Escaria

**Escaria** (Escarian: *Escaria*), officially the **Kingdom of Escaria** (Escarian: *Reinada d'Escaria*), is a sovereign state located in Western Eurea, bordered by Romain to the north, with a maritime border with Matia to the southeast. Its capital and most-populous city is Heloa, located on the southeastern coast of the country. Escaria has a population of about 24.1 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Escaria in the 5th-century, with various small city-states and kingdoms being established. In the 13th-century, the city-states were unified under the first Kingdom of Escaria. The Kingdom was under constant threat of invasion by the powerful Kingdom of Romain, its only neighbor. In the 17th-century, Romain invaded and conquered Escaria, incorporating it as a southern province and deposing of its monarchy. The Escarian royal family fled to Vasalonia, and were forced to live in self-imposed exile for three centuries. As democratization reached Romain in the late 19th-century, the province of Escaria was granted its own autonomy, allowed its own territorial parliament and to declare its own official language. Nationalist sentiments began in Escaria beginning in the 1960s, growing over the ensuing decades into a large scale movement. The government of Escaria declared its independence from Romain in 1985, although this was largely unrecognized and resulted in the arrests of numerous members of the Escarian government. These arrests led to larger protests, and a successful independence referendum in 1992. Independence was granted two years later, allowing the royal family to return to Escaria for the first time.

Since receiving its independence in 1994, Escaria has established itself as a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Its head of state is the Monarch. 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 the Luges Generales (Escarian parliament), the Prime Minister is in charge of legislation, acts as the chief international diplomat and ambassador of Escaria, and heads a council of ministers tasked with drafting legislation. The Luges Generales is a bicameral parliament, consisting of the Senate – the 112-seat upper house – and the House of Deputies – the 645-seat lower house.

Of Escaria's population of 24.1 million, approximately 85.4% identifies as being ethnically Escarian. A further 4.7% identifies as being Romanish; most Romaniards left Escaria for Romain after receiving independence in 1994, although some remain, while some anti-independence ethnic Escarians continue to self-identify as Romanish. The remaining 9.9% identifies as being of other ethnic groups, mainly those of immigrant origin or those originating from former Romanish colonies in Tarfica. The sole official and national language of Escaria is Escarian, a Proto-Regian language. Escarian is spoken natively by approximately 87.5% of the population. While it is not official, Romanish, also a Proto-Regian language, holds special status in Escaria. Romanish is spoken natively by about 10.1% of the population, primarily by those belonging to the older generation. Most Escarians have fluency in both languages, with 98.1% being able to communicate in Escarian and 93.8% being able to communicate in Romanish. Escaria has a highly Christian population, with 84.5% identifying as Christian; further, 79.5% adheres to Eurean Catholicism, while the remaining 5.0% are either nondenominational Christians or belong to a different Christian church. 3.2% of the population adheres to a different religion, while 12.3% identifies as irreligious, agnostic, or atheist. Weekly religious attendance is approximately 41.5%.