Etruria

Etruria, officially the United Transetrurian Federation or UTF (Italian: Federazione unita transetruriana; Croatian: Sjedinjene Prekoetruriske Federacija; Slovenian: Združene Čezetruriska Federacija) is a sovereign parliamentary federal republic, made up of three constituent republics: Vespasia, Novalia and Carinthia and six autonomous federal regions; Aeolia, Carvagna, Torrazza, Ossuccio, Istria and Ragazia. Etruria also consists of two overseas governates; Sutorina and Cattaro. Etruria is located in southern Arterma. Its is bordered (clockwise) by Temuair to the west; Tiperyn to the north; Sardenya to the east; and the xxx sea to the south. Etruria is home to 118.5 million people, its federal capital and largest city is Poveglia in Vespasia.

Since classical times, ancient X, X, and X established settlements along the coastal areas of Etruria, with Etrurians and X inhabiting the centre and north of Etruria (primarily Vespasia and Carinthia) respectively and various different ancient Vespasic peoples and tribes dispersed throughout the Vespasian coast and interior. The Eturian tribe known as the Alerians formed the Poveglian Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. Poveglia ultimately emerged as the dominant power in modern day Etruria and eventually the "XRegion" of "Xcontinent", becoming a leading cultural, political, and religious centre of Artemian civilisation.

During the Middle Ages, Etruria suffered sociopolitical collapse amid calamitous barbarian invasions, but by the 11th century, numerous rival city-states and maritime republics rose in Vespasia to great prosperity through shipping, commerce, and banking, laying down the groundwork for modern capitalism, however the areas of modern Novalja and Carinthia continued to decline. These independent statelets often enjoyed a greater degree of democracy and wealth in comparison to the larger feudal monarchies that were consolidating throughout XXXX at the time. However by the 13th century, the Ecclesiastical States began to expand, conquering many of the statelets, uniting modern day Vespasia by the early 14th century.

The Renaissance reached Vespasia after spreading from XXX, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration and art. Vespasian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as "Great people". However the influence and commercial power of the Ecclesiastical States began to wane in wake of the age of discovery and new trade routes emerging, sapping the Church of income.

By the mid-19th century, a rising movement in support of pro-monarchist and anti-papist ideas, leading to the Year of Ignorance in 1856 which resulted in the Papacy being removed from power and the creation of the Kingdom of Vespasia under the House of Verazza. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the new Kingdom of Vespasia rapidly industrialised, although mainly in the south and center, and acquired a colonial empire, while the north remained largely impoverished and excluded from industrialisation, leading to a resurgence in support for the Papacy. As it grew, the kingdom expanded, annexing the nascent Republic of Carinthia in a bloodless invasion in 1889 and then Novalja in 1910 following the death of King Petar II. However by the late 1910s, economic stagnation, rising political unrest in the north and agitation by socialists undermined the monarchy, culminating the massacre of the royal family at Casa della Luna Blu. Seizing on the chaos, ultranationalists with the support of army generals and thousands of peasants and workers, captured Poveglia and proclaimed a "democratic union". A new constitution was produced, with the country federalised, granting greater autonomy to Vespasia, Novalia and Carinthia, as well as recognising the autonomy of several former statelets within Vespasia.

Throughout the 20th century, the new federation focused on industrialising and modernising its most backward areas, becoming a major developed country by the 1990s, though not without political turmoil (the Insanguinato Estate, San Paolo Incident and the Vespucci Scandal). The 1980s saw a surge in Novalian and Carinthian nationalism, leading the 1986 Crisis, but this was overcome and the federation was re-affirmed. The 21st century saw a greater shift in society towards more conservative positions and a prominent rise in right-wing nationalist and right-wing populist politics, leading to the landslide victory of the Etrurian Way party in the 2016 general election, which brings a nationalist-populist ideology into government.

Today, Etruria has the XX economy in XXXXXX and the XX largest in the world. It has a very high level of human development and is ranked XXX in the world for life expectancy.

