North Ethalria

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North Ethalrian Republic
Flag Coat of arms
North Ethalria within central Aurora
Capital	Karinthus
Largest city	Irvindel
National languages	Ethalrian
Ethnic groups (2022)	91% Human 4% Elf 5% Other
Demonym(s)	Ethalrian
Government	Unitary semi-presidential republic
• President	Clauzia Sarohart
• Prime Minister	Vanessa von der Becke
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senat
• Lower house	Nationalversammlung
Establishment
• Unification of Vothetria and Kotheria	5th October 2021
Area
• Total	757,502 km2 (292,473 sq mi)
Population
• 2022 census	108,645,019
• Density	143.42/km2 (371.5/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	♅1,567,210,190,947
• Per capita	♅14,425.05
Currency	Kirib (♅)
Date format	DD/MM/YYYY
Driving side	the left
ISO 3166 code	NET
Internet TLD	.ne

North Ethalria, officially the North Ethalrian Republic (Ethalrian: Nordethalrien Republik) is a landlocked country in Central Aurora. It directly succeeded the provisional North Ethalrian Confederacy whereby Vöhmia and Kotheria transitioned into a unitary state, and is divided into twenty six administrative provinces known as Zuständigkeitsbereichs, covering an area of 757,502 km² (292,473 sq mi). The country is relatively dry, featuring an assortment of climate types, including tropical savanna, steppe, deserts and humid continental. North Ethalria has a population of over 108 million people and is the third-most populous member state of the United Nations of the Auroran Continent. Karinthus is the nation's capital, but Irvindel is the largest metropolis. Other major cities include Ohmnervel, Arkenvel, Wüller, Zenzdak and Börinstadt.

North Ethalria's territory extends from the Bernsteinspur in the south, the Bolvinian Plateau to the west, the Zloergen mountains of the western Möragu Plateau to the east and Lake Ider to the north. The continents longest continuous river, the Ider River, cuts the Vöhmian region in half from the west to the north-east and is the home of over 35 million Ethalrians. Through the Ocean Access Deal, North Ethalria has maritime access to the worlds oceans, and as a result has seen the highest economic boom of the three landlocked Ethaln nations, although its economic prosperity is now considered reliant on the MBE. The country is bordered by Staynes and Durentria to the west, Faethalria and Thalria to the south and Caltharus to the north.

The history of civilisation in Ethalria spans over ten thousand years. Before humans came to dominate the continent, the greater Ethalrian region was settled by various Usprian elf, orc, human and cava peoples and was renowned for its extensive cultural diversity. The Aethals were the dominant society leading up to the Axial Age, and it is this society that gave Ethalria its name. The establishment of Ethalrian statehood can be traced to 119 BCE with the rule of Sigbert I. By this time, orc and cava peoples had migrated out of the region, and the country flipped between human and elven rule for centuries. The Queendom of Ethalria was founded in 890 following the Arin Coup; after which elves would mostly dissapear. The size of Ethalria in the 2nd millennium would vary from straddling both the Bishlan Sea and the Azure Sea to one or the other.

