Lashardia

**Lashardia** (Lashardian: *Lasda*), officially the **Kingdom of Lashardia** (Lashardian: *Żklackilasda*), is a country on the eastern coast of Asmatys. It is bordered by Adoriam to the north, Sodrax to the northwest, Consensum to the west, Zakharia to the southwest, and has a maritime border with Pesa through the Lashardian Sea. As of a 2017 estimate, Lashardia has over 9.6 million inhabitants.

Lashardia is a constitutional monarchy, established under its current form in 1899. The capital city is Ubenmoor, and the official language is Lashardian. Lashardia is a unitary state, comprised of eleven provinces and a capital district.

Indigenous people of Lashardia are known as Lashardians. Lashardian is an Asmatic language, and a member of the Titovic language family. Historically, Lashardians belong to the Lashardian Orthodox Church and the majority of Lashardians are Christians, however religion is not a major part of the majority of Lashardians' lives.

The Kingdom of Lashardia was founded on 23 December 1899, following the breakup of the Kingdom of Titova. The breakup was instigated by the secession of Zakharia in 1890, which led the kingdom to errupt in war. After nine years of battle against Zakharian forces, Titova was defeated and broken up into smaller nations.

Lashardia is a member of the Asmatic Union and is the World Assembly representative from Asmatys. It is ranked third in Asmatys on the Human Development Index, and has been classified as a high income econmy. Its currency is the Lashardian Lashin.

## History

### The Kingdom of Titova

Lashardia was settled permanently by nomadic hunter-gatherers in 1200BC, who resided in the territory for centuries. In the early seventh century, Tito the Conquerer discovered the land and along with his army, savagely murdered the indigenous people, incorporating the territory into his Kingdom of Titova. The population of Lashardia gradually increased following its incorporation into the kingdom, with many Titovans emigrating to Lashardia due to the promise of free arable land.

While originally residing in small farming villages, the modern capital of Ubenmoor was built in the tenth century due to the quickly increasing population. Later, the city of Beck was built to satisfy the fishing industry. Throughout its time in the Kingdom of Titova, Lashardia remained much more rural than other areas, and was known for being mostly comprised of peasant farmers and fishermen.

### War of Independence

Following years of protests in Zakharia, in 1889, the Duke of Zakharia sent a letter of secession to the King of Titova and formally released the Zakharian Declaration of Independence. Upon hearing the news, the king sent a fleet of men to Zakharia and formally declared war, calling up all able-bodied Titovan men to fight. The war went on for nine years and ended in 1898, following the surrender of the Kingdom of Titova and the execution of the Titovan king. Following these, all the other regions of the Kingdom of Titova released their declarations of independence from the Kingdom of Titova, including the war-torn Lashardia. The war hero, Piet the Great was declared the first King of Lashardia.

### Modern day

Following its independence, Lashardia established itself as a constitutional monarchy, with a democratically elected leader and a monarch working together under the dictation of a constitution. The 100-seat parliament the Mavna, has also been used since independence. In 1923, under mutual agreement of the president and monarch, the monarchy would no longer hold government power, and a prime minister would take its place as the head of government.

On 1 January 2017, the country was officially reorganized into an eleven-province nation. The campaign to reorganize the country was headed by President Olla Ottöfrenz during her presidency, and the campaign continued under President Anya Hanköfork. It was met with positive reactions from the Lashardian public.

## Geography

Lashardia lies in southeastern Asmatys, on the shores of the Lashardian Sea. The nation borders Adoriam, Sodrax, Consensum, Zakharia, and has a maritime border with Pesa.

### Climate

Lashardia experiences a balanced climate depending on the region of the country. In the northwest, its largely cold and humid, while the south is largely hot and dry.

Lashardia experiences all four seasons of nearly equal length. Winter starts in mid-December and lasts until mid-March. Winter temperatures average -12C (10F) in the north, and 23C (74F) in the south. The north experiences heavy snowfall and short days, while the south experiences cool breezes and sunshine. Summer begins in mid-June and lasts until mid-September. Summers are typically warm and sunny in all areas of Lashardia, averaging 26C (80F) in the north, and 39C (102F) in the south.

