Ardalia

The Republic of Ardalia Republika Ardaska
Flag
Status	Independent
Capital and largest city	Hran
Official languages	Ardalian
Recognised national languages	Standard Caropsyne, Loslakian
Religion	Orthodox Church
Demonym(s)	Ardalian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
• President	Leno Frikasz
• Premier	Ardor Raszan
Legislature	Skupstina
History
• Kingdom	1000
• First Republic	1913
• Letzek Regime	1947
• Second Republic	1990
• Third Republic	2010
Area
• Total	238,421 km2 (92,055 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.80
Population
• 2020 census	35,910,337
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$342.22 billion
• Per capita	$9,530.00
Gini	33.7 medium
HDI	0.620 medium
Currency	Ardalian Kupon (ARK)
Time zone	UTC +2
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+14
ISO 3166 code	AR
Internet TLD	.ar

Ardalia (Ardalian: Ardaska), officially the Republic of Ardalia (Ardalian: Republika Ardaska) is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic in Southern Thearea. It borders the Caropsyne Pontanore to the northwest, Rygaria to the east, Loslakia to the northeast, and Prassia to the southeast, and shares maritime borders with the Pontanore and Prassia. Its capital and largest city is Hran. The country has a population of 35.9 million. In total, Ardalia covers an area of 238,421 square kilometers organized into fifteen districts.

For over eight hundred years, the country was ruled by a unbroken line of monarchs from the House of Mazga. At the start they were seen as benvolent leaders but with each successive century, they had turned into cruel autocrats. The monarchy was overthrown in a popular uprising in 1912 which brought about the establishment of the First Republic the following year. Unfortuately, the young republic was mired by political instability where governments constantly rose and fell, shaking the public's confidence. By the beginning of the 1920's, the country was able to find its footing and saw rapid growth. With the outbreak of the Great War in 1940, Ardalia joined forces with the Caropsyne Pontanore against Latagon and Loslakia. After the war, General Ervin Letzek a staged a military coup and toppled the First Republic. He would go on to rule Ardalia with an iron fist for fifty years before being removed from power in 1990 following the disastrous loss in the Ardalian-Caropsyne War. The Second Republic was formed in the aftermath, and marked a high point for the country but ceased in 2006 due to the start of the devasting Ardalian Civil War. Four long years of bloodshed and destruction has brought about the current Third Republic.

Due to Ardalia's geographic location, it has long been considered a crossroads between eastern and western Thearea enabling it to create a unique and vibrant culture. It is a land of rich fertile plains, snow-capped mountains, and illydic scenic coastlines. While the Republic has witnessed economic gains following the Civil War, it is still a developing country, and classified as a middle-income country. Despite that, it is one of the more developed countries due to the sizable amount of foreign assistance and infrastructure investment provided by the Caropsyne Pontanore since the signing of the Treaty of Taerisz and by Loslakia during Letzek's regime. Ardalia's economy is highly dependent on industry and agriculture, particularly grains, livestock, minerals, and timber. Tourism has grown steady in recent years as individuals from across Thearea flock to the beaches of the Dracian Coast and the ski slopes of the Canthasian Mountains. While known for its relatively high gender equality, Ardalia suffers from a high crime rate (attributed mostly to drug usage, drug trafficking and corruption). It's a member of the United Nations, the Organization of Thearean Nations and the Thearean Common Market.

History

The people of modern-day Ardalia originally organized themselves around dozens of small territories led by a chieftain. Each of these focused around a river valley or basin with the villages in it, bound by the surrounding elevated terrain. They farmed and herded animals on the rich plains and fished along the coast. Several chiefdoms formed a principality with the four most powerful being Hran, Taerisz, Kanryk, and Greszin. Through a combination of shrewd diplomacy and fights against his rivals spanning a five year period, the Prince of Hran Elek Mezga, had secured the entirety of the country. He would be crowned on the first day of 1000, formally creating the Kingdom of Ardalia. The House of Mezga would go on to rule for over eight hundred years. Four years into his reign, the entire Ardalian people were converted to the Orthodox faith.