Ethalria spread a renewed interest in the humanities, science, exploration and art during the 15th and 16th centuries. Ethalrian culture prospered, producing famous artists, polymaths, and scholars. During the Middle Ages, Ethalrian maritime exploration discovered new routes to Gondwana and Novaris, piquing a new age of Auroran Discovery and colonialism. Huge sociopolitical reforms from their defeat in the Posolic Wars in 1826 saw Ethalria dethroned as a world power by Morstaybishlia, saw the end of its colonial empire and saw it transition into a matriarchy; where women came to dominate all aspects of life. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Ethalria rapidly industrialised, creating a vast dispora. Ethalria briefly re-entered as a global power at the conclusion of the Great War following its reclaimation of Marislia. In the 1930s, the Grand Matriarchy hid the Marislian genocide from the world, systematically murdering and expelling approximately 2.75 million ethnic Marish people. In 1941, Ethalrian scientists discovered nuclear fission and in 1953 conducted the world's first nuclear weapons test, Operation Scharlachrote Morgenröte in the Azure Sea. In 1961, Ethalria sent the first person to space, Almut Fichtner, aboard Sternfinder-1. Ethalria lost the Auroran Imperial War in 1975 after surrendering to the destruction of Kevatuul, a Noroist space weapon that had been comandeered by a Morst-Embertian black op mission. The nuclear destruction of five Ethalrian metropolitan areas resulted in the signing of the Cynebury Accord, banning the weaponisation of space. The Grand Matriarchy entered a civil war when the royal family was executed, ending a two thousand year line of monarchs, and split the country into the Matriarchy and the Republic (also known as East Ethalria and West Ethalria). The two Ethalria's were partitioned into six following defeat again in the Auroran-Pacific War. Vöhmia and Kotheria were among these nations and went on to form North Ethalria in 2021.

Since its founding it is a unitary semi-presidential republic. Clauzia Sarohart is its first president and Vanessa von der Becke its first prime minister. The two leaders were previously the Prime Minister of Vöhmia and Kotheria respectively.

North Ethalria is a middle power and an emerging power. It is classified as a high-incomy economy by the Auroran Central Bank and Auroran Monetary Fund, and is Aurora's 4th-largest economy by nominal GDP, at KRB♅1.5 trillion. Alongside the rest of the Ethalns, North Ethalria's predecessor nations experienced an economic recession in 2017 that is still present today. Its economy is primarily service based, although the country maintains a considerable industrial production, being a net exporter of things such as chemicals, jewellery, motor vehicles and fabricated metal products. It imports things like oil, cosmetics, fertiliser, food products and specialised components. The North Ethalrian steppe is the densest region for registered goat farms in the world, and exports goat products worldwide. It is a country rich in moonstone, sapphire and other gems, natural gas and other mineral resources. North Ethalria is a member of the Ethaln League.

Etymology

The current name of the country in Staynish is Ethalria, whilst the name in Ethalrian is Ethalrien. The Staynish version, used primarily across the world, derives from Aethalria, an axial era state which came to dominate the Mondsteinstraße (Staynish: Moonstone Road). In medieval Aurora, its people began referring to their country as "Ethal land". The name Ethal itself comes from the early medieval Ethal people which developed from an amalgamation of various migrating Cava and Usprian peoples from the Valerian and Axdelian region; and westward migrating Orcs from the Khermali River and other early Great Auroran Desert settlements, as well as Human peoples from Cereneria.

The Renaissance scholar Imrenzie Anneke proposed that the Old Valerian word Aethalria evolved from the Impelanzan word Fidesthaeria, meaning "faith" and "thaer", denoting the growth of the Thaerist faith in the region. Anneke also discovered literary variation, including Faethalria in the 2nd to 3th centuries.

History

Ethalria enters written history as a land populated largely by the Usprians, Orcs, Cavan and Humans through their various cultures such as the Qruzhari, Altfers, Szols, Marrs, and Dënarut. The Moonstone Road saw the first nation states form around 900 BCE who founded Ethalria's most ancient cities Semn and Ohmn in the century following. In the west, Valerian influence expanded into much of modern day Sarentria and Faethalria's Kostoria-Obertonian region, and a loose Altferian state called Rintschea existed in between the Moonstone Road and Valeria's easternmost border until the 4th century CE where it was absorbed by an emerging Ethalria. Its influence expanded drastically as all of the eastern Bishlan, the Moonstone Road and Rintschea were eventually incorporated. After an arduous conquest known as the Harrying of Valeria, Ethalria expanded their western border as far as the cities of Asilica and Burleron by 474 CE under the Queen Peiarin III.

