Esthursia

Union of Esthursia Undebau yr Esddŵrsu
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Y Cywmp Gwan The Weak Fall (Þára Áseolc Hréosan)
Anthem: Progress and Unity
Esthursia, upon the west of Auroria.
Status	Federal semi-direct constitutional monarchy
Location	Location of the Union of Esthursia (dark green) in Auroria (grey)
Capital and largest city	Weskerby 40°15'N, 96°34'E
Official languages	Osynstric, Atlish
Recognised national languages	Osynstric, Atlish, Ezhonian, Consence
Recognised regional languages	Asthonic, Ezho-Osynstric
Religion (2022)	Irreligious (74.1%), Church of Athers (21.8%), Messianism (1.9%), Other (2.2%)
Demonym(s)	Esthursian, Esthur/Esther
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• King of the Union	Arthur IV (1949-, b. 1930)
• Forethegn	Harold Osborne (2015-, Social Democrat)
• Afterthegn	Mildred Banbury (2022-, Republic)
• Chancellor of the Landsfere	Jeremy Wilson (2022-, Social Democrat)
• Astjórn of Asþonhelm	Ragnar Þorsenn (2017-, Asþonic Workers')
• First Minister of Ezhonyth	Perran Trefordh (2019-, Localist)
• First Minister of Consewent	Hedrek Lanenys (2019-, Localist)
• Elderman of Weskerby	Robert Wychavon (2019-, Progressive)
• Elderman of Brantley	Gareth Moresbond (2019-, Social Democrat)
Legislature	Houses of Berworth
• Upper house	House of Thanes
• Lower house	House of Ministers
Capitulation of Caerllwyfen to Classical Osþursian Empire  May 11, 298
• Rising of Elmcæstre, Proclamation of Asynstycg	January 15, 466
• Oswynht Uprising (Grand Revolution)	August 3, 1161
• Democracy Act of Osynstry	November 22, 1303
• Union of Osþursia	June 30, 1568
• Declaration of Chartholm	February 26, 1622
• Constitution of the Royal Union of Esthursia	November 30, 1957
Area
•	687,011 km2 (265,256 sq mi)Includes rivers and water
Population
• 2022 estimate	141,805,639
• 2017 census	137,684,112
• Density	191.61/km2 (496.3/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	6,512,384,550,000 IBU
• Per capita	45,924.72 IBU
Gini (2019)	26.1 low
HDI (2019)	0.947 very high
Currency	Esthursian royal arian (Ꜹ); 100ſ = 1Ꜹ (EAN)
Time zone	UTC+6 (EMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+7 (EST)
	First Sunday of March - First Sunday of October
Date format	dd-mm-yy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+44
Internet TLD	.et

Esthursia, officially the Union of Esthursia is a sovereign state on the continent of Auroria. It includes four federal rikedoms - the main one of which being Osynstry, which contains a majority of the population and area - and covers an area of approximately 687,011km². It is bordered by Weskermere to the east, and Ocean of Consence to the west, with Perran's Channel passing within its borders - the large bodies of water that surround Esthursia mediate its climate, with a subpolar zone in the north, temperate areas across the centre and south, and a generally rainy climate, particularly towards the west. Esthursia has a population of 141 million inhabitants as of 2022, with the Union's largest metropolitan area being that of Greater Weskerby, boasting a population of over 20 million, with the Brantley-Shefforth area in the north being the north's largest metropolis.

Esthurs have dwelled in and around the area of modern Osynstry for around 3000 years, although the exact origins of these - apart from the fact that they are a Gotic-native mix - is unknown. The cradle of Esthur culture is initially just south of modern Execester in the west of the mainland. Modern Esthurs are a mix of three cultures - the Cumbrics, who mostly inhabit the western isles, as well as the far-south-west in Ezhonyth; the Atlish, who inhabit the north, including north and west Osynstry as well as Asthonhelm; and the Osynstrish, who inhabit Osynstry, particularly concentrated to the south and east. Cumbric culture is particularly divergent thanks to the geographic separation following the breakup of Cumbria in the 1000s, leaving the mainland Cumbric peoples speaking a different language and feeling a separate identity to those still on the isles.