### Environment

The Lashardian environment is largely diverse by region. In the northwest, most of the land consists of forests, with nearly 60% of the province of Palsland consisting of forests. In the northeast, there is much less forest, with the land largely consisting of lakes and small patches of woods. The south is much more urbanized than the north, consisting of large cities and very little forest. The southernmost coastal province of Mortasland is renowned for its beaches, while the central province of Jurgensland is known for containing the Lashardian Mountains.

## Politics

The 100-seat unicameral Lashardian parliament, the *Mavna* is elected by popular vote every four years. The president is elected by popular vote every four years as well, while the prime minister is elected in the parliamentary election as the leader of the party with the most seats in the Mavna. Presidents can serve one term of four years, while the prime minister can serve an unlimited amount of four-year terms. The prime minister and president form the executive branch together, the Mavna forms the legislative branch, while the Lashardian Supreme Court forms the judicial branch. The monarch of Lashardia, does not hold any power in government.

### Foreign relations

Lashardia is a member of the World Assembly, Asmatic Union, and has held the position of Asmatic representative to the World Assembly's General Assembly and Security Council since its inception. Lashardia has diplomatic relations with all nations of the world, and has embassies in each as well.

Since its independence in 1899, Lashardia has had close ties to its neighbors Adoriam, Consensum, and Pesa. Despite previously being close allies, the Lashardian government has attempted to distance itself from the dictatorship of Zakharia and corrupt government of Sodrax. It also holds close ties to Populus Poetarum, and was the first nation to recognize its independence.

### Human rights

Lashardia has been commended by international organizations for its human rights. Human rights of all residents, whether citizen or not are guaranteed in the Lashardian constitution. Non-citizens hold the same rights as citizens except for the right to vote in Lashardian elections and carry a Lashardian passport.

Lashardia has been ranked above-average in terms of press freedom, privacy, and human development.

### Military

In 2014, the Lashardian government announced its plans to completely abolish its 10,000-soldier military by the next year. At the beginning of its independence, Lashardia held a policy of neutrality towards armed conflict due to the destruction it went through during the War of Independence. Conscription has never been used in Lashardia. In 2015, its entire military was abolished, and the country signed a treaty with Consensum, for Consensum to handle Lashardian defense if it's deemed necessary.

### Administrative divisions

Lashardia is a unitary state, divided into eleven provinces and a capital district. These divisions are divided further into municipalities. Populated places are organized as cities, towns, or villages. Cities are governed by a mayor and a city council. Mayoral elections are held every four years and there are no term limits. City councilors represent an electoral district of the city they're located in, and serve unlimited terms of two years. Cities do not belong to a municipality like towns and villages do. A town is the center of its municipality, while villages are smaller populated places that surround a town.

The six provinces of Lashardia are Dayasland, Gaiasland, Jurgensland, Leilasland, Mortasland, Nortensland, Olegsland, Palsland, Pietsland, Sabinasland, and Skaarsland, in addition to the capital district of Ubenmoor, which is not considered a province. Provinces are run by a provincial government under the leadership of the federal government. Until 2016, there were only six provinces and the Ubenmoor District operated as one in its own right.

The largest city of Lashardia is the capital Ubenmoor, the second largest is Kesa, and the third largest is Beck.

## Economy

The officially currency of Lashardia, is the Lashin, which has been used since independence in 1899. Throughout time, it has been proposed to change the currency to the Lashardian Dollar, however this has been defeated every time. In a 2010 survey, 85% of Lashardians support the current currency.

All companies in Lashardia are state-run, with privatization illegal. State-owned industry accounts for 36% of the government's GDP, while the rest is government-funded. The Lashardian GDP of $256 billion, is spent mostly on education, welfare, healthcare, and the environment.

## Demographics

### Ethnic groups

Lashardia's population has been largely homogeneous since its independence, but previously housed many ethnic groups while under the Kingdom of Titova. According to the 1878 Titova census, 49% of Lashardia were Lashardians, 21% were Adoriamians, 15% were Consensumites, 10% were Zakharians, 3% were Sodraxians, and 2% were Pesans.

