Medland

**Medland** (Medish: *Medge*), officially the **Kingdom of Medland** (Median: *Kongeriget Medge*), is a sovereign state in Northern Eurea, bordered by Nordland to the north, east, and west, and Ranland to the east. Its capital and most-populous city is Hersingborg, located on the southwestern coast of the country. Medland has a population of approximately 10.0 million people.

Organized settlement in modern-day Medland first began in the first century CE. Referred to as the Eastern Laps, even before the unification of the territory, the people of the region were incredibly successful international explorers, visiting various territories across the world and creating settlements. The territory was later unified as the Kingdom of Medland in 942. Upon its formation, Medland emerged as a regional power in Northern Europe, conquering neighboring nations such as Ranland, Estland, and Lemuria. In 1593, the Laposcandian Union was formed, a monarchial union consisting of Medland, Nordland, and Sudmark, under the leadership of the Medish monarchy. The Union proved to be the dominant regional power in Northern Eurea, and one of the wealthiest nations on the continent. Amidst growing nationalist sentiment in Nordland and Sudmark, the Union was deestablished in 1703. Medland later began its territorial expansion again in the 19th century, incorporating Estland, Ranland, and the Velkanian Isles into its monarchy as constituent nations; the three nations later received their independence by the early-20th century.

Since 1864, Medland has functioned as a unitary constitutional monarchy. Its head of state is the Monarch, who maintains certain ceremonial functions while wielding little actual power. The Monarch's main duties are to sign all passed legislation, without a veto power, formally appointing the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, and ambassadors to office, and serving as a representative of the nation. The Prime Minister is the head of government, and yields most *de facto* power. They are tasked with leading a council of ministers, implementing their national policy agenda, and overseeing the day-to-day functions of the country. The Prime Minister is typically the leader of the governing coalition in parliament. The parliament of Medland is the 235-seat Statsting, a unicameral legislature. Members of the legislature are elected directly by Medland voters in twelve constituencies with party lists and proportional representation.

Although the Medish government does not take detailed records of its residents' ethnic groups, of its population of 10.0 million, approximately 76.3% are categorized as Medish, while the remaining 23.7% are categroized as belonging to other ethnic groups. The government defines those as Medish if they have at least one grandparent born in Medland. Due to the high standard of living in Medland, the nation sees significant levels of immigration from various nations throughout the world. The sole national and official language of Medland is Medish, a Laposcandian language, which is mutually intelligble with Nordish and Sudish. Medish is spoken natively by approxiamtely 73.9% of the population, while approximately 93.6% can communicate in it. Kupmi, a Bilatic language, holds official minority language status. Kupmi is spoken by the Kupmi people, an indigenous ethnic group native to northern Laposcandia. Approximately 3.1% of the population speaks Kupmi natively, almost all ethnic Kupmis. Approximately 70.2% of the population is registered with the Church of Medland, a Christian church, while 5.6% identify with other religions, 3.9% with other Christian churches, and 20.3% identify as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious. Despite the high level of Christianity in Medland, this is mainly a formality and a result of culture and tradition rather than religious belief; approximately 72.5% of the Medish population agrees with the statement "there is no God."