Siqála

Siqála, officially the Republic of Siqála (Aswáqsta: Siqála Kaweqstálat), is a country in northern Vatupaya, in the continent of Vidina. It is surrounded by the Northern Ocean to the north, the Aila'ak Bay to the east, and the Gulf of Jetérja to the west. Insular Siqála comprises the Skóuks Archipelago, surrounded by the Siqálan Sea, and several outlier offshore islands. The country is divided into 15 states, with nearly 85% of the population being concentrated in southeastern region. As of 2023, Siqála has a population of 1,501,838 people, with nearly a third living in the capital city of Annué or its surrounding metropolitan area.

The Siqálan peninsula was first inhabited around 8,000 years ago by communities migrating from southern Vatupaya. Originally divided into two cultures, the Qalesé and the Aila'ak, the people inhabiting the region merged into a singular ethnolinguistic group around the 7th century BCE, the Aswáq. The Aswáq continued to expand across the peninsula, discovering and settling new territory, and living as a people group until the 2nd century CE. In the year c. 240, the First Aswáq Chiefdom is believed to have formed as an early form of  comprising the different tribes, led by Añuniaq. This chiefdom would collapse sometime around the early 5th century, after the death of chief Nóakstat. After the collapse, the Aswáq continued to develop and expanding for the following centuries, adopting a, early , more extensive , and basic , with the turn of the 11th century. By the 13th century, the Aswáq people were split between four major tribes: the Iqápe, the Ajék'ku, the Nauk'kon, and the K'qitsauak, with smaller communities, or outliers, living in present-day central Siqála, not belonging to any formal tribe. During the early 1300s, through a series of arranged marriages and political unions, the Ajék'ku, Nauk'kon, and K'qitsauak tribes joined under a single larger tribe, the Aysiwála.

Heavy exposure to foreign communities during the following centuries, led to the formation of the Kingdom of Iqápe in 1422, whose values were more aligned with that of southern Vatupic cultures than fellow Aswáq communities. As countermeasure, the Aysiwála formally established the Chiefdom of Aysiwála in 1437, challenging the dominance of Iqápe in the region. Seeking out to further their influence and power, Iqápe started the Northern Incursion in 1463, a plan consisting in the invasion of the outlier Aswáq communities of central Siqála. Aysiwála and Iqápe went to war over the territory until 1476. The Incursion created a hard territorial boundary between both countries, and resulted in a century of increasing tension, as the Kingdom of Iqápe continued to adopt harsher internal and external policies. This culminated in the Aswáq War, fought between 1537 and 1547, before coming to an end with the signing of the Pact of Atwaistáq.

The territory reorganized for a final time into a singular state, ruled as a, known as the Dominion of Siqála in 1694. The Aswáq people entered their first golden age, characterized by rapid economic, technological and political advancements, that lasted until 1813, before reaching a breaking point with the death of chief Kajésqa'awál VII in 1808. This launched the country into two decades of civil and political unrest before reaching the White Revolution of 1824. Though unsuccessful, the revolution became the catalyst for the 1865 Siqálan coup d'état, led by military commander Ak'jáwe Laáksaihjól. Under military rule, Siqála was turned into an under an, lasting for nearly half a century before the Siqálan Civil War in 1923. The military government was overthrown by the end of the civil war in 1927 and replaced by the newly established First Siqálan Republic.

Siqála became a dominion of Riyata during World War II following the country's second military coup in 1940 after president C'áwes Kjujárakaihjól's effort to support Ta'arohan dictator Amapytu Ubirata. The country regained independence following a in 1946, with presidential elections taking place the following year, electing Kjesás Eitákstasatáp as president. Eitákstasatáp's presidency brought about the constitutional reform of 1948 and the creation of the Second Siqálan Republic.

Today, Siqála is a with a  with higher  than the regional average. The country has one of the highest memberships in the world, and has maintained a  system since the early 2000s, providing  and  for its citizens. Siqála is one of the highest ranking countries in democracy, income and gender equality, and is the nation with the highest Human Development Index (HDI) in the world. Siqála has been a member of the Vatupic Treaty Community since 1947.

Etymology
The name "Siqála" derives from the Aswáqsta term meaning "land of the Aswáq". It was first employed on 15 March 1694 with the creation of the Dominion of Siqála, however, it did not enter common circulation until the start of the 18th century.

Politics and government
The Republic of Siqála is a  and, under a  and  form of government established with the 1948 constitutional reform. The Siqálan constitution divides the government in three branches:, , and.

The is vested in the presidents as joint. Presidents are not elected as one, but instead run as two separate candidates, and they are the first and second most voted. Both presidents cannot belong to the same, this is done as to prevent ideological uniformity in government and encourage active cooperation between members of different political parties. The President of Cabinet is the one responsible for appointing all the Secretaries to form the Cabinet and run the known as Departments, while the President of Congress is appointed Chairman at the Civil Congress, and has the power to  or pass all laws approved by the legislature.

Presidents have a 6-year term, during which they can be removed through by the Congress following a, but only as a coalition, this means, both presidents must be impeached in tandem for the removal to take effect. Because no president can hold the position at government for less than six years per constitutional law, in the event one president outlives the other one, the living party is automatically removed from their position, and the Congress then calls for emergency elections.

The comprises the  Civil Congress of Siqála (Aswáqsta: Jetakwáloqála), formed by 72 congresspersons or representatives. General elections for congresspersons are every 2 years during which the chamber's composition is renewed in thirds, making for a total term of any given member of congress that of six years.