Sol'Vin

Sol'Vin Kingdom 3 official names Solvindi ₳αшɛɣↄш Шѻλ'Viиuʞѻш Flaysegas Sol'Vinukos Kindi Шѻλviи-ꝡiж Ħiʞ Solvin-wij Nik Mainland Niagaran Kongeriket Solvin
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Askeros
Largest city	Hyelane
Official languages	Solvindi Kindi Mainland Niagaran
Recognised regional languages	Gryvan languages
Ethnic groups (2023)	40.7% Solvindi 36.1% Kindi 16.2% Niagaran 6.3% Gryvan 0.7% Other
Religion (2020)	79.2% Christianity 50.2% Catholicism 32.7% Kindi Benevianism 5.7% Church of Niagara 0.9% Other Christian 9.9% Unaffiliated 0.6% Other
Demonym(s)	Solvine
Government	Federal directorial constitutional elective monarchy
• Monarch	Katerina II
• Royal Council	Velek Tolas (Prime Minister) Lambros Caleas (First Deputy Minister) Anders Selvig Chirstoforos Toccallis Eshagh Thantazh Lavrentios Valliades Yuv Mnorrath
• Chief of Parliament	Lubor Kovalas
• President of High Court	Katerina Orokos
Legislature	Parliament
Established
• Republic of Sol'Vin	3 March 1861
• Kingdom of Sol'Vin	14 June 1919
• Occupation	9 April 1940
• Independence from Greater Niagara	31 October 1956
• Unification of the Sol'Vins	31 June 1983
Area
• Total	1,840,331 km2 (710,556 sq mi)
Population
• 2023 estimate	50,100,000
• 2022 census	49,996,538
• Density	27.2/km2 (70.4/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	1.21 trillion
• Per capita	₭24,129
Gini (2022)	31.4 medium
HDI (2022)	0.850 very high
Currency	Sol'Vin Tenner (₮) (SVT)
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+09
Internet TLD	.sv

Sol'Vin, officially the Kingdom of Sol'Vin, is a country in Northwestern Abos. The country is bordered by the Mogus Sea to the west, Greater Niagara to the north, and Gryva to the South. It covers an area of over 1.8 million square kilometers and has a population of over 49.9 million. The capital of Sol'Vin is Askeros but the largest city is Hyelane. Other major cities include Phraxos, Aton, Sim'iw, Hamerfel, and Olphi.

Sol'Vin is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a directorial system. Its institutional organization is complex and structured along linguistic and cultural grounds. It is divided into several five autonomous regions: The Solvindi-speaking Vinders Region, the Kindi-speaking Nikt Region, the Mainland NiagaranBoovarsholt Region, the multilingual Hyberion Region, and the constitutionally multilingual Askeros Region. The Askeros Region, which consists solely of the city of Askeros and the surrounding suburbs, is the smallest region by both area and population but is the wealthiest region by GDP per capita and the most densely populated region in the country. The most populous region is, by far, Vinders, constituting close to 15.6 million people. The least populated region outside of Askeros is Boovarsholt, with a little below 6.5 million. Sol'Vin's linguistic diversity has led to tensions, reflected in a complex governing system with considerable local autonomy.

The large gold deposits and access to fertile coastal farmland meant that Sol'Vin was a valuable location for the burgeoning empires neighboring the region, and leaving it connected with its several neighbors, although the mountainous terrain meant that control was often difficult to establish over the region. The country as it exists today was established following the 1861 Solvindi Revolution, when it successfully seceded from Greater Niagara, which it had incorporated as several provinces over a series of several decades earlier. The name chosen for the new state is derived from the word "Solosvin", a term found in several ancient local languages that roughly translates to "mountainous".

Sol'Vin participated in the Industrial Revolution, and during the course of the late 1800s to early 1900s established itself as a prosperous mercantile state. After the First Great War, Sol'Vin's republic was dismantled and replaced by a Niagaran-born noble, King Michail I. During the Second Great War, Sol'Vin was occupied by Gryva and Niagara. During the 1950s, the northern half of the territory became independent as Niagara released it. The southern half would be forcibly reunited with Sol'Vin in 1983, as the Third Coalition recaptured its former territory and rejoined it to the northern half.

The decades since the end of the Third Great War has been marked by rising tensions between the Solvindi-speaking and Kindi-speaking citizens, tensions fueled by differences in language and culture and the unequal development of Vinders and Nikt. This antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, including increased federalization in the 1990s and the implementation of a directorial system in 2002. Despite the reforms, the tensions between the groups have remained. There is signifigant separatism among the Kindi and other non-Solvindi groups. Controversial language laws exist on the local level and the formation of governing coalitions has been historically difficult in recent years, including a 14 month attempt after the 2010 election. However, despite increasing separatism, Sol'Vin has been praised for its linguistic preservation efforts.

