Jorland and Lothican
Royal Commonwealth of Jorland and Lothican Keninklike Mienskip fan Jorlรขn en Lothike (Jorvish) ๐บ๐ด๐ฝ๐น๐ฝ๐บ๐ป๐น๐บ๐ด ๐ผ๐น๐ด๐ฝ๐๐บ๐น๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฝ ๐พ๐๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ฝ ๐ด๐ฝ ๐ป๐๐ธ๐น๐บ๐ด Kinglie Meinschip o Jorlaund an Lowthen (Lothican) ๐บ๐น๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐น๐ด ๐ผ๐ด๐น๐ฝ๐๐บ๐น๐ ๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฝ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ธ๐ด๐ฝ | |
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| Motto: "We Are Stronger Together" "Wy Binne Sterker Tegearre" "๐ ๐น ๐ฑ๐น๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ด ๐๐๐ด๐๐บ๐ด๐ ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ด๐ฐ๐๐๐ด" "We Are Stranger Thegither" "๐ ๐ด ๐ฐ๐๐ด ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ด๐ ๐ธ๐ด๐ฒ๐น๐ธ๐ด๐" | |
| Anthem: 'Ferienigje wy Stean, Ferdield wy Falle/Unitit we Staund, Dividen we Faw' | |
| Capital | Kaldfesting |
| Largest | Greenfirth |
| Official languages | Jorvish and Lothican |
| Ethnic groups (2016) | 92% Lothican-Jorvish 8% immigrants |
| Demonym(s) | Lothican-Jorvish Baylander (informal) |
| Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
โข Monarch | Lenox IV |
โข Crown Princess | Anna Kaldfesting-Greenfirth |
โข Prime Minister | Nynke Dykstra |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Establishment | |
โข Duchy of Jorland | 843 |
โข Principality of Lothican | 972 |
โข Unification | 1787 |
โข Constitution | 1848 |
| Area | |
โข | 207,293 km2 (80,036 sq mi) |
| Population | |
โข 2017 estimate | 15,410,000 |
โข 2016 census | 15,391,293 |
โข Density | 74.25/km2 (192.3/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2016 estimate |
โข Total | $429.29 billion |
โข Per capita | $27,892 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2016 estimate |
โข Total | $495.32 billion |
โข Per capita | $32,182 |
| Gini (2016) |  25.3low |
| HDI (2016) | 0.872 very high |
| Currency | Jorvish-Lothic shilling (JLS) |
| Time zone | Central Nordanian Time |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +761 |
| ISO 3166 code | JL |
| Internet TLD | .jl |
The Royal Commonwealth of Jorland and Lothican, commonly referred to as the Royal Commonwealth (RC) or as Jorland and Lothican, and occasionally in colloquial contexts as the Baylands, is a sovereign state located in Nordania, bordering Vasturia to the north, Nymandia to the south and the Sea of Njord to the west. With an area of 207,293 square kilometres, the Royal Commonwealth is around the average size for a nation in Nordania, but its population of 15,391,293 residents is lower than many other nations in Nordania, due to a rather low population density.
The Royal Commonwealth is a constitutional monarchy, with a parliamentary democracy in force, with the current monarch having been King Lenox IV since June 2015, and the Prime Minister has been Nynke Dykstra of the Labour Party of Jorland since February 2017. The nation has been described as a composite nation; it is composed of two distinct, autonomous peoples: the Jorvish and the Lothican, with the Jorvish living in Jorland to the south, and the Lothican living in Lothican to the north. There is additionally a significant Tynic minority dispersed throughout the nation, with 1 million Tynic people thought to live in the Commonwealth. The nation's capital is located in the city of Kaldfesting, which while traditionally being the capital of Jorland is independent of the two autonomous regions, while Greenfirth, the former capital of Lothican, is slightly more populous, and its urban area is the nations industrial hub.
The nation's founding can be traced back to the Grand Duchy of Jorland and the Principality of Lothican and their founding in 843 and 972 respectively. The two nations were engaged in many disputes, with the four Lothican-Jorvish Wars being a testament to this. After a failed attempt at a personal union between 1607 and 1611, the two nations united under King Roan of the Jorvish and the Lothican in 1787 following the death of Prince Lenox of Lothican. A constitutional monarchy was established in 1848, laying the framework for the modern nation.
