Veikaia
Council Republic of Veikaia Veikejanka Consilo Republekca | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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Motto: “Kematori di mundua, kertajineri!” “Workers of the world, unite!” | |
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Anthem: Veikan International | |
 Land controlled by Veikaia in dark green | |
 Map of Veikaia | |
| Capital and | Ostovo |
| Official languages | Veikan |
| Religion | Triuvist gnosticism, Akiemism |
| Demonym | Veikan |
| Government | Federal one-party socialist council-republic |
• Chairman of the Table of Commissars | Opalo Minoto |
• Chairman of the Congress of Councils | Sari Klenesnero |
| Legislature | Congress of Councils |
| Establishment | |
• Establishment | November 28th 1979 |
| Area | |
• Total | 386,600 km2 (149,300 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2020 census | 61,465,465 |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Total | $939.7 billion |
• Per capita | $15,290 |
| HDI |
 0.853very high |
| Currency | Veikan Okiov (VOK$) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +011 |
| Internet TLD | .vk |
The Council Republic of Veikaia (Veikan: Veikejandeka Consilco Republekca), also known as the Council Republic or simply Veikaia is a self-described socialist state, formed from the former Veikan Kingdom during the last stages of the Veikan Civil War in 1979. The country is characterized by its market economy and council-based government system. It is a one-party state led by the Veikan Communist Party, with its headquarters in the capital city of Ostovo. Veikaia borders Litania, Mero-Curgovina and Pesellier to the south, X and Y to the east, Ostboland to the north-east and Mespalia and Ringerike across the sea to the north and west. It has an estimated population of over 62.4 million people and a GDP of $950 billion. Having extensive industrial and agricultural sectors, major exports include anthracite, iron, steel and other metals and alloys, metallic goods, natural gas, heavy machinery, consumer electronics, grain and cattle among others.
The Council Republic was declared on the 28th of November of 1979, near the end of the Veikan Civil War, after the city of Ostovo was seized from remnants of the Veikan Provisional Government and right-wing militia forces. The siege of Ostovo resulted in heavy damage to the city and the deaths of thousands of civilians, due to indiscriminate shelling and disputed war crimes. The conflict inflicted severe damage to the Veikan economy and infrastructure, but reconstruction aid sent by fellow Socialist nations such as Goetia. the URSA and Albel enabled mass economic recovery during what Veikan historians have named the "Reconstruction Period".
Since its foundation, the Council Republic has described itself as a democratic socialist state, holding elections for positions within the council hierarchy every 4 years, with only members of the VCP being allowed as candidates; no other parties are allowed to participate in elections beyond the VCP and factions within it. The state follows Najiluvism, a form of Communism characterized by a predominantly council-based semi-democratic system, market socialist economic policy, worker self-management of production and government decentralization.
Etymology
The country's name in Veikan, Veikejanka, means "Nation of the people of the Vei (river)" in Anglic. The Anglic name of the country is believed to be a simplification of the name Veikejanka into the much simpler name of "Veikaia", probably descended from the Litanian name for the Veikan people.
History
Early History
Human habitation in the region of modern day Veikaia prior to the arrival of Veikan tribes in the region was mostly composed of Geudic (Curgov, Östben and the local Veigeudic tribes in particular, among other minor cultures) and Litanian tribes and, later on duchies. These groups had inhabited the region through the bronze and iron age, as attested by archeological findings dating to the pre-Veikan era. The Geudic peoples inhabiting the area were highly influenced by tribes inhabiting what is now modern day Mero-Curgovina and Litania, with trade being a common occurrence, although conflict was also common.
The early historical records of the Veikan people are scarce, with most sources coming from oral tradition and epic poems. Early Veikan and Modrovian records point to historic interactions, with the ancient Veikan tribes being displaced by the migration of _ invaders in the early 9th century CE. Characteristically Veikan artifacts such as weaponry, pottery and the remains of small tribal settlements have been found by Modrovian archaeologists in several locations around the northern parts of the country, indicating that Veikan settlements used to exist in the region.
The increasing presence of _ peoples and an increase in violent conflicts forced most Veikan tribes to migrate north-west, towards the current territory of Veikaia. The initial wave of migrations displaced a number of small Geudic tribes in the north-east of the country and concluded in the creation of the first Veikan Kingdom, the Kingdom of Vipuski. Geudic settlements were repopulated by Veikans, indicated by retention and Veikanization of their original names. By the late 10th century the Veikan tribes within the Kingdom of Vipuski had a firm control of the north-eastern territories of modern day Veikaia.