Following the breakup of the kingdom, most non-Lashardians emigrated to their respective nations. According to the 2010 Lashardian census, 94% of people residing in Lashardia identified themselves as "purely Lashardian", while 2% identified as part Lashardian and part something else, and 4% identified as non-Lashardian. Lashardia experiences somewhat high numbers of Zakharian and Pesan political refugees, who mostly amount for the non-Lashardians in Lashardia. However, in recent years the amount of Pesan refugees have went down dramatically after reaching its peak in the early 1970s.

### Language

The sole language of Lashardia, is Lashardian, closely related to Pesan, while more distantly to Adoriamian. Lashardian is a member of the Titovic branch of the Asmatic languages, the dominant language family in Asmatys. Lashardian is broken into two main dialect forms, North Lashardian, spoken north of Ubenmoor, and more related to Adoriamian, and South Lashardian, spoken in Ubenmoor and the south of the country, which is generally thought of as "standard Lashardian".

Approximately 98% of Lashardians speak Lashardian as their mother tongue, while 1.7% speak it as a second or third language. Over 60% of Lashardians aged 18 and over speak at least two foreign languages, most often English, Adoriamian, Pesan, or a European language. The Lashardian education system puts emphasis on foreign language knowledge, requiring proficiency in at least two foreign languages before a student's primary school graduation.

### Religion

The largest religion in Lashardia is Christianity, with 69% of Lashardians adhering to the Christian faith, though only about 8% regularly attend religious services. According to a 2014 survey, 58% identify as Lashardian Orthodox Christian, 2% as Roman Catholic, 1% as other Christian, 30% as irreligious, atheist, or agnostic, and 9% as other. Most of the "other" category consists of Pesan Muslims.

In the same poll, 26% of Lashardians agreed with the statement "there is a God", 54% stated they believed "there is some form of spirit or life force, but not a God", and 20% stated "there is no God, spirit, or life force".

### Education

The education system in Lashardia begins when a child is four years old. At the age of four, children must attend a half-day preschool. Preschool is free to all children, and parents can choose to send their kids to either an art-focused preschool, music-focused preschool, English language-focused preschool, or general preschool. Preschool lasts for one year and children than move on to primary school.

Primary school lasts from ages five to fifteen. In addition to preschool, primary school is the only compulsory education. From ages five to ten, students study Lashardian, basic mathematics, science, music, art, physical education, and the English language, while the focus in class is largely on preparing students for adolescence rather than strictly educating them. During these years, students have one teacher for all their main subjects and specialized teachers for art, music, and physical education. Each teacher has one class and they move up with their class each year until the students reach Grade 6.

In Grade 6, when students are the age of 10, Lashardian history is added to their curriculum in addition to a second foreign language. Also, students have a different teacher for each class and have different classmates. As they age, students are given more freedom with the classes they take, such as being able to study business, law, extra art classes, psychology, and others upon reaching Grade 8.

After graduating primary school at age 15, children move on to high school. High school is designed to prepare students for either university or a career. There are five types of high schools designed for its students to pursue university degrees, while there are several which plan on having its students immediately enter the workforce afterwards. In addition, there was a military high school which was for students planning on enlisting in the armed forces upon graduation. However, this school type has since been closed due to the abolishment of the Lashardian military.

The high schools include:

* Advertising
* Architecture
* Athletics
* Business and law
* Carpentry
* Classic and modern languages
* Construction
* Cooking
* Cosmetology
* Economics
* Fashion design
* Filmmaking
* Fine arts
* History
* Hospitality
* Law enforcement
* Military training (former)
* Natural sciences and mathematics
* Performing arts
* Plumbing
* Social sciences
* Social work
* Waiting

All high schools that lead to university, take three years to complete, while vocational high schools can take between one to three years depending on the school.

University is only intended for graduates of business and law, classic and modern languages, history, natural sciences and mathematics, and social sciences high schools, however there are no strict rules against students from other high schools applying, although it will be harder for them to get in. University typically takes four years to complete, but it is possible to graduate in less or more time than that. All public universities have no tuition payments.

