Frankenland

**Frankenland** (Lungarian: *Fränkenland*, Maldonian: *Frèche*, Regian: *Frezzia*), is a sovereign state located in Central Eurea, bordered by Lungary to the north, east, and northeast, Austlungard to the south, east, and southeast, Limurberg to the east, Regia to the south, Maldone west, Duchenbourg to the west and north, and Heckerbrook to the north. Its capital is Gortzman, located in the north of the country, while its most-populous city is Keln, located in the northeast. Frankenland has a population of about 9.1 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Frankenland in the 2nd-century, with various small city-states and kingdoms being established. By the 12th-century, these city-states, speaking various languages, unified under a democratic government, becoming the first fully functioning democracy in the world. Frankenland quickly adopted an official policy of neutrality, maintaining friendly relations with all other nations and refusing to form alliances or take part in conflicts. Due to this, Frankenland has never had a fully functioning military in its entire existence.

Since its establishment, Frankenland has functioned as a federal state, consisting of twelve autonomous states. Its federal government is a semi-direct democracy parliamentary directorial republic, the only of its kind in the world. The head of state and head of government is the Federal Council, consisting of seven elected councillors representing the largest political parties in parliament. The council functions as one collective entity, with each councillor heading their own departments and being responsible for compromising to form an agenda that all parties are satisfied with. The position of President is merely ceremonial, being granted to one member of the council for a one-year period. The President holds no special powers over the other councillors, simply acting as the spokesperson of the council during their tenure. The Vice President also holds no special powers, and exists purely to designate who the President will be in the upcoming year. Each councillor can serve as President and Vice President an infinite amount of times; after they serve one-term as President, they will not serve a second until all other councillors below them on the line of succession have served another term. Because of this, councillors are elected on a rotating basis, with one councillor retiring and one being elected for the first time typically every other year. While there are no term limits for councillors, it is customary to retire after their second term as President, and a new councillor will be elected; because of this tradition, councillors typically serve fourteen years on the council until retiring.

The Chancellor is another high-ranking government position, but is not a head of state or head of government. They are a non-voting unofficial eighth member of the council, whom is not elected but appointed by the councillors. The Chancellor serves as liaison between the council and parliament, informing parliament of the policy decisions of the council, and typically serves for five years. The Chancellor must be reappointed by the council every year, but this is most often merely a formality except under extreme circumstances where the council believes the Chancellor is unfit to serve. The parliament of Frankenland is the bicameral Federal Assembly; the Federal Assembly consists of the State Council – the 24-seat upper house, where all states have the same amount of seats – and the National Council – the 355-seat lower house, where seats are allocated depending on each state's population. Frankenland is a semi-direct democracy, meaning that any citizen can petition for a referendum to be held on a certain issue, while most pieces of legislation must be approved by the voting public prior to becoming law. Due to automatic voter registration, ballots are mailed to every voting age Frankish citizen's home prior to a vote, and voters can mail back their completed ballot via postage if they decide to participate.

While Frankenland has a population of 9.1 million residents, the government does not take records of ethnic groups or religion. There is no individual Frankish ethnicity, with the Frankish people being divided between Frank-Lungarians, Frank-Maldonians, and Frank-Regians. Frank-Lungarians are the largest and most dominant of the groups, while Frank-Regians are the smallest; however, ethnic harmony is strong, and most Franks prefer to identify as simply Franks, rather than dividing themselves by ethnicity. Approximately 20.1% of the population are of non-Frank origin, with Frankenland experiencing high levels of immigration due to its high quality of life. There are three official languages of Frankenland: Lungarian, a Lungaric language, Maldonian, and Regian, both Proto-Regian languages. Lungarian is spoken natively by 50.4% of the population, Maldonian by 26.7%, and Regian by 15.3%, while 8.3% speak other languages natively. 98.5% of the population can communicate in at least one of the official languages, while when asked about proficiency in more than one of the official languages, the percentage drops to 44.5%. Many Frank-Maldonians and Frank-Regians can also communicate in Lungarian, but few Frank-Lungarians can communicate in Maldonian or Regian.

## Politics

### Administrative divisions

*Main article: States of Frankenland*.

Frankenland is divided into twelve states. As a federal state, the states each have their own state government, including their own legislatures. Each state also has the authority to declare its own language.