Lorbia

**Lorbia** (Lorbian: *Лрбја*, *Lrbja*), officially the **Republic of Lorbia** (Lorbian: *Республика с Лрбје*, *Respublika s Lrbje*), is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Eurea, bordered by Slaveria to the northeast, Notosha and Asbania to the east, Gornia to the east, southeast, and south, Vitrospebia to the north, west, southwest, and south, and Horvatia to the west and southwest. Its capital and most-populous city is Senovo, located in the center of the country. Lorbia has a population of about 10.3 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Lorbia in the 5th-century, with the establishment of numerous small city-states. By the 10th-century, these city-states had unified, resulting in the Kingdom of Lorbia. The Kingdom functioned as one of the most dominant states in Southeastern Eurea, dominating nearby states such as the Kingdom of Vitrospebia and the Kingdom of Gornia. In the 19th-century, the Kingdom unified with the neighboring Kingdom of Horvatia, following the marriage of their respective monarchs, resulting in the unified Kingdom of Alaslavia. The Kingdom of Alaslavia became one of the most politically powerful states in the region, conquering the neighboring Snubian Protectorate from the Lungarian Empire in 1867. In the 20th-century, a *coup d'état* occurred, deposing of the monarchy and imposing a fascist regime in a similar vein to the Kashan Union, referred to as the Federal Republic of Alaslavia (FR Alaslavia). Civil liberties and freedoms were greatly diminished in the era of FR Alaslavia, although not to the extreme extent that they were in the Kashan Union. FR Alaslavia disbanded in the 1990s, amidst mounting international pressure following the disbandment of the Kashan Union several years prior, and the state broke up into several independent nations, with Lorbia receiving their independence in 1994. Following the independence of Lorbia, far-right Lorbian nationalists were elected to power; desiring an expansion of Lorbian territory and influence, they ordered for the invasions of Gornia and Notosha, resulting in the Gornian War (1994–1998) and Notosha War (1994–2000). In the wars, Lorbia committed war crimes and mass atrocities against the Asbanian and Gorniak ethnic groups. After international intervention, the Gornian War ended in 1998, and the Notosha War ended two years afterwards, while the Lorbian nationalist leaders were tried and convicted for war crimes.

Following the the breakup of FR Alaslavia in 1994, Lorbia established itself as a unitary presidential constitutional republic. The head of state was the President, who wielded immense powers. In 1998, amidst international pressure and intervention following the mass atrocities committed by Lorbian leadership, the constitution was rewritten and the nation was established as a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. The President remains its head of state, but its powers have been immensely reduced. The President is elected indirectly by parliament for a four-year term that can be renewed once; they act largely as a ceremonial figurehead, serving as a unifying figure for the country and the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the military. The President is tasked with formally appointing ministers, and may veto bills that believe are unconstitutional, although their veto may be overridden by a simple majority vote in parliament. Most political power is invested in the head of government, the Prime Minister, who is nominated by parliament and appointed by the President. Unlike in some other parliamentary systems, the Prime Minister is constitutionally required to be unaffiliated with a political party, although they are nominated by a coalition of parties. Effectively, the coalition will nominate an individual who supports their political platform but is not formally registered with any party. This also means that the Prime Minister is almost always not a member of parliament. Party leaders are then often nominated by the Prime Minister to serve in senior ministerial roles. The Škupišti nacionala is the 265-seat unicameral legislature of Lorbia.

Of Lorbia's population of about 10.3 million inhabitants, approximately 85.7% identifies as ethnically Lorbian, while a further 3.4% identifies as Magorian, 2.7% as Dorshan, 1.4% as Vitrospebian, and the remaining 6.8% as other ethnic groups. The national and sole official language of Lorbia is Lorbian, a Slavoric language. Lorbian is nearly identical to the Gornian, Horvatian, and Vitrospebian languages, to the point where most linguistics identify them all as closely related dialects of a shared Alaslavian language. All four languages are mutually intelligible, with only minor differences, and the languages were broken apart primarily for political reasons. Approximately 92.4% of the population identifies their native language as one of those four, while the remaining 7.6% primarily speaks either Asbanian, Dorshan, Magorian language, Snubian, or Travenian natively. The primary religion of Lorbia is Eastern Eurean Christianity, with 89.3% of the population identifying themselves as adherents of the religion. A further 2.3% adheres to Eurean Catholicism, 2.0% to Dorshan Shamanism, 1.9% to Eurean Islam, 0.9% to other religions, and the remaining 3.6% identifies as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious. Despite the high percentage of Christians, overall religiosity is relatively low, with only 25.8% of Lorbians attending religious services at least weekly.