The two largest universities in Lashardia are the Lashardian International University and Queen's University, both located in Ubenmoor. There are specialized technology-based universities located in Klicki and Ubenmoor as well. In total, Lashardia is home to fifteen institutions of higher education. In addition to this, there are also many polytechnic universities located throughout the country for students who were not accepted into a university.

### Health

The Lashardian healthcare system is a universal program, funded through government taxation. Lashardia ranks very high against other Asmatys nations in terms of percent of their GDP spent on healthcare. There were 112 hospitals in Lashardia as of 2013.

In 2010, there were a reported 1,489 cases of HIV/AIDS in Lashardia (0.003% of the population), 66,813 reported sufferers of alcoholism (0.12%), and 79,001 reported cases of clinical depression (0.14%).

## Culture

### Holidays

The following are national holidays in Lashardia.

* ***New Year's Day (Nafidagle)* – 1 January**
* ***Commemoration Day (NafiInglehoff)* – 17 January** – A day of mourning to commemorate the deaths of those in the War of Independence.
* ***King/Queen's Day (Nafiżklackom)* – 22 February** – The birthdate of the current monarch.
* ***Easter (Ester)* – Springtime**
* ***Constitution Day (Nafiniharmlakżci)* – 19 April**
* ***Remembrance Day (Nafifursho)* – 22 June** – A day of mourning to commemorate the deaths of the indigenous Lashardians in the seventh century at the hands of Tito the Conqueror.
* ***Independence Day (Nafifriorkafnemer)* – 23 December**
* ***Christmas Eve (Nakijoli)* – 24 December**
* ***Christmas Day (Nafijoli)* – 25 December**

### Music

Lashardia is well known as being the pioneer of the music genre known as Lashpop. Lashpop typically consists of female soprano singers singing midtempo electronic or pop music with lyrics often about sex, love, or self-expression. Lashpop has been the dominant form of music in Lashardia throughout much of the 20th and 21st centuries, but has gone through modernization throughout time. From the 1960s-late 1980s, Lashpop was most often sung in Lashardian, but since the 1990s, most Lashpop musicians have chosen to sing in English. Lashardian hip hop and the music of Adoriam are also popular genres in present-day Lashardia. Lashardia is also famous for its electronic music, which is also popular in Adoriam. Some notable Lashardian musicians include Sabine Bursöhurt, Bleta, Korinne Erikösens, Era, Olia Janisöpfleg, Katia Flaksöberg, Matelda Hanköjons, Ina, Sox, and Kam Wiköluk.

### Names

The Lashardian people have a unique way of naming their children in contrast to other nations. By law, every person is required to have a first name, middle name, and last name.

A first name is given to a child at birth by their parents. All female first names must end in "a" or "e", while no male names can end in any vowel at all. A person's middle name is chosen by themselves upon their eighteenth birthday and still must abide to gender rules. Typically, a child chooses the first name of someone in their lives important to them, as their middle name. It is not uncommon for boys to remove the "a" or "e" from a female name or girls to add an "a" or "e" to a male name, to make it their middle name. Middle names are rarely used in everyday language and are only for official use. A person's last name has two parts, the patronymic and the family name. The patronymic is the person's father's name followed by an "ö" (the Lashardian word for 'and'), to separate the two parts. If there's no father present, a matronymic is commonly used. However, as female names end in an "a" or "e", the final letter is dropped in the matronymic so the "ö" does not follow another vowel. The family name follows the patronymic and is passed down by generation. These rules do not have to be followed by non-Lashardian nationals living in Lashardia. Women often do not take their husbands' surnames at marriage, but it is not unheard of if they want to separate themselves from their family in particular.

For example, the current president of Lashardia's full name is Olla Sabine Ottöfrenz. Her first name chosen by her parents is Olla, her middle name chosen at eighteen is Sabine, her father's first name is Ott, and her family name is Frenz.

Most Popular Names in Lashardia (2001)
 2
 3
 4
 5