Aimilia
Aimilian Republic Despublika amideziz | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: "zesabi taibus" "Hold fast" | |
 | |
| Capital | Kakzazna |
| Official languages | Aimilian |
| Ethnic groups | Aimilian, Gaullican |
| Demonym(s) | Aimilian |
| Government | Democratic parliamentary republic |
• President | Kabentim Teguzboded |
• Chancellor | Manham Batsatindim |
| Legislature | Kazbastad |
| Independence from Gaullica | |
• Granted | 1935 |
| Area | |
• Total | 60,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 6,900,000 |
• 2018 census | 6,726,161 |
• Density | 111/km2 (287.5/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2018 estimate |
• Total | $100.6 billion |
• Per capita | €14,959 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2018 estimate |
• Total | $89.4 billion |
• Per capita | €13,287 |
| Gini (2018) |  41.5medium |
| HDI (2018) |  0.798high |
| Currency | Katap (KAT) |
| Time zone | UTC-1 (AST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-1 (not observed) |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .ai |
Aimilia is a landlocked country in northeastern central Euclea. It has a population of 6.9 million and a land area of almost 60,000 square kilometres. The official and most spoken language is Aimilian. The country is largely flat, of temperate climate, and touches two of the Eleutherian lakes. Its capital and largest city is Kakzazna.
The Aimilii tribes inhabited the area at the time of the Solarian Empire, resisting its expansion out of modern Gaullica in the Aimilian Wars. After several unsuccessful military attempts to take over the area, with the Aimilii tribes having united under a single leader to prosecute the war, the Solarian Empire offered special status to the Aimilii which would allow them to stay and settle on the land but enjoy the benefits of connection with Solarian civilisation; in exchange, they would defend the frontier. This agreement was accepted, and the five main surviving tribes of the Aimilii settled roughly in the areas of the five Judicatures, which in turn correspond to the provinces of modern Aimilia. The largely successful defence of the Aimilii against those to the west has had the survival of Solarian civilisation in Gaullica attributed to it by some historians. In the medieval age, unity largely broke down, with the Judicatures being at various times independent, conjoined, or part of neighbouring powers such as Gaullica or Sudrosia. By the time of the Great War (Kylaris), four Judicatures had been Gaullican for some time, and one Swetanian. After the war, independence was granted to the traditional territory of the Aimilian Judicatures which were part of Gaullica, forming the Aimilian Republic; Boziskag remains part of Swetania. Shortly after establishment, a dictatorship took over, ruling with support from Estmere and Werania until the 70s. The lengthy Aimilian Spring eventually saw the country turn into a unitary, liberal, constitutional, parliamentary, multiparty democracy, with a notably strong judiciary.
In part owing to its history, Aimilia is among the countries of Euclea with weaker institutions and economy. It is nonetheless capable of being characterised as medium or high income, with a nominal GDP per capita of €12,090 and PPP of €15,021, giving it a total GDP of €100 billion PPP and €80 billion nominal. A notable proportion of the country's national income comes from those working in the Euclean Community or Swetania. It is the only country in Euclea with a high HDI, as opposed to a very high HDI. At times Aimilia has been a candidate for accession to the Euclean Community, but has never met its requirements. Contemporarily, Aimilia is known for its musical scene, which often makes use of the Aimilian language.
Etymology
"Aimilia" comes from the Solarian Aimilii (sometimes Amilii), which was the name for the tribes living in the area given by the Solarian Empire. It is generally accepted that it comes from a self-designation of the tribes in Old Aimilian, related to the contemporary Aimilian amidez, meaning "Aimilian" (mutation of [l] into sounds such as /d/ is common in Aimilian). It is speculated that this appellation meant something along the lines of "free people" or "independent people".
History
Antiquity
The Aimilii inhabited the area around the time of the Solarian conquest of Gaullica; some speculate that they had only recently migrated into the area of modern Aimilia at that time, while others suggest they were there for much longer. The Aimilian Wars saw generally unsuccessful attempts by the Solarians at conquering the modern day area of Aimilia. Eventually, the Aimilian peoples, organised as five tribes, agreed to become clients of a sort of Solaria. Over time, they were increasingly integrated, but by-and-large maintained the Aimilian language, culture and borders, fighting successfully against barbarians to the west on behalf of Solaria.
