Verdelia Wiki Page - WIP

The Federal Republic of Verdelia, commonly called Verdelia, is a presidential federal democratic republic in Central Dunia. It is bordered on the northwest by Tonatuitlan, on the south by Lusankya, by the east by OTHER-NATION and on the west by OTHER-NATION. Verdelia covers LAND AREA square kilometers and has has an estimated population of POPULATION. Verdelia comprises of NUMBER SUBDIVISIONS and NUMBER TERRITORIES.

DESCRIPTION OF YOUR NATION’S ROLE IN THE WORLD

Etymology

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The standard way to refer to a citizen of Verdelia is as a "Verdelian."

History

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Universally considered to be the most pivotal factor in the formation of Verdelia is the creation and subsequent activity of the Green Valley Company (Compagnie de la Vallée Verte, CVV). The CVV was primarily founded and lead by [name tbd], a French-speaking Eluthanian(?, WIP) often characterized as either an eccentric, a visionary, or often both.

The CVV was first conceptualizad after [name tbd] lead an exploratory voyage across the Faighian Ocean, where they discovered “what [was] an essentially natural port, forming a sort of mouth to an small and obscure but lush and verdant valley, flanked on both sides by distinguished mountains and filled throughout with evergreen trees and clean waters.” [Name tbd] made particular note of his surprise that there was seemingly no human settlement or activity within this valley, especially considering the lush and temperate conditions. Upon return to Eluthania(?), [name tbd] discussed with colleagues over what their course of action should be regarding the valley, which they began to refer to simply as the “Green Valley”, eventually deciding to form an organization with the goal of capitalizing on the lack of competition over the area and to make use of the “unspoiled valley” and perhaps even beginning settlement of the region.

[Name tbd] increasingly became captivated by the idea of settling the area and establishing formalized communities, considering it a blank slate to make a “refined and limitless” attempt at a “more free and prosperous” society. This ambitious goal garnered him a reputation of eccentricity and ever grandiose delusion among some of those who know him, but WIP

DESCRIBE HISTORY

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Verdelia initially stayed neutral in the in the Second Global War (although general opinion was against the forces of Imperialist Orvos), and the Federal Republic generally attempted to not get into any confrontations during the conflict. However, the National Organization of Innovation (ONdI), a technocratic, totalitarian fringe party in Verdelia, negotiated directly with Orvosian forces for the opening of a Verdelian front in the War, with the goal of using Orvosian support to establish a collaborationist “National Innovation State” and overthrow the Federal Republic.
On [date tbd], Imperialist Oreos launched a full-scale invasion of Verdelia in the northwestern regions from occupied Tonatuitlan, resulting in the establishment of the ONdI-controlled “Government of National Innovation” (GdIN) collaborationist government and initiating what would become known as the Verdelian Civil War. The war saw initial Orvosian-GdIN successes, occupies the northwestern region and even eventually capturing the capital; however, the Federal Republican government managed to retain control of the remaining unoccupied land and organized an emergency government, and GdIN territory saw consistent resistance from the populous.

By this point of the war, there was a brief stalemate that saw brutal fighting in contested territory and leader to a large amount of destruction. The totalitarian nature of the ONdI government also saw a large amount of strife for those in occupied territories, exacerbating resistance.
Although there was initial pessimism that the ONdI could very well win, or at least permanently occupy the northwest, the stagnation of GdIN advances alongside a string of strategic Federal Republic victories raised morale in unoccupied territories. In contrast, chaotic management and dwindling resources after unsuccessful operations lead to decreasing morale among GdIN forces. What was considered the final nail in the coffin for the collaborationist forces was the outset of infighting, specifically over the vision of post-war Verdelia and what the ONdI’s relationship with Imperial Orvos should be; this infighting lead to inconsistent and inactive decision making, and even some outright confrontations among the GdIN’s forces, along with ever increasing resistance movements.

After the decisive Federal Republican victory at the crucial Battle of [TBD], it essentially began an altogether collapse of the GdIN’s lines. Collaborationist forces began to retreat more and more, and fracturing within the ONdI further exacerbated this collapse.
Soon, the Federal Republic essentially regained predominant control in the northwest, and spent this point in the war trying to eliminate remaining pockets of collaborationists. The Civil War was considered to have fully ended with Edgar de Foss, the founder and leader of the ONdI, announced the unconditional surrender of the GdIN.