Sol'Vin is one of the founding countries of the Global Community. While nominally aligned against Gryva, Sol'Vin is not an active member of the COKC Bloc but rather has a singular alliance with Greater Niagara and takes a more neutral approach in international affairs. Sol'Vin is relatively developed as a country, with progress being made in the decades after the Third Great War. Though the country is still not equivalent to its more developed neighbors, it has made great strides economically in the decades following independence.

Etymology

It is widely accepted that the name Sol'Vin is derived from the ancient word 'Solosvin', meaning "mountainous" in one of the proto-Kindi languages. The name most likely did not originate within the territories controlled by the Solvindi, but was a term used by other tribes on the opposite side of Solosvin Mountains to refer to them. The first records of the term appear sometime in the early 300s AD, with the term transitioning to Sol'Vin by 1201 AD.

Government

The 2002 Constitution forms the basic law of the country and is the foundation of the country's current directorial system. It outlines the rights of citizens and limits of the federal government's powers. It superseded the 1959 Constitution after popular referendum and replaced the parliamentary unitary state (albeit with considerable devolved government) with the current federal directorial constitutional elective monarchy.

Executive Powers

Sol'Vin is described as being a democratic constitutional monarchy, with a tradition of liberalism, constitutionalism, and a moderate ideology. At the federal level, Sol'Vin has been dominated by several parties. While the ideology of the country's legislature can be divided into broadly center-left and center-right factions, linguistic-based parties are the norm. Seven parties have representatives in Parliament. The center-left is dominated by the Kindi-speaking Liberal Party and has considerable support from the Solvindi-speaking Social Democratic Party and Niagaran-speaking Northern Alliance. The center-right is dominated by the Solvindi-speaking Conservatives and Kindi-speaking Democrats. In addition, the "third forces" are the Sol'Vin Green Party and the Kindi nationalist left-wing Kindi Bloc. As of the 2022 election, a coalition of the Conservatives and Democrats forms the majority bloc in parliament.

The head of state is the monarch, who officially retains executive power, but in practice a combination of constitutional law, statutes, and tradition have limited the role of the monarch to a strictly representative and ceremonial role, such as the appointing on the Royal Council and the formal dismissal of ministers and members of the Royal Council. Accordingly, the monarch is the chief diplomat and both receives and issues letters of diplomatic accreditation. Additionally, the monarch is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but a clause in the Solvindi Constitution mandates that the monarch only exercise that power with the advice of the Royal Council. The current monarch is Katerina II, who has been queen since 2009. As opposed to a strictly hereditary monarch, the Parliament elects the new monarch from a pool of candidates consisting of the strongest claims to the thrones, with a minimum of three candidates and maximum of six.

While the monarch holds official powers, the Royal Council, in practice, exercises the executive powers. The Royal Council is elected for a six year term and can serve an unlimited number of terms. Constitutionally, legislative power is vested with both the Parliament of Sol'Vin and the Council, but the former is the supreme legislature and a unicameral body. Sol'Vin is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy. The Parliament can pass a law by simple majority of the 300 representatives, elected on the provincial level. Certain laws, such as those affecting the powers of the regions, must be cross-regional, getting a majority of every region in order to pass. The Royal Council also elects a prime minister who acts as a representative of Sol'Vin abroad, chairman of the Royal Council, and also has power to act without the rest of the Council in emergency situations. While councilors can serve an unlimited number of terms, they cannot be elected prime minister more than once. In addition, by tradition, the prime minister does not run for re-election after their term expires. In general, councilors serve roughly three to five terms.

Legislative Powers

Sol'Vin is a parliamentary democracy with legislative powers invested into the Parliament. The Parliament consists of 300 members, distributed to each region by population. Each regional delegation is elected through proportional vote by the inhabitants of the region. Members of Parliament serve three year terms. Upon taking office, each elected MP is required to submit their community identity, identifying their primary lingual and ethnic identity. This is referred to as a person's community.

An interesting feature of the Solvindi system is the presence of cross-regional and cross-community votes. Certain resolutions require a majority of each regional delegation, not just a majority of the entire membership, to vote for the resolution. Other resolutions require a majority of each community to vote for a resolution, excluding certain groups or lawmakers which refuse to declare a community identity.

