Lavana

People's Republic of Lavana ສາທາລະນະລັດປະຊາຊົນລັດ ລະຫວ່າແ
Flag
Motto: "ຈາກແມ່ນ້ ຳ ທີ່ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່" "From the Mighty Rivers"
Anthem: "The Thunder and Sky"
Capital and largest city	Pers
Recognised national languages	Lavanan, Ziba
Ethnic groups	Pasamnoan 78% Dezevauni 9% Others 9%
Religion	Badi 60% Irreligion 20% Solarian Catholic Church 9% Other 11%
Demonym(s)	Lavanan
Government	Council Republic
• Premier	Laina Keomany
• Vice-Premier	Trang Dong
Legislature	Lavanan Council
Establishment
• Formation of the Kingdom of Lavana	1876
• Establishment of the Republic of Lavana	1943
• Establishment of the People's Republic of Lavana	1964
Population
• 2020 census	49,842,742
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Per capita	7,373.00
Currency	Lavanan Dunan (LZ)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.lv

Lavana (Lavanan:ລະຫວ່າແ) officially the People's Republic of Lavana (Lavanan:ສາທາລະນະລັດປະຊາຊົນລັດ ລະຫວ່າແ) is a sovereign state in Coius. It borders Dezevau to the north, the yet to be renamed sea to the east, and tbd. With a total area of X, and population of 49,842,742 million people. It's capital is the city of Pers.

Inhabited since antiquity the Pasamnoans inherited agriculture from neighboring Dezevau and established a series of city states based on the countries many rivers. Lavanan Mythology was established during this time, and became the main religion of the Lavanan's. The city states would go through periods of being united into various empires, and leagues with the longest lasting being that of the Mignan Empire from the 7th century to the 12th century, where the Mignan empire held control over Dezevauni territory, their collapse and subsequent rise of the Yama Empire, saw the end of Lavanan control and dominance as Dezevauni cities would rise up and establish the Aguda Empire based in Dezevau, which would dominate Lavanan until the arrival of Euclean powers. During this time, Pasamnoan was forced upon the population as a means to unite the population.

The arrival of Euclean mainly Gaullicans into the region, weakened the Aguda Empire which saw itself greatly overextended and heavily involved with the Eucleans. Upon it's collapse, a puppet regime based on the Sao's from the various empires of Lavana was established, the Triumvirate governed the region, until after the Great War, where Gaullica would be forced to abandon the triumvirate. Civil War would break out between the Triumvirate and those of the Coalition for a Free Lavanan (CFL), which united Democratic and Socialists groups fighting for an end to the Triumvirate. They would triumph in 1943, but the inability of both camps to unite behind a single policy would result in another civil war in 1950 where Socialist forces would fight the democratic government. Following a military coup in 1957 which turned the country into a Military Dictatorship, and further defeats at the hands of the Socialists would in 1969 culminate in the defeat of the CFL, and the establishment of a People's Republic.

Lavana would integrate into the international socialist movements alongside it's two close Socialist neighbors in Dezevau and Terangau. In 1981 the country would be involved in an insurgency against steppe groups, which would only end in 1989. The country today is a developing economy, with close ties to it's Northern neighbor, the government has followed the trend of liberalization and opening up which followed after decline of Socialist countries in the 1980's and 90's.

History

Pre-history

Jars from the Duh Hoc culture

Lavanan pre-history can trace itself to early human settlement along the various rivers of the region, agriculture can be traced to it's discovery in Dezevau, which slowly made it's way into Lavana. Early societies existed on the banks of waterways growing rice, and keeping livestock, they utilized the waterways to transport goods and conduct trade, waterways became very important to the Lavanans and became the basis for Lavanan Mythology, and society. This low scale settlements begun to slowly make alliances with neighboring settlements, and as settlements grew their influence helped keep the river safe, and trade flowing. From this settlements designed to provide aid to the population and the merchants the city-states of the region began to appear. The first remains of city-states date back to the 9th century B.C.E. from where they began to establish themselves. This settlements would fight each other for control of farmland and greater swaths of the river. The Duh Hoc culture which arose alongside the city states in the 9th century, is most known for their jars, which have been suspected to serve as their cemeteries, holding possessions along with the remains of individuals.

Early Kungian Period (5th Century B.C.E-1st Century C.E.)

Lavanan Temple to the 20 Sisters

The first organized entity in the region was that of the First Sasuanan empire in the early 6th century B.C.E., the Sasuanan Empire rose from the city of Thy Lucc near modern day Kurei in the river Kung. Thy Lucc was located in a strategic position forcing all trade through the river necessary to cross the cities boundaries, the growth of the Sasuanan's cemented Thy Lucc's importance which would be unrivaled for several centuries. The Sasuana's developed large water projects which increased the yield of rice crops in the region leading to a population boom, the Sasuana's were also able to support the growing trading in the Yet to be named sea, which led to large growth in the cities of the coast which became incredibly wealthy. With the rise of the Sasuana's the position of Sao was established.

