Ethania

Ethania or officially the Republic of Ethania is a mixed presidential-parliamentary republic in Europe. Ethania is known for its vast carrot production and for its peace. Despite its flag, Ethania is not a socialist state. Throughout the years, Ethania has been through tough times with their borders, ultimately closing them again and again, along with tension between Poland. The official languages are Ethanian, Russian and English. The major ethnic group are the Ethanians.

Etymology
There are many theories on why this name is called "Ethania". Many suggest it comes from the V'rana "аэтанъ", which means "broad" or "wide". Others believe it comes from the Greek "aithein" which means "burn" or "shine", because ancient Slavic descriptions account that the Ancient Ethanians wore shiny jewels around their necks. People also say it derives from the Hebrew "אֵיתָן" (eithan) which means "strong", "firm", "solid", and "enduring". Others believe that it derived from the name of the ancient Ethanian Jew, Ethan Smirnov, who went on a quest to make the Kingdom of Ethania and defeated the Lapislandic invaders.

Demographics
The demographics for Ethania are below:

Population
The current population is 16,000,000, in which most have wondered how 16 million people could fit into a tiny country like Ethania. The lowest recorded population of the country was 4 million, in 1991, prior to its independence. The highest population was 17 million, in 2008, the other 1 million people have either migrated to different countries, or have passed due to the Ethanian War of 2008.

Largest Cities

 * Palana (Ethanian: Паланӑ)
 * Fedorov (Ѳёдоров)
 * Smirnov's Kingdom (Кӑролевство Смирнова)
 * Archangelsk (Архангельск)
 * Vladimir (Владимир)

Ethnic groups

 * Ethanians 72%
 * V’rana 10%
 * Lithuanians 4%
 * Lapislandic 4%
 * Sakhabs 3%
 * Russians 3%
 * Romani 2%
 * Poles 1%
 * Others 1%

Languages
The official languages of Ethania are Ethanian, Russian, and English. Ethanian is an East Slavic language used with a Cyrillic alphabet. Regional languages include V'rana, Lithuanian, Lapislandic, Sakhab, and Romani.

Ethanian language
Ethanian, a Slavic language, is the primary language of Ethanians and is spoken by virtually every Ethanian. According to the Ethanian Constitution, Article 11, Section 2, it states that, "The sole national language of Ethania is Ethanian, written in its Cyrillic alphabet." Ethanian is the only language with national status. Section 3 of the same article states "Ethanian is to be used as the national and one of the official languages and the language of the media, court, and government." Government meetings are always held in Ethanian.

Russian language
Russian, a Slavic language, is considered to be the main lingua franca of Ethania. Russian plays a huge role in Ethania due to the country being annexed by Russian states for centuries and many Ethanians being able to speak the language. Russian is a lingua franca according to the Constitution, along with being an official language. 99.9% of the population of Palana is able to speak Russian fluently. In fact, there is an urban phenomenon with some ethnic Ethanians only being able to speak Russian, but these Ethanians are hard to find, along with them only being in urban areas. Russian has been nicknamed by the Ethanians as a "street language" (Russian: уличный язык).

English language
English, a Germanic language, is another official language of Ethania. It is also a lingua franca according to the Constitution. English is spoken by only ~30% of the population. English is official due to the previous British presence in Ethania. The government is considering removing English as an official language due to people preferring to speak Ethanian and Russian.

Christianity
Christianity is the primary religion of Ethania, taking 93% of religion demographics. The most common sect of Christianity is the Ethanian Orthodox Church (88%), with minorities of Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and other forms of Christanity. A survey done in Palana shows that 85% of the Ethanians interviewed believe that there is a God. An additional 82% believe that the Bible is true.

Islam
Islam is mainly predominant in the Sakhab Republic, though there are Muslim minorities living in other federal subjects as well. Western Ethania was ruled by Muslims for almost 3 centuries so Islam is prevalent there. A total of 4% are Muslim according to the 2016 Census. Sakhabs are a predominantly Muslim Turkic ethnic group, making most of Muslim population, though there is a minority of ethnic Ethanian Muslims and some V'rana Muslims as well.

Judaism
Judaism is the predominant religion is the lesser-populated Cardiffska Oblast, with Judaism taking 40% of the population there. Jews immigrated from Spain to escape persecution, and many Jews fled to the area which makes up the modern Cardiffska Oblast. Some Jews came to Ethania as well during WWII. However, the Jewish population has shrunk due to immigration to Israel.

Folk religion
Folk religion in Ethania takes a very small portion of the population, with the majority being Öörtaists (V'rana folk religion). There is a small minority of Slavic pagans and other folk religious minoriites.

Education
The education is well in Ethania, there is a mandatory law that every resident shall attend school. Ethanians actually have one of the highest IQs, 103 on average, making them the smartest in Europe.

Health
Heath is good overall.