Federalism

The central state's authority includes justice in national cases, defense, federal police, federal welfare, nuclear energy, and national finances. There are no state-owned companies in Sol'Vin aside from the Solvine Postal Company and Sol'Vin Rail. The central government is responsible for fulfilling the country's foreign obligations, representing Sol'Vin on the global stage, and is limited domestically. The central government provides funding for some welfare, but primarily deals with matters either too large for an individual region or any issue that is transregional in scope.

Regions exercise their authority only within determined and fixed geographical boundaries. These boundaries are more or less fixed, although regions can transfer land by mutual consent. Most domestic issues are delegated to regions, but major responsibilities include healthcare, some environmental regulations, minimum wage, some infrastructure, and any matter relating to culture or language. They also have broad powers in matters relating to economic development, employment, agriculture, public works, education, housing, non-nuclear energy, city-planning, conservation, and trade. Regions are commonly divided into provinces, although the powers of provinces vary by region.

  Boovarsholt

  Hyberion

  Nikt

  Vinders

  Askeros

  Boovarsholt

  Hyberion

  Nikt

  Vinders

  Askeros

Regions have authority in fields that can be broadly associated with their territory. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies. In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specifics. With education, for instance, the autonomy of the Communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor allows for setting minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters. Each level of government can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. The treaty-making power of the regional governments is one of the broadest of all the federating units of all the federations all over the world.

Foreign Relations

Sol'Vin's foreign policy is conducted through the Foreign Relations Ministry and its head, the Minister for Foreign Relations, currently Prak Varnolstrenyk. Officially, the main aims of the Ministry are to represent Sol'Vin in international relations and international organizations; safeguard the interests of the Solvine state and its citizens abroad; promote Solvine culture; foster closer relations with key allies; and encourage international cooperation. Sol'Vin is described as having close relationships with Greater Niagara, The Furbish Islands, Hrvada, and Gagium.

The Ministry's stated chief issue is relations with Gryva, its southern neighbor. Tensions in Gryva, migration issues, and past conflicts have made the Gryvan-Solvine relationship a potential flashpoint in the region, and border disputes and standoffs aren't uncommon, though none of resulted in war at any time since Solvine independence in the 1980s.

Solvine is a member of numerous international organizations, including the Global Community.

Armed Forces

The Solvine Armed Forces are overseen by the Ministy of National Defense, the primary civilian oversight authority in the country. It consists of three branches;

• Solvine Army (Sol'Vinukos Strativi, SVS)
• Solvine Navy (Sol'Vinukos Thalassofori, SVT)
• Solvine Air Force (Sol'Vinukos Aerochi, SVA)

Coat of Arms of the Solvine Ministry of National Defense

Solvine military personnel total about 78,000, of whom 56,000 are active and 22,000 are reserve. There is no mandatory military service and the military is solely made up of volunteers, though Solvine males between the ages of 18 and 60 who live in strategically sensitive areas may be required to serve part-time in the Solvine Guard.

The primary ally of Sol'Vin is Greater Niagara, with signifigant contributions, both financially and materially, from Niagara, the Furbish Islands, Gagium, and Hrvada.

Demographics

As of 1 January 2022, the total population of Sol'Vin according to official statistics was 49,996,538. The national population density of 27.15/km2 is fairly low, though the population is heavily concentrated along the banks of one of the several rivers running through the country or the coast. The most densley populated province is Askeros while the least densely populated is Fjellrik, in the Boovarsholt region. As of January 2022, the Vinders had a population of 15,595,561 (31.2% of Sol'Vin), its most populous cities being Hyelane, Phraxos, and Olphi. Nikt had a population of 13,861,807 (27.7% of Sol'Vin), with its largest cities being Sim'iw, Hovmeh, and Qurgh. Hyberion had a population of 11,305,692 (22.6% of Sol'Vin), with its largest cities being Aton, Hazov, and Lysandros. Boovarsholt had a population of 6,560,247 (13.1% of Sol'Vin), with its largest cities being Hamerfel, Soloerkenstad, and Sandfyrmund. The final region, Askeros, consists soley of the capital city of Askeros and has a population of 2,673,231.

In 2022 the average total fertility rate (TFR) across Sol'Vin was 1.84 children per woman, below the replacement rate of 2.1 and considerably below the high of 4.91 children born per woman in 1879. Sol'Vin's average age of 37.1 years is fairly young for the developed world but has increased from 25.7 years in 1960.