Veikans and Geudics coexisted for several decades, but in the mid 10th century tensions started to mount between Veikans and surrounding Veigeudic, Östben and Curgov tribes due to resources and cultural differences, leading to open warfare between them and the expansion of the Kingdom of Vipuski until it encapsulated the majority of north Veikaia, which became the core center of Veikan population. Into the 11th and 12th century further minor skirmishes with Geudic tribes and small Litanian duchies in the south further expanded the control of the Veikans over the region that is now modern day Veikaia. The Kingdom of Vipuski had grown significantly in size, and with the ascension of Veislado I to the throne the Kingdom of All Veikans, or Kingdom of Veikaia for short, was declared in 1283 AD. Several large minorities of Geudics and Litanians, known in the modern day as Veigeudic and Litano-Veikans, continued to live under the Kingdom of Veikaia for most of its history, albeit decreasing sharply in number through the centuries from migration to the bordering regions that now compose the nations of Litania and Mero-Curgovina and suffering from less recognition as equal citizens of the country until recent history.
In the 11th century, Triuvist gnosticism was introduced into Veikaia through missionaries from northern Kesh. The Veikan tribes were remarkably receptive to the gospel of the Kesh missionaries according to sources from the time. This is mostly believed to have been caused by the many parallels between Gnostic doctrine and mysticism and the already incumbent beliefs of Veikan Akiemism. During the ascension of Triuvist Veislad I to the throne, a mass conversion of the Kingdom went underway in what became known as the Baptism of Veikaia.
Middle Ages
Veikaia remained a rather isolated state through the Middle Ages, only engaging in skirmishes with its neighbors and primarily attending to local issues and trade. A long period of relative stability emerged, with the nation's monarchs being concentrated on matters of the state and court rather than the expansionism or colonial pursuits emerging among Artemians in the late Middle Ages. This policy generated a general “Inward Culture” (Veikan: "Baraldea Kultura"), where interference in foreign affairs was deemed unworthy, mirroring the religious practices of the fledgling Triuvist church, while internal matters of the state were given focus.
Through most of the middle ages and early renaissance, the primary enemy of Veikaia were raiders from the kingdoms in what now is modern day Curnathica. Fierce and unyielding, these raiders posed a serious threat to anyone living in the border regions of the countryside, and until the 16th and 17th century their attacks were felt across the nation. Many times their raids destroyed entire villages or completely collapsed important trade routes. However, many Curgov families instead allied with the Veikan crown in exchange of aid and protection, this was one of the few exceptions to the Inward Culture, as the country found itself meddling in the matters of the Curgovs many times to ensure protection for their cities and trade routes to Merandy. Many border disputes were fought between the Veikan state and the many raiding kingdoms that slowly proceeded to settle inwards towards Veikaia through the period, as the borders of both nations were fluid up until the 18th century.
Land trade with the southern Merand kingdoms, specially the merchant kingdom of Corinz, was very important for the people of Veikaia. The stability of the southern trade routes dictated a lot of the living conditions of the urban bourgeois class, as goods such as silks, dyes and spices were imported from Kesh through the Merand kingdoms. Other goods such as Merand plate armor, weapons and later on canons were also imported for use by the armed forces of the Veikan Kingdom to supplement already locally produced goods. Through the early renaissance and late middle ages Merand trade routes were the only source of firearms and cannons that Veikaia could access.
The nation grew in this period to be a relatively powerful if isolated regional power and the royal family grew rich from a staunchly mercantile policy towards trade. The riches accumulated through trade into inner Artemia allowed the royal family to also accumulate considerable power over their subjects, slowly eroding the feudal system via central tariffs and intervention into an absolutist form of government- a system extant into the early 20th century. The central control of the monarchy over the nation allowed for the direct command over the whole country's economy and the further growth in wealth of the royal family. The late medieval and renaissance period are generally considered as the golden age of the Veikan Royal Family.
Early Modern Period
The 16th century saw the arrival of renaissance thought into the country. The arrival of printing press technology through the territories that now compose Litania allowed great strides into literacy and education — Although primarily for the wealthy bourgeois class, as peasants remained largely uneducated. The royal family, aristocracy and nobility were notable for their extensive patronage of the arts in the period. Particularly notable was the foundation of the Royal Academy of the Arts in 1543 by King Veislado II in an attempt to nurture new artists that would favor the creation of artwork for the royal family and nobility of the country.