After the Second Global War concluded, the Federal Republic reestablished full control of Verdelian territory and initiated a trial of major ONdI/GdIN leadership, resulting in guilt verdicts for most and the complete banning and destruction of the ONdI. The Anti-Totalitarian Act was soon-after passed, with banned political groups that openly espoused or were found by a court to espouse totalitarian/anti-democratic ideals from registering and participating in elections. To this day, DeFossism and technocracy in general is extremely looked down upon by a vast majority of the public, and the post-war era saw a cultural phenomenon which greatly expanded on the respect for liberal democracy in Verdelian culture and public opinion.

Although the southern and western regions were relatively untouched by the war, the northwest, which was also among the most industrialized and populous areas of Verdelia, sustained heavy damages from the conflict. The years immediately after the war were characterized by the reconstruction effort, which saw not only the construction of newer infrastucture and approaches to urban design, taking advantage of the relative “blank slate”, but also an expansion and improvment of welfare programs to provide for those affected by the war and general in poor situations.
There were also policies that saw the expansion and strengthening of civilian and constituent state militias, with a renewed attitude emphasizing preparedness should any power try to invade Verdelia again. There was also a centralization in the militias and armed forces, the intention being for more coordinated and quick communication and planning within the military to better respond to threats.

The Civil War / GW2 was an extremely defining moment in Verdelian history and for the Verdelian people, as it created a “nationwide trauma and fear, even within the areas untouched by war” and made the populous “respect the Federal Republic’s government far more, no longer taking liberal democracy for granted”. But due to the dedicated reconstruction effort, Verdelia also saw a period known as the “Verdelian Revival” or “Verdelian Boom”, where new infrastructure and government policy lead to a rebound in the Verdelian economy and standard of living, with a massive growth in small-scale, independent, businesses/cooperatives and technology as funds were directed towards scientific and technological development.

The Verdelian Revival is considered to have been one of the “golden ages” of Verdelia, as it managed to recover the country from the damages of the war and helped shape what Verdelia would look like going into the rest of the 20th century.

HISTORY WIP

Geography

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DESCRIBE CLIMATE

DESCRIBE ENVIRONMENT

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Demographics

Population
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Language
DESCRIBE LANGUAGE

Many languages are spoken in Verdelia. Many citizens speak more than one language, and particularly in the case of [southern] Verdelians, a common set-up will be speaking a local mother-tounge and the nationally-spoken Verdelian language.

The Verdelian language evolved from the languages of those who settled northern Verdelia, and as they interacted more and more with the neighboring native peoples in the more southern regions of Verelia, the settlers’ language began to be spread as a lingua-franca not just among settlers and between settlers and natives, but even among natives. Being seen as a culturally neutral and relatively easily learned language, this pidgin that quickly evolved into the fully-fledged language of Verdelian would grow to be used extensively if not universally in the areas that would eventually form the Federal Republic.

Having originated primarily from the northern settlers’ languages, the Verdelian langiage mostly features the elements of those parent languages. However, as Verdelia incorporated new constituent states and peoples, modern Verdelian features more elements from other languages, particularly native languages. Different dialects along regional lines have also developed approaching the modern day, although the differences are usually minor and it does not create any barriers to intelligitbility between Verdelians.

Besides Verdelian, other major languages include [languages wip].

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As mentioned, multilingualism is very common among the people of Verdelia, usually speaking a local or ancestral language along Verdelian itself. However, there area some areas where monolingualism is more common. In the more homogenous areas in northern constituent states, primarily populated by [name tbd (“northern/white”)] Verdelians, most people will actually speak just Verdelian.
There are also growing trends in the modern day in some communities, including in the southern regions, of Verdelians forgoing ancestral languages if said ancestral language is perceived as having little practical application. This is part of what is seen as an emerging phenomenon of “linguistic homogenization” wherein Verdelians might opt to speak just Verdelian, although there is uncertainty as to what direction this phenomenon will go. Nonetheless, in the case of languages that already had a small amount of speakers there area growing concerns of language extinction, and in recent years there have been growing calls to enact protections for and revivals of potentially endangered languages.