Etymology
The assumptions on the etymology of the name "Etruria" are very numerous and the corpus of the solutions proposed by historians and linguists is very wide. Many historians note that the Etrurian mountain range that extends across northern Etruria and rising up east of Sea/Lake X then southwards along the border with Sardenya were prominent features of Vespasic faiths in ancient history. Etruria in ancient Vespasic (Etrúra) meant "Sacred Rock" and since the Aventine mountains meet the Etrurians roughly in the central region of the north and push south towards the X Sea, many historians surmise that as the Vespasic tribes expanded, they considered the Aventines and the Etrurians to be one and the same and extended the name Etrúra to the rest of the country. As Vespasic developed into latin, Etrúra evolved into Etruria and the name has remained in use since.

The term Transetruria or Transetrurian was only introduced in the 19th century to refer to Vespasia and its territories in Carinthia and Novalia and remained in use within officialdom, eventually being adopted as the official title of the federation in 1921, as a means of unifying the three constituent states.

Geography
Etruria is located in Southern XNotEuropeX. To the north, Etruria borders Tiperyn and Sea/Lake XX, and is roughly delimited by the Etrurian watershed, enclosing the Novalian Plain to the east, which borders Sardenya, to the west Etruria borders Temuair. The Etrurian Mountains are met in the north by the Aventine Mountains which run through roughly centrally through the country to the south, flanked on both sides by wide plains, which however are marked by hilly regions, before dropping in altitude along the coasts. To the east of the mountains in central Etruria is Lake Imperia. Etruria is also includes four large islands; Aeolia, Asinara, Pantelleria and Gianutri, and numerous smaller islands. The country's total area is 1,141,945 square kilometres (440,907 sq mi), of which 1,124,735 km2 (434,262 sq mi) is land and 13,930 (5,380 sq mi) is water. Including the islands, Etruria has a coastline of XXXX kilometres (XXXX miles) on the X, X, X seas.

The Aventine Mountains form Etruria's backbone and the Eturians form most of its northern and eastern boundary, Etruria's highest point is located on Monte Tinia (4,810 m or 15,780 ft) in the northern reaches of the range. The Volterra, Etruria's longest river (1,114 kilometres or 692 miles), flows from the Etrurians on the northern border with Tiperyn and crosses the Novalian plain on its way to the XXX Sea. The five largest lakes are, in order of diminishing size: Imperia (1,000 km2 or 386 sq mi), Polvese (212.51 km2 or 82 sq mi), San Paolo (145.9 km2 or 56 sq mi), San Pietro (124.29 km2 or 48 sq mi) and Balestra (113.55 km2 or 44 sq mi). The country is situated at the meeting point of the XXX Plate and the XXX Plate, leading to considerable seismic and volcanic activity. There are 17 volcanoes in Etruria, three of which are active: Vosca, Stalleria, Vesano and Veturius, which last erupted in 2015.

Government and politics
Etruria is a with a parliamentary system governed under the 1921 Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. Unlike other presidential republics the President is both head of state and head of government, and depends for his tenure on the confidence of Parliament. It is a constitutional federal republic and representative democracy, in which "majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". Federalism in Etruria defines the power distribution between the federal government and the constituent states. The government abides by constitutional checks and balances, which however have never been considered overly strong. The Constitution of Etruria, which came into effect on 1 January 1921, states in its preamble that Etruria is "a sovereign, Poveglian Catholic democratic republic and union of three states". Etruria's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak constituent states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1980s as a result of political agitation at the constituent level.

Branches of government
Executive: The President of Etruria is the head of state and head of government and is supported by the party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The executive branch of the Etrurian government consists of the president, the vice-president, and the Council of Ministers—the cabinet being its executive committee—headed by the president. The president is mandated to select his deputy and his Council of Ministers, however the cabinet must receive the confidence of the senate and state council to be confirmed. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of congress. In the Etrurian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the president and his council are directly responsible to the lower house of the congress (the senate). The President and the Cabinet may be removed by the United Congress by a motion of no confidence. There are no term limits for the presidency.