The Lavanan Sao's ruled with great power and stability ensuring the safe passage of goods and the safety of the waterways of their realm. The empire reached it's height during the reign of Bis Lap in 205 B.C.E. He helped established the Lap Dynasty which would rule until the end of the empire. During this time the Lavanan Mythology was in it's period of growth and had established itself as the national religion of the Empire, numerous temples had been built and foreign religions were persecuted by a religious purity court which sought to eliminate foreign beliefs, which the empire considered heretical. Lavanan Mythology referred to the 20 Sisters: The 20 city-states of Lavana, and the 3 Brothers: The rivers Siadng, Sisom, and Kung. The 26 features the Lavanans believed to be pieces of soul from the "ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່ຫນຶ່ງ" (Great One), which had sacrificed to create the world, sun, moon, and the cities and rivers of Lavana

Ceramic horses depicting the horses of Lao Va

The empire began to suffer under the stress of growing competition of inland and coastal cities, which sought closer ties with outside entities crucial to bring in wealth. A succession of emperors in the 1st century B.C.E. culminated in the 21 B.C.E. Sao Nan Lap's decision to outlaw foreign influences in coastal cities which culminated in large scale riots by the now bankrupted wealthy merchant class, this weakened Sasuanan power which saw itself threatened by Steppe raiders from the Great Steppe, and their incursions into their territory. Although the horse raiders could not penetrate into the Lavanan jungle, nor the Sisom river, the death of Nan Lap in 7 C.E. left a power vacuum which created a political crisis between the king's 5 sons, the turmoil would see the return of the steppe raiders in 15 C.E. when one of Nan Lap's son Liz Nap, facilitated the crossing of the raiders as mercenaries. By 17 C.E. Liz Nap would reach Thy Lucc and conquer, his mercenaries proceeded to sack the city, afterwards crowning Liz Nap as Sao.

The Sasuanan empire struggled with constant threat of steppe attack and increasingly hostile nature inside it's border would result in another political crisis in 24 C.E. when Liz Nap would die, no Sao could be crowned successfully until 32 C.E. when a steppe general, Lao Va was crowned Sao after taking Thy Lucc successfully, following a 2 year siege. A former Liz Nap mercenary, Lao Va established the Va dynasty otherwise known as the Steppe dynasty. the control of the Sasuana over it's rebellious subjects specially the coastal cities would plague the empire for it's remaining 100 years. In the year 38 rebellious cities would form the First Zapoten League to combat the Sasuanan Empire, the league would be involved in various wars against the Empire. The Va dynasty would finally fall in the year 97, following a Zapoten League reconquest of Thy Lucc. Sun Lina, a descendant of Liz Nap would establish the Nukhao Empire and the Lina Dynasty upon his coronation.

Middle Kungian Period (1st Century C.E.-7th Century C.E.)

Nukhao war elephants

The Nukhao Empire sought to reform that which had plagued the Sasuanan Empire, religious freedoms were allowed and foreign religions began to enter. Most prominently Badi from neighbouring Dezevau which had been prosecuted before but found easy growth in Nukhao, with it blending with the Lavanan Mythology creating what is referred to as Lavanan Badi.

The Nukhao feared the instability of the steppe and began in the 2nd century a series of expeditions into the steppe to establish friendly tributary states to become buffers for the Empire. Badist traders made their way into these states and slowly began to convert, Badi travelled through the trading networks in a process called the Badization of the Steppe, as Nukhao emperors thought that they could "pacify" the steppe through the conversion into Badi.

The Sao was under heavy influence from the First Zapoten League, which began to slowly diverge in interests, by 136 disputes between some members in the league would result in conflict with the Sao tasked with solving the conflict through the aid of one faction or the other. Such conflicts slowly eroded the credibility of the league and divided it's efforts in ensuring loyalty in the Sao and the inland cities. The Sao would in 159 launch a 8 year long war against the Zapoten League which was forced to establish itself again, amid rocky relations within it's members, the coastal cities could not defeat the Sao but the growing toll of the war on the Empire, and fears that any sign of weakness could cause the buffer states to free themselves from Nukhao influence. An unsteady peace was reached which cemented the Zapoten League independence as a tributary state but maintained their control in Thy Lucc, and the Sao.

With the perceived defeat of the Sao, large moves to devolve the power of the Sao occurred making the position mostly a ceremonial one. For the next 300 years the Sao acted as a rocky stabilizer of the many cities which would constantly feud with one another, with only minor warfare between them.

