Austlungard

**Austlungard** (Austlungardian Lungarian: *Oesterluengard*, "West Lungary"), officially the **Republic of Austlungard** (Austlungardian Lungarian: *Republik Oesterluengard*), is a sovereign state located in Central Eurea, bordered by Lungary to the northeast, Frankenland to the east, Slaveria to the south, Draconia to the southwest, and Vasalonia to the northwest. Its capital and most-populous city is Dien, located in the northeast of the country. Austlungard has a population of about 22.8 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Austlungard in the 4th-century, with various small city-states and kingdoms being established. In the 18th-century, Austlungard was included in the unification of Lungary, being incorporated as a southwestern province of the Lungarian Empire known as West Lungary. In the ensuing centuries, the Empire struggled with maintaining control over West Lungary. West Lungarians harbored strong republican sentiments, and grew to despise the Emperor. In 1899, the Austro-Lungarian War broke out, resulting in an Austlungardian win five years later, and the establishment of the Republic of Austlungard. Austlungardian independence was also the catalyst for bringing down the Lungarian Empire and establishing the Federal Kingdom of Lungary.

After gaining its independence, Austlungard established itself as a federal parliamentary constitutional republic, consisting of six states that each have their own local governments and a degree of autonomy. The head of state is the President, whom is elected via a popular vote for a five-year term that can be renewed once. The President is largely a ceremonial figurehead in Austlungardian politics, with very few actual powers. They can formally appoint ministers, ratify treaties, veto bills (although their veto can be overridden by a simple majority in parliament), and act as the supreme representative of Austlungard abroad and at home. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who wields the most political power in the country. The Prime Minister is typically the leader of the governing coalition in parliament, although the constitution does not require the Prime Minister to be a member of parliament. The Prime Minister is tasked with drafting legislation and leading a council of ministers. The parliament of Austlungard is called the Pfleschesting. It is a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses – the 30-seat upper house the Federal Council, where seats are apportioned to each state equally, and the 345-seat lower house the National Council, where seats are apportioned at-large.

Of Austlungard's population of 22.8 million, approximately 84.5% identifies as being ethnically Austlungardian. While many argue that Austlungardians are not a separate ethnic group from Lungarians, the government of Austlungard views them as a distinctly separate ethnic group. A further 9.4% of the population identifies as other Eurean ethnic groups, while 4.2% come from various Tarfican ethnic groups, and 1.9% identify as other ethnic groups, primarily immigrants from Helonesia. Most ethnic minorities in Austlungard are of immigrant origin, due to the high quality of life in Austlungard. The national and sole official language of Austlungard is Lungarian, a Lungaric language; the specific dialect of Lungarian is known as Austlungardian Lungarian, which is distinct from the dialects spoken in other Lungarian-speaking nations, but mutually intelligible. Lungarian is spoken natively by 89.4% of the population, while 96.2% of the population can communicate in it. Approximately 71.5% of the population adhere to Christianity – 44.2% adhering to Eurean Catholicism, 18.5% adhering to the Church of Lungary, 5.4% identifying as "non-denominational Christians," and 3.4% adhering to a different Christian church. Approximately 4.3% adhere to Eurean Islam, 1.6% to other religions, and 22.6% identify as irreligious, agnostic, or atheist. Despite its amount of identified Christians, overall religiosity is very low, with only 15.7% of the population reporting weekly religious attendance.