Vasalonia

**Vasalonia** (Vasalonian: *Vasalunya*), officially the **Republic of Vasalonia** (Vasalonian: *República de Vasalunya*), is a sovereign state located in Southern Eurea, bordered by Maldone to the northeast and Dain to the east, southeast, south, and southwest. Its capital and most-populous city is Librüere, located in the southeast of the country. Vasalonia has a population of about 15.1 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Vasalonia in the 4th-century, with various small city-states and kingdoms being established. In the 10th-century, the Vasalonian-speaking city-states were unified under the Kingdom of Vasalonia. The Kingdom existed for about 350 years; under constant threat of invasion by the more powerful Kingdom of Dain, Vasalonia was invaded and conquered by Dain in the 14th-century. Afterwards, its monarchy was deposed of and it was incorporated as the Principality of Vasalonia. In the 20th-century, the Principality became the Vasalonian Autonomous Region of Dain following restructuring of Dain's administrative divisions. The Vasalonian independence movement began in the early 20th-century, with calls to hold an independence referendum. The regional government of Vasalonia held an unapproved independence referendum in 1980, which resulted in overwhelming support for an independent Vasalonia. Following the referendum, all regional government officials involved in the referendum were arrested and convicted on charges of treason, resulting in widespread protests and government pressure. The federal government allowed for a second referendum in 1992, which resulted in a divisive victory for the independence movement. Subsequently, all officials imprisoned for the 1980 referendum were freed, and Vasalonia received its independence the following year.

Since its independence, Vasalonia has organized itself as a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. Its head of state is the President, who is directly elected via a popular vote for a six-year term that can be renewed once. The President is a ceremonial position in Vasalonian politics with few actual powers; the President acts as an international representative of the nation, formally appoints all ministers, is the official commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and can veto legislation passed by parliament although their veto can be overridden by a three-fourths vote. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who holds all real political power. The Prime Minister is typically the leader of the governing coalition in parliament. They serve as the chief legislator of the nation, and are tasked with passing their policy agenda and leading a council of ministers. The National Assembly is the 275-seat unicameral parliament of Vasalonia.

Of Vasalonia's population of approximately 15.1 million people, about 86.9% identifies as ethnically Vasalonian, while 10.5% identifies as Danian, and the remaining 3.1% identifies as other ethnic groups. There is no real way of determining the amount of Vasalonians compared to Daniards; many ethnic Vasalonians who were opposed to independence have continued to identify as Daniards, while some ethnic Daniards have assimilated to Vasalonian culture and identify as Vasalonians. Additionally, there are communities of ethnic Daniards who continue to identify as Danian, although the majority returned to Dain after Vasalonia received its independence. The national and sole official language of Vasalonia is Vasalonian, a Proto-Regian language. Danian, another Proto-Regian language, also holds official minority language status. It is commonly understood by most Vasalonians, and is often used in the Vasalonian entertainment industry in order to appeal to the Danian market as well. Approximately 80.7% of Vasalonians speak Vasalonian natively, while 17.3% speak Danian natively; approximately 94.5% are fully bilingual in both, as proficiency in Danian is required to graduate from most secondary schools. Approximately 55.5% of the population adheres to Eurean Catholicism, while a further 6.3% identifies as belonging to another Christian church, 0.5% identifies with other religions, and 37.7% identifies as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious. Weekly religious attendance is approximately 28.7%.