The Royal Commonwealth is a rather developed country; it has developed a mixed-market, service-based economy with a heavy state involvement. The nation is a high-income country with a very high Human Development Index, although economic growth has been rather stagnant over recent years, and new political issues such as unemployment and immigration dominate the political discourse in recent years.
Etymology
The name of Jorland and Lothican comes from its formation from two different nations: the Grand Duchy of Jorland and the Principality of Lothican. The name of Jorland has a somewhat unknown origin - the origin of "jor" is unknown, with theories ranging from a name in honour of a god in a primitive religion to an important early monarch, or merely that the name was adopted after "Jorvish" was as a demonym. However, Lothican is thought to derive from "low lands" - although mountains start around the edges of Lothican, a large amount of its coastal territory is at a very low level in relation to the sea.
History
Antiquity
Jorland and Lothican is first thought to have been inhabited by modern humans from around 32,000 BCE due to archeological evidence. Burials of skeletons surrounded by flint knives and traces of plant matter has suggested that these humans lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, hunting the animals of the area and eating berries and other naturally growing edible plants.
The first civilisation in the nation arose much later, in 2500 BCE, on the coast of Jorland, near modern-day Tynikia, with the Tynikian culture, as it has come to be known, possessing Bronze Age technology: bronze weapons and farming tools have been found that date from this period. This Pre-Pan-Esquarian civilisation is thought to have been behind numerous burial chambers and stone circles found along the coast of Jorland; it is thought that the stone circles served a religious purpose, although little is known about religion apart from carvings in burial chambers depicting people worshipping the sun, suggesting that the sun was thought to be a deity.
These people are thought to have lived in modern-day Tynikia for over one and a half millenia, with some groups extending further along the coast towards Kaldfesting and even Greenfirth. However, the nature of their society appears to have changed to a more class-based one, with remains of villages showing large residences surrounded by smaller, peripheral residences, and later carvings showing king-like figures leading the rest of the civilisation. Writing has also been found from the time period, however the script used to write it has not been deciphered. However, due to unknown causes which have been investigated frequently by modern archaeologists, the civilisation is thought to have declined around 900 BCE, leaving merely small rump populations living in some of the settlements.
Celts are thought to have moved into the area in around 800 BCE, becoming the first Pan-Esquarian culture inhabitating the nation. They are thought to have been sorted into clans based around familial ties, and repurposed many buildings that the Tynikians left, with many abandoned villages becoming reinhabited and expanded, as well as the reuse of stone circles for Celtic religion and burial mounds for further burials. They brought about the Iron Age in Jorland and Lothican, and expanded out into the inland regions of the nation.
As time progressed, the different clans started binding together into federations of clans; these would be led by the leader of the most powerful clan in the federation, who would be referred to in later texts as a "king" - by 200 BCE there were around 30 of these clan federations making up the modern day nation, who would often be engaged in war with each other over territory and resources.
Valish immigration
However, around 0 CE, Valish horsemen moved into the low-lying plains of Jorland and Lothican; while many would eventually move on to other areas a large amount stayed, intermingling with the Celts and displacing those who refused to assimilate, causing an exodus north of these populations. The Valish who settled down would bring much of their culture to the area, including their language, their religion and legal system, which would leave a strong influence on the area. They would also go on to found new settlements, including Kaldfesting and Greenfirth, which would later become the capitals of Jorland and Lothican respectively.
The Valish formed many petty kingdoms, which functioned through elective monarchy, in which the free, landowning men of each petty kingdom voted on a descendant of their founder to succeed the previous king. This king was the source of new law, yet all free men had the right to attend a law court called a thing in which they could settle disputes. Their law system was based around retribution, with the penalty for murder being the payment of monetary compensation to the victim's family in a system called wergild.
Around 500 AD, the Valish in the modern-day country started to diverge into two cultural groups: one in the northern part of the country and one in the southern part of the country. The northern dialects of the Valish language started picking up significant influence from the Celtic language of the people living there, while the southern dialects remained more solely Valish in their lexicon. The liturgical language still remained the official language of church and government, however.
The petty kingdoms around the towns of Kaldfesting and Greenfirth soon started to become dominant in their respective cultural regions; outside of the territory controlled by their leaders directly other leaders in that cultural region would often be unofficially subservient to these leaders.
