Izlegal

Izlegal, officially the Fifth Free Radical Revolutionary Republic of the territories of the Ethnic Izlegalians (commonly shortened to the Free Revolutionary Republic of Izlegal), is a landlocked country in eastern Alutra within the Serpentine region bordering the Union of Serpentine Republics on the east, Martland and Hilnizbors to the south, and Aquizireiki on the north and north east. The capital is Silburskip as well as being the largest city in population and commercial output. It stretches for 216,334 km2, majority of which is split by the Izlegal river in the middle and subdivided by 9 seperate provinces.

Once occupied by the Gožyar, the region known today as Izlegal fell under a collection of tribal migrations of the Aquizi and Izlegalian people during the early 1st century BC. Since then the area was under nomadic tribes of varying sizes before centralizing under a collection of tribal councils, the most influential of which being the gulþ Council formed by the tribe of the same name. They would later centralize as the titular kingdom of gulþ, creating a multitude of small city states across the length of the Izlegal river before succumbing to anarchy after the final king of the gulþ chieftain lineage, High Chief Eberwulf, passed away creating many successor cities. These cities and minor states fought for control over the region but were defeated by the city of Silburskip one of the most powerful dominions in the region, who reunified the Izlegalians and proceeded to form the Kingdom of Izlegal in 737 AD. The kingdom would grow to envelope the whole of the Izlegal river and stretch as far south as the Candac Mountains however notably failing to occupy the city of Hilnizbors, despite multiple campaigns. Izlegal would suffer numerous defeats and economic struggles the following century which would see domination by the First kingdom of the Aquizireikig. Izlegal would cease to exist after an ultimatum by the Aquizi kingdom in 891 for the marriage of the Izlegalian Queen Amalafrida to which she reluctantly accepted. Izlegal was absorbed and remained a part of the first and second Aquizi kingdom with only a short period of independence during the 12th century civil war under the short lived Duchy of Izlegal before reabsorbtion. Izlegal would remain a regional term again until 1857 following large uprisings demanding local representation whereupon a various collection of counties and municipalities were created for local representation. These proved lacking as there would be many more cries from representation within the Serpentine Commonwealth. Izlegal would be placed under a viceroyality in 1940 following the Commonwealth civil war in 1933. Almost immediately the viceroyality was overthrown following the disruption and outbreak of violence at the peace talks leading the military to declare themselves independent and began an effort of defense.

The independent military republic would have initial success before falling to internal pressures by opposing military members in the goal of reclaiming ethnically Izlegalian land. The country, while somewhat successful in external affairs, would suffer repeat setbacks in political stability over the following decades with a second coup in 1956, and a third in 1978 following gross military incompetance and near threats of reabsorbtion by the Aquizi republic. After reclaiming ground during the 1980's and 90's, instability encrouched again following a serious economic meltdown and assassinations of multiple members of the Izlegalian government. The military would initiate a coup in 2005 under the pretense of national security. While the situation was feared to cause additional conflict in the serpentine region, relations cooled after the signing of the Hilnizbors accords in 2011, bringing with it the first treaty to bring full stability to the region, something unseen since the 1940's. The military dictatorship, headed by Sigisvult Respa, was celebrated for it actions and has seen popular governance since. Many still, however, question about the return for democratic governance since Sigisvult's death and replacement by Heldebald Aoric in 2014. While successful in parts across it's independence, Izlegal has been noted as one of the most unsuccessful states within the Serpentine region, suffering from rampent corruption, and degredation of democratic functions, being the only state in the former commonwealth that lacks free elections. Izlegal continues to isolate itself from public affairs in an effort to fix internal instabilty, refusing to participate in any economic blocs outside of the serpentine and other internation organizations excuding the World Forum.

Etymology
Izlegal derives it's name from the Gožyar people name for the Izlegal river, meaning "wide valley river". While most Izlegalians didn't use the Gožyar name until the 19th century in which the gothic name Ahwadals was in use and remains as the coloquial name among Izlegalians, other national entities still referred to them by the Gožyar name.

Geography and climate
At 216,334 square kilometers, Izlegal is the smallest country and second smallest sovereign nation (ahead of Hilnizbors) in the Serpentine Region. The country is split almost in half by its defining natural feature, the Izlegal River, that stretches across its whole length and creates some of the border of Aquizireiki. This river splits the two major geographic regions of Izlegal of which there are three in total: the mountainous valleys of the east, the lowlands of the south west, and the plateau of the north west. Compared to the rest of the region's mountains, Izlegal holds the lowest high point at a peak of [NUMBER] m above sea level. The Izlegal river has been a defining feature of the region since its settlement by the Izlegalian people, who occupied the river and lived off of it for centuries and has been a source of political strife and divide during the regions time of the river kingdoms. The generally flat land of the Izlegal region permitted for the popular use of horseriding and cavalry, famously being some of the most proficient in the Unions army.