Following the eruption of the Toré supervolcano in 512 CE, emerging north and western Auroran states like Maltervenia and Calath collapsed from famine and disease. This left a power vacuum which was inherited by a northward expanding Ethalrian Empire. By the end of King Gundahar II's reign in 572, the Ethalrian Empire spanned over half of Aurora; from the West Sea uninterupted to the Bishlan, then its integral territories in the south. Sustained wars and other problems led to diminishing power in the monarchy, which continued until 890 when Queen Arin II led a coup d'etat to install a human matriarchy that would last a thousand years. Ethalria shrank as its extremities vied for independence, but its consolidated power south of the Zycannes and Bolvinian Plateau would later put their focus on becoming a global empire. Ethalria settled in Arcturia first with their Lunaberg settlement in 1351, culminating in several colonies at the end of the 16th century. They reached Gondwana in the early 17th century and Novaris in the early 18th century. Ethalria became the strongest empire in Aurora, a leading world power for half a century and a considerable oversea empire until 1826.

Ethalrian defeat in the Second Posolic War led to colonial and territorial relinquishment in the 1826 Treaty of Rosalica. Most of its colonies were divided by Morstaybishlia and Salovia, or given independence. Ethalria reemerged as a global power following territorial gains, including Marislia, in the Great War. Its paved the way in early 20th century military advancements and nuclear descovery. The Ethalrian Republic joined the Auroran Continental Assembly in 1975 but the Ethalrian Matriarchy did not. All six Ethaln states initially joined the United Nations of the Auroran Continent; Thalria was ejected in 2019, and following the formal political unification of Vöhmia and Kotheria, the North Ethalrian Republic replaced them as a member state.

Prehistory and antiquity

Hand stencils in the Tor der Höllenhöhle, estimated between 39,000-47,000 BP.

Archaeological research conducted at the Gudach Dig Site near Kostörsdel indicates the Ethalns were populated by anatomically modern Cava 2 million years ago, whilst the oldest proto-cava bones were date from 10-15 Mya. Cava remained the dominant form of sapient life in Ethalria and on the continent until their decline during most recent period of glaciation, when they were largely supplanted by humans and elves. Cava migratory patterns begun to reclused as the centuries went by into the typical south-west region of the continent.

The earliest fossil record of elf specimen in Ethalria was found at an archaeological dig site on a farmstead near Windigecke 176 Kya, although because of evidence of a land bridge between Yasteria and Aurora, elven migration to the continent is believed to have occurred from 200 Kya onwards. Whilst there are signs of intraspecies violence, there is also significant evidence of coexisting communities in many regions. Despite Aurora's earliest human fossil dating to 51 Kya, the earliest known artefacts of these prehistoric human settlements in Ethalria are the famous paintings in the Tor der Höllenhöhle (Gate of Hell Cave) in Südbulvenien from 39 to 47 Kya. Archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that the Moonstone Road acted as one of the several major refugia from which Aurora was repopulated following the end of the last ice age.

The Feast of Sigbert I in 119 BCE showing the King overseeing his opulent court, by Karin Horn, c.1871.

Modern human settlement in the Ethalns and its vicinity dates back to 32,000 BCE, with evidence of the Vitteck culture in the Zloergen Plateau.

The largest groups inhabiting the Ethalns at the time the Aethals came to sociopolitical power in 119 BCE and thus forming Aethalria as a nation state in the Moonstone Road was the Aethals themselves but also the Szols and Marrs. Under rule of the Aethals on the west bank of the Ider River, the Marrs and Szols inhabited two different parts of the east bank, near Lrau and Kazbech respectively. The Marrs are typically thought of as an earlier culture of the Marish people; they inhabited much of the northern east bank of the Ider River towards the Bishlan, and the Szols flourished in the south closer to Ribenstadt today. Cava and Orc cultures were primarily eliminated from competition, and the Altfers were also gradually pushed further into the Bolvinian Plateau, where they reside mostly within the Altrintschstatz today. Several cities were founded along the river and its tributaries by these early Ethalrian cultures including Aethalhafen, Iderfurt and Lrau. Eventually, Ethalrians expanded inland and struggled for control of fertile farmland against many bellicose inland tribes.

