?	1920
• Federal reform	1958
Area
• Total	243,432 km2 (93,990 sq mi) (?)
• Water (%)	5.9
Population
• 2018 estimate	23,951,000 (?)
• 2016 census	23,681,712 (?)
• Density	97.28/km2 (252.0/sq mi) (?)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$1.361 trillion (?)
• Per capita	$57,484 (?)
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$1.315 trillion (?)
• Per capita	$55,553 (?)
Gini (2015)	28.9 low (?)
HDI (2017)	0.939 very high (?)
Currency	Vetonian livre (VT)
Time zone	UTC? (?)
• Summer (DST)	UTC? (?)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+05
ISO 3166 code	VT
Internet TLD	.vt

The Veton Republic (Javol: Republica vetonien, pronounced: [rə'pi.bli.kə və.tu'njen]; Iverdonian: République vétonienne, pronounced: [ʁe.py.blik ve.to.njɛn]), commonly referred to as Vetonia (Javol: Vetoní, pronounced: [vətu'ni]; Iverdonian: Vétonie, pronounced: [ve.to.ni]) is a sovereign state organised as a federal parliamentary constitutional republic in southern Plateia. The country borders Castelana to the west, xx to the east, Aesculia to the north-east and the Lautan Ocean to the south. The country covers an area of approximately 192,286 square kilometres (74,242 square miles) with a mostly temperate, oceanic climate. It has a population of over 23.6 million people. Its capital and largest city is Andraid, with 1.7 million residents; other major cities include ?, ? and ?.

Vetonia is divided into four constituent states (païs in Javol, pays in Iverdonian), Vellavia, Tosandria, Iverdonia and Rodenia. These states are divided by language, Javol-speaking Vellavia and Tosandria, Iverdonian-speaking Iverdonia and Rodenese-speaking Rodenia. There are also significant minorities of !Celtic Silurians in Vellavia and Tosandria, as well as of Tarbel in both Iverdonia and Rodenia.

old history

Vetonian independence from the Aesculian Empire was declared in 1911 by ? and ?, although its independence would not be recognised until the signature of the Treaty of XX that ended the Great Continental War. After independence, a democratic constitution was adopted in 1916 and in 1920, the territory of modern-day Rodenia was annexed following the xx conflict. The period between the 1930s to 1974 was marked by heightened tensions between the country's various ethnic groups fueled by unequal economic development and linguistic differences between communities. Far-reaching reforms enacted in 1958 and implemented during the 1960s mollified ethnic conflict and resulted in the transition of the country to a federal system. Ethnic and territorial tensions have subsued but continue to mark the country's political and social cleavages (pillarisation).

Today, Vetonia is a developed country with a mixed-market economy. It ranks amongst the highest in international indexes of education, health care, quality of life, life expectancy at birth and human development, as well as happiness.

Etymology

The name of 'Vetonia' (Vetoní, Vétonie) is a

History

Independence and consolidation

August Blanc, Pater Patriae and first President (1912-1935).

Politics

Main article: Politics of Vetonia

See also: List of political parties in Vetonia

Agate Fromantin, President of Vetonia since 2008.

Pierre Goulard, Prime Minister of Vetonia since 2017.

Vetonia has been politically organised as a parliamentary, democratic constitutional republic since the adoption of the 1912 Constitution and as a federal state following the constitutional reform of 1958. Vetonia has a multi-party system where coalitions are the norm and it is often classified as a consociational democracy. As a parliamentary democracy, the executive branch requires the support of the legislature to remain in power, whereas the judiciary operates indepedently.

The President of Vetonia (Presidén de la Republica, Président de la République) is the country's head state, elected every seven years for a single, renewable term by a joint session of both chambers of the National Assembly. The President holds reserve power, such as appointing the Prime Minister and the members of its government, dissolving Parliament or returning with comments bills to the federal and state parliaments. The President's role does entail a significant role in conducting the country's foreign policy in cooperation with the Council of Ministers, as well as serving as the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces. The current President is Agate Fromantin, who was re-elected for a second and last seven year-term in 2015.