Religious strife became common in this era as the nation's non-Triuvist christian religious minorities experienced several schisms and grew in numbers by comparison to the dominant Triuvist church. Triuvism itself saw the large scale codification of many oral traditions and the centralization of some aspects of religious life around the central rule of the Houbit of the Cathedral of the Giliotans in Birotobo. This saw some resistance from most Triuvists in the nation, who until then had enjoyed a large amount of religious freedom to practice their faith in any way they desired. Still, the power of the Houbit of Biratobo was tenuous at best, and syncretism and religious deviation from the norm remained relatively common.
The period also saw the radical increase in Veikan population in comparison to their Veigeudic counterparts in the central areas of the country. Part of the reason was the general lack of recognition and support for Veigeudic rights, and the push for ethnic Veikan settlement in many less populated areas of the country with government funding. The Veigeudic peoples were thoroughly disarmed and forced into subservience by the Veikan elites, which led to a number of minor uprisings through the period. While never outright forced into slavery, a large portion of serfs in the period were Veigeudic in comparison to the generally freer Veikan population.
The aforementioned development of the printing press allowed the spread of enlightenment ideas across Veikan underground intellectual circles, which until then had mostly been significantly suppressed by the royal government. Veikan scientists made a number of key discoveries in this period in the areas of physics and engineering, and political theory began to become popular in the nation. Ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, and constitutional government became widespread and started to become popular even amongst the uneducated peasantry. This is generally agreed to mark the beginning of the decline of the Veikan Royal Family and the Veikan Kingdom.
Veiko-Ovancian War
There was much friction between the Veikan Kingdom and the Empire of Ovancia mostly relating to the Litano-Veikan minority within Veikaia (which was much larger at the time), a minority which Ovancia considered should be annexed into the Empire. The issue of trade was also ever present, with Ovancia desiring to challenge the Veikan dominance of the entrance to the eastern Balearic sea. These tensions led to the start of the Veiko-Ovancian War of 1781, triggered by the surprise advance of Ovancian forces across the south-west Veikan border.
Ovancian forces had long planned an invasion of the region, and as they were expecting faced scattered and inadequate resistance from the ill-prepared Veikan forces, which were quickly scattered by the far superior organization and armaments of the Ovancian Empire. The Ovancian forces secured the south-western region of the country, including the modern day cities of Biratobo, Karco and Samita. Several attempts where made by Veikan forces to recapture the territories, all of which ended in failure and a large loss of human life on the Veikan side. As the war continued for a year and the Ovancian forces threatened to advance further and cross the Bukei river, which divides the country in its northern and southern part, the Veikan King was forced to negotiate peace with the Ovancians. As part of the treaty, The south-western Ovancia-bordering areas of the country which were at the time majority Litano-Veikan were transferred to the Ovancian Empire, which administered the regions as an occupied territory for several decades and later integrated them into Ovancia proper in the beginning of the 19th century. A large Veikan minority was left behind in the annexation of south-western Veikaia, which led to the invasion of Ovancia by the forces of the Kingdom in the ending stages of the Grand Campaigns and the re-occupation of the lost territories.
Overall the attack was surprising and caught the Veikan forces mostly unprepared. In recent years the country had begun to experience increasing amounts of liberal agitation and revolts which had the government distracted from the imposing threat of Ovancian aggression. After the loss of the territories the Kingdom was rocked by a harder wave of instability, the army found itself in disarray and severely lacking in manpower after the large scale casualties it suffered during the war, and the population was angered by the loss of territory believed to be an integral part of Veikaia. Many revolts sprouted out from the war in the coming decades, feeding into the Century of Revolution which happened several decades later, and were put down with much struggle from the country's devastated armed forces. Mutinies also became common in the army and navy, and the nobility became agitated and began to openly question the Royal Family.
Century of Revolution
The advent of the Industrial Revolution and urbanization in the early 19th century, new ideologies, the spread of the idea of free thought in West Artemia and the recent failures of the Veikan armed forces against Ovancia led to instability and an increasingly destructive cycle of mass revolts against the Veikan state. Starting with the Peasants' Revolt of 1812, where a number of peasants in the outskirts of the city of Viura rose up in revolt against what they deemed unfair tariffs and work conditions, comparing them to serfdom (only recently abolished in the late 18th century), demanding en masse better living conditions and wages. The Peasants' Revolt was swiftly crushed by the government's forces, but left a lasting image in the common consciousness of the Veikan population and inspired many revolts in decades to come.
