Notosha

**Notosha** (Asbanian: *Notoshë*; Lorbian: *Нотоша*, *Notoša*), officially the **Republic of Notosha** (Asbanian: *Republika e Notoshë*; Lorbian: *Республика с Нотоше*, *Respublika s Notoše*), is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Eurea, bordered by Slaveria to the northeast, Asbania to the southeast, and Lorbia to the west. Its capital and most-populous city is Astina, located in the southeast of the country. Notosha has a population of about 1.5 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Notosha in the 5th-century, with the establishment of numerous small city-states. By the 14th-century, the city-states had become apart of the unified Kingdom of Asbania. Prone to internal struggles, the Kingdom eventually was invaded and annexed by the Liman Empire in the 16th-century, operating as the Province of Asbania. With the nearby Kingdom of Lorbia gaining power and influence, the Empire granted the territory of Notosha to the Kingdom in order to avoid a full invasion; Notosha was then incorporated as the Notoshar Protectorate in the Kingdom. After joining the Kingdom, a number of Lorbians began migrating into the territory, creating a heterogenous community of Lorbians and the native Asbanians. In the 19th-century, the Kingdom unified with the neighboring Kingdom of Horvatia, following the marriage of their respective monarchs, resulting in the unified Kingdom of Alaslavia. The Kingdom of Alaslavia became one of the most politically powerful states in the region, conquering the neighboring Snubian Protectorate from the Lungarian Empire in 1867. In the 20th-century, a *coup d'état* occurred, deposing of the monarchy and imposing a fascist regime in a similar vein to the Kashan Union, referred to as the Federal Republic of Alaslavia (FR Alaslavia). Civil liberties and freedoms were greatly diminished in the era of FR Alaslavia, although not to the extreme extent that they were in the Kashan Union. FR Alaslavia disbanded in the 1990s, amidst mounting international pressure following the disbandment of the Kashan Union several years prior, and the state broke up into several independent nations, with Notosha continuing on as a region of the Republic of Lorbia in 1994. Following the independence of Lorbia, far-right Lorbian nationalists were elected to power; desiring an expansion of Lorbian territory and influence, they ordered for the invasion of Notosha, resulting in the Notosha War (1994–2000). In the wars, Lorbia committed war crimes and mass atrocities against the Asbanian ethnic group, resulting in a mass exodus of ethnic Asbanians to nearby Asbania; the conflict was described by most international bodies as a genocide or ethnic cleansing. After international intervention, the Notosha War ended in 2000, while the Lorbian nationalist leaders were tried and convicted for war crimes. Following the war's end, the Supranational Council began establishing rule of law in Notosha, and the territory operated as an autonomous territory within Lorbia, acting as a *de facto* independent country, although relations with Lorbia were permanently strained. In 2010, Notosha's parliament declared independence, and their independence was quickly recognized by other nations; Lorbia continues to remain the only nation not to recognize Notosha as an independent state.

After receiving its independence in 2010, Notosha established itself as a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. Its head of state is the President, who is indirectly elected via a secret ballot in parliament for a four-year term that can be renewed once. The President is largely a ceremonial figurehead, with even less powers than presidents in other parliamentary systems. While they still formally appoint ministers and act as the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the President cannot veto bills and is constitutionally mandated to not be affiliated with a political party. Most political power is vested in the Prime Minister, who is typically the leader of the governing coalition in parliament. The Prime Minister serves as the head of government and chief legislator of the nation, is tasked with implementing their policy agenda through legislation, and also leads a council of ministers. The State Assembly is the 125-seat unicameral legislature.

Of its population of about 1.5 million, approximately 88.5% identifies as ethnically Asbanian, while a further 5.2% identifies as Lorbian, and the remaining 6.3% as other ethnic groups. It is difficult to determine the exact number of Lorbians residing in Notosha, as many refuse to acknowledge the nation's independence, boycotting their census and recognizing Lorbia as their country of residence. A majority of the Lorbian population did return to Lorbia proper following the 2010 declaration of independence, however. There are two official languages of Notosha: Asbanian, the only known member of its own branch of Eurean languages, and Lorbian, a Slavoric language. Asbanian is the predominant language in society, being spoken natively by 87.0% of the population, while only 5.7% speaks Lorbian natively. Additionally, only 35.4% of the population can speak Lorbian at all, mostly concentrated in older and more urban populations. Amongst individuals born after 1994, only 12.7% can speak Lorbian. The language was taught in schools until the fall of FR Alaslavia, and is now not taught in any Asbanian-language school in Notosha, despite its co-official status. Approximately 84.5% of the population adheres to Eurean Islam, while a further 8.2% identifies as Christian, – 6.6% as Eastern Eurean Christians, 1.4% as Eurean Catholics, and 0.2% as belonging to other Christian churches – 0.3% belongs to other religions, while 7.0% identifies as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious. Like in Asbania, there are high levels of religious harmony and religion tends to remain unimportant in Notoshan society. Weekly religious attendance is seen in approximately 19.5% of the population.

## Politics

### Administrative divisions

#### Districts

*Main article: Districts of Notosha*.

Notosha is divided into six districts. As a unitary state, the districts have little autonomy from the federal government, and mainly function for statistical purposes and to offer services such as sanitation.

#### Municipalities

*Main article: Municipalities of Notosha*.

The six districts of Notosha are further divided into several municipalities. Municipalities are designated by the federal government as either a city or a town. Cities may be subdivided into neighborhoods or not subdivided at all, while every town consists of several smaller villages within their territory; villages are typically more rural in character than the town proper.