Towards the 1500s, Esthursia united following the War of a Thousand Years between the Classical Osthursian Empire and the Union of Esthursia - earlier the Union of Osynstry - as well as the remnants of Cumberland. Initial Esthursian attempts at colonising led to the formation of Fortheshire (then known as Furtherland or the Furtherlands) - which has since remained in Esthursian control - however fears of colonising of its own lands led to the end of fledgling Esthursian colonising attempts and instead the formation of a "homefirst" government. Esthursia consequently became a great naval power and trading centre, particularly thanks to its location between the western continents and Auroria at large. Esthursia also formed its monarchy in the 1500s, which slowly receded into constitutional monarchy, especially following the Republican Struggle of 1836 and displacement of Forethegn Turnbrook.

Esthursia became increasingly wary once again of foreign invasion during the Fascist Wars, and both contemporary Kings as well as contemporary Forethegn Asmont began intense industrialisation and built the Esthursian welfare state. Having come out of the Fascist Wars virtually untouched, Esthursia emerged as a heavily industrialised and developed nation. Following the Fascist Wars, Esthursia formed an official Constitution in 1957 under Forethegn Newell. The deindustrialisation of Esthursia led to some social and civil unrest, and the ensuing disputes led to a strengthening of the welfare state, furthering of trade unionism and greater interest in globalising.

Esthursia is now classed as a highly developed economy, and stands out for the Asmont model it follows - including an expansive welfare state, heavily redistributive taxation, a "half-half" private to public sector size in the economy and extensive labour force participation in management of the private sector. Esthursia continues to export both technology and primarily renewable automobiles, healthcare products, as well as renewable energy, and is a large importer and exporter of other goods, and is a global centre for research and university education; it also has a large tourism industry, thanks to its largely untouched "Kingswoods", relatively low violent crime rates, proficiency in Mercanti and distinct range of climates in different regions.

The Union of Esthursia is one of the first members of the Aurorian Economic Alliance, as well as being a participating member of the Union of Aurorian States. Esthursia is also an observer nation in the Food Security Organisation and participates in environmental protectionist interests globally.

Etymology and terminology

Esthursia is a neologism of Osthursia, adopted by a mostly Osynstric Mercanti population. Osthursia is known to be "the land of the Osthurs", however the etymology of the word "Osthur" is unknown. Theories include foreign deities, the utterance of a historic battle cry or the name of a notable leader.

Osynstry is derived from the Old Lower Osynstric "Asynctria" - meaning "synchronised state". This is due to the fact that from a relatively primitive time, Osynstry functioned as a federalised, or localised state under one King. Cymbria is derived from the Cymbric "cwm" - meaning valley - which reflects the terrain that the capital, Yr Gwynydd, resides within. Cymbria ceased to be a homogenous entity between the 1100s - when its final Kings began to lose grip over the external regions - and the 1500s - by which point Cymbrish had more or less lost its mutual intelligibility.

History

Prior to the Rise of the Classical Empire

The first post-Harnage nation known to modern Esthur archaeologists is dated from around 1500BCE, at which point coins denoted to "Arwaenn" - assumed to be the ruler between around 1560BCE and 1522BCE - have been found. In 955BCE, Cambrion's new ruler, Thegdyn, had appointed himself "bywyd benadur" (life leader); upon the failure of this ruler to solidify control, a document that has been preserved to the current day has denoted the "Cambrion peoples' right to freedom".

The main town of Caerllwyfen (now Execester, north-west Osynstry) became the pseudo-capital for the new empire, however in theory (and, later, in law) the state was federalised - to the point that shires (itself from the Ancient Cambrish word, "s'yr") would often implement different forms of governance, different laws and different taxes (although later the tax system was centralised due to "tax migration".)

Until the beginning of the Common Era, Cambrion developed steadily, with an affinity for philosophy and "the study of wonderment" - one such development was the concept of basic universal rights. The concept of torture and justice was central to the development of the state - social stratification was quickly followed by the principles of each group being cemented in law. Although some barons (barwns) often refused these rights, the first uprisings usually startled the relatively unprepared militaries, who were not used to the proto-guerilla tactics rather than open warfare used by the revolutions.

