Escaria

**Escaria** (Escarian: *Escarha*), officially the **Kingdom of Escaria** (Escarian: *Reinada da Escarha*), is a sovereign state in Southern Eurea, bordered by Spana to the north and east. Its capital and most-populous city is Heloa, located on the southern coast of the country. Escaria has a population of approximately 12.4 million people.

Organized settlement in the territory of modern-day Escaria first began in the fourth century CE. After several centuries of disorganized rule, the territory was unified as the Kingdom of Escaria in 874. Upon its formation, Escaria emerged as one of the dominant powers in the region and a global superpower. Within the ensuing centuries, Escaria was continuously in contention to be the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. Beginning in the 15th century, Escaria began westward overseas exploration, founding colonies in Espanola and Tarfica, while also annexing the Richoa Islands into the Kingdom. With their newfound overseas colonies, Escaria's wealth increased into the 16th and 17th centuries, as they began exporting a number of crops grown in their colonies abroad for substantial wealth. After losing the Azilian War of Independence (1830–1836) and the subsequent independence of Azile in 1836, Escaria lost a significant portion of its revenue, and its colonies in Tarfica later received their independence as well in the 20th century. In 1963, the monarchy was overthrown by the military under the leadership of João-Paolo Fernandes, who led Escaria under a fascist military dictatorship from 1963 until 1979. Following the death of Fernandes in 1979, the monarchy returned to power.

Since 1979, Escaria has functioned as a unitary constitutional monarchy. Its head of state is the Monarch, who maintains certain ceremonial functions while wielding little actual power. The Monarch's main duties are to sign all passed legislation, with a *de jure* veto power that is not actually used, formally appointing the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, and ambassadors to office, and serving as a representative of the nation. The Prime Minister is the head of government, and yields most *de facto* power. They are tasked with leading a council of ministers, implementing their national policy agenda, and overseeing the day-to-day functions of the country. The Prime Minister is typically the leader of the governing coalition in parliament. The parliament of Escaria is the 427-seat State Council, a unicameral legislature. Members of the legislature are elected directly by Escarian voters in eight constituencies with national party lists and proportional representation.

Of its population of 12.4 million, approximately 94.9% of the Escarian population identifies as ethnically Escarian. The remaining 5.1% of the population identifies with other ethnic groups, and there are significant communities in Escaria of immigrants from the former Escarian Tarfica colonies. The sole national and official language of Escaria is Escarian, a Pescan language. Escarian is spoken natively by approximately 98.5% of the population, while the remaining 1.5% speak other languages natively. Approximately 74.5% of the Escarian population adheres to Eurean Catholicism, while 21.3% identifies as atheist, agnostic, or irreligious, and the remaining 4.2% adheres to other religions, often Tarfican Catholicism. Despite the high levels of Catholicism, Escaria is not a particularly religious nation, with only 11.9% of the population stating that they attend religious services "at least weekly," and only 60.4% agreeing with the statement "there is a God."