Medieval
When Solaria fell, the Aimilian subdivisions became independent. During the medieval era their basic units, known as Judicatures and ruled by Judges, were preserved, but they were frequently ruled from abroad such as from Sudrosia or Gaullica, or were partially united with each other by a local ruler. The largely successful repeated Aimilian defences against barbarians to the west of Gaullica has been given credit by some historians for saving the Solarian presence in Gaullica.
During this period, Aimilian culture and language were significantly reduced on all sides, largely due to encroaching Weranian and Gaullican invasion, settlement, migration or influence. It was also during this period that the Aimilians were thoroughly Sotirianised, specifically under the Catholic tradition, largely through missionaries from Gaullica; they abandoned their old pagan faith. However, a significant proportion converted to Amendism when that arose in Euclea. Over time, the Judicatures all lost their independence to neighbouring powers.
Modern
Before the Airdale War, Sudrosia controlled Boziskag, and Gaullica the other four Judicatures. However, an ultimatum from Gaullica, accepted by Sudrosia, saw almost all of Boziskag become Gaullican.
At the start of the Great War, almost all of the five Judicatures were ruled by Gaullica, and only a fraction of Boziskag by Swetania, all having been integrated with their respective states for some time. During the war, many Aimilians volunteered to Gaullican forces, while many were also conscripted, but some also joined an Aimilian Legion fighting against the Entente, largely coordinating with Swetania which had ethnic Aimilians from Boziskag as part of its regular forces. There are no unified Aimilian Resistance, however, despite postwar myths.
After the war, the Gaullican Aimilian territories from before the Airdale War were split off as the Aimilian Republic by the Grand Alliance, as a buffer state, and seeking to reduce Gaullica's dominance in Euclea; this was the first time an Aimilian state with most ethnic Aimilians as part of it had been independent in over a thousand years. Boziskag was returned to Sudrosia. This new state's first action was to expel Gaullicans and encourage ethnic Aimilians abroad to return; the Gaullicanisation of Bezuntam's progress was quickly reversed. However, many Gaullicans in Aimilia simply claimed to be Aimilian rather than leaving, and so stayed; they became known as Paper Aimilians, for the manner in which their nationality was said to exist only on their papers. Paper Aimilians, because they often benefited from being bilingual and better socioeconomic status, played an important role in postwar Aimilian political, cultural and economic life. The capital was also then established at the then-small settlement of Kakzazna, with the four old Judicatures becoming provinces, but with territory split off from all four to create the new capital province of Kakzazna. The fifth historic Judicature remained integrated with Swetania, and remains so to this day as a canton under its federal system.
The Aimilian Republic, while nominally democratic, failed to build robust institutions and became a dictatorship within a few years. Despite a succession of dictators and the involvement of the military in politics, the postwar economic boom and the support for the regime by Estmere and Werania kept things quiet. However, by the 1970s, the economy was in a very poor state, and welfare programmes could no longer be maintained, and a wave of liberal sentiment saw the largely bloodless ouster of the dictatorship in favour of a liberal democracy. Following in the footsteps of the original intentions of the founders of the Aimilian Republic, a very strong judiciary was established.
Contemporary
Liberal multiparty parliamentary democracy has persisted to this day. Several attempts were made to apply to the Euclean Community during the period after the establishment of democracy, mainly by National Liberal governments who held power for most of the time until the present since then, but they never progressed very far, as Aimilia did not meet requirements. The Conservative Group came into government at the head of a coalition in 2015, becoming the largest party for the first time, ending several terms of National Liberal-led government; an economic downturn began shortly before that time and has persisted until the present day. In 2019, very large protests occurred against that government, and became known as the July Spring; however, they did not cause the resignation of the government as was their goal.
Geography
Aimilia is 60,000km2 in size, almost all of which is land area; as a landlocked country, its only water area are portions of the Eleutherian Lakes which it borders. It borders the Euclean Community to its east, with Gaullica, and Swetania to its north, through their canton of Boziskag, which is a historically ethnically Aimilian region. The capital city is Kakzazna, also capital of the province of the same name.