Legislature: the legislative branch of Etruria is based on the adversarial model of parliament, as such the federal legislature is parliamentary. The United Congress of the Federation is split into two houses: the State Council and the Senate. The Senate is the lower house and is the more powerful. The State Council is the upper house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws, the Senate can only vote to overrule its amendments should the state council reject the bill more than twice. Although the State Council can introduce bills, most important laws are introduced in the Senate – and most of those are introduced by the government, which schedules the vast majority of parliamentary time in the Senate. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, because they must pass through a number of readings before becoming law. Prior to introducing a bill, the government may run a public consultation to solicit feedback from the public and businesses, and often may have already introduced and discussed the policy in the president's State of the Union address, or in an election manifesto or party platform.

The Senate has 680 voting members, each representing a senatorial district for a four-year term without term limits. Senate seats are apportioned on the basis of population, with Vespasia holding 480, Novalja holding 145 and Carinthia holding 55.

The State Council has 252 members, 202 are elected for four-year terms without limit, the remaining 50 seats are held by Etrurian cardinals, appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Pope of the Catholic Church, they hold their seats for life or resignation from the Church, this bloc is officially known as the "Sacred Representation" and they are mandated to be non-partisan. The 202 elected seats are divided equally between the three constituent states of the federation, with each providing 84 members.

Judiciary:

Political parties
The political parties of Etruria operate at all three levels, federal, national constituent and local, however some parties operate exclusively at the constituent level. Nationally, the country is dominated by the Etrurian Way, a right-wing nationalist and populist party that won a landslide in the 2016 general election. The main opposition party is the centrist Citizens' Alliance, followed by the centre-right Etrurian Federalist Party, minor parties include the Novalian dominated Workers and Farmers Union, the Etrurian Socialist Party and the Etrurian Greens.

At the constituent level, Vespasia is dominated by the Etrurian Way, with the Citizens' Alliance being the other party represented in the Vespasian Assembly, this corresponds at the local level also. In Novalia, the country is dominated by the Workers and Farmers Union, although it has an legislative cooperation agreement with its branch of the Etrurian Way. In Carinthia, the state is dominated by the Citizens' Alliance and has a strong Socialist Party presence.

Constituent states
Internally, the Transetrurian Federation is divided into three constituent republics and one Autonomous Federal Region within the United Republic of Vespasia. The federal capital is Poveglia. All states, as well as the Autonomous Federal Region, have elected legislatures and governments, both patterned on the national model. Each state is further divided into regions and they in turn are divided into Comuni.

In order of population, the states are:

The 1921 Constitution and more specifically the 1986 Convention Amendment laid out more clearly the federal system of Etruria, openly stating that His Holiness' Government is the governing authority of a federal union of 3 states and 1 autonomous region.

The government of Etruria is based on a 3 tiered system, in which the Constitution of Etruria delineates the subjects on which each tier of government has executive powers. The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government, the Federal Government (also known as the Union-State), representing the nation. Later, a third tier was added in the form of Municipalities. In the current arrangement, Article 15 of the constitution delimits the subjects of each level of governmental jurisdiction, dividing them into three lists:


 * National List: includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency. The Federal Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the National List.
 * Constituent State List: contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation. The State Governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the State List.
 * Concurrent List: includes subjects of common interest to both the Federal Government as well as the State Governments, such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession. Both the Federal as well as the State Governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list. If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the Federal Government will prevail.
 * Autonomous List: in effect replicates the constituent state list for the autonomous federal regions, with the concurrent list subordinated to ensure the constituent state's laws prevail over the AFR's.

Military
The United Etrurian Army, United Etrurian Navy, United Etrurian Air Force and the Territorial Defence Force collectively form the United Etrurian Armed Forces, under the Supreme Command (Commando Supremo), presided over by the President of Etruria. The armed forces is both voluntary and conscripted, as of 2016 the armed forces had 385,000 active personnel and 1.5 million reserve, with a defence budget of $60.79 billion.

The United Eturian Army is the national ground force, numbering 280,000 active personnel in 2016. The army is currently undergoing a major modernisation program for its equipment and vehicles, with the introduction of new armoured vehicles, jeeps and tanks.