Politics

Clauzia Sarohart
President

Vanessa von der Becke
Prime Minister

North Ethalria has been a semi-presidential republic since Vöhmia and Kotheria ratified the Constitution of North Ethalria in 2021, thus becoming a single unitary state. North Ethalria is fundamentally structured as a multi-party representive democracy, with competitive legislatures/local administrative governments at the national, regional and local levels. Its federal government is composed of three branches:

• Legislative: The bicameral Convocation of North Ethalria, made up of the 503-member Lower Chamber and the 78-member Upper Chamber, both electing deputies for a four-year term; adopts federal law, approves treaties, declares war, has the power of the purse and the power of impeachment of the president. The Government is headed by the Prime Minister (currently Vanessa van der Becke) and includes Ministers and Secretaries of State.

• Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, and appoints the Government of North Ethalria (the Cabinet) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.

• Judiciary: The Courts are organized into several levels, among the judicial, administrative and fiscal branches. The Supreme Courts are institutions of last resort/appeal. A twenty one-member Constitutional Court oversees the constitutionality of the laws, interprets them and overturns ones they deem unconstitutional.

The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and may be elected no more than thrice. Ministries of the government are composed of the premier and their deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister (whereas the appointment of the latter requires the consent of the Lower House). Ethalrian Tradition is the political party in North Ethalria which forms government, and has been described as conservative. The official opposition is made up of the Social Democrats and Ecologist Party, and smaller parties include the Liberal Unionists.

Political divisions

The 2021 North Ethalrian Constitution establishes North Ethalria as a unitary state. The nation is divided into four regions for statistical and some administrative purposes; these are Nordvöhmien, Südvöhmien, Nordkotherien and Südkotherien (North and south Vöhmien, north and south Kotherien). North Ethalria is also divided into 26 Zuständigkeitsbereichs. These administrative provinces have equal representation—three delegates each—in the Senat, the upper chamber of the Convocation.

The 26 administrative provinces of North Ethalria, known locally as Zuständigkeitsbereichs. The regions are marked as green (Nordvöhmien), blue (Südvöhmien), red (Nordkotherien) and orange (Südkotherien). The capital province, Karinthus, is shown in red but is apart of the Südvöhmien region. It is also a Zuständigkeitsbereich and does not differ in autonomy.

Foreign relations

North Ethalria has established diplomatic relations with many IF member states and the UNAC. Foreign relations are conducted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. North Ethalria has a network of embassies and consulates internationally, and in return there are many foreign embassies, consulates and liaison offices in North Ethalria.

Armed Forces

The Raubvögel multirole light fighter (left) and a Howitzer I main battle tank during a training exercise (right).

The North Ethalrian Armed Forces (Streitkräfte von Nordethalrien) are the collective military forces of North Ethalria, under the control of the President as Oberbefehlshaber (supreme commander). They consist of the North Ethalrian Army (Nordethralische Armee), North Ethalrian Navy (Nordethalische Marine), the North Ethalrian Air Force (Strategisches Luftkommando), and the Military Police (Polizeisoldaten), which concurrently manages civil police duties in the rural regions of the country. North Ethalria's collective armed forces are a skilled and capable force. Technology from the army, air force and military police are considered modern, however its small brown-water flotilla of river patrol boats and survey vessels are reminisce of pre-Auroran Imperial War technology.

North Ethalria has an active personnel of 295,000 and a reserve personnel of 245,000. Various paramilitary organisations make up 102,000, including the Blitzkraft. North Ethalria has a tooth-to-tail ratio of 27%. Theoretically, the country could yield just over 27 million people who would be considered fit more military service (this means all citizens between the ages of 16 and 49 that are not otherwise disqualified for health reasons). By total personnel, North Ethalria ranks fifth in the United Nations of the Auroran Continent.