Geology
Aimilia is largely located on the Eleutherian Craton. Its soils tend towards being clay, being generally of moderate fertility, declining towards the far west. There are some layers of salt in the central part of the country, which have historically been mined. It is not near any tectonic features, and tremors are rare.
Topography
The topography of Aimilia is fairly flat; the country as a whole slopes towards the Eleutherian Lakes, while there are gentle hillocks mostly along the border with Gaullica. However, there is a notable outcropping, believed to be the edge of an impact crater, in the western part of the country; the Mazmaz is part of the Mazmaz National Park.
Hydrology
Aimilia touches two of the Eleutherian Lakes, and its border with Gaullica is a river that flows between these two; shipping, fishing, tourism and pumping are conducted there. Almost all of the country is part of the watershed of those two lakes, which flow onwards to the Sweta, the most significant river of Swetania. Aimilia has a generally healthy water table, but in parts it is being depleted by the use of bore water for agriculture. There are also concerns about agricultural and motor pollutants running off into the Eleutherian Lakes, which in recent times have seen some fish die-offs owing to lack of oxygen. The Badaksagaz is the largest river contained entirely within the country, flowing west to east through Kakzazna into the Eleutherian Lakes system.
Climate
The climate of Aimilia is temperate, with frosty winters, fairly hot summers, and various rains all throughout the year, though generally less in summer. Before human settlement, it was largely temperate forest. The small size of Aimilia means that there is little climactic variation from one part of the country to the other, though the lakes to some extent moderate temperature, while more inland parts of the country tend to be drier. As a result, a very high proportion of Aimilia's landmass is arable, though not necessarily of high quality.
Administrative subdivisions
Aimilia has five provinces, four of them historic Judicatures and the capital province, Kakzazna, formed out of them at the end of the Great War. They are all roughly equal in size and population, and are all governed directly through the unitary administration. Kakzazna is the most populous province by a small margin, as well as the most economically developed, and is the only province to be adjacent to all other provinces, as well as the only province not to be adjacent to a foreign country.
| Province | Capital | Area (km2) |
Population | GDP per capita nominal € | GDP nominal € | GDP per capita PPP € | GDP PPP € |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bezuntam | Kabogamin | 8,000 | 1,338,140 | €14,769 | €19.8 billion | €17,713 | €23.7 billion |
| Damdamzandis | Paekibogu | 9,000 | 1,388,722 | €11,847 | €16.5 billion | €13,445 | €18.7 billion |
| Kakobidga | Minuogezit | 15,000 | 1,217,014 | €10,235 | €12.5 billion | €11,157 | €13.6 billion |
| Kakzazna | Kakzazna | 13,000 | 1,482,303 | €19,737 | €29.3 billion | €21,104 | €31.3 billion |
| Mantandik | Mantandik | 15,000 | 1,299,982 | €8,803 | €11.4 billion | €10,294 | €13.4 billion |
Politics
Aimilia is a unitary, parliamentary, democratic, multiparty republic, similar in nature to many of its Euclean neighbours.
Government
Aimilia's unicameral legislature is the Kazbastad, and the head of government is the Chancellor. The President, the head of state, is appointed by the Kazbastad, and is essentially ceremonial but for their role in government formation. The current Chancellor is Manham Batsatindim, since 2015 leading a Conservative Group government (in coalition with the National Liberals until the July Spring in 2019), and the current President Kabentim Teguzboded, also a Conservative, from the same year. The majority of elections since democracy in the 1970s have been won by the National Liberals, and this is the first Conservative Group-led government.
Elections take place with a closed list proportional representation system which uses the provinces as electorates and the largest remainder system to assign seats; there are presently 8 seats per province, creating a legislature of 40, but the Electoral Court of Aimilia is empowered to redistribute seats dependent on population.
The executive are appointed by the government, but are not typically members of the Kazbastad. Ministries includie Defence, the Environment, the Economy, Education, Culture and Justice.
