Kasha

**Kasha** (Kashan: *Каша*, *Kasha*), officially the **Kashan Federation** (Kashan: *Федерация Кашавская*, *Federatsiya Kashavskaya*), is a sovereign state located in Eastern Eurea, bordered by Ranland to the southwest, Mortonia, Lemuria, and Levonia to the west, Alachus to the south and southwest, and Akraine to the south and southeast, with maritime borders with Gorgaria to the northeast and Aferia to the south. Its capital and most-populous city is Zakarina, located in the north-central of the country. Kasha has a population of about 323.6 million inhabitants, making it the most-populous nation in Eurea.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Kasha in the 13th-century, following the establishment of the Kingdom of Kasha, which united many surrounding city-states. Over time, the Kingdom began to grow in territory and power, beginning to conquer a number of surrounding nations over the ensuing centuries. Following a *coup d'état*, the Kashan Empire was established in place of the Kingdom in the 18th-century. A second *coup d'état* occurred in the 20th-century, with the Empire being overthrown by fascists and becoming the Kashan Union. Kasha was incorporated as the Kashan Federal Fascist Republic, becoming the most politically powerful and economically developed of the Kashan Republics, while the Union itself became one of the most politically powerful forces in the world. Despite its political power, individual freedoms and liberties were greatly diminished under the fascist regime, with high levels of poverty, famine, and instability. Following a weakening of the Union and increasing foreign pressure from democracies, the Union began to fall in the 1980s; Kasha declared its independence in 1990, being the final former Republic to be granted independence.

As an independent state, Kasha has established itself as a federal presidential constitutional republic, and has continued to wield immense power as one of the most powerful nations in the world. The nation is divided into four city-states, and forty-two autonomous republics, which have their own legislatures and local governments. Its head of state is the President, elected through a popular vote for a five-year term that is renewable once. The President then nominates the Prime Minister, to serve as the head of government. Unlike in some other nations, the Prime Minister does not have to be a member of parliament, and can be any Kashan citizen; they must be confirmed by a majority of both houses of parliament, due to this check, the President must nominate a Prime Minister agreed upon by the governing coalitions of both houses of parliament. The President also serves with a Vice President, who they run with during the presidential election; there are no explicit powers for the Vice President except for presiding over the Federal Council (which they rarely actually do), and instead simply serve in the absence of the President, assuming some of the President's duties in the case they are overseas or incapacitated. The legislature of Kasha is the Federal Assembly, a bicameral legislature consisting of the 150-seat upper house the Federal Council – which awards seats on a per-republic basis – and the 730-seat lower house House of Delegates – which awards seats at-large. Most power is vested in the President, as the chief international diplomat and representative of Kasha; they may approve and negotiate foreign treaties, nominate the members of the cabinet, veto laws passed by parliament, dismiss previously appointed officeholders, bestow civilian and military honors, serve as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and formally lobby the Prime Minister on policy decisions.

Of Kasha's population of 323.6 million people, approximately 80.2% of which identify as being ethnically Kashan. A further 10.1% identifies as being a member of a separate indigenous ethnic group, as Kasha is a multiethnic nation with several native ethnic groups. The remainder of the population is primarily of immigrant origin, with 3.4% identifying as Akrainian, 3.1% as Borgiz, and 1.7% as other ethnic groups, mostly coming from Kasha's former sphere of influence in Helonesia. Approximately 1.7% identifies as Lungarian; this ethnic group descends from Lungarian settlers in Kasha from the 18th-century, with the majority of them returning to Lungary by the fall of the Kashan Union in the 1980s. The national and sole official language of Kasha is Kashan, a Slavoric language. Kashan is spoken natively by about 85.8% of the population, while 94.8% of the population can communicate in it. More than twenty other languages have special status in Kasha, with most of these languages belonging to indigenous groups. Approximately 12.6% of the population speaks one of these languages natively, while the remaining 1.6% speaks a language with no recognized status natively. Approximately 55.4% of the population adheres to Eastern Eurean Christianity, while 5.5% adheres to other Christian churches, 12.9% to Eurean Islam, 1.6% to other religions, and 24.6% identifies as irreligious, agnostic, or atheist. Weekly religious attendance is low across all religions, numbering only 15.9%, although slightly higher amongst Muslims at 27.4%.