The United Etrurian Navy in 2016 had 45,200 active personnel with 111 commissioned ships and 156 aircraft. It is now equipping itself with a bigger aircraft carrier (the San Pietro), new destroyers, submarines and multipurpose frigates.

The United Etrurian Air Force in 2016 had a strength of 43,882 and operated 685 aircraft, including 319 combat jets and 114 helicopters.

The final branch of the armed forces is the Territorial Defence Force, which is a popular militia that also serves as the country's gendarme in times of national emergency. The TDO is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior during peace-time and in war-time, it is subordinate to the Supreme Command. As of 2016, the TDO had a strength of 55,000 active members and an estimated 255,000 reserve members. Since 2010, the TDO has also served as an emergency response force, assisting in the aftermaths of earthquakes.

Economy
Etruria is the world's nth largest economy as of 2016, with a nominal GDP of approximately $2.171 trillion. Etruria has a. The as of 2016 is $25,880. Although Etruria is regarded as one of the world's most industrialised nations and a leading country in world trade and exports, it still records strong growths in manufacturing, indicative of its recent upgrade from a in 1991. It is a well-developed country, with the world's nth highest quality of life in 2015 and the nth Human Development Index. The country is well known for its creative and innovative business, its state supported manufacturing sector, a large and competitive agricultural sector (Etruria is the world's nth largest wine producer), and for its influential and high-quality automobile, machinery, food, design and fashion industry. Since 2003, it has become a strong producer of commercial aircraft, with the company Caviglia Aeronautics becoming a major world brand.

Etruria has a strong mining sector, focused on mining coal, tungsten and several rare earth elements such as, , and ores of  and. However this deposits have reduced in size, limiting the role mining plays within the Etrurian economy.

Etruria is one of the world's largest manufacturing countries, characterised by a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size and a large number of dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Etrurian industry. This has produced a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products which focuses on high quality products, however since the early 2000s, the Etrurian economy has pushed for cheaper goods production in Novalia and Carinthia where wages are lower.

Ethnic groups
The constitution of the Etruria recognises "nations" (nazioni) and "nationalities" (nazionalità) separately; the former included the constituent state peoples, while the latter included other non-federation ethnic groups such as XXians and XXians; however to be recognised as a nationality, a minority must exceed 50,000 citizens. The three "nations" recognised are the Vespasians, Novalians and Carinthians whilst X nationalities are recognised. There is also an Etrurian ethnic designation, for the people who want to identify with the entire country, including people who were born to parents in mixed marriages.

According to the 2013 census, 72.5% were identified as, 13.1% were identified as , 11.2% were identified as and 3.2% were recognised as "other"; of which included x% identified as XXian, x% identified as XXian and x% identified as XXian. However of these groups, 68.6% identified themselves as Etrurian, rather than their ethnic group.

Languages
The population of Etruria speaks mainly three languages:, and. The Vespasian language was spoken by all the constituent republics either as a first language (in Vespasia's case) or as the second language, Novalian is spoken primarily in Novalia and Carinthian in Carinthia.

Both Novalian and Carinthian belong to the same language group and are thus similar, allowing most people from the two areas to understand each other. Due to this, schools in both Novalia and Carinthia opt to teach Vespasian as the primary language for secondary use over their respective languages. As such, Vespasian is the second language of 88.5% of Novalia and Carinthia combined, whilst Novalian is spoke as a second language by 62% of Vespasians and Carinthian at 30%. Vespasian is widely recognised as the in official circles.

The Novalian language was adapted for use of the Latin alphabet to be used more efficiently with both Vespasian and Carinthian, use of Cyrillic was banned in 1922 to limit ways of separatists of Novalian nationalists from expressing their ideas.

Religion
Poveglian Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in the country, and remains the state religion. In 2013, the proportion of Etrurians that identify themselves as Poveglian Catholic was 96.2%. The Holy See, the episcopal jurisdiction of Poveglia, contains the central government of the entire Poveglian Catholic Church, including various agencies essential to administration. Diplomatically, it is recognised by other subjects of international law as a sovereign entity, headed by the Pope, who is also the Bishop of Poveglia, with which diplomatic relations can be maintained. Often incorrectly referred to as "the Vatican", the Holy See is not the same entity as the Ecclesiastical State, which came into existence only in 1921; the Holy See dates back to early Christian times. However Etrurian Cardinals play a prominent role in the political life of the country, greatly enhancing the influence of the Church in Etruria.