Law
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Aimilia has a strong judiciary, with the Declaration of Universal Natural Rights having been incorporated in the Natural Rights Act, a piece of law second only to the Constitution (formally the Constitution Act), at the foundation of the country shortly after the Great War. However, democracy and rule of law were not established until the fall of the dictatorial regime in the 1970s, and so the independent Aimilian judiciary only dates since that time. Since then, it has become one of the more respected institutions in Aimilia, and one of the more respected judiciaries in Euclea, because of the quality of its judgments and the institutional strength with which they are backed up. It is considered that this was achieved because of the strength of the Constitution and the Natural Rights Act, Aimilia's long and storied judicial history and culture, and to some extent, circumstance. The highest court in Aimilia is the Supreme Court; another notable court is the Electoral Court, which deals with elections. All appeals can ultimately go to the Supreme Court. Judges are appointed through a consultative process working with the existing judiciary, executive, legislature, and legal profession.
Foreign relations
Aimilia has fair and normalised relations with most countries, as it is not aligned towards any particular bloc strongly, though it is a liberal democracy. In its region, this means the Euclean Community, especially Gaullica, as opposed to communist Swetania. It has generally pursued free trade with other countries, inviting investment from as far afield as Jindao and Montecara as well as from those nearby. Aimilia's relations with Gaullica were somewhat sour in the past, owing to Aimilia's treatment of its then-Gaullican minority and its status as former integrally Gaullican territory, but these issues have largely been smoothed over. Another important aspect of foreign relations is the large Aimilian expatriate community, many working for remittances in Swetania or the Euclean Community which are sent home, being an important part of Aimilia's national income.
At times Aimilia has been a candidate for Euclean Community accession, especially under National Liberal governments (most of those since the establishment of democracy) but its inability to fulfil conditions has meant that this has never gone far.
Military
The military of Aimilia was historically involved in politics, but this tendency faded away in contemporary politics as the democratic system stabilise and the military shrank. The three branches are the Aimilian Army, the Aimilian Air Force and the Aimilian Navy; the former is by far the most significant, with the navy purely operating on the Eleutherian Lakes. Aimilia has had around a dozen divisions in total since the fall of the dictatorship; to some extent, Aimilia's military situation is reflective of the reality that all its neighbours are much larger and stronger, and so any serious defence would likely be mounted by another bloc than the one attacking rather than domestic forces.
Economy
Aimilia is a capitalist market economy, with agreements with both the council communist Swetania to its north and the similarly capitalist Euclean Community to its east. The framework of liberal democracy protects property and promotes individual initiative. However, Aimilia's economy is among the poorest in the region, with relatively low GDP per capita and growth, relatively high inequality, relatively high unemployment, and a relatively low Human Development Index. It has been suggested that this is the result of lack of access to the sea, few natural resources, small size, few ties to others in the region, corruption, recent history and generally inappropriate government policies. Consistent growth, though slow, has nonetheless been achieved since the fall of the dictatorship.
Its GDP per capita PPP is $15,021, total $100 billion. Nominal GDP is $80 billion, per capita $12,090. The HDI is 0.798, which is considered High, and the GNI 41.5, which is medium. The main stock index in Aimilia is the PKE, since the 1990s. The currency is the Katap, which is managed by the reserve bank and has a floating exchange rate.
The service sector is the single largest sector of the economy in Aimilia, but its more lucrative activities such as accounting, legal services, information technology and consultancy tend to be focused in the capital, Kakzazna. Other industries are significant, including both light and heavy manufacturing, food processing, logistics, dairy, grain agriculture, vegetable agriculture, poultry and tourism. There is also some table salt mining, which was historically more significant. Tourism tends to be for music, the Eleutherian Lake beaches, history (Solarian, medieval and Great War), or sex, which is decriminalised.
Notable corporations in Aimilia include Montecaran company Bànca Ultramarìn (which sponsors the Ultramarin Stadium in Kakzazna), Jindanese company Fang-su Corporations, and the domestic Paskapaz Holdings. Many participate in the Aimilian Chamber of Commerce. The peak union body of Aimilia is meanwhile the Union of Unions, whose members include the General Industrial Union, the Agricultural Union, the Light Manufacturing Union, the Federation of Service Workers, the Transportation Union, the United Professional Union and the Public and State Union and the Union of Shopkeepers, Textile, Lacustrine and Distributive Workers. Unionisation in Aimilia is low but significant.