Religion
DESCRIBE RELIGION

Race
DESCRIBE RACE

Note : Demographics and what delineates different groups from each other is a bit of a work in progress

Verdelia is often considered a multiethnic nation with high degrees of integration between different people, with many citizens being multiracial with parents/ancestors of various backgrounds. Thus, the dominant concept of Verdelian identity is defining Verdelian identity as either a cultural/national identity not connected to race or ethnicity, or a cultural/national identity among several historically- and culturally-related ethnicities and groups. There has also been the concept of Verdelian identity itself being a single large and diverse ethnicity with various “sub-races” or “sub-groups”.

On the legal level, the Verdelian government records a number of “Verdelian ethnicities”, those being groups with notable historical and/or cultural presence in Verdelia and sharing common history, relations, and culture withe other sucha groups. Thus, the governmental approach to Verdelian identity favors the conception of it as a national/cultural identity that comprises of a number of historically established ethnic groups that share common history and culture, not strictly defined as a single ethnicity or race.
The prevalence of this definition of Verdelian identy can be attributed to the relatively peaceful coexistence of ethnic groups throughout Verdelia’s history, and high degrees of ethnic diversity and integration in various parts of the nation, particularly the more urbanized and high-population areas. This conception of Verdelian identity is also historically linked to political traditions of ideals such as civic nationalism or cosmopolitanism that value citizens’ participation in society and government regardless of exact culture and culturally neutral environments.

Since Verdelians’ will commonly identify with multiple Verdelian ethnicities at once, especially in the more heterogeneous urban areas, it is not uncommon for censuses and other surveys that collect ethnic data to utilize multiple models of representing data at once.

Groups considered “Verdelian ethnicities” include the following :

[name tbd (“Northern/Settler”)] -

[name tbd (“Southern/Native”)] -

[tbd] -

[name tbd (Jewish)] - Jewish Verdelians or Verdelian Jews are often seen as one of the smaller groups in Verdelia, but are notable for having a widespread impact on the culture of Verdelia and especially in recent times having gone through a large growth in both population and reputation in Verdelia.
Having originally arrived to Verdelia as immigrants that settled in small pockets across northern constituent states, Verdelian Jews started out as a group with little presence or influence. Jewish families would often occupy positions in the working or lower-middle classes. But despite initial pessimissm among Jewish people that they may eventually become targets of discrimination or harassment, or at the least continue to be relatively poor, the Jews found great luck in that Verdelian politics gradually adopted more firm ideals of social liberalism/equality, secularism, and ethnic diversity and integration.
Jewish Verdelians would gradually attain higher living standards and improved economic status, and along with some Jews starting to get elected to more and more political offices, the improved conditons lead to large population increases of Jewish communities. Policies that also ensured the rights of Jews would also prove to be pivotal. Due to low amounts of ethnic tension in Verdelia generally speaking, there was also a growing fascination in Jewish culture from the general public.
All of these factors that saw the improving population, status, and acceptance of Jewish Verdelians eventually culminated in the “Hebrew Spring”, a social-cultural movement at its peaks in the 1900’s-1920’s. This movement saw not only the spread of parts of Jewish culture and general interest in Jewish culture, but also the development of Jewish Verdelians as a distinct group unique to Verdelia. The term Hebrew Spring specifically refers to the Hebrew alphabet, which held the fascination of the general public and particularly artists, with the alphabet and Jewish languages becoming artistic languages in even non-jewish spaces. Jewish Verdelians became famed throughout the country for their theatre and music, and some Jewish foods, particularly pastries, became regularly eaten throughout the nation.
In the modern day, although still small in population when compared to larger ethnicities/groups, their populaiton has increased a lot in the course of their history and they nonetheless form one of the largest minority groups in Verdelia with communities in many areas. Due to the influence Jewish Verdelians had on Verdelia as a whole, particuiary culturally, they are considered one of the primary ethnicities that comprise the greater Verdelian cultural identity.

[tbd] -

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Largest Cities

Government

As the pre-title would suggest, the Federal Republic of Verdelia is a federal republic between [number] [divisions]. It is a democratic republic, in which the government derives legitimacy from popular consent as a representative democracy, and where all citizens are guaranteed equal rights such that “no group or person may nullify the rights of another”.