Minority Christian faiths in Etruria include Eastern Orthodox and some Protestant communities. In 2013, there were an estimated 1.5 million Orthodox Christians in Etruria, or 1.7% of the population; 0.5 million Pentecostals and Evangelicals, 135,685 Jehovah's Witnesses, 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, 22,000 Latter-day Saints, 15,000 Baptists (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 Lutherans, 4,000 Methodists.

One of the longest-established minority religious faiths in Etruria is Judaism, Jews having been present in Ancient Poveglia since before the birth of Christ. Etruria has for centuries welcomed Jews expelled from other countries. As a result of Etruria's strong relationship with Judaism, there around 495,400 Jews in the country, roughly 0.5% of the population.

However religious freedoms in the country remain controversial, with preferential treatment being offered to Poveglian Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and the Jewish population. Many of the Protestant community have made numerous reports of discrimination in the work place, inequality in opportunity and in some cases violent attacks.

Education
Education in Etruria is free and mandatory from ages six to eighteen, and consists of five stages: kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia), primary school (scuola primaria), lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado), upper secondary school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado) and university (università).

Primary education lasts eight years. The students are given a basic education in Vespasian, another federal language (either Novalian or Carinthian), mathematics, natural sciences, history, geography, social studies, religious studies, physical education and visual and musical arts. Secondary education lasts for five years and includes three traditional types of schools focused on different academic levels: the liceo prepares students for university studies with a classical or scientific curriculum, while the istituto tecnico and the Istituto professionale prepare pupils for vocational education. A wide gap exists between Vespasian schools, which performed significantly better than the national average (among the best in the world in some subjects), and schools in Novalia and Carinthia, that had much poorer results.

Tertiary education in Etruria is divided between public universities, private universities and the prestigious and selective superior graduate schools, such as the Scuola Normale Superiore di Urbisalia and prestigious Church run academies such as the Scuola del Corpo di Cristo and Accademia degli Apostoli. The university system in Etruria is regarded as highly elitist and divided by quality and funding, however the new government in 2016 has announced major reforms of the university system and greater federal funding for struggling universities in Novalia and Carinthia.

Health
The Eturian federal state runs a universal public healthcare system since 1956. However, healthcare is provided to all citizens and residents by a mixed public-private system. The public part is the Servizio Sanitario Federale, which is organised under the Ministry of Health and administered on the constituent-state basis. Since 1994, the SSF has been greatly devolved, in which public healthcare is provided directly to the most deprived areas of the country, where citizens can't afford health-insurance. And since 2003, the SSF has been charged with managing funding for the state-level services.

Life expectancy in Etruria is 80 for males and 85 for females (however it averages at 76 for males and 78 for females in Novalia), placing the country nth in the world for life expectancy. Etruria has a relatively low rate of adult obesity (below 10%), probably thanks to the health benefits of the mediterranean diet and an extensive government led and organised public exercise regime. The proportion of daily smokers was 28% in 2012, up from 24.4% in 2000. Smoking in public places including bars, restaurants, night clubs and offices has been restricted to specially ventilated rooms since 2005.

Culture
As a multicultural society, Etruria is based on the concept of brotherhood and unity, as such the country is presented to its people as a nation dedicated to creating a just, harmonious, Catholic country. Artists from different ethnicities in the country are popular amongst other ethnicities, and the film industry in Etruria is notable for its nationalist overtones in terms of presenting Etruria, rather than the individual constituent states. The film and music industry since 2016 has come under greater supervision and scrutiny by the federal government, as it seeks to clamp down on internal nationalism, whilst promoting Etrurian nationalism.

Due to the nature of the federation, Etruria's culture is the product of numerous influences. Whilst Vespasia is the per-emeninent source of the Mediterranean culture, which has dramatically influenced both Novalia and Carinthia, yet both Novalia and Carinthia are influenced by both Slavic and Gothic cultures.