Levonia

**Levonia** (Levonian: *Lievona*), officially the **Republic of Levonia** (Levonian: *Republika Lievona*), is a sovereign state in Northern Eurea, bordered by Lemuria to the north, Kasha to the east, Alachus to the southeast, and Zatrania to the south. Its capital and most-populous city is Velnas, located in the southeast of the country. Levonia has a population of approximately 5.1 million people.

Organized settlement in modern-day Levonia first began in the fourth century CE. The territory was later unified under the Kingdom of Levonia in the ninth century, and functioned as a relatively minor kingdom in the region for several centuries. In 1504, the Kingdom unified with the neighboring Kingdom of Zatrania to create the Zatrano-Levonian Commonwealth, going on to become one of the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful countries of 16th and 17th century Eurea. By the 18th century, the Commonwealth began to see array of struggles, resulting in its partition in 1795, with Levonia being ceded to the Kashan Empire as Kashan Levonia. As Kashan territory, the Levonians suffered from prejudice and legal discrimination, eventually leading to heightened national sentiments. Following a fascist revolution in 1905, the Empire became the Kashan Union, and Levonia was incorporated as the Kashan Fascist Republic of Levonia. While under the control of the Kashan Union, civil liberties were greatly diminished within Levonia. By the 1980s, widespread protests began to occur in Levonia against the Kashan government, inspired by the similar protests in Lemuroa. Following the recognition of Lemurian independence in 1987, the Levonian government declared its independence from the Kashan Union later that year, and their independence was soon recognized internationally.

Since its independence in 1987, Levonia has functioned as a unitary semi-presidential republic. Its head of state is the President, who wields a considerable amount of power. The President is directly elected by Levonian voters for a five-year term that can be renewed once. As Levonia has a semi-presidential system, their powers are far more wide-reaching than presidents in parliamentary systems. The President has the power to veto any passed legislation with only a two-thirds majority override, personally appoint the Prime Minister to office, preside over cabinet meetings, serve as commander-in-chief of the Levonian Armed Forces, and influence national policy decisions. In addition to these powers, the President also maintains a number of ceremonial functions, such as signing passed legislation and formally appointing cabinet ministers and ambassadors to office, while they are additionally a representation of the nation both at home and abroad. The Prime Minister is the head of government, whom is chosen by the President on the basis that they can secure a governing majority in parliament. The Prime Minister's duties include leading a cabinet of ministers, implementing national policy, and overseeing day-to-day functions of the country. When the President and Prime Minister belong to the same political party, the President wields almost all executive power, but when they belong to different parties, the President is severely weakened. The parliament of Levonia is the Mainas, a 165-seat unicameral legislature. Members of the Mainas are directly elected by Levonian voters, with one-third of seats being filled by single-member legislative districts and the remaining two-thirds being filled by at-large proportional representation.

Of its population of approximately 5.1 million, approximately 91.7% of the population identifies as ethnically Levonian. A further 7.3% identifies as ethnically Zatranian, and the remaining 1.0% identifies with other ethnic groups. The Zatranian community in Levonia primarily resides just outside of the capital city and in rural towns along the Zatranian border. The sole national and official language of Levonia is Levonian, one of only two living Urmic languages along with Lemurian. Levonian is spoken natively by approximately 93.2% of the population, while the remaining 6.8% primarily speaks Zatranian. Levonia is a relatively religious nation. Approximately 87.4% of the population adheres to Eurean Catholicism, while 4.1% adheres to other Christian churches, 2.1% adheres to the Alguva pagan faith, 0.5% adheres to other religions, and the remaining 5.9% identifies as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious. Approximately 18.1% of the Levonian population attends religious services "at least weekly," while 81.6% agree with the statement "there is a God."