The Verdelian Constitution is the fundamental law of Verdelia. It outlines the principles of the nation and the basic structure of the government, and is based on principles such as an open democratic republic, equal rights and liberties for citizens, and brotherhood among constituent states and people within a federal republic.

The constitution contains a set of articles, collectively known as the Charter of Rights, which outlines the fundemental rights of citizens, emphasizing concepts such as the law of equal liberty, the rights of participation in government, rights of belief, speech, thought, religion, and other similar rights. The influence of the law of equal liberty on the Charter of Rights is particularly notable, as it has been used in Verdelia to reconcile both “individual/minority” rights with “collective/majority” rights; for example, the principles of equal liberty has historically been used to forbid various types of discrimination. WIP

The constitution establishes a separation of powers between three branches of government, the branches being executive, legislative, and judicial. The constitution of Verdelia tries to build a system of checks and balances between the branches such that no one branch has absolute power and the three must cooperate and respect eachother’s authority to govern.

As a presidential republic, the executive branch is headed by the President of Verdelia. The president powers include the ability to veto bills passed by the federal congress, serving as commander-in-chief of the Verdelian [military name tbd], appointing ministers and judges (with congressional approval), and generally presides over the ministries that administer policies and the laws of Verdelia.

Verdelia’s legislative body is the Federal Congress, a bicameral legislature comprised of the General Assembly and the Senate. The federal congress is the body primarily responsible for the creation of laws, and also reviews and/or approves presidential appointees, has the power over the finances of the federal government, and has the power of impeachment.

Verdelia’s judicial system is comprised of the various courts of Verdelia, with the highest court with the greatest power being the Federal Court of Verdelia. The judiciary is responsible for holding fair and free trials and upholding the rights of citizens, resolving civil disputes, interpreting the law, and review whether or not laws are compliant with the constitution. (WIP, OOC Subject to change)

Executive

The chief executive officer in Verdelia is the President of Verdelia, who serves as both head of state and head of government. The position is up for election every 4 years, and currently there are no limits on how many terms a president can serve (thus far only two presidents have served more than 2 terms), and is directly elected in a two-round system.

As chief executive the president is primarily responsible for overseeing the various ministries that form the Verdelian bureaucracy, which are charged with the enforcement and administration of law/policy. The president, with the consent of the Federal Congress, appoints individuals for offices like court judges or ministers.

The president is also an important part of the law-making process, as although the president is not responsible for the creation of legislation, all bills passed by the Federal Congress must require a signature from the president to become full law. Should the president disagree with a piece of legislation, they may also veto it and shoot it down completely, although the Federal Congress may override a veto if either both chambers or a joint session votes to do so by a 2/3 majority.

The president may draft proposed legislation or amendments, but to actually be voted on by the Federal Congress requires sponsorship and introduction by an actual congressperson.

The president is the commander-in-chief, thus being at the top of the chain of the command for the Verdelian [military name tbd] and holding significant sway over the operations and policy of the military. However, certain positions in the military still requir congressional approval for appointment, and only the Federal Congress has the ability to formally declare war.

The president is accompanied by the vice president, who is elected alongside the president and is usually expected to act as the president’s personal aide, and should the president ever be deemed incapable of fulifilling their duties, take on some of the responsibilities as an acting president. Should a tie in votes ever occur in a house of the Federal Congress, the vice president is charged with casting a tie-breaking vote.
Should the president ever die in office, resign, or be impeached and removed from office, the vice president is next in the line of presidential succesor and thus becomes the new president.

Legislative

The legislature of Verdelia is the Federal Congress. It is bicameral, with its lower house being the General Assembly, and its upper house being the Senate. These chambers have [number] and [number] seats respectively.

The General Assembly is generally meant to represent “the general population” of Verdelia. Assemblypeople have terms of 2 years, with all seats up for election when election occur, and don’t have any limits on how many terms they can serve. The General Assembly uses a form of mixed member proportional for its elections, with [number tbd] seats being directly elected constituent seats apportioned among constituent states by population, and [number tbd] seats being elected with a nation-wide party-list proportional system.
Although the constitution sets the default electoral system for constituent seats as single-member constituents utilizing first-past-the-post voting, constituent states do have the power to define the electoral system of the seats apportioned to them, including the option of proportional or multi-member district system; this means that some members of the General Assembly, although considered “constituent seats” in a constitutional sense, they may have actually been elected by proportional means.