Executive power is largely vested in the Council of Ministers (Consail de Ministres, Conseil des ministres), headed by the Prime Minister (Presidén del Consail, Président du conseil), the country's chief executive. The Prime Minister is appointed to the President and is responsible to both the President and the lower house. The Prime Minister can be dismissed by the President and by the Chamber of Deputies by a vote of no confidence by a majority of the Chamber of Deputies's members. The current Prime Minister is Pierre Goulard (PSDT).

The Palace of the Estates in Andraid houses the Chamber of Deputies.

Legislative power is vested on the bicameral National Assembly (?, Assemblée nationale), formed by the Chamber of Deputies (Cambre de Deputas, Chambre des députés), the lower house and the Senate (Senat, Sénat), the upper house. The Chamber of Deputies is formed by 300 deputies (deputa, deputas in plural), directly-elected every six years from 27 constituencies by a system of semi-open list proportional representation by citizens aged 18 or older. The Senate is made up of a 100 senators (senator, senators in plural), 25 from each republic, directly-elected every eight years by citizens aged 25 or older.

In both chambers, legislative work is carried out by parliamentary committees, which listen to experts and prepare legislation. The Chamber of Deputies is the more powerful of the two chambers (imperfect bicameralism), having the power to reject bills and amendments proposed by the Senate. Likewise, the Chamber is the only chamber with the power to dismiss a sitting government and the one where the budget is introduced. Nevertheless, Constitutional ammendments require the majority support of both chambers.

The Constitution provides for the use of referenda only in the case that a government bill is rejected by the legislative power. Constitutional amendments are expressly excluded from being subject to a referendum. Since 1912, however, this provision has never been used.

The political system is characterised by its consociational characteristics, a result of the country's proportional representation system without an electoral threshold, the proportional allocation of governmental positions according to ethnic quotas (Proporz) and the integration of civil society organisations, like business chambers and trade unions, in decision-making processes. As a result, political fragmentation and coalition governments are the norm, with 26 parties gaining at least one seat in the Chamber of Deputies in the last election. Voting is mandatory for all voting age citizens below the age of 70.

Law

Main article: Judiciary of Vetonia

See also: Law enforcement in Vetonia

The Constitutional Court reviews the constitutionality of legislation and mediates administrative conflicts.

The Veton Republic uses a civil law system where law is codified and judges have a very limited ability to interpret laws. The legal system derives from Old Aesculian law and customary law, primarily Vellavia's coutumes. Vetonia's legal system is divided into civil, criminal and administrative law streams. The Vetonia judiciary is widely recognized as independent from the other branches of government. Judges are appointed for life.

Vetonia's general court system is hierarchical. It is divided into four levels: district, regional, state and national. Typically, original jurisdiction lies with the district courts, and decisions can be appealed at the higher levels. The state and national courts only act as court of appeals. At the national level, the Supreme Court (xx, xx) is the court of last resort for civil, criminal law matters. Administrative law matters are handled by a separate court system in which the court of last resort is the Supreme Administrative Court (xx, xx). There are also various specialized courts to deal with matters related to labour, commercial, anti-trust and family law at the state and national levels.

The country's apex court is the Constitutional Court (xx, xx), the world's second-oldest court of such kind. The Constitutional Court is responsible for constitutional matters, with the power of judicial review. It is also tasked with mediating in conflicts between the country's federal and state governments. The Court is formed by twelve appointed members, four members by right and a President, appointed for ten-year terms.

Unlike in most federal systems, law enforcement is not a competence of the states. At the federal level, law enforcement is divided between the agencies: the Federal Police (Segurte federal, Sûreté fédérale), a civilian police force and the Federal Constabulary (xx, xx), a gendarmerie tasked with customs enforcement, border patrol and counterterrorist duties; and the Coast Guard (xx, xx). Larger municipalities also operate their own municipal police forces. The presence of Constabulary and Federal Police forces in Silurian and Tarbel-majority areas was a major cause for tension for the better part of the 20th century. As a result, in 1959, as part of the federal settlement, police forces' personnel is required to match the ethnic composition of the areas they patrol.

Administrative divisions

Main article: States of Vetonia