Nordland

**Nordland** (Nordish: *Nordland*), officially the **Kingdom of Nordland** (Nordish: *Kongeriget Nordland*), is a sovereign state in Northern Eurea, bordered by Medland to the south, west, and east, and Ranland to the southeast. Its capital and most-populous city is Vadhelle, located on the eastern coast of the country. Nordland has a population of approximately 3.7 million people.

Organized settlement in modern-day Nordland first began in the first century CE. Referred to as the Western 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 Nordland in 855. In 1593, the Laposcandian Union was formed, a monarchial union consisting of Nordland, Medland, 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, and the Nordish monarchy was revived.

Since 1856, Nordland 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 Nordland is the 195-seat Statsting, a unicameral legislature. Members of the legislature are elected directly by Nordland voters in twenty constituencies with party lists and proportional representation.

While Nordland has a population of approximately 3.7 million, the Nordish government does not take record of the ethnic groups of its residents. Due to the high standard of living in Nordland, the nation sees significant levels of immigration from various nations throughout the world. The sole national and official language of Nordland is Nordish, a Laposcandian language, which is mutually intelligble with Medish and Sudish. Nordish is spoken natively by approxiamtely 82.5% of the population, while approximately 97.2% 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 5.8% of the population speaks Kupmi natively, almost all ethnic Kupmis. Approximately 80.1% of the population is registered with the Church of Nordland, a Christian church, while 4.9% identify with other religions, 2.1% with other Christian churches, and 12.9% identify as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious. Despite the high level of Christianity in Nordland, this is mainly a formality and a result of culture and tradition rather than religious belief; approximately 70.2% of the Nordish population agrees with the statement "there is no God."