By the middle of the 19th century, the introduction of Anarchism, Social Democracy and Communism into Veikaia further exacerbated the already-dire situation in the country, with many minor and major revolts ensuing as the Communist Party or Anarchist movements of Veikaia started to become formidable political forces. The greatest display of this would occur with the "Red February" of 1887, where a large portion of the city of St. Tomas was barricaded off by Communist, Anarchist and Social Democratic forces and faced off against the government for almost 2 weeks before being finally defeated by a large contingent of military conscripts in the city. Still, even when defeated, the St. Tomas communes sent a rippling effect through the nation that was felt all the way to the end of the Kingdom and to this day the date of the declaration of the first St. Tomas commune is celebrated by the Communist Veikan government as a national holiday under the name of "Resistance Day".
The century of revolution, even if crushed by the Kingdom's forces, left the monarchy in a state of disarray. It was finally proven that they did not have the power to properly fight against the uprisings that had become increasingly more common in past decades, and as such the monarchy took a hit that sent its popular support plummeting. The general population, and specially political figures in the opposition, were now aware that uprisings were not only possible, but had a large chance of being successful.
Grand Campaigns
Ostovo agreement
Constant internal struggle within the Kingdom began to erode the authority of government and military, with morale decreasing as the government found itself needing to conscript forces specifically to counter insurgents or major local uprisings. Conscripts abandoning their positions became common, and as the 1920s approached the crown found itself in a position where it could no longer properly respond to insurgency, forcing continual abortive concessions to public dissatisfaction. This state of affairs continued until 1921, when thousands of Liberals and Social Democrats armed themselves and marched into the capital of Ostovo, demanding their leaders be allowed to meet the King in person to negotiate terms for a new constitution, local elections, better ethnic rights for the country's minorities and greater public liberties. Lacking the military forces to respond to such a massive, heavily armed mob, the government folded and the Ostovo Agreement was reached after many days of meetings and deliberation, leading to the ratification of a new constitution and the creation of more autonomous local governments with publicly-elected officials. The Ostovo Agreement also secured complete equal rights for most minorities within the Kingdom. Still, many groups found this agreement to be non-satisfactory, especially communist forces, which continued their long-running terrorism campaign.
The Ostovo agreement sought to achieve better rights for the Veikan population, but its effectiveness has been debated. For example, in an attempt to reach across the board to the more conservative members of Veikan society, full democracy was not achieved by the agreement, instead a partial democratic system was reached where democracy could only be found in local politics and elections. The government at large was still authoritarian and the monarchy's power was still mostly absolute with few exceptions. This led to discontent among the Liberals and Social Democrats, who even when invited to negotiate were still not allowed most of their requests. Minor uprisings followed the Ostovo agreement but were all crushed by the monarchy's armies.
The agreement allowed the Kingdom enough breathing room to get back on its feet on internal affairs. The new rights granted to the country's Veigeudic and Litano-Veikan communities in the Ostovo Agreement calmed the nationalist portions of the groups for the most part, freeing the police force and military from the pressure of the almost weekly nationalistic terrorist attacks the nation suffered at the time at least temporarily. The liberal sector of society, while not fully satisfied with the results, nevertheless ceased their almost daily marches and public displays of disobedience. Social Democrats continued their agitation at a reduced level. It was only the communist and anarchist forces that continued actively fighting the government in any significant amount.
Veikan Civil War
Main article: Veikan Civil War
Veikaia's currently ruling party traces its origins to the People's Red Front, a Najiluvist guerrilla force active primarily on the highlands of the country's north from the early 1950s to the end of the Veikan Civil War in the late 1970s. The People's Red Front (or PRF) experienced a steady growth in support through the 1960s as national stability and support for the Veikan Kingdom steadily decayed and rebel activity grew exponentially. The Red Front engaged in a campaign of "Red Terror" through the 1960s and early 1970s through the use of bombings, assassinations and armed attacks on military installations, which led to the movement being labelled a terrorist organization by many states in Artemia. In the early 1970s dissent reached boiling point when the pro-democratic movement spearheaded a number of major protests and demonstrations across Southern Veikaia which led to the mobilization of the army and weakening of counter-insurgency operations in Northern Veikaia, leaving an open window for a major communist offensive which destabilized the Kingdom's military forces in the north.
The first major defeat of the Kingdom's forces led to a major increase in support for the PRF. As their forces advanced and captured several important positions and military bases many recruits, both locals and international volunteers, joined their ranks leading to a snowball effect that culminated in a significant communist military force forming. The communist forces engaged in a campaign of harassment of royalist forces through most of the war, slowly eroding the morale and manpower reserves of the enemy and causing an eventual mass-desertion from the armed forces that left the royalist forces standing on one leg. A fast offensive across the rest of the country's north allowed the PRF access to the sea and direct support from Goetia and the URSA, which supplied thousands of pieces of equipment. Captured royalist equipment was also used, sometimes modified with foreign Goetic heavy equipment.
