Hartland

**Hartland** (Hart: *Hærschland*), officially the **Kingdom of Hartland** (Hart: *Kongurigjet Hærschland*), is a sovereign state in Northern Eurea, bordered by Forsland to the north and west, Helvaria to the northeast, Dartwall east and southeast, and Fargonia to the south; the nation also has a maritime border with the Velkanian Isles to the northwest. Its capital and most-populous city is Kuvo, located on the southwestern coast of the country.

The territory of Hartland has been unified under the Kingdom of Hartland since the 13th-century, continuing its sovereignty as a nation for over eight centuries. Unlike its neighbor Forsland, Hartland has largely shied away from quests of imperialism and global conquering. Instead, internal struggles have marked the history of Hartland. Beginning in the 19th-century, republicanism in East Hartland began creating civil unrest and mass demonstrations. With the creation of the East Hartland Liberation Army (EHLA) in 1880, a civil war almost erupted due to acts of terrorism and violence at the hands of the EHLA. In 1898, a referendum passed granting East Hartland independence, and they established themselves as a semi-presidential republic the following year. Following poor leadership and economic crises, East Hartland voted to rejoin Hartland in a 1966 referendum, being officially reimplemented into the country the following year.

Following the unification of Hartland in the 13th-century, the nation established itself as an absolute hereditary monarchy. This continued for centuries until becoming a constitutional monarchy in 1723. Since then, the nation has continued as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Its head of state is the Monarch, who serves as a ceremonial figurehead. The Monarch holds no actual power in Hart politics, and is meant to serve as a symbol of unity for the Hart people; the Monarch's small amount of powers include formally signing bills, hosting foreign dignitaries to Hartland, and serving as commander-in-chief of the military; while the Monarch can veto legislation, this is not actually practiced. Hartland employed a system of male-preference primogeniture for several years, allowing women to inherit the throne only if they had no eligible brothers, until adopting absolute primogeniture in 1956, allowing the eldest child to inherit the throne regardless of gender. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who holds the most political power. They are typically the leader of the governing coalition in the Grøtling, and thus can form their own cabinet of ministers. The national legislature of Hartland is the Grøtling, a unicameral body. The Grøtling consists of 245 seats, with its members being elected via proportional representation from each of Hartland's counties; the legislature is led by the Speaker, who presides over debate and does not vote; the Speaker must be non-partisan during their tenure.

Hartland is a highly urbanized and well-developed nation. Of its population of 8.7 million, about 74.6% reside in urban areas. A unitary state, the nation is divided into five regions and fifteen counties. Each region is led by a Governor, whom is appointed by the Prime Minister, while the counties are led by a county executive board who is popularly elected. The regions and counties do not hold much power, and largely function to coordinate efforts and dialogue between the subdivisions and the central government. As Hartland does not include questions regarding ethnicity on their census, the ethnic composition of Hartland is unknown. However, it is estimated that about 25.2% of the country are of foreign origin; this means that they were either born abroad, born in Hartland to at least one parent born abroad, or born in Hartland to at least two grandparents born abroad; ethnic Harts born abroad are not included. Most people of foreign origin in Hartland come from the former Kashan Union or Tarsha. The sole national and official language of Hartland is Hart, a Laposcandian language that is mutually intelligible with the Forsish language. Hart is spoken natively by about 84.6% of the population, while it can be spoken fluently by about 97.9%; the Hart government offers free Hart language courses for people of foreign origin learning the language. While the Hart constitution allows for the freedom of religion, most Harts adhere to the Church of Hartland, an off-shoot of Northern Eurean Christianity, agnosticism, or atheism. Despite the Church of Hartland appearing to be relatively popular, most Hart people do not believe in Christian teachings, and are simply automatically enrolled in the church upon their baptisms, which is traditional for all Harts. According to a 2017 survey, only 19.5% of Harts stated that they personally identified as a Christian.

Hartland has established itself as one of the most developed and progressive nations in not only Eurea, but also the world. It ranks favorably in areas such as education, press freedom, livability, and safety, and experiences high levels of human development, and low levels of political corruption. It has been ranked as the "World's Best Country" in 2013, 2018, and 2019.

## Politics

### Administrative divisions

*Main article: Administrative divisions of Hartland.*

Hartland has two major subdivisions: regions and counties. As a unitary state, the subdivisions do not hold much individual power and are vastly inferior to the federal government.

#### Regions

*Main article: Regions of Hartland.*

The larger major subdivision of Hartland are its regions. Hartland is divided into five regions. As a unitary state, the regions have very little administrative powers, and exist mostly for statistical purposes. They are based off of geographical position and dialect.

#### Counties

*Main article: Counties of Hartland.*

The smaller major subdivision of Hartland are its counties. Hartland is divided into fifteen counties. As a unitary state, the counties have very little administrative powers, and exist mostly for statistical purposes.