Vitrospebia

**Vitrospebia** (Vitrospebian: *Vitrospebija*, *Витроспебија*), officially the **Republic of Vitrospebia** (Vitrospebian: *Respublika s Vitrospebije*, *Республика с Витроспебије*), is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Eurea, bordered by Horvatia to the northwest and Lorbia on all other sides. Its capital and most-populous city is Dedocica, located in the north of the country. Vitrospebia has a population of about 625 thousand inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Vitrospebia in the 4th-century, with the establishment of numerous small city-states. By the 8th-century, these city-states had unified, resulting in the Kingdom of Vitrospebia. The Kingdom was a small and vulnerable state, and was eventually conquered and annexed by the Kingdom of Lorbia in the 15th-century, being incorporated as the Vitrospebian Principality. 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 Vitrospebia 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 invasions of Gornia and Notosha, resulting in the Gornian War (1994–1998) and Notosha War (1994–2000). In the wars, Lorbia committed war crimes and mass atrocities against the Asbanian and Gorniak ethnic groups. After international intervention, the Gornian War ended in 1998, and the Notosha War ended two years afterwards, while the Lorbian nationalist leaders were tried and convicted for war crimes. With Vitrospebia long opposed to both wars, an independence movement began to grow in the late-1990s, culminating in a successful 2005 independence referendum, which initially was widely expected to fail. Vitrospebia later received their independence in 2006.

After receiving its independence in 2006, Vitrospebia established itself as a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. Its head of state is the President, who is directly elected via a popular vote for an eight-year term that cannot be renewed. 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 be independent of political discourse and political parties; thus, most presidential elections features debates on visions for the future of the country rather than political issues. 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 Škupiština is the 85-seat unicameral legislature.

Of its population of about 625 thousand, approximately 58.5% identifies as ethnically Vitrospebian, while a further 31.8% identifies as Lorbian, 5.7% as Gorniak, 1.7% as Asbanian, and the remaining 2.3% as other ethnic groups. Prior to independence, Vitrospebia was famed throughout Alaslavia and Lorbia for its resort towns and beaches, leading to a large population of wealthy Lorbians moving to expensive waterfront homes on the coast; after independence, many remained, resulting in Vitrospebia's large Lorbian population. Lorbians continue to remain in wealthy socioeconomic groups and have a strong presence in Vitrospebian politics and business. The national and sole official language of Vitrospebia is Vitrospebian, a Slavoric language. Vitrospebian is nearly identical to the Gornian, Horvatian, and Lorbian languages, to the point where most linguistics identify them all as closely related dialects of a shared Alaslavian language. All four languages are mutually intelligible, with only minor differences, and the languages were broken apart primarily for political reasons. Gornian and Lorbian also share special minority status in the nation, although they still are generally considered to be the same language. The majority of Vitrospebia's population identifies as Christian, with 85.4% adhering to Eastern Eurean Christianity, 6.0% adhering to Eurean Islam, 2.7% adhering to other religions, and the remaining 5.9% identifying as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious. Weekly religious attendance is also low, with only approximately 25.5% of Vitrospebian attending religious services at least weekly.