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The Most Serene Republic Vassfforcia

Serenísima República de Vassfforcia Formohr sam Poblacht Ísea forstá Res publica Serenissima Bas Forsiænsis National Flag Grand Coat of Arms of the Most Serene Republic Map
National motto: Tres Pueblos; Una Nación Three Peoples; one Nation
Region: The Heartland
Capital	Vassfforcia la Serenísima (Vassfforcia City)
Largest city	Puerto Nuevo
Oldest City	Dohendor City aprox. est. 200 b. C.
Official languages	Spanish, Hyarmendorean
Main Languages	Spanish, Hyarmendorean, Catalan, Occitan and French
Government  - Grand Duke   -Chancellor	Federal Aristocratic Republic HMSH Don Claudius V Dácil Montajìque HE Doña Ericqa Buchani
Establishment  -Commercial Outpost of Bas Força  - Commercial Consulate of Vassfforcia  - Most Serene Republic of Vassfforcia	October 19th 1105 January 1st 1311 August 17th 1478
Area  - Total  - % water	5'089'722 km² 3%
Coastline	6'735 kms
Boundaries  - Total   - with Breenonia  - with Dashake  - with Virginia Nova	5'600 kms 2'233 kms 2'600 kms 767 kms
Population  - Total NS  - Total RP  - Density RP	7.1 billion 170 million 29.5/km²
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - per capita	ARA 192.273 billion ARA 33,190.6
Religion	no official religion Catholic majority
Currency	Arra [Ar] 1Ar = 100 piastras [pts]
Currency Code	ARA
Time zone	UPT +0 & -1
Nation Code	VSF
Internet TLD	.vsf
Calling Code	1337
International Sport Code	VSF
National game	Football
National Animal	Dolphin

Vassfforcia (Spanish: Vassfforcia, Hyarmendorean: Ísea'forstá) is a country located in northeastern Alcedonia in the Southwest District of The Heartland, bordered at the west by the Breenonia, at the southwest with Dashake and at the south with Virginia Nova. It is the easternmost country in Alcedonia.

The official name is Serenísima República de Vassfforcia (Spanish), Formóhr'sámh Poblacht Ísea'forstá (Hyarmendorean) and Res publica Serenissima Bas Forsiænsis (Latin).

According to Joan Coromines, the name Vassfforcia comes from the name Bas Força (lower Fors) and makes reference to the fact that the original name of Vassfforcia la Serenísima was Port du Bas Força (Port of Lower Fors), as the surounding region was called Lower Fors by the Forsians. Then, as in that time the /s/ sound was written in Spanish “ss” and the /ʋ/ sound does not exist, the spelling changed to Bassfforça and when “ç” disappeared from Spanish it was changed to “ci”. It is unknown why “b” was changed to “v”, but by 1300 the name was already written on its modern form, Vassfforcia.

History

Prehistory

main article Vassfforcian Prehistory
The first human beings to appear in the region where Vassfforcia is today, came to the fertile northern plains about 5 thousand years b. C. These groups developed agriculture and built some villages and towns on that region, but they never developed a writing system neither a more advanced civilization. This culture is called the Prebolger Culture. In the central mountains, today Dohendor, the evidence of human population dates back to about the 4 thousand b. C. and the cultural characteristics of these people relate them to the Prebolger Culture of the northern plains. These two cultures seem related to the Breenonia of the west.
In the southern region, in today Plenfia and Hilvenídica, evidence of a nomadic culture exists with registries dating back to at least 5 thousand b. C. years too, but some archaeologists think these people must have been there since before. This culture is called the Prehälven Culture and is not related with the Prebolger Culture of the north. Some archaeologists say that it may be related to the Dashani.

The Gáltad

main aticle The Gáltad

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Gáltad warriors according to the sagas.

About the year 500 b. C. a group of Celtic origin, invaded Vassfforcia from the northern shores. They called themselves Gáltad or Dohen (Bolger or even Tochen according to some linguists) and came from a place they called Hyarmendorath ('lands of the south' or 'the far south'). The Dohen were a warring people and before 400 b. C. they had already conquered all the land that today forms the Most Serene Republic of Vassfforcia.

During the 4th century b. C., after the Neolithic population was conquered and nearly eliminated, the Dohen continued their wars until the beginning of the 3rd century b. C. By this time four kingdoms survived: Bolgerdor or Northern Dohendor in the northwestern plains, Fors in the northeast mountains, Dohendor in the central mountains and northern Ibportia and Hälvendil in today Plenfia and Hilvenídica.

After the foundation of these kingdoms and the setting of boundaries between them, peace, prosperity and stability came to the region. However, there were still some wars among the kingdoms, but those were short and calmed compared to the blood spill of the centuries before.

