Regança

Flag of the Union of the Archduchy of Regança & the Grand Principality of Kovalje.

### Government

Parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy

### Area

Southern shore of Western Central Linarus

### Creator

Nyxana

The **Union of the Archduchy of Regança & the Grand Principality of Kovalje** (Portuguese: *União do Arquiducado de Regança e do Grão-Principado de Kovalje*, Serbo-Croatian: *Unija Nadvojvodstva Regança i Velike Kneževine Kovalje*), commonly known as **Regança-Kovalje**, **Regança**, or simply **RK**. is a country on the southern shores of Linarus.

It was formed by the union of the duchies of Regança & Kovalje in 1845, although they had been effectively unified by personal union since 1792. It borders the United Republics to the north, and Bianiato to the northwest, is bounded by the sea to the west and southwest, and has a maritime border with Arnoru. Portuguese and Serbo-Croatian are the joint official languages of the United Duchies, as per the terms of the 1845 Union of Santacer-Tovor.

Its capital city, Guimarim, is also its most populous at 2,633,000 inhabitants; many of the administrative offices of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Regançan government are based there. The primary residence of the ruling family, the historic Duke Henrique II Palace (Portuguese: *Palácio do Duque Henrique II*), also known as Macedora Palace, is also located within Guimarim.

Another 3 of the 5 largest cities in the Union are located in Regança (Trofeira, Pelhada & Elvatejo), and Kovalje is significantly more mountainous than Regança. This has resulted in Regança being comparatively wealthier and better developed than Kovalje on average, although the tourist trade does bring a considerable amount of wealth to the coastal regions of Kovalje. Regança remains in possession of several overseas territories such as the Fernando Barbosa Islands and the Antres Islands and used to control Equatorial Teraocce, Osameira, and the Razaret Archipelago.

## History

### Early Modern Regança (1500 CE - 1770 CE)

In 1746 an earthquake estimated at magnitude 7.9 levelled much of Guimarim and the surrounding area, with an estimated 25,000 people killed. Afterwards, the remains of the city was comprehensively demolished and rebuilt anew, leading to a highly distinctive architectural style as a result. The old ducal palace was also destroyed, with Duke Henrique II Palace in nearby Macedora village (now part of the Guimarim Municipal Area) being built to replace it, with its construction finishing on 25th December 1751.

### Modern Regança (1940 CE - present)

In 1971, Regança formally ceded the exclave of [name] to [country], after the nuclear exchange at the end of the [WAR NAME] resulted in a mass evacuation of its population due to the region's prevailing winds contaminating it with nuclear fallout, leaving it practically abandoned and considered uninhabitable by the Regançan government. This marked the beginning of the end of Regança's remaining colonial empire, with a powerful independence movement leading a guerrilla war in Equatorial Teraocce, Regança's last major colony. By 1974, faced with an unwinnable war, and under growing public and international pressure to pull out of Equatorial Teraocce, Regança finally granted independence to its last remaining colony, marking the final death of Regança's colonial empire.

The Duke at the time, Henrique VII, used the humiliating loss of Regança's colonies and spurious rumours of a communist plot to take over the country as pretext to stage an absolutist coup in June 1982, seizing power from the Grand Council, and instituting an absolute monarchy. What little international condemnation was offered soon abated, as leaked documents revealed the instigators of the [nuke thing] only a few weeks after. Regança's official reaction was to immediately sever diplomatic relations with [country at fault], as well as declaring an immediate and total trade embargo which has lasted to the present day. They also demanded massive reparations from [country] to be paid to the Regançan victims of the disaster, or their families. However, these reparations are still yet to be paid, as of 2022.

In 1989, the volcanic eruption that led to the formation of the Nexum Republic caused significant air-travel disruption, and the skies over Regança famously turned red for over a week. The economic damage from the lost tourism due to this air-travel disruption forced several major state bailouts of struggling Regançan and Kovaljic companies, and led to a minor recession in the early '90s as a result.

Political pressure in the late 2000s led to the adoption of the 2008 Constitution which conceded some monarchial powers to the Grand Council, but left the monarchy still the strongest of Regança-Kovalje's branches of government.

In November 2021 the country was renamed "the Union of the Archduchy of Regança & the Grand Principality of Kovalje", with the reigning monarch taking the titles of Archduke of Regança and Grand Prince of Kovalje. This decision was taken following a 14 day long plebiscite, which resulted in a 87.1% majority for "Yes", albeit with only 62.8% overall voter turnout.

## Geography

Regança consists of relatively flat coastal plains, smoothly transitioning into the mountainous karst terrain of southern coastal Linarus further inland. Kovalje is almost entirely mountainous karst aside from its north-westernmost corner, which is situated on a high plateau. The large proportion of karst terrain has led metropolitan Regança-Kovalje to be one of the countries with the greatest proportional risk of sinkhole formation.

Off the coasts of both Regança and Kovalje are large numbers of small islands, separated by narrow but deep channels. It is estimated that there are around 50 islands, and at 200 islets, if not more. The tallest point in metropolitan Regança-Kovalje, at 1,879 metres above sea level, is the peak of Lirija which is situated to the north of Jagodin in Kovalje. Lirija gives its name to the Lirijic Alps; a mountain range extending across the northern borders of Kovalje and Regança from the area just west of Sidora in Regança, then across to the area northeast of Otonik in Kovalje, before its path takes it out of Regança-Kovalje's borders at either end.

The overseas territories of Regança are highly varied in geography and climate, with the tropical Fernando Barbosa and Antres Islands, the subtropical Ancoras Islands, and the rather flatter and far more prosaic dependency of [place]. Overall, however, they make up a not insignificant percentage of Regança-Kovalje's land, but are sparsely populated compared to Regança-Kovalje-proper, mustering barely over 750,000 inhabitants in total.

## Government & Politics

The United Duchies are a parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy, with the current Duke, *Duke* *Carlos IV (Carlos* *João de Andrade Caetano)*, legally able to exercise considerable authority over the legislative body of the Grand Council of the Union, and the High Court of Regança & Kovalje. Ducal control is far from absolute, however, with considerable opposition from a clandestine alliance of opposition politicians, business interests, and anti-monarchist judges, who spearhead the call for either a new constitution to be drafted, or for the formation of a republic.

This has led to a secretive and almost entirely non-violent power struggle within the country, with different sides vying for influence and public support. In practical terms, this has made key players such as the Duke and leading republican activists cautious and unwilling to commit to risky decisions for fear of them backfiring. As power struggles go, Regança's is, in effect, a phoney war.

## Demographics

Around 62% of the United Duchies' 15,354,000-strong population live in the duchy of Regança, approximately 92.5% of whom are of Portuguese ethnicity. Another 33% live in the duchy of Kovalje, where they're split close to 50/50 between Serbian and Croatian. Outside of these 3 main groups, the largest minorities are of Galician, Hispanic, and Greek descent, focused in the south & west of Regança; while the Galician and Hispanic minorities have been present since Regança's formation, the Greek minority's roots mostly lie in immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The remaining 5% make up the population of Regança's overseas provinces, the majority of whom are Portuguese in heritage, although a number of other ethnicities are present.

### Languages

Portuguese and Serbo-Croatian are the joint official languages of the United Duchies, and are spoken by most of the population, aside from small Greek and Spanish-speaking communities in southern and western Regança. In the most recent census 62.4% of the Regançan population spoke Portuguese as their primary language, followed by Serbo-Croatian at 31.5%, with Galician, Spanish, and Greek recorded at 2.5%, 1.7%, and 0.3% respectively.