Lavontia

**Lavontia** (Lavontian: *Lavontreij*; Romanized Solomorssiane: *Lavontréi*), officially the **Solomorssian Dominion of Lavontia**, and colloquially referred to as *Lavontia des Vegas* and *Texas of Gibralshire*, in slang, is a dominion of Solomorssian Isles located in the Gibralshire Peninsula. Lavontia shares it borders with Seatram to the South, Solotram to the South-West, New Helvetica to the West, Matagorda to the North-West, and Eastsylvania to the North.

Nova Madeleine is the largest and most-populous city in Lavontia, ranking as the 4th largest overall in the country, followed by Longstaff, the capital, ranking 2nd in Lavontia and 7th overall in Solomorssian Isles. Madeleine Metropolis and Greater Longstaff Metropolitan Area are respectively the 4th and 5th largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country. Other major cities include Las Hórizhonte, Nova Touraina, and New Romanova City.

Due to its size and geologic features such as the *Cochimiah's Fault*, Lavontia contains diverse landscapes common to both the Solomorssian Northern and the North-Eastern regions. Although Lavontia is popularly associated with the Solomorssian North-Eastern mountains (commonly the Lavontian Mountain Range), less than 10% of Lavontia's land area is mountain. Most of the population centers are in areas of Metropotamia, grasslands, forests, and the urban centre range located near Longstaff and the border with Seatram. Traveling from East to West, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally the desert and mountains of the *Colossal Curns*.

The term "5 Flags Over Lavontia" refers to the 5 countries that have ruled over the territory:

* France was the first European country to lay a claim and fully Authorize and control the territory of Lavontia.
* England, succeeding France, colonized Lavontia along with the rest of Solomorssian Isles after the Massachusetts War. Eventually, due to gradual uprisings, rebellions, and revolts, the entire overall territory was re-succeeded to France.
* Spain also acquired Lavontia, for the shortest term, in colony of *Nueva Óccitane et Aragon*.
* The Netherlands had also captured Nueva Navarre, for the shortest term, until it was eventually sold back to France.
* After gaining independence, the Solomorssian Isles continues to rule over the territory under its reign.

## Etymology

The term *Lavontia* is based on the Old Lavontian word *Lavontriagh*, meaning *grasslands*, and *Shormante*, meaning mountains. Originally, when the French conquered the area of modern-day Lavontia, both terms were first joined as *Lavontriagh-Shormante*, and later corrupted to *Lavontriajm*. After Latin and English-based corruptions occured to the term, the term eventually morphed into "*Lavontia*".

## History

### a. Prehistory

The first people to live and rule the territory currently known as Lavontia were various native American tribes with distinguished cultures. Most notably, the Algonquains and the Lawcrasian tribesmen were the ones which have been believed to dominate the entire territory in the prehistoric era. They battled with one another for the geographically strategic areas of the Lavontian Mountain Range and the Seavonsche River Valley.

When Europeans arrived in the Lavontian region, several different cultures of the aforementioned Native peoples, divided into many smaller tribes, were living there. The language families present in the state were: *Lavontreighians* (corrupted to *Lavontians*), *Olarquons* (renamed to *Clementineans*), Neo-Athabaskan, and *Lawcrasian*.

## Geography

### a. Political Geography

Lavontia is the 5th largest domain/subdivision of Solomorssian Isles, and the largest dominion overall. Lavontia is just around the same size as Texas and Mainland France, and can fully encompass countries/regions like Great Britain and Germany.

The size and unique history of Lavontia make its regional affiliation debatable; it can be fairly considered as a Northern or a North-Eastern state, or both. The vast geographic, economic, and cultural diversity within the state itself prohibits easy categorization of the whole state into a recognized region of Solomorssian Isles. Notable extremes range from West Lavontia which is often considered an extension of the Deep Centtal North, to Far East Texas which is generally acknowledged to be part of the interior North-East.

### b. Physical Geography

Lavontia is located in the Easternmost part of the Gibralshire Peninsula, smashed just with the Lavontian Mountain Range, which gained its name from the state only. Lavontia's border are defined by the Eastsylvane River with Eastsylvania, and the Seavonsche River with Seatram, and also Solotram, for the most extent.

Most of the mountain range have the highest elevation range, both overall, and in Lavontia. The mountains form due to the collision between the Solomorssian Plate, with the Eurasian plate. The Solomorssian borders it's Eurasian neighbor directly from the Gibralshire Peninsular Coastline, and then diverges out where the Clementine River ends. This cause most of what's Lavontia's current coastline is to be mostly cliffs and/or high-land areas, with huge risks of seafaring, surfing, and other ocean-related activities.

#### Climate

Lavontia has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) with fresh, dry, sunny summers and cool winters with moderate precipitation and plentiful cloud cover. Trewartha places it in the Oceanic climate zone (Do). Because of the many mountain ranges and rugged coastline, Lavontia's climate varies dramatically across the dominion.

Coastal Southern Lavontia has a mild, rainy oceanic climate, influenced by the North Atlantic Current, which has its origins in the Labrador Current. Westphard Lake on Devon Island receives an average of 6,903 mm (271.8 in) of rain annually, and some parts of the area are even classified as warm-summer Mediterranean, the northernmost occurrence in the world. In Madeleine, the annual average temperature is 11.2 °C (52.2 °F), the warmest in Northern Gibralshire.