On the century before the Hispanic invasion and conquest Bolgerdor and Fors were weak while Dohendor was the predominant kingdom in the region. As the four kingdoms were not only independent from each other, but enemies, when the Catalonians came on year 1104 AD, they were able to conquer the northern plains and the northeastern mountains easily thanks to their weakness and the lack of cooperation and interest from Dohendor and Hälvendil.

Catalan Rule

main article Catalan Rule of Vassfforcia

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Francesco Buchani at the Battle of Soyélbolcq’bólder.

Vassfforcia la Serenísima was founded after the Catalan nobles met the Forsians in year 1105 AD as a commercial outpost in the Heartland by order of Count Ramón Berenguer III and the permission of the Forsian king Ardelatrix II with the name Port du Bas Força (Port of Lower Fors). The outpost flourished to the point that in 1311 the King of Aragón and Count of Barcelona gave Vassfforcia the title of Consolat Comercial de Vassfforcia (Commercial Consulate of Vassfforcia).

The Barcelonan Crisis on the second half of the 15th century caused by the Black Death, the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, famines, revolutions and a general loss of power within the Mediterranean caused Barcelona to lose its power over the Consulate, thus for the first time the Xunta General de Vassfforcia (General Council of Vassfforcia) gathered as the Grand Senate and proclaimed Vassfforcian independence and the foundation of the Most Serene Republic of Vassfforcia on August 17th 1478.
16th Century in Vassfforcia

Government

main article Government of Vassfforcia

The Most-Serene Republic of Vassfforcia is a Federal Aristocratic Republic ruled by the Grand Duke (executive; in Spanish, Gran Duque; in Hyarmendorean Maërga Dyucq), the Grand Senate (legislative; in Spanish, Gran Senado; Hyarmendorean, Maërga Séanad) and the Supreme Magistrature (judicial; in Spanish, Magistratura Suprema). It is an aristocratic republic because still on the 21st century Vassfforcian Patrician Houses, the Montajìque, the Mádasi, the Buchani, the Berenguer, the Giocco, the Montajìque do Sul, the Hälvenbosch and the House of Vercingetorix have great power within the country and have certain political rights commoners don't.

The current Grand Duke is Don Claudius V Dácil Montajìque, elected on 2005 after the removal of his predecessor in a corruption scandal. The current Chancellor is Don Llorenç Figueroa. Montajìque rule is based on a parliamentary alliance of the PCD (centre, Montajìque’s party) and the PFP (right); thus the government has become quite centralist lately after the alliance between the PCD and PST (left) broke in summer 2007.

Subdivisions

main article Subdivisions of Vassfforcia

As a federal republic Vassfforcia is conformed by 14 states and the Autonomous Republic of Dohendor [ARD] (divided into two more provinces), which makes a total of 16 states; from which 6 are principalities, 8 (counting Dohendor) are provinces and 2 are city-states. All of them have the same constitutional status and rights for representation before the Grand Senate, but each kind of state has different laws for local government. The government of each state is based on the federal government, with power division between the legislative, executive and judicial. The government bodies and titles vary in each kind of state.

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Political Division of Vassfforcia

Provinces:
1. Dohendor (in the ARD)
2. Letia
3. Plenfia
4. Progreso
5. Rhûnorod (in the ARD)
6. Septéntrion
7. Province of Vassfforcia
8. Vilna

Principalities:
9. Hilvenídica, Queendom of
10. Ibportia, Mark of
11. Montaura, Duchy of
12. Tirritidivá, County of
13. Umperia, Principality of
14. West Vassfforcia, Mark of

City-States:
15. Puerto Nuevo
16. Vassfforcia la Serenísima

Provinces of Other Seas:
17. Almeira

Geogaphy

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Topography of Vassfforcia

Vassfforcia's total area covers 5'089'722 square kilometers. Vassfforcia has a coastline of 6'735 kilometers on the north and the east. Of the western boundary, the northern half (2'233 kilometers) is with Breenonia, and it is artificially defined on the plains and with the Numenórod in the region of Dohendor. The other half of the western boundary is with Dashake (2'600 kilometers) and most of it is defined by the Hälven River. The southern boundary, with Virginia Nova (767 kilometers) is also defined by the Hälven River.

Regions

Geographically Vassfforcia is divided into four regions, the North, which is mostly covered by plains (with the exception of the Mount Sulfur, the Montauran Range). The Central Mountains which cover Dohendor and Rhûnorod and the Plenfias which are the plains which cover southern Dohendor, Plenfia, Hilvenídica and the southwestern part of Tirritidivá. The last region are the Coastal Plains which cover the eastern coast from the Zulfía River to the northern half of Tirritidivá.