Kingdom of Ethania (725-882)
When Slavic tribes merged in 725, a monarchy called the Kingdom of Ethania formed. The first king, King Ethan I, was Jewish, and converted a lot of the population to Judaism. The two official religions were Orthodoxy and Judaism. The royal Smirnov family ruled the kingdom until another royal family, known as the Sokolov family, assassinated the predominantly Jewish family and made Christianity the sole official religion.

The Empire of Prussia
Ethan’s was partially recognized when the Empire of Prussia captured and annexed it. Most people left Ethania, known as Kaliningrad at that time, due to socialism. For a brief amount of time, Ethania was under control of the Empire of Prussia, and made the religion atheist, which made more people leave. It is now independent as Russia helped Ethania in the civil-war. Most people think that the socialism ideology inspired the new leaders to make the state Communist.

Federal subjects
Ethania is divided into 21 federal subjects (24 if you include the overseas departments), with 17 oblasts, 3 republics, 1 autonomous oblast, and 3 overseas departments. Oblasts are directly controlled by the Ethanian government. However, autonomous oblasts (though there is only one) have some autonomy such as having their own official languages, but they are still controlled directly by the government. Republics, on the other hand, have freedom from the Ethanian government somewhat and can even establish their own laws if they want to, but must still comply by government orders.

Regions
There are 4 regions of Ethania: Pregolya Region, Vistula Region, Lava Region, and Instrutsch Region. Each region is named after the body of water they are near. All Ethanian citizens are required to pay federal and regional taxes.

Human rights
Human rights in Ethania are guaranteed by the country's constitution. However, some allegations have been made by the Human Rights Watch and the United States Department of State that these rights are sometimes breached. Ethania scores a 3/7 in its freedom rating according to the Freedom House.

Rights of minorities
Both ethnic and religious minorities are protected under the Ethanian Constitution. However, there has been recent issues with minority rights since Tamara Yablokova was elected in 2013.

The Romani and Sakhab minorities are faced with discrimination by the general public and by police. Romani and Sakhab schools in Palana have been closed permanently by some government officials, and the brutality of Romani and Sakhabs by the police have occurred on several occasions. In fact, the European Roma Rights Centre has condemned Ethania for its treatment of Romani subjects. Ethanian school officials have also placed Romani and Sakhab children in "special education" classes.

Rights of women
Women are paid as equally as men and have the same basic rights as a male Ethanian.

Freedom of religion
The freedom of religion is guaranteed in Ethania's constitution with the "right to freely express and proclaim any religion or political idea (via the Ethanian Constitution)." Ethania is overwhelming Christian, and the Ethanian Orthodox Church is almost a monopoly in Ethania, which can be difficult for other religious minorities. In the past with Mohammed Vasiliev's presidency, he ensured Muslims "more rights than they ever had", implying that Muslims never had rights, which was never the case, however.

LGBT rights
LGBT laws are strict in Ethania. Though LGBT tourists are welcome as long as they don't disrespect the law or express their identity, they have experienced some discrimination by Ethanians. Anyone who proclaims to be LGBT can face trial and punishment. The current president of Ethania, Tamara Yablokova has stated in a speech, "The reason why we have banned anything to do with LGBT is because Ethania believes such actions shouldn't be tolerated and can be potentially harmful to our future generations. To back up my point, in all three major Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, homosexuality is considered wrong."

Currency
The official currencies of Ethania are the Ethanian ruble and the Sakhab lira. The widespread currency which is used all over Ethania is the Ethanian ruble. ₽32.15 is equivalent to $1.00. The Palana Mint is in charge of making the notes and coins. The currency was adopted in 1992, which was used shortly after Ethania's independence.

In 2005, during the rise of Sakhab independence movements, protesters demanded that the Sakhab Republic had their own currency, much like Transnistria has its own currency separate of Moldova's. After much protesting, the Ethanian government decided to accept their idea. The Sakhab lira, named after the Turkish lira, was made co-official in the Sakhab Republic in 2006. The Sakhab lira is pinged to the Turkish lira. The problem is, the Ethanian government made it to where the Sakhab lira can only be used in the Sakhab Republic. The Ethanian ruble must be used everywhere else.

Diplomatic relations
Ethania has formal diplomatic relations with 180 countries and informal relations with 3 countries. Ethania does not recognize Kosovo and Western Sahara. Ethania has informal relations with Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria. Ethania's greatest allies are Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Iran, China (PRC), and the Greenlandic Empire, who are deemed "strategic allies of Ethania". [[File:Diplomatic missions of Ethania.png|thumb|274x274px| Dark blue = Formal relations

Light blue = Informal relations

Grey = No relations/unrecognized ]]

Ethanian-Polish conflict
An ongoing conflict with Poland has been one of the key events of Ethanian history for years. The dispute is about a strip of land which both countries claim to be a "historical piece of land" of theirs. The region, known as Bartoszyce County (which is internationally recognized as Poland), has been in dispute for a while. Ethania considers Bartoszyce to be a part of the Samara and Vladimir Oblasts. Russian support for Ethania has feared Polish officials, as they are afraid to lose a piece of their land.