By 100BCE, however, the gradual ceding of powers to new localised regimes in exchange for a lack of military violence, the breakdown of trade into set regions, the gradual settlement of Western people and the loss of transport routes on increasingly unused cross-regional areas, all led to the loss of mutual intelligibility of the Ancient Cambrish language. By 200CE, significant extra-continental influence had morphed western mainland dialects into Old Osynstric (at the time known as "Osthursic" - a demonym that gradually diverged into Anthoric, Osynstric and Esthursian). By 250CE, most urban areas along the western coast of the mainland - save for the extreme south-west - were speaking some form of this proto-Osynstric.

Cultural identity increasingly influenced the representatives of these areas - the shire leaders seized on this as a protection mechanism from the threat of internal violence, and thus became reliant on it as a result of this fear. In the year 272, Oswynht - his own name derived from the demonym of his culture - took control of the second most powerful shire of Cambrion; Pen Wynsir (now roughly Weskerby and its peninsula). Attempts to remove him by then-leader Llywelyn the Last were in vain - however Oswynht himself took over a decade to train a loyal army, after multiple mutinies and attempted assassinations.

The Classical Empire

Around the year 298CE, the Classical Osthursic Empire was pronounced at Osthurholm. "Koneng" (King) Oswynht I proclaimed, among other things, "all unfree status aside from reasonable law consequence is henceforth ended for all citizens" - the Declaration of Osthurholm's written source remains a significant contributor to Esthursian history and legal rights.

Social stratification in the Classical Osthursic Empire was comprehensive.

Modern Era (2000CE -)

Following the resignation of Martha Grantham, moderate Mark Willesden took charge of the governing party but was beaten by Isaac Harding of the Conservatives in 2002. Isaac Harding made significant pushes for Atlish to be introduced as a nationwide language through intensive "opt-out" education programmes, as his predecessors had done since the 1970s, and as such much of the nation has since become bilingual between Atlish and Mercanti.

The economic recession of 2010-1, arguably worsened by PM Einarsson's incapacity to govern a minority government through the crisis and the growing anger amongst trade unions, significantly changed the socioeconomic landscape of the Esthursian economy, as the public sector fared far better, as did low-income families, who were not as affiliated with the main targeted industry - finance.

Geography

Esthursia is situated in the temperate zone, near Ocean of Consence - from which it receives tropical winds, nicknamed the "Consent Stream" - and between two seas. Weskerby, the capital, is situated on the east peninsula, next to the eponymous Weskermere - and receives a large quantity of rain every year. Apart from the far south, all of the country receives over 500mm of rain a year, with some mountains in the south receiving a smaller amount on some years, distorting the levels and reducing their annual rainfall. The north and south borders are home to the Asthoric and Osynstric mountain ranges respectively. The entire country receives snowfall every year for at least a month, as the rolling hills of the central isthmus provide the perfect climate for snow settling and the Consent Stream weakens from ice melting in the mountains leading to cold water north and south of where it passes during the summer - meaning the temperature often varies, nicknamed the "Frozen" and "Green" winter years.

Climate

Tregarval
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     158     6 −1     143     9 2     121     13 6     104     19 12     95     25 18     76     28 23     66     29 23     65     26 20     77     21 14     93     15 8     117     11 5     139     8 1 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     6.2     43 30     5.6     48 36     4.8     55 43     4.1     66 54     3.7     77 64     3     82 73     2.6     84 73     2.6     79 68     3     70 57     3.7     59 46     4.6     52 41     5.5     46 34 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Brantley
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     134     0 −9     122     3 −6     98     8 −3     86     14 4     75     22 12     69     24 15     61     23 13     64     16 7     72     11 2     84     7 −3     98     3 −7     118     1 −8 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     5.3     32 16     4.8     37 21     3.9     46 27     3.4     57 39     3     72 54     2.7     75 59     2.4     73 55     2.5     61 45     2.8     52 36     3.3     45 27     3.9     37 19     4.6     34 18 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Thurrock
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     107     11 2     93     14 4     74     18 7     58     23 11     46     27 17     37     30 21     30     31 22     38     29 19     51     24 13     70     21 10     84     15 4     103     13 3 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     4.2     52 36     3.7     57 39     2.9     64 45     2.3     73 52     1.8     81 63     1.5     86 70     1.2     88 72     1.5     84 66     2     75 55     2.8     70 50     3.3     59 39     4.1     55 37 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Regions

