Duran

Kingdom of Duran ནམྱུལགྱལཁ Namyul Gyal Khap
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: འབངས་བདེ་སྐྱིད་ཉི་མ་ཤར་བར་ཤོག་།། Bang deki nyima shâwâsho May the Sun of Peace and Happiness shine over all people
Anthem: བསྟན་འགྲོའི་ནོར་འཛིན་རྒྱ་ཆེར་སྐྱོང་བའི་མགོན། Tendroe Nordzin Gyache Kyongwae Gön
Location of Duran in Coius
Capital and largest city	Chenpodrang
Official languages	Namkha
Recognised regional languages	Hua
Ethnic groups (2020)	Hua 31% Nampa 26% Shangeans 14% Lhopa 7% Thopa 6% Yagpa 4% Others 4%
Demonym(s)	Duranian
Government	Federal parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
• Zhabrung	Namgyal Gyemtsen
• Pönchen	Tsering Gyatso
• Nam Desi	Dondrub Wangmo
Legislature	Kashag
• Upper house	Assembly of Elders
• Lower house	Assembly of Commoners
Area
• Total	681,891.84 km2 (263,279.91 sq mi)
• Water (%)	0.380
Population
• 2020 estimate	28,424,000
• Density	168/km2 (435.1/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2016 estimate
• Total	$ 454.64 billion
• Per capita	$ 15,995
GDP (nominal)	2015 estimate
• Total	$179.49 billion
• Per capita	$6,315
HDI (2020)	0.708 high
Currency	Duranian Gormo (DRG)
Internet TLD	.du

The Kingdom of Duran (Namkha: ནམྱུལགྱལཁཔ ​Namyul Gyal Khap), commonly known as Duran, is a sovereign state in Coius. It shares land borders with Ajahadya to the north, Shangea to the south, and Baekjeong to the east. It is entirely landlocked. As of 2017, Duran's population was approximately 28 million. Its capital city is Chenpodrang, which is also the largest city in the country.

Continuous habitation within the area of modern Duran began in the neolithic era, with the Matu culture being the first emergence of what is commonly considered to be a proto-Hua ethnic group in the Lhochum valley in approximately 3000 BCE. The first of the Duranic groups arrived in the sixteenth century BCE, during the Shango-Duranic migration. These two peoples would live reasonably peacefully, primarily establishing small scale agricultural livelihoods. Several polities arose between the two, and there were multiple wars which eventually resulted in the Nampa state gaining political prominence. Under the Xiang dynasty, Shangean control over the fertile Lhochum valley area was first extended, settling Shangean peoples in several urban areas. These Shangeans would come to dominate the nation’s urban economy, leaving the king dependent on them as merchants. Namqu, as the region was referred to by the Shangeans, became a nominal protectorate of the central Xiao state and, despite periods of extended independence, would eventually grow closer to its cultural and political sphere. By 1882, king Namgyal Dorji was so dependent on Shangean support that he was deposed in a palace coup by a group of powerful Shangean merchants in favour of his daughter Lhamo, who had been educated in Shangea and was married to a Shangean. Dorji fled to Ajahadya, where he unsuccessfully petitioned the Raj for military help, before fleeing to Euclea in exile. Meanwhile, Lhamo began a campaign of Shangeanification and modernisation of Duranese society. During the great war, the exiled Dorji’s lobbying of several great powers was enough to have Duran granted independence in the Treaty of Keisi.

Since independence, Duran has been weakened by tensions within its society. Though much of the traditional elite had welcomed the return of Dorji, the Shangean population wished to be integrated into Shangea. The Turpa hill tribes, who had been targeted during Lhamo’s modernisation campaigns, were in a state of revolt and it was not until the institution of the Dratsung system which granted autonomy to many rural hill tribes and mountain peoples in terms of local administration and education. Despite this system, there are still major differences between the levels of development. While National Principlism is officially banned, the Shangea-friendly Co-Prosperity Party operates legally and while it has never reached government remains a significant presence. Duran is a close strategic partner of Senria, and a member of its alliances.

Etymology

The name Duran is an exonym of uncertain origins. One potential etymology has been derived from the Parbhan word द्वार dvāra, meaning door or gate, in reference to the nation's position guarding the main land entrance to Shangea from Satria. This would then have passed through Old Pardarian, becoming دواران Dvārān or "land of the door", entering into Euclean languages. Another etymology is from the Pardarian word دورا dûra, meaning "far away". The official name of Duran is Namyul (ནམྱུལ​ Namyul), literally meaning "land of the sky", or more symbolically "Heavenly Realm". Duran and its derivatives are only used in correspondance in other languages. In Shangean, Duran has historically been referred to as Namu (纳姆 Nàmǔ) and Beishan (北山 Běishān).