Porgium

**Porgium** (Ardwallian: *Porgië*; Maldonian: *Porgique*; Lungarian: *Porgaüm*), officially the **Kingdom of Porgium** (Ardwallian: *Krondacht of Porgië*; Maldonian: *Deyaume de Porgique*; Lungarian: *Kenger Porgaüm*), is a sovereign state located in Western Eurea, bordered by Ardwall to the northeast, Heckerbrook to the northeast, east, and south, Duchenbourg to the southeast, and Maldone to the southwest, with a maritime border with the Ditrovian Kingdom to the northwest. Its capital and most-populous city is Bletzel, located in the center of the country. Porgium has a population of about 12.6 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Porgium in the 5th-century, with various small city-states and kingdoms being established. In the 16th-century, the territory was conquered entirely by the Lungarian Empire, and first unified as part of the Duchy of Ardwall. The Duchy existed for about two centuries as a province of the Lungarian Empire. In the 18th-century, Ardwallian independence was granted peacefully, and the Duchy was disestablished in favor of the Kingdom of Ardwall, with the Duke being crowned as King. The territory of modern-Porgium existed for about fifty years as unorganized territory within the Kingdom of Ardwall. Due to the rising expense of maintaining the diversity of the nation, the Kingdom granted independence to several regions as the Kingdom of Porgium. After establishing independence, Porgium participated in overseas exploration along with other Eurean nations. They colonized several plots of land in Tarfica, eventually establishing the colony of Porgian Tarfica. Despite having a much smaller presence in Tarfica than some other nations, Porgium was still able to amass great wealth and prestige through their presence in Tarfica. In the 20th-century, Porgian Tarfica was granted independence from Porgium as the Republic of Farwanda.

As an independent state, Ardwall first existed as an absolute monarchy, with the hereditary Monarch acting as both head of state and head of government. The constitution was altered in 1856, establishing the nation as a constitutional monarchy and severely limiting the powers of the Monarch. Now, the Monarch acts solely as the ceremonial head of state, with no real powers besides those they exercise for ceremonial functions. The chief politician of the country and head of government is the Prime Minister. Typically the leader of the governing coalition in parliament, the Prime Minister is in charge of legislation, acts as the chief international diplomat and ambassador of Porgium, and heads a council of ministers tasked with drafting legislation. Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the Senate – the 55-seat upper house – and the House of Delegates – the 245-seat lower house. Porgium is a federal state, consisting of three semi-autonomous regions; each region has their own regional government which is granted a relatively large amount of autonomy from the federal government.

While its population is about 12.6 million, Porgium does not take record of the ethnicity or religiosity of its residents. However, the nation is broken up into two general ethnic groups: the Lems of Lemland and the Elloons of Ellonia. Lemland is the nation's northernmost region, where Ardwallian and Lungarian, both Lungaric languages, hold co-official status; its inhabitants make up approximately 39.5% of the population. Although both languages are co-official, Ardwallian overwhelmingly dominates the region, with only 2.5% identifying themselves as native speakers of Lungarian. Ellonia is the southernmost region, where Maldonian, a Proto-Regian language is official; its inhabitants make up 32.7% of the population. The third region is the Bletzel Capital Region, where all three languages are co-official and the remaining 27.8% of the population lives. Despite the three federal official languages holding co-official status in the Bletzel Capital Region, approximately 85.9% of the population cites their native language as Maldonian. There is some ethnic tension between the Lems and Elloons of Porgium; while Lemland has long been economically prosperous and a center of higher education, media presence, and financial prowess, Ellonia has struggled economically and suffered greatly due to the fall of their automotive industry. This has led to growing independence movements in Lemland, beginning in the 1990s. Although Porgium does not take record of its inhabitants' religious affiliations, the Church of Porgium is considered to be the nation's state religion.