Ardwall

**Ardwall** (Ardwallian: *Ardwalle*), officially the **Kingdom of Ardwall** (Ardwallian: *Krondacht of Ardwalle*), is a sovereign state located in Western Eurea, bordered by Lungary to the east, Heckerbrook to the south, east, and southeast, and Porgium to the south. Its capital and most-populous city is Amsterdert, located on the northwestern coast of the country. Ardwall has a population of about 15.6 million inhabitants.

Organized civilization first began in the territory of modern-Ardwall 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 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. After establishing independence, Ardwall participated in overseas exploration along with other Eurean nations. They colonized several plots of land in Tarfica, eventually establishing the colony of Ardwallian Tarfica. Despite having a much smaller presence in Tarfica than some other nations, Ardwall was still able to amass great wealth and prestige through their presence in Tarfica. In the 20th-century, Ardwallian Tarfica was granted independence from Ardwall as the Republic of Elinwe.

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 1836, 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 Ardwall, and heads a council of ministers tasked with drafting legislation. Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the Senate – the 75-seat upper house – and the House of Delegates – the 365-seat lower house.

Of Ardwall's population of 15.6 million, approximately 77.4% identifies as being ethnically Ardwallian. A further 10.5% identifies as other Eurean ethnic groups, while 9.4% identifies as Elinwean, and 2.7% as other non-Eurean ethnic groups. Most ethnic minorities are of immigrant origin, coming to Ardwall due to its high quality of life. The national and sole official language of Ardwall is Ardwallian, a Lungaric language. Ardwallian is spoken natively by approximately 90.6% of the population, while the remaining 9.4% speaks other languages natively. Approximately 96.3% of the population can communicate in Ardwallian, the remaining 3.7% being primarily recent immigrants. Approximately 62.4% of the population adhere to Christianity – 30.5% adhering to the Church of Ardwall, 12.2% to Eurean Catholicism, 10.5% identifying as "non-denominational Christians," and 6.2% adhering to a different Christian church. Approximately 8.5% adhere to Eurean Islam, 2.1% to other religions, and 30.0% identify as irreligious, agnostic, or atheist. Despite its amount of identified Christians, overall religiosity is very low, with only 9.5% of the population reporting weekly religious attendance.