Mushroom cloud seconds after the Scharlachrote Morgenröte detonation.

North Ethalria's annual military expenditure in 2022 was KRB♅31.3 billion, or 2% of its GDP, making it the fifth biggest military spender in the UNAC after Great Morstaybishlia, Axdel, Tuvaltastan and the Oan Isles; and ranked 36th worldwide. The Ethalrian armed forces played a key role in establishing the Ethalrian Empire as a prepotent world power in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was defeated by the Morstaybishlian Empire in the Posolic Wars and the Ethalrian Empire signed a conditional surrender in the Treaty of Rosalica.

103rd Infantry Division during the Founding Marches.

For eighty years Ethalria was out as a world power but managed to stay relevant with pioneering military advances, such as repeating rifles with smokeless powder and early contributions to telegraphic battlefield communication. The Great War prompted quick development of military equipment; the 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. was the first and 7.7 cm FK 16 the last artillery pieces Ethalria developed; they also pioneered automatic small arms like the MP 17 at the end of the war. Ethalria was the first in Aurora to develop airplanes and tanks.

The first nuclear detonation was conducted in 1953 by Ethalria in the Azure Sea. It was a implosion-type plutonium device codenamed Scharlachrote Morgenröte. In the 1970s, Ethalria's Wulesberg Project was a top secret development of a nuclear-capable satellite bombardment weapon codenamed Höllenfeuer (literally meaning Hellfire) that would pave the way for the weaponisation of space. It was due to launch on 1 February 1975 with the intent to obliterate Sani Bursil but Ethalria surrendered after Kevatuul, Noroist Axdel's own nuclear-capable satellite was comandeered by a Morst-Embertian black op mission and laid nuclear siege to Ribenstadt, Karinthus, Anzrelstätt, Rorikton and Wulesberg; the destruction of Wulesberg effectively ended the Wulesberg Project. Following the Auroran Imperial War, the Ethalrian Republic committed to nuclear disarmament whilst the Ethalrian Matriarchy did not. Due to a policy of nuclear disarmanent of the Ethalns by Morstaybishlia following the Auroran-Pacific War, North Ethalria inherited no nuclear weapons.

Today, North Ethalria's military technology is expanded upon by the blueprints and works of both Ethalria's that preceded it. The Howitzer I is the main battle tank; the army utilises an array of armoured fighting vehicles like the Großerlöwe, M110 howitzer, Panzerjäger and Königskobra-5. The Pfeil AUG is the standard issue assault rifle and Alkurmeda AP-1 the standard issue pistol.

Economy

Global headquarters of the Ethalrische Bankengruppe investment banking firm, situated on the bank of the Ider River in the neighbourhood of Primelkopf, Karinthus.

North Ethalria has a developing capitalist market economy that is classed as a high-income economy by the Auroran Central Bank and Auroran Monetary Fund. In 2022, its KRB♅14,425 gross national income (nominal) per capita is ranked 102nd in the world. North Ethalria's economy is considered free, although it does not stand out among others in the Index of Economic Freedom and the Economic Freedom of the World.

The economies of North Ethalria's antecedent states Vöhmia and Kotheria were established akin to the model of Morstaybishlia. Having come from a continental war, unemployment was high and the economy greatly rescinded, but inflation was regulated as they were both in the Kiribzone.

North Ethalria is a major producer and exporter of goat products.

From September 2021 onwards following the unification of the two countries, North Ethalria's economy begun a positive transformation into one of more relative macroeconomic stability, characterised by rising growth and lowering unemployment.