Rivers

The main rivers in the country are:

• Lathenruth River which crosses northwestern Vassfforcia from Vilnia to Vassfforcia City and is boundary between the provinces of Vilnia and Western Vassfforcia and between Umperia and the Province of Vassfforcia.
• Defors River which runs from Lake Fors to Vassfforcia la Serenísima and is the western boundary between Letia and the Province of Vassfforcia.
• Zulfía River runs from Lake Súlfur to Puerto Nuevo. The Northern Channel runs from Lake Azur to the Bólguer River and also marks the boundary between Umperia and the Province of Vassfforcia.
• Silaldia River runs from Forloch in Rhûnorod and flows into the Zulfía River in Progreso:
• River Plenfia runs from Cormgwal’loch in Dohendor to the south, crosses the Plenfias and then flows into the Hälven Ríver.
• Hälven River originates from two springs in the Dohen mounatins and one more in Dashake to become one of the widest rivers in Alcedonia. It runs south and then east and marks the international boundaries between Vassfforcia and Dashake and Vassfforcia and Virginia Nova.

Mountains

There are two mountain ranges and one extinct volcano in the northeast.

• Montauran Range: it covers most of Montaura and northwest Letia (north of Defors River). It is formed by the Mount Ajìque (4’240 meters) and the Mount Aura (3’920 meters).

• Mount Sulfur: it is the extinct volcano in which crater is Lake Zulfía and the city of same name. The volcano has two peaks, the Moylerahs (4’602 meters) on the east and Mount Andrea (4’800 meters) on the west.

• The Central Mountains: they extend over Dohendor and Rhûnorod and are part of the Central Alcedonian Massif. The tallest peaks are the Brainrahs (5’120 meters), the Céleborod (3’997 meters), the Rädhseráhsad (or Rhûnorod) (3’830 meters), the Ímorod (5’320 meters) and the Háelvenorod (4’970 meters).

Demography

(main article Demography of Vassfforcia)

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Population density

The size of the Vassfforcian population is around 170 million and is increasing by 1.0 3% per year (as of 2005). Vassfforcia is mainly a urban country with around 76% of the population living in communities of more than 10 thousand people.

Ethnically most Vassffocians are Hispanics (Bas Forsians or Gwymáliad), Dohen and Hälven; thus the country’s motto “three peoples, one nation”, as the Vassfforcian federation is conceived as a union of these three peoples. In recent years immigration has grown, mainly because of the civil war in the Breenonia. As of 1 January 2005 about 2 million Breen had enterd to Vassfforcia, mainly to the big cities in the north.

Approximately 75% of Vassfforcia’s inhabitants are Catholic, however, these numbers might not reflect actual faith of the population as Vassfforcians are not renowned for being pious. The Christian rites of passage such as baptism, marriage and burial have a strong traditional standing in Vassfforcia, and many people are members to be able to use these ceremonies in spite of not being regular churchgoers or believing in the teachings of the church. Moreover, the Christian calendar is always respected; Vassfforcians celebrate Christmas, have Spingbreak during Easter and make huge carnivals in the ports before Lent.

Other Christian denominations total about 9% (Calvinists and Cathars). Among other religions, NeoPaganism (mainly Wicca) and Islam are the largest in Vassfforcia with around 2% each, and other religions comprise about 4% in total (including Judaism, Buddhism and Floydism). Around 9% do not adhere to any established religion or are atheists.

According to the UN rankings Vassfforcia is among the least religious nations of the NS world.

Many languages are spoken in Vassfforcia; of these, two are official languages at the federal level, Spanish and Hyarmendorean,and four more are considered national languages, which means they are also considered official in some regions, Catalan in large areas of Umperia, Vilnia and Montaura, Occitan in Tirritidivá and various other French dialects in Hilvenídica and Plenfia. Hyarmendorean is mainly spoken in Hilvenídica, Dohendor and Rhûnorod. Because of this, Vassfforcians are forced by law to be fluent speaker of at least one of the official languages and have basic knowledge of other two language spoken in the country and English.

Military

(main article Vassfforcian War Ministry)

The Vassfforcian military are the Ducal Armed Forces, which are: the Ducal Army, Armada de Ultramar (the navy), Ducal Air Force and Ducal Coast Guard. Minimum age for military service is 18 years and military service is compulsory. Currently, the total number of Vassfforcian enlisted either as active or reserve stands at about 24 million. The Ducal Armed Forces are ultra high-tech, highly movable and use the blietzkrieg, but Vassfforcia also has nuclear weapons and missiles capable of delivering them.

Further Reading

Vassfforcian Government Official Website
NS Tracker
Vassfforcian Football League
How to tell if you're Vassfforcian