Shire and Region Map of Esthursia

Yellow denotes Consewent Blue denotes Osynstry Green denotes Ezhonyth Red denotes Anthorhelm

Esthursia has a diverse range of cultures and languages, with significant crossover between each. Esthursian Mercanti (known colloquially as Osynstric) remains the most common language spoken by Esthursians as a whole - partially due to the population of Osynstry making up 70% of the total Esthursian population - and as such, a majority of inhabitants in each constituent nation can speak it fluently. Consewent and Ezhonyth mostly speak Wencenish and Ezhonian respectively - both offshoots from Ancient Cambrish, although most inhabitants are bilingual (with Osynstric), as in Asthonhelm. Asthonhelm used to speak Asthonic, however now mostly speaks a hybrid language between itself and Esthursian Mercanti, known as Atlish; this is particularly apparent towards the south of the nation. The Esthursian government currently recognises Osynstric, Wencenish, Ezhonian and Atlish to varying degrees, after having classified Asthonic as a "dead language" from the 1960s.

Demography

General

The population of Esthursia is around 132,000,000, as of January 2022. Population growth has remained steady since the 1990s, driving an equally steady birth rate. 96.9% of Esthursian residents were Esthurs and Esthers (those born within Esthursian borders) at the 2017 census.

Government

House of Thanes

The Forethegn has been Harold Osborne, a representative from the Osynstric branch of the Social Democrats, since 30 January, 2015. The House of Thanes, the upper of two Houses of Berworth, has been a Social Democrat-led coalition of left-leaning parties since the 2011 Esthursian general election; the House of Ministers, the lower of the two Houses, is currently held by a Social Democratic majority following the 2018 Esthursian general election.

The House of Thanes has been elected through the "open party list" system since 1934, following reforms to the then-unelected House of Thanes by the then-Forethegn George Asmont amid the general reforms by their Workers' Union governments in the early-to-mid 20th century. Attempts to reverse the reforms in the 1950s by PM Olafn Arbjern of the National Party were unsuccessful after a constitutional standoff between the Workers' Party-held Thanes and right-wing House of Ministers.

Forethegns are, as per the Constitution of the Union of Esthursia being signed in 1957, the "party leader or independent member able to command the allegiance of the greatest coalition of representative members in the House of Thanes." This Constitution also began the precedent of electing both Houses at the same time, to avoid standoffs of the nature that existed over the previous decade. This has typically left the Forethegn working with coalitions, as no party since 1994 has successfully attained a majority in the House of Thanes. Coalitions breaking up and allegiances switching to other party leaders is a rare occurrence, but has happened in the past, such as in 2011 - this usually leads to a snap election, as it did in February 2011.

The House of Thanes also has the power to confirm constitutional reforms with three-quarters of members voting, however some sections require a nationwide referendum. The most recent time this has happened was 1996, whereby then Prime Minister Martha Grantham successfully passed Articles 12a through 16b through a referendum in the same year, having sought to draw an end to the Workers' Rising of the late 80s and early 90s. The House also formerly had the power to confirm Aldermen into the Council of Elders, however this power passed to the Electoral Commission in 1999. 401 members are elected to this House each general election, which is held every 4 years snap elections notwithstanding.

House of Ministers

The Deputy Prime Minister - not to be confused with Second Minister, or the typical name for the upper house coalition second-party leader - has been Brooke Alderney since 11 June, 2014. This House has been held in a fair majority - this meaning between 50 and 100 - by the Social Democrats since the 2018 general election. The Deputy PM leads the House of Ministers, and is typically from the largest party, however there have been exceptions due to coalition agreements in the past. Unlike the Prime Minister, the Deputy PM usually commands a majority in the House of Ministers - including as of January 27, 2022 - thanks to the "winner-takes-all" system currently operating for this House. There are 851 members elected to this House, although there are cross-party negotiations to reduce this to 551.

The House of Ministers is the House where most legislation begins, although the Barons reserve the power to begin writing legislation to send down to the Ministers, and they often reach a stage of "ping-pong" between the two Houses before seeking the King's Stamp.