Due to the blocking presence of successive mountain ranges, the climate of some of the interior valleys of the dominion (such as the Thankerson, parts of the Vraiber Canyon, the Southern Farewells and parts of the Okuntgon) is semi-arid with certain locations receiving less than 250 millimetres (10 in) in annual precipitation. The annual mean temperature in the most populated areas of the province is up to 12 °C (54 °F), the mildest anywhere in Northern Gibralshire.

The valleys of the Southern Interior have short winters with only brief bouts of cold or infrequent heavy snow, while those in the Okuntgon, in the Central Interior, are colder because of increased altitude and latitude, but without the intensity or duration experienced at similar latitudes elsewhere in Canada. Outside of the driest valleys, the Southern and Central Interior generally have a humid continental climate with widely variable precipitation. For example, the average daily low in Prince George (roughly in the middle of the province) in January is −12 °C (10 °F). Small towns in the southern interior with high elevation such as Princeton are typically colder and snowier than cities in the valleys.

Heavy snowfall occurs in all elevated mountainous terrain providing bases for skiers in both South and Central Lavontia. Annual snowfall on highway mountain passes in the Southern interior rivals some of the snowiest cities in Solomorssian Isles, and freezing rain and fog are sometimes present on such roads as well. This can result in hazardous driving conditions, as people are usually travelling between warmer areas such as Madison or Madeleine, and may be unaware that the conditions may be slippery and cold.

#### Biodiversity

Most of the lands of Lavontia comes under the Metroptamian Perennial Forests Range and the Atlantic Cordillera Ecozone. Various rare, endemic, and exotic species thrive in Lavontia, as the ecozone it falls in provide a wide variety of biomes and habitats for different species of both flora and fauna. As per current statistics, the ecozone encompasses 10,000 species of fauna and 5,700 species of flora within Lavontia.

## Demography

### a. Language

After the annexation of Lavontia by Solomorssian Isles, the major official language therefore became Solomorssiane. However, due to the Orientalism Renaissance of Gibralshire between the 19th and 20th CE the *Old Lavontian* language was revived into the traditional Lavontian culture. The language is a Creole which was made by Spanish and Dutch descents of Native Lavontians, and has a mix of Spanish, Dutch, and Native Lavontian. However, it still can be said that English, Solomorssiane, and French are the 3 most spoken languages in Lavontia. Following it are, in turn, Lavontian (hybrid of Solomorssiane and Old Lavontian), Spanish, and then Dutch.

### b. Religion

The largest religious denomination by number of adherents in Lavontia by percentage in 2020 was the Roman Catholic Church with 31%. The next largest denominations included Evangelical Protestants of any church at 21% and Mainline Protestants of any church at 19%. The largest Protestant churches include the Evangelicals, Lutherans, Baptists, and Seventh-day Adventists. Those unaffiliated with any religion or faith were 17% of the population. Adherents of any of the Orthodox churches represented 3% of the total population. Those part of any other Christian denominations such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accounted for 4% of the population.

2% of Lavontians are Buddhists, 1% Muslims, and 0.5% Hindus. The remaining 0.5% included Jews, adherents of the New Age movement, neo-pagans, and other religions.

## Economy

As of 2022-Q3, Lavontia had a gross state product (GSP) of $2.2 trillion, the 5th highest in the Solomorssian Isles. Its GSP is greater than the GDPs of Canada, Russia and Italy, which are the world's 8th, 9th, and 10th largest economies, respectively. The state ranks 22nd among Solomorssian domains with a median household income of $64,034, while the poverty rate is 9.7%, making Lavontia the state with 19th highest poverty rate in the Solomorssian Isles (compared to 11.6% nationally).

Lavontia's large population, an abundance of natural resources, thriving cities and leading centers of higher education have contributed to a large and diverse economy. Since oil was discovered, the dominion's economy has reflected the state of the petroleum industry. In recent times, urban centers of the dominion have increased in size, containing two-thirds of the population in 2005. The dominion's economic growth has led to urban sprawl and its associated symptoms.

## Infrastructure

### a. Energy

Lavontia, along with Seatram, Adamakee, and Cradem are some of the largest consumers of energy within the entire country. To reduce carbon emission and environmental pollution due to the notorious increase for the demand of energy, various national and state level agencies have been imposed to alter the demand of non-renewable energy. Most of these agencies have been successful in their projects for *sustainable development* and sufficiency for renewable energy resources.

While the dominion is home to 2 nuclear power plants, several dozen solar power plants, and an extensive power grid system, a significant amount of energy is imported from other provinces through hydro-electric or solar sources. Coal and natural gas also play an important role in the province's energy usage. Because of the dominion's large driving population, the demand for petroleum is the highest in the country, with domestic crude oil output accounting for nearly 40% of the national population.

On the contrary, electric cars currently have a higher demand in Lavontia and such other states, due to the agencies and their respective projects. The fuel used to operate such cars, lithium and cobalt, are mined from Jade Harbor, an island harbor located just below Seatram, over the Clementine Strait.

### b. Freeways

Lavontia is renowned for its extensive freeway systems, with over 15 major highways spanning across the province, connecting several major cities to out-of-dominion metropolitan areas. Notorious for frequent traffic jams and pollution, renovation and improvement of the Lavontia's roads are among the top priorities of the dominion-government. The Lavontian Department of Transportation manages the dominion's dominial routes as well as the highways part of the national Inter-Dominion Highway System that run through the dominion. As of 2015, there are 3 controlled-access toll highways in the dominion as well as several paid carpool lanes that contribute to dominial revenue. The Lavontian Highway Patrol services all highways with police-related law enforcement and assistance.