The largest local companies include Ethalrische Bankengruppe, Mondauto, Erdgas aus Vöhmia, Elektroinstallationsunternehmen, Bundesweites Telekommunikationsunternehmen and Aurorabenzin. As of 2022, there are around 33,774 exports per month. North Ethalria's main exports are: motor vehicles, spacecraft, software, fabricated metal products, chemicals, jewellery, electrical and electronic equipment, industrial machinery, mettalurgic products, military equipment, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products (goat products, vegetables and flowers). North Ethalria has a very large heavy-industry base and is one of the largest refiners of metallurgical products in central Aurora. Trade is mainly centralised (though not exclusive) to member states of the United Nations of the Auroran Continent, with Great Morstaybishlia and Tuvaltastan being the country's single largest trading partners.

After an ongoing series of reforms and privatisations continued in North Ethalria from its antecedent states, government intervention in the North Ethalrian economy is shrinking, and under its current trajectory is projected to be lesser than most Auroran economies by 2031. The economy is based predominantly on services, which account for 50.4 percent of the total GDP as of 2022, with industry and agriculture accounting for 36 percent and 4.2 percent respectively. Approximately 16 percent of the North Ethalrian workforce is employed in agriculture.

North Ethalria's antecedent states (and subsequently North Ethalria today) has attracted an increasing amount of foreign investment following the end of the fascist matriarchy, with the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in North Ethalria rising to KRB♅533.4 billion in February 2022.

In February 2022, North Ethalria's external debt was reported to be KRB♅1.273 trillion according to the Auroran Monetary Fund.

Transport

Karinthus International Airport has three landing strips and is the second biggest airport in the Ethalns behind Ribenstadt (which has four landing strips) by passenger traffic.

As a central Auroran country that encompasses most of the north Mondsteinstraße, an old trade route linking north Aurora to the south; North Ethalria is a transport hub for the continent, with a road and rail network that is among the densest in Aurora. Paved roads stretch for over 780,229 kilometers (484,811 mi). Major routes, marked with the letter 'F' for 'Fahrbahn' (Staynish: Roadway), extends across the nation and connects all of the major cities of North Ethalria, as well as linking to other major cities across the rest of the Ethalns; but also provides cross-border routes to other non-Ethaln neighbours. The Zugverbindungslinie (ZL) train network provides North Ethalrian cities as well as other neighbouring countries with speeds of up to 300 km/h (190 mph).

Aethalhafen is North Ethalria's only official container port, being on the west bank of the Ider River. Through the Ocean Access Deal, North Ethalria has leased access to Morstaybishlian ports in Lamburtupol, Cavenhelm and Kingsfort until Marislian independence in 2024. The largest North Ethalrian airports are Karinthus Airport and Irvintal Airport; they both have three main passenger terminals and Karinthus is the base for the country's flag carrier, North Ethalria International Airlines. Other large airports in the country include those in Avenouwe, Aethenhafen, Zensbech and Börinstadt, whilst those in Gespaltenergrat and Sostwalde have plans for terminal upgrades in the near future which could promote economic growth in the rural west and south-east regions of the nation. As well as its flag carrier, North Ethalria has a number of airlines including Mondluftlinien, ETHAL Air, Vanessa Airlines and Luftphönix.

International maritime travel is mainly provided through the Port of Aethalhafen, from where its most popular ferry destinations are Cape Onera, Mathens and Tarov.

Tourism

Irvental Cathedral is one of Irvental's many architectural attractions.

North Ethalria offers tourists a wide variety of natural and cultural amenities. Varied forms of tourism have developed over time. The tourist gravitational area is considered to be large, though the tourist market is small. Since there has been no large-scale tourism in the region since the late 1960s and no acute environmental presures, North Ethalria was declared as the continent's most sustainable tourist destination by IFESCO.

The second largest city, Irvental, has many important buildings of Baroque and Bildende Kunst arcitecture. Because Irvental was not a target of Kevatuul in 1975 and is North Ethalria's second largest city today, it hosts mach of Ethalria's arcitectural heritage that attracts tourism, many of which was the work of native born architects Margit Eierkuchen and Imrenzie Ohmn.

Arcitecture

File:Musée d'Orsay, North-West view, Paris 7e 140402.jpg