Council of Elders

The Council of Elders is a group of 11 Aldermen, who must be fully qualified judges. They hold selective power over both Houses of Berworth, and preside over multiple roles as impartial judges:

• Upholding the Constitution, and maintaining the power to strike down laws which do not abide by the Constitution
• Prosecuting Members and Barons who act against the Constitution, the Berworth Code, or break the law
• Investigating Members and Barons' conduct
• Settling disputes between local, regional and national government entities

Until 1957, these Aldermen were elected by the House of Barons, however this power passed to the independent Electoral Commission as a feature of the Constitution.

Composition

House of Thanes, as of 5 February, 2023

House of Ministers, as of 5 February, 2023

Party		Leader	Thanes			Ministers
			Thanes	Share of total (%)		Ministers	Share of total (%)
	Social Democrats	Harold Osborne	36	7001450000000000000♠45.0%	36 / 80	235	7001521000000000000♠52.1%	235 / 451
	Conservative Union of Esthursia	Rosemary Manning	16	7001200000000000000♠20.0%	16 / 80	87	7001193000000000000♠19.3%	87 / 451
	Green-Left	Evelyn Banbury	10	7001125000000000000♠12.5%	10 / 80	37	7000820009999999999♠8.2%	37 / 451
	Liberal Party	Wilfred Everett	6	7000750000000000000♠7.5%	21 / 401	31	7000690000000000000♠6.9%	37 / 451
	Esthur People's Party	Graham Ingley	4	7000500000000000000♠5.0%	4 / 80	28	7000620000000000000♠6.2%	28 / 451
	Independence	Morwen Llethan	4	7000500000000000000♠5.0%	4 / 80	24	7000530000000000000♠5.3%	24 / 451
	Suthening	Conrad Thessen	3	7000380000000000000♠3.8%	3 / 80	7	7000160000000000000♠1.6%	7 / 451
	Socialist Front	Helga Járnsson	1	7000130000000000000♠1.3%	1 / 80	7	7000160000000000000♠1.6%	7 / 451
	National Democrats	Nick Nottingley	0	5000000000000000000♠0.0%	0 / 80	1	6999200000000000000♠0.2%	1 / 451

The House of Thanes and Ministers containing different electoral systems has often led to abnormal results. This often causes what is known colloquially a "minor-majority", or "split majority", whereby the governing party leads a coalition in the House of Thanes, but a simple majority in the Ministers. This is currently the case as of February 2023.

Economy

The gross domestic product of Esthursia is 6.512 trillion IBU, or Ꜹ4.242 trillion, up year-on-year from 6.304 trillion IBU. Esthursia's economy is mostly based on services, as well as high-tech manufacturing (known as the "quaternary sector" in Esthursia), and has historically been centred on construction and automation.

A significant amount of Esthursian industry is nationalised, with state or public bodies making up 43.5% of Esthursian employment and 53% of Esthursian GDP as of March 2022.

Year	GDP	Population	GDP per capita
2017	5,574,342,550,000	138,170,059	40,344.07
2018	5,771,495,810,000	138,811,169	41,578.04
2019	5,907,268,740,000	139,602,393	42,314.95
2020	6,083,872,200,000	140,328,627	43,354.46
2021	6,304,323,910,000	141,086,099	44,684.23
2022	6,512,384,550,000	141,805,639	45,924.72

File:EsthursiaArian2010topresent.png

Esthursian arian (ESA) to IBU, New Year's Eve 2009 to January 31, 2022

Structure

The Esthursian economy has worked as a mixed economy to varying extents for the last century, with the Workers' Party governments of the early to mid 20th century creating a vague crossparty consensus over how far the government should intervene in the Esthursian economy.

More recent changes include the efforts by the Conservative government to privatise the Royal Esthursian Airways in the late 2000s, a plan shelved by incoming Chancellor of the Treasury Anthony Helston following the 2011 defeat of the previous government; as well as the more recent partial nationalisation of Asgeron, the largest Esthursian car producer, and plans to nationalise Esthursian Communications (EC).

One of the largest global employers is the Union Health and Care Service (UHCS), formerly the Union Health Service until 1995, with 4,122,000 staff as of November 2021. The public sector employed 44% of working people as of the end of 2021, the highest recorded figure since 2004. Current Prime Minister Harold Osborne is a self-avowed Asmontian politician.

Culture

See History

Infrastructure

Not completed yet