Climate
Izlegal is a very homogenous country with its climate, being in the region of the great grass belt, alongside Aquizireiki. Majority of Izlegal is classified under the Koppen model as cold semi-arid (BSk) with some rain shadows produced by the [Mountain] range creating two small cold deserts (BWk) in its east and north west. About 80% of the population live within the grassland climate. To the far south, Izlegal holds a small stretch of oceanic climate (cfb)

Government and politics
By de jure operation, Izlegal functions as a unitary presidential republic specified under it's original 1941 constitution and later ratified and expanded upon by the 1987 National proclaimation following the declaration of the Third republic. This constitution has been suspended however, since the 2005 Izlegalian coup and the installation of a caretaker government that was formerly under Sigisvult Respa and now currently overseen by Heldebald Aoric since 2014. The basis of this caretaker government was established under the National manifest which is interpreted and acts as the current constitution. Under the manifest, Izlegal functions with seperate and independant executive, judicial, and legislative offices that still function the same as they did prior to the coup. The Legislature, comprised of the unicameral Revolutionary Council, is a publically elected position with a chief representative as the leader of the major party of the council, currently occupied by Tanis Asbad of the Future Restorationist party. While the position of chief representative and party choice is still free to the public, restrictions including number of electable parties and only 2/3 of the seats of the council being publically electable with the remainder (41 seats of 121) chosen by the Advisory council.

The advisory council, a legislative and executive body introduced in 2006 with the national manifest, consisting of 12 advisors, is the location for the total concentration of national government powers. The council is an unelectable office consisting of high ranking authority of the National Revolutionary Army of Izlegal and is led by the Chairman of the Republic, currently Heldebald Aoric, who is the de facto head of state of Izlegal. All advisors of the council are given supreme authority over a specified department and can only be overturned in their authority by the Chairman. An advisors appointment to an office grants them overseer duties, most importantly the assurance of stability in all banches of government including the Judicial (headed by the Chairman of the National Court of Justice), Economic (through the National Workers Union), and Military (overseen by the Chairman of the National Revolutionary Army) fields of governance. The Advisory council was introduced so as to ensure radical and reactionary responses to government policies were restricted and maintained after the series of Assassinations and Radical Populist movements in the years preceeding the coup. Original estimates by Sigisvult Respa claimed the military caretaker government would resign from it's position after a decade, however the current state of governance has gone atmost unchanged for almost two decades and with no definitive answer on the conclusion of the current government has been given since.

Demographics
According to state based numbers, Izlegal possesses a population of 9,202,155. From this the country has a population density of approximately 42.54 km2 overall, much of it dispersed across the countryside due to low density in many of the nations cities excluding Silburskip, which alone holds 20.7% of the total Izlegalian population, and the provincial capitals. Around 62.5% of the total population live in one of the 9 provincial capitals located on or near the Izlegal river. Since the 1990's, Izlegal has had a steadily reducing fertility rate that stands at 2.53 in 2018

Ethnic groups
Izlegal is under a highly unitary culture of Izlegalian which comprises 82.8% of the total population, numbering at 7,619,384 native Izlegalians. This hegemony of the Izlegalian culture comes from the disputes over cultural territory that plauged the serpentine region for over seventy years. By the end of these wars, Izlegal had claimed all of the territory they deemed as rightfully Izlegalian. the smaller 17.2% consists of neighbouring serpentine nations including the Aquizireikigs (10.1%, around 929,417 people), Chijeres (6.2%, 570,533), and the Martic (0.9%, 82,819) people. Each of these groups are found near the borders, Aquizigs most commonly remaining in the north, while Marts and Chijeres exclusively remain in the southern half of the country, Marts typically remaining around the city of [City] near Hilnizbors. Izlegal does not allow groups outside of the Serpentine region into the country under their policy of international affair isolation. Serpentine cultures are only permitted due to the former decisions of the 6th republic in allowing the cultural freedom of movement for Serpentine nationals, and later as part of the agreement of the Hilnizbors accords.

Education
Izlegal has it that all citizens must attend an education institution from age 6 to 15. All schools are publicly owned and funded with only tertiary education charging tuition fees. The education system in Izlegal is largely underfunded causing discrepancies in education curriculum and school hours. Schools within cities and other locales of high population density typically use the full curriculum outlined by the board of educators and function for the full six hour day. Schools in the outskirts however are far more archaic due to their lesser funding. Some are only capable of teaching a portion or even know the contents of the year's curriculum and may only have half days due to teachers not receiving a full salary. This has caused an educational discrepancy leading to a considerable portion of the population being partially literate and not possessing some educational basics (maths, science, humanities) that are a common standard for most other nations. The most recent state reports have pegged the partial literacy rate at around 88% with only 43% of that being fully literate based on outlines by the education board.

Only a handful of universities exist across Izlegal. All require tuition fees due to the incapability of the state to fully fund the universities, despite being publicly owned. The universities are known to function typically better then their primary and secondary education counterparts, however, they have low enrollment rates with only 8.6% of the population having enrolled for a university at some point in their life. Only two universities in the country have generally consistent enrollment rates; Silburskip State University, and Naurþrsahwa Provincial University. Both are notably staffed by foreign professors and are generally claimed as being the best tertiary institutions in the country in terms of graduation rate and quality of education.

The Revolutionary Council has outlined they will tackle the discrepancies in education during stage III of the New way forward project which is slotted to be initiated in 2023 with the conclusion of stage II.

Language
Izlegal only recognizes Izlegalian as the official language of the republic and the only language used in any public institution. 97% of the population has been recognized as having a capable grasp of the Izlegalian language. 17.2% of the population personally claim a separate language as their first, this lining up with the minority groups and their respective language these being Chijeroiș, Marta, and Aquizi. Of these three, Aquizi is the only one that is partially recognized and is even permitted for some use in the northern provinces due to the high concentration of Aquizirekigs in the area.