Late Kungian Period (12th Century-14th Century)

Dosa Mab

First Civil War

Triumvirate forces with a Gaullica armored car

Interwar

Although the CFL had accomplished it's goal inner fighting soon began in the parliament, although the People's Democratic Party remained in the CFL in Parliament it was an independent entity. Soon the democratic forces also split between the rightwing Democratic Front, and the nationalistic Lavanan Freedom Party (PDP). The LFP collaborated with the PDP as they feared the close ties between the Democratic Front and rich landowners, along with the remaining Guallican's and Solarians which both parties saw as coming close to the Triumvirates power base. The election of Sin Duon as President in 1943, was seen as a compromise as Sin Duon did not have the ties to the rich landowners Makaio Sayasone held. the LFP struggled after 1945 to reach much of a compromise with the PDP which became more extreme in their rhetoric as they saw Sin Duon as nothing but a continuation of the same as before.

The PDP itself split in 1946, into the People's Revolutionary Front (PRF), after Oke Syrypanha expulsed the most extreme of the party citing their growing divergence from democratic and socialist ideals. Such split weakened the PDP, but gave the LFP the necessary confidence in closer ties with the party. The 1947 elections were seen as the time to bring closer ties between the LFP and it's Lavanan Urban base and the rural PDP supporters together into a single candidate to oppose Makaio after announcing his intention to run, following Sin's single term as President. The 1947 election saw 3 candidates running for office, Makaio from the Democratic Front, Kye Seeha from the PDP-LFP, and Vũ Thế Anh from the PRF. Although the PDP-LFP foresaw a victory, the Democratic Front won the contest, the PDP-LFP requested a recount of the votes as some provinces were won by as little as 500 votes. Something the supreme court rejected, the PRF denounced the Democratic Front after it was revealed the existence of people registered in different polling stations and voting multiple times, the election results were widely rejected and protested by the PRF and PDP, but the LFP decided to acknowledge the results so as to prevent conflict, hoping to defeat Makaio in the next election.

With growing tensions between all 4 parties, and the inability of Makaio to secure a majority to pass legislature even among his party, resulted in his resignation in 1948 which would trigger an election. As he had not served a full term he was able to run for president again, in the election of 1948 the PDP and LFP ran as the same party despite their growing conflict with one another, Saravan Khouph was chosen as the candidate. The PRF ran Vu again. The elections again left a hanged legislature with the Democratic Front losing 10 seats to the PRF and 29 to the PDP-LFP alliance, although Makaio had remained president election results showcased even tighter results, which the supreme court again refused to investigate. The PDP-LFP-PRF formed a coalition to oppose Makaio following this which only aggravated the situation. The Coalition would only last a couple weeks however with the PDP and PRF decrying closer ties and LFP approval of Democratic Front legislature.

File:Hanoi, The uprising on August 19, 1945.jpg

Storming of the Presidential residence by civilians

Again faced with the prospect of a hanging legislature and the shaky relationship with the LFP, Makaio announced his intention to resign again and until a single party held the necessary majority or coalition to rule in December 1949 following 13 months of political deadlock and lackluster negotiations. The March elections were again to be headed by Makaio, with the PRF and PDP running a single candidate Meka Champasack the former civil war hero which his Dezevauni descent and close ties to the Dezevauni government allowed him to secure a variety of deals and projects shall the party end up in power, the LFP was forced to run a candidate by themselves Kimo Kommandam was stated to lead the party. The March elections resulted in a narrow PDP-PRF victory with the Democratic Front demanding a recount, and the supreme court agreeing to such a proposition. The recount was marked by controversy and the announcement of a Democratic Front victory resulted in the PRF, and some PDP members walking out of the Legislature and beginning to work on further cause of action. Makaio ordered the army to intercept such plans, and stop what he believed to be a popular uprising. The Army which had been slowly pushing out Socialists and Left wingers of it's ranks moved forward, causing an attempted coup by the leftist, and constitutional elements of the army which saw it as an attempt by Makaio to undermine the republic. During the 5th of April Coup, army forces loyal to Makaio engaged Leftist army forces looking to oust Makaio, during the chaos Meka encouraged the population to rise up, and resulted in civilians storming the Presidential Residence. LFP elements joined this movements and soon the major cities fell into chaos, known as the April Chaos.

The PDP and PRF were unable to secure it's position in major cities, and with growing casualties in holding their positions in the cities, it was decided to retreat into the jungles and rural areas, specially after Makaio had escaped the attempt to storm the presidential residence with civilians and military forces. The People's Republic of Lavana (PRL) was proclaimed in the city of Edrona. The April Chaos had seen extensive fighting in all the major cities and over 2,000 military and some 4,000 civilians died or were wounded during the chaos.

Second Civil War

Female National Defence Unit member

Army outpost outside Pers, 1951

Geography

Hydrology

The Kung River

Demographics

Cities

Largest urban centers by population
Pers Kurei	#	Settlement	Population	File:Phnom Penh Evening Aerial View.png Kipchu File:Patuxai.jpg Liucpa
	1	Pers	5,122,521
	2	Kurei	3,951,125
	3	Kipchu	2,869,377
	4	Liucpa	2,663,356
	5	Thy Lucc	1,662,753
	6	Laitaka	1,133,152
	7	Sureli	700,633
	8	Sureli	673,842
	9	Ongoya	551,853
	10	Edrona	313,631