Infrastructure
Aimilia was historically a centre of inland goods movement, because of its position in relation to the Eleutherian Lakes; the southern province of Damdamzandis used to have among the busiest lacustrine ports in the world during the period of Gaullican rule. However, this activity has greatly declined with containerisation, air travel and changes in the economic geography of Euclea. Nonetheless, despite decline in its usage, Aimilia retains robust rail and canal infrastructure, which industry in the country benefits from. There have also been frequent proposals to build high speed rail to nearby countries, though none have come through, owing to Aimilia's relatively small economic base.
Trade
Aimilia's most important trading partners include Swetania, Gaullica, Estmere, Werania and Kesselbourg. Apart from economic relations in terms of remittances, tourism and transshipment, important exports are various agricultural products, light manufacturing and low level services, and important imports include medicine, vehicles, fruit, fuels and minerals.
Science and technology
Aimilia has lagged behind other Euclean countries in science and technology. However, the University of Aimilia and other institutions are known on the continent for relatively advanced developments in 3D printing, legal theory and geology.
Demographics
Aimilia has a population of 6.7 million, and is a middle-aged country. An overwhelming majority of the country is of Aimilian ethnicity. The dominant language by far is Aimilian but Gaullican is a very common second language. It is fairly urbanised, with over 50% of the population living in a provincial capital (including Kakzazna).
Largest cities in Aimilia
Aimilian Census 2018 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Province | Pop. | |||||||
 Kakzazna  Paekibogu |
1 | Kakzazna | Kakzazna (province) | 997,634 |  Kabogamin .jpg) Mantandik | ||||
| 2 | Paekibogu | Damdamzandis | 396,960 | ||||||
| 3 | Kabogamin | Bezuntam | 276,021 | ||||||
| 4 | Mantandik | Mantandik (province) | 232,119 | ||||||
| 5 | Minuogezit | Kakobidga | 196,083 | ||||||
| 6 | Pakanhgama | Bezuntam | 113,004 | ||||||
| 7 | Tipiekan | Damdamzandis | 97,645 | ||||||
| 8 | Dimkaipeis | Kakobidga | 84,513 | ||||||
| 9 | Zebun Taban | Mantandik (province) | 69,034 | ||||||
| 10 | Kepikanzatezi | Kakzazna (province) | 55,255 | ||||||
Ethnicity
Over 90% of Aimilians identify themselves as being ethnically Aimilian. However, genetic and historical studies show that there is little to distinguish someone who is ethnically Aimilian from someone who is not; a very rough estimate suggests that around 35% of those who consider themselves ethnically Aimilian have more than 50% ancestry from outside the borders of modern Aimilia (however, this of course excludes Boziskag, whose inhabitants are also generally considered ethnically Aimilian). It is likely that the small size and history of Aimilia mean there is no distinctive genetic identity, only a general sense of identity.
A notable phenomenon was that of "Paper Aimilians"; people who would otherwise have been considered culturally, ethnically and legally Gaullican, but who, living in what became the Aimilian Republic, and in the light of their country's defeat in the Great War in 1935, chose to change their nationality to Aimilian, even as the newly independent country attempted to expel Gaullicans from its territory. After the policy of population exchange came to an end, two Chancellors of Aimilia were from that demographic commonly known as Paper Aimilians; because they were often multilingual and higher up socioeconomically, they played a prominent role in the country's political, cultural and economic life.
Recent immigration to Aimilia is low in scale, but includes people from across Euclea, such as Swetania and Gaullica, as well as further afield, such as from Bahia; those who might be considered racially non-Euclean comprise around 3% of the population, a figure that remains steady.
Language
The official language of Aimilia is Aimilian, and it is spoken by 96% of the population according to the 2018 census. 86% of its speakers in Aimilia are native speakers, and 14% are non-native speakers. Most of those who do not speak it speak Gaullican, which owing to proximity to Gaullica and the Euclean Community and history, is by far the most popular second language with 59% speaking it, as well as the language of the second largest native language community, at 16%, concentrated in Bezuntam and Kakzazna City. Many speakers in Bezuntam are elderly, and retain it from the era during or just after Gaullican rule.