Migration

Sol'Vin has seen a recent increase in migration to the country. In 2000, the Gryvan population was primarily native, with at least 2 grandparents born in Sol'Vin, and made up about 1.3% of the population. Today, over 6.3% of Solvines are Gryvan, with about 70%, or 4.4% of the national population, having immigrated or been born to immigrants since 2000. This nummber is expected to rise to 11.2% by 2050 and 18.7% by 2070. The primary factors of immigration are economic and political, with many Gryvans seeking asylum or better opportunities heading north across the Solvine-Gryvan border.

Within the country, there has been signifigant internal migration, primarily from the Vinders region into the northern parts of the Nikt region and southern Hyberion. This internal migration has resulted in Hyberion, formerly an officially Solvindi region, being recategorized as a multilingual region. In addition, population growth and migration has caused the Nikt region to grow faster than Vinders, which has historically been the larger of the two.

Languages

Sol'Vin has three official languages: Solvindi, Kindi, and Niagaran. A number of non-official minority languages, primarily from Gyrva, are spoken as well. While language is not an official census question, estimates put about 92% of people speaking the primary language of their ethnicity, meaning that ethnicity is a good indicator of language. An estimated 40.7% of people speak Solvindi, 36.1% speak Kindi, 16.2% Niagaran, and 6.3% Gryvan. The total number of Solvindi speakers is estimated to be about 20,357,353, concentrated along the coast and middle third of the interior, while Kindi speakers number about 18,032,142. The smaller Niagaran community is estimated to be 8,099,246 people.

Solvine Niagaran has minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the variety spoken in Greater Niagara. While Kindi and Solvine Niagaran are relatively similar across the country, with only minor differences between dialects, Solvindi has several distinct dialects that are be mutually intelligible but not without difficulty.

Sol'Vin has relatively robust language laws. The federal government is obliged to communicate in the official languages, and in the federal parliament simultaneous translation is provided from and into Solvindi, Kindi, and Niagaran.

Learning one of the other national languages is compulsory for all Solvine students, so many Solvines are supposed to be at least bilingual, especially those belonging to linguistic minority groups. Because the largest part of Sol'Vin has been historically Solvindi-speaking, many Kindi and Niagarans speakers migrating to the rest of Sol'Vin and the children of those non-Solvindi-speaking Solvines born within the rest of Sol'Vin speak Solvindi. While learning one of the other national languages at school is important, most Solvines learn Fluvan to communicate with Solvine speakers of other languages, as it is perceived as a neutral means of communication. Fluvan often functions as a langue véhiculaire.

Religion

The Constitution of Sol'Vin provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice. Sol'Vin officially recognizes Catholicism as the "heritage religion" of the state, but the government does not operate as a Christian state, though the Catholic Church is the official church of the monarchy.

Catholicism has traditionally been the majority religion, being especially strong in Vinders and Hyberion, with strong Protestant and Orthodox presences in Boovarsholt and Nikt, respectively.

Education

Sol'Vin has a long history of valuing and investing into education. Sol'Vin became one of the first countries to implement free and compulsory public education in 1861, with the right to education being written into the country's laws alongside protections for freedom of speech and press.

Compulsory education begins at age four, when children enter barn, a Niagaran-inspired school that is designed to ease the social transition of students from the home into school. While nursery school is common, it is not compulsory. After barn, students enter protyn(Πϱѻŧiи), which lasts from years 1-7, or roughly ages five until twelve. From twelve to sixteen students are in years 8-11 as a part of second school, or ditila (δiŧiλↄ). Finally, from ages sixteen to eighteen students are in years 12 and 13 as a part of third school, or thalith (ᚣ𐤓λiᚣ). After graduating compulsory education, students can enter into tertiary education, vocational education, or the workforce.

Seventy-two percent of Sol'Vin adults aged 25–64 have completed upper secondary education.

Health

Sol'Vin has universal health care. The system is mixed, combining a regional health service with social health insurance. In 2022, there were 583 hospitals in the country with about 141,000 beds available throughout the country. 498 hospitals are general hospitals and 85 are specialized hospitals. Sol'Vin's healthcare expenditures totaled about 9.5% of GDP in 2022, a slight decrease from 9.7% in 2010.

Life expectancy in Sol'Vin is among the highest in the world; a Global Community report placed it at 80.1 years in 2018 with a 2022 report placing the life expectancy at 80.4 years, above the global average. Recent increases in life expectancy are due to robust public health campaigns, with the smoking relate declining from 39% in 2003 to 11.1% in 2023. The obesity rate is about 19.3%. Infant mortality was 3.9 deaths per 1,000 live births.