As the centuries passed, the monarchy kept the Ardalian people safe, protecting her from the ambitions of neighboring Caropsynes and Loslakians. Though the borders of the Kingdom remained unchanged, the Ardalian kings could not ignore the growing Empire to their west. The Lindites of Carops in the span of three decades took possession of the island of Casona, established colonies in Polythia, and subjugated the Jaj. King Nandor V decided that Ardalia could not afford to stand by. In 1749, he claimed the Forlæan Islands in the Thearean Sea as soverign Ardalian territory. He also attempted to compete for colonies in Polythia but none of them were successful.

By 1843, the last Caropsyne King, Olimand the Great, agreed to the downgrading of the monarchy from a Royal Family to merely a Royal House, enabling a democratic government to manage the country's affairs. Ardalians observed the progress being made across the border and calls for a elected Assembly (which would transition Ardalia into a constitutional monarchy) grew rapidly. The Megzas would not give in and their once benevolent leadership turned to one of outright cruelty. Throughout the remainder of the 1800's the Kings would put down riots with lethal force. One of the most horrendous acts by the monarchy occured in 1901 where three-thousand individuals were massacred in Hran, peacefully requesting the right to participate in the governance of their country. Up to that point, the people did not want to get rid of their King. The events on that dark day would seal the fate of the monarchy. In the wake of the Hran Massacre, pro-democracy movements secretly acquired military resources and support from the public. Recognizing the importance of having a foreign ally in the early days of their expected Republic, leaders of the largest movement made contact with the Caropsyne Premier.

Once they had all their pieces assembled, they set off the uprising they had planned for several years. On a bright sunny morning in the spring of 1912, hundred-thousand individuals marched upon the Royal Palace, backed by sympathetic elements of the military to remove the King once and for all. There was no reaction from the guards who maintained their positions at the gates and along the walls. Inside, the King's advisors urged him to concede to the demands of the people, but he still would not budge. He attempted to call in military forces from outside the capital to disperse the crowd but his commanders simply replied that their men had defected to the protesters and any more would just join them. Night was beginning to fall when he gave up: completely surrounded and no military support, he had no choice but to abdicate the throne. With the stroke of a pen, eight hundred years of monarchical rule by the Mezgas had ended. He walked out of the Palace and waved for the guards to open the gates. He expected the crowd to rush in and kill him, but only one man approached him. They did not exchange any words - the King handed him his declaration and stood there. The gentlemen walked back and read what it had said. Before he could finish, cheering ensued.

The soldiers present then escorted the King and his family away from the capital and took them to one of their country estates along the Dracian Coast to await their fate. Mere days after the abdication, a constitutional committee was convened to outline their new Republic's fundamental principles and define its structure. Ardalia's first-ever plebicite, the referendum on the 1912 Constitution, occurred at the end of that year. At the start of the next year, the First Republic was officially proclaimed and the new Assembly took their seats. Democracy had finally arrived.

Unfortuately, the young republic was mired by political instability where governments rose and fell with shaking the public's confidence but by the beginning of the 1920's, the country was able to find its footing and saw rapid growth. With the outbreak of the Great War, Ardalia joined on the side of the Caropsyne Pontanore against Latagon and Loslakia. After the war, General Ervin Letzek a staged a military coup and toppled the First Republic. He would go on to rule Ardalia with an iron fist for fifty years before being removed from power in 1990 following the disastrous loss in the Ardalian-Caropsyne War. The Second Republic was formed in the aftermath, and marked a high point for the country but ceased in 2006 due to the start of the devasting Ardalian Civil War. Four long years of bloodshed and destruction has brought about the current Third Republic.

Politics and Government

The Ardalian Republic is a democracy which consists of a unicameral legislature known as the Skupstina which sits in Hran. According to the 1990 Constitution, the President of Ardalia is the ceremonial Head of State but holds no executive power. They are elected in a secret ballot at the start of each five-year term of the legislature by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly. The Premier is the Head of Government and the vested chief executive. They are almost always the leader of the largest single block in the Assembly or it can be the individual who has managed to form a stable coalition government (across all three Republics, there has only been 2 coalitions).

The Skupstina consists of 195 deputies who are elected by party-list proportional representation based on the results of a general election that occurs no later than every five years. Early elections can be called either at the urging of the Premier or in the instance in which the Government in power loses a vote of confidence. All Ardalians over the age of 18 have the right to vote.

The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary. The Constitutional Court acts as the interpreter and guardian the nation's fundamental principles. Ardalia's legal system follows the principles of civil law.