Boziskag, historically an Aimilian region, is an area in Swetania bordering Aimilia, which speaks Aimilian natively and has official status for it within that country; the Northern, Central and Southern dialects of Aimilian spread from Boziskag in Swetania to the Eleutherian Lakes of Aimilia without interruption, unusually for a language that has existed transnationally for over a century. The greatest number of speakers speak the Central dialect, which is used in the capital, and which is also generally the one from which standardisation is made.
Language learning is not strong in Aimilia, however, the third most popular language by a significant margin (27%) is Weranian, owing to its wide usage in Swetania, a country with which Aimilia has close social, cultural, economic, etc. links, as well as owing to its sole usage in Werania, with which Aimilia has historical links. The fourth most spoken language, also learnt for international communicative reasons generally, is Estmerish at 22%, Estmere being another Euclean Community country with which Aimilia has links, but also the language being the second most important globally after Gaullican. The average Aimilian, however, remains monolingual.
Religion
Religion in Aimilia
Aimilia is a secular country. Irreligious people are a plurality, but are outnumbered by Sotirians; while no single Amendist church comes close to the size of the Solarian Catholic community, it is outnumbered by Amendists collectively. Irreligious, Amendists and Solarian Catholics each comprise very roughly a third of the country's population, with a small minority professing other religions, including Episimialists, Satyists and pagans. The proportion of irreligious is growing slowly, with of the three major groups, Amendism shrinking faster than Solarian Catholic. Aimilia was a historically more Solarian country under Gaullican rule.
Education
Aimilia has a 99% literacy rate, with compulsory primary and secondary education up to the ninth year. Its education system is below average for Euclea, but above average globally. Schools are mostly state-run, but a growing minority are privately run since the legalisation of the practice in the 1970s. Around one in ten Aimilians have a university degree; notable tertiary institutions in Aimilia include the University of Aimilia and the University of Tagnatambim.
Health
The Aimilian Health Service provides mostly free and universal healthcare, but has lacks coverage in important areas, and is inadequate in its service in others. A large private healthcare industry exists. Life expectancy in Aimilia is about 75 years. Aimilia receives some aid from neighbours in tackling infectious diseases.
Migration
More emigration from Aimilia than immigration to it occurs, by a small margin. Most emigration is for economic or educational reasons, to Gaullica or elsewhere in the Euclean Community, or Swetania, often with remittances being set back. Most immigration tends to be either for business reasons, such as working in the large multinational corporations that are significant in the Aimilian economy, for family reasons, expatriates returning, or humanitarian.
As a result of emigration, large Aimilian communities exist outside of traditionally ethnic Aimilian lands, such as in cities in Swetania or in Verlois.
Culture
Aimilia has a long history, with a great deal of influence and interaction with communities around it, which has contributed to its cultural situation.
The March Against Discrimination is a LGBTQ+ event that takes place around the middle of each year, during summer.
Music
Aimilia has a small but significant music industry, which has some reputation across wider Euclea. Electronic youth group Pak-Pak-Pak and some Euclean proponents of Djeli pop may be noted.
Art
The painter Gaston Kabanguimba, who worked 1666-1679, was Aimilian, doing portraiture but inspiring works beyond that field during early Aimilian independence.
Media
Aimilia has news.
Philosophy
The nihilist philosopher, anthropologist and psychologist Padaz Gampunhkiaz was Aimilian; he was known for his book "La mort comme centre", meaning "Death as the centre", suggesting that human culture was death-centric.
Literature
The national epic, the Tabaandimiz is about a woman who fights as a warrior to protect herself and those around her before succumbing and ascending to heaven. Additionally, some notable poets and novelists have come from Aimilia.
Cuisine
The national dish of Aimilia is bagaz zap, which consists of bread baked around chocolate, traditionally served with steamed milk. It is a before noon meal. Another notable dish originating in Aimilia is iza, a street food consisting of deep fried grains rolled into balls, generally served on skewers, and spiced. Aimilian traditional cuisine generally reflects the cultural manner in which hunting persisted in Aimilian life even after the thorough agriculturisation of its landmass; common ingredients are various grains, herbs, fruits and vegetables and game, and common methods are slow cooking, steaming, roasting or searing; deep-frying is popular but more modern.
Sports
Aimilia has an association football team which has never won a medal. Its swimmers have won medals at the Invictus Games.