As time went on and the power of the Duchy of Kaldfesting increased, other Jorvish petty kingdoms started to swear vassalage to the Duke of Kaldfesting, meaning that they were his feudal subjects, increasing the Duke's power over the region.
Formation of Jorland and Lothican
By 840, all of the petty kingdoms in the areas where the southern dialects were spoken had been united under the rule of the Duke of Kaldfesting, leading to his declaration in 843 that he was the Grand Duke of Jorland, based on a poetic name for the area of unknown origin. This is widely regarded by historians as the birth of Jorland as a nation, although Jorvish nationalism did not arise until a much later time.
This was seen as a threat by the petty kingdoms of modern-day Lothican, which saw the unified rule of the Grand Duke of Jorland as a threat to them, fearing an invasion. Thus, military alliances between the petty kingdoms came into play, with the Duke of Greenfirth raising an army from his own land and from the land of the allied petty kingdoms around him, for the purpose of common defence against the Jorland in the south.
While the common army remained in force for a few generations, eventually Duke Alastair I came to lead Greenfirth in 909, who took a strong role in the common army, centralising it around him and his authority, and turning it against the states that had contributed to the army, pushing forward until their leaders paid homage to him, greatly expanding his teritorial reach over modern-day Lothican.
Alastair maintained a rather benevolent rule over the territories, keeping order within his conquered territories and allowing their former leaders to stay in power in their territory if they continued to pay homage to him, becoming a form of early feudalism like what was developing in Jorland.
Geography
Climate
Environment
Politics and Government
| File:King Lenox.jpg | 
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| Lenox IV King |
Anna Kaldfesting-Greenfirth Crown Princess |
Nynke Dykstra Prime Minister |
The Royal Commonwealth of Jorland and Lothican is a federation, a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional popular monarchy, in which the King of the Lothic and Jorvish, currently King Lenox IV of the House of Kaldfesting-Greenfirth, is the head of state, with the ability to advise the government and propose laws to the Chamber of the Populace, although he has little power outside of that, as while only he can dissolve Parliament and sign bills into law, he is not allowed to dissolve Parliament without the approval of 2/3rds of the Chamber of the Populace, and has to sign bills passed by Parliament into law. The Royal Family maintains a large popularity in the Royal Commonwealth to this day, with King Lenox IV and his sister Crown Princess Anna being well received by the public.
The Parliament itself is bicameral, consisting of the upper house in the House of the Land and the lower house in the House of the People. The House of the Land is a 300-member body, which consists of 100 members elected by the 12 provincial councils, 25 members representing the regional government of Jorland and 25 representing the regional government of Lothican, 10 from the Free City of Kaldfesting, 40 members elected by university graduates, 90 peers chosen by the King at the advice of the Government and 10 members of the clergy. Meanwhile, the House of the People is elected by proportional representation in 13 constituencies, with 300 members. Twelve of the constituencies that are used in the House of the People are equivalent to the twelve provinces of the Royal Commonwealth, while the thirteenth is equivalent to the Free City of Kaldfesting.
The Government of the Royal Commonwealth is led by the Prime Minister of the Royal Commonwealth, currently Nynke Dykstra of the Labour Party of Jorland, who leads a centre-left coalition of Bright Future, Alternative, Social Democrats, Labour, Radicals, Democrats and Agrarians. The Government also consists of twelve Ministers appointed by the Prime Minister who can be dismissed at her discretion and are responsible for the different departments of Government.
The legal system of the government is established in a mix of civil law and common law, in which the nation's law code is determined partially on a case by case basis, although a significant proportion of the law is codified. The country's courts are structured in a four-tier system of municipal courts, provincial courts, regional courts and the Court of the Royal Commonwealth, which is responsible for the final judgement on the law of the nation.
Administrative Divisions
The nation consists of the two autonomous regions of Jorland and Lothican, each with their own legislatures and governments responsible for making and executing their own laws. They are given a great deal of autonomy due to differences in culture, and have their own court system, although they are ultimately subservient to the Court of the Royal Commonwealth.
These autonomous regions are further divided into provinces, of which there are twelve, with five provinces in Lothican and seven in Jorland. These provinces mainly deal with services and policing, yet their provincial councils play a large role in the election of the House of Prestige.