The Senate is meant to represent the individual constituent states of Verdelia, which the general idea of ensuring equity in representation between states such that larger/more powerful states do not entirely dominate the political system or overshadow smaller/less powerful states. Each state is represented by a number of senators, with the maximum number of senators per state being 5. The particular number allocated is determined by comparing a given state’s population to a five-number summary of the average population-per-state. For example, if a state’s population is closest to the lower quartile of this average, it is given 2 senators, or if their population is closest to the maximum value of the average, it is given 5 senators. Although this system doesn’t produce completely equal representation among states and still gives favor to more populated states, the difference between states’ representation in the Senate is far smaller than in the General Assembly, thus giving less populated states a proprotionally larger amount of representation than they would otherwise have. This method was developed as a compromise between those who wanted extra representation to smaller states to ensure equity and those who did not want the political system to be potentially gridlocked by senators who represented a minority of the electorate.

The Federal Congress is responsible for the drafting and passage of legislation, with both houses needing to approve legislation by at least a simple majority in order to send it to the president, where if signed it becomes official law. The federal congress is able to override presidential vetos if it votes to by a 2/3 majority in either a joint session or in both houses.

The federal congress has significant power and influence over governmental finances in Verdelia, such as having the powers to manage taxation policy, regulate commerce, coin money and regulate the value thereof, and to borrow and spend money.

The federal congress must also review and then decide whether or not to approve presidential nominations to positions such as court judges or federal ministers. This requires both houses to approve with a simple majority.

The federal congress also has the power to enact impeachment against officials. When it comes to the impeachment of the President, the federal congress holds a joint session wherein all members of the congress draft and vote on a list of articles of impeachment, each article of impeachment needing a majority of votes from the joint congress. This is often considered the congress holding an in absentia trial of the president as congresspeople will typically bring in and debate over the validity of evidence when deciding what articles of impeachment should be adopted.
However, the actual conviction and removal of an impeached president is the responsibility of the Federal Court, which holds a more formal trial using the typical structure of a criminal trial as the justices deliberate over each of the articles of impeachment, which are more or less treated as criminal charges.

Although the President is the commander-in-chief of the Verdelian [military name tbd], the Federal Congress has much influence over warfare, as only congress has the power to formally declare wars, along with presidential nominations for war/military-related ministries requiring congressional approval, and the influence the federal congress has in the budgeting of the federal government, including military-related expenses.

The Federal Congress also has the power to initiate the process to amend the constitution, being able to approve proposed amendments if both houses vote in favor by a simple majority, but for an amendment to be actually adopted into the constitution it must first recieve a majority of votes by the citizens themselves in a nation-wide referendum.

Judicial

The judicial branch of Verdelia is the justice system comprising of the various courts and procedures, tasked with upholding the administration of fair justice, defending the rights of citizens, interpereting and handing out decisions based on the law, and resolving civil and/or legal disuputes between citizens.

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The Federal Court of Verdelia is considered Verdelia’s supreme court. As the final court of resort, its rulings are final and cannot be overturned by a lower court, a Federal Court decision only being able to be overturned either by new legislation or the Federal Court itself.

The Federal Court is a powerful and influential part of the Verdelian legal and justice system, as is not only interprets the law but also has the power to review laws and determine their constitutionality in relation to a case. Thus, if it hears a case of a defendant accused under a specific law and the Federal Court find the law in question itself unconstitutional, it may overturn the law.

The Federal Court consists of 15 Federal Justices that deliberate over cases. These Justices first acquire their positions by being both nominated by the president and approved by the Federal Congress, and upon acension they will serve terms of 10 years. At the end of these terms, a Justice will be subject to direct, nation-wide retention vote; if they do not recieve an approval of at least 60%, they will not serve an additional term, and they will have to be replaced by a new appointment. This system was derived to ensure that Justices were truly non-partisan and served the interests of the whole of Verdelia by being able to gain approval of a vast majority of Verdelians.

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Foreign Relations and Military

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Economy

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Culture

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Infrastructure

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