The PRF and its allies continued to battle with the Kingdom's forces until the eventual collapse of the monarchy and the rise of the Old Guard government, which allied with far-right paramilitary forces and attempted to turn around the tide of the war. It was, however, too late as the momentum of the PRF's expansion turned them into an almost unstoppable force and Ostovo was captured in November 28th 1979, putting an end to the Veikan Civil War Veikaia.
Reconstruction Period
After the end of the civil war, Veikaia found itself in shambles. The war had caused immense damage to the country's infrastructure and almost the entirety of the country's industry had been geared entirely towards winning the war, which caused an economic crisis that rocked the nation as a whole. Entire cities had been destroyed by indiscriminate shelling such as the capital of Ostovo, which had to be almost entirely rebuilt. This period of veikan history is referred to as the “Reconstruction period”.
A huge reconstruction campaign was launched by the central government with the objective of rebuilding the country's damaged infrastructure, revitalizing its dying economy and quelling dissent from what remained of the opposition. This was funded mostly by Goetia and the URSA, nations that had supported the country through the civil war with equipment and volunteers. The reconstruction led to mixed but mostly positive results as the country was slowly but surely rebuilt through this massive operation.
The 80s saw some level of resistance to communist rule by a portion of the population in the form of protests and civil disobedience. Minor acts of violence also happened across the nation's cities with riots. As the economy was slowly shifted from military production into the production of civilian goods, the country was unable to match the needs of the population when it came to food production through the early 1980s, this led to minor famines across the country that killed many thousands of people, primarily those living outside the country's cities which had undergone a rationing system to properly feed the population.
General consensus agrees the reconstruction period ended in the early 2000s, with the reconstruction of Ostovo being announced over and most of the country's infrastructure restored to prewar levels. Industrial production reached prewar levels in 1997, transportation infrastructure was fully restored to its prewar state in 1998, the mass famines had already ended by 1984 and the country was relatively stable by 1990, albeit still under reconstruction.
Geography
The Council Republic of Veikaia is located in the eastern part of West Artemia, bordering Litania, Mero-Curgovina and Pesellier to the south, X and Y to the east, Ostboland to the north-east and Mespalia across the sea to the west. The nation occupies the territories of what used to be the Kingdom of Veikaia, covering a total of 136,880 km2.
The country offers a relatively uniform topography, being primarily composed of hills, steppes and plains. Veikaia is one of the flattest countries in Anterra. Several rivers can be seen across the surface of Veikaia, but the largest and most important (Both geographically and culturally) river is considered to be the river Vei, crossing across the capital of Ostovo and giving the Veikan and Veigeudic people their name. The southern regions of the country are characterized by being primarily flat, rolling plains covered in forests of varying densities while the northern areas of the country are composed of hills and steppes. A lot of the country's dense forests have been deforested to accommodate for the country's blooming, large agricultural sector which has led to concerns from conservation organizations that this large scale deforestation might cause the extinction of several local species of flora and fauna.
Climate
The climate of Veikaia is mostly continental, with temperatures reaching as low as -5°C on the harshest winters and reaching up to 18°C or 20°C on summer. Winter is generally mild with average humidity and precipitations while summer is generally cool and moist with annual rainfall of approximately 500 to 700 mm. Climatological natural disasters are rare, with mild flooding being the only danger that could be experienced in Veikaia. Snow is very common during winter, blanketing the country in a layer of snow every year, with the amount of snowfall experienced depending on the region and ranging from relatively thin layers of sleet to higher concentrations of snow that can make transportation difficult.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.3 (50.5) |
13.6 (56.5) |
19.8 (67.6) |
29.7 (85.5) |
30.2 (86.4) |
32.4 (90.3) |
35.6 (96.1) |
35.0 (95) |
30.5 (86.9) |
24.0 (75.2) |
16.0 (60.8) |
10.2 (50.4) |
35.6 (96.1) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −2.1 (28.2) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
3.0 (37.4) |
12.3 (54.1) |
18.0 (64.4) |
21.9 (71.4) |
23.7 (74.7) |
22.4 (72.3) |
16.0 (60.8) |
10.4 (50.7) |
2.5 (36.5) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
10.7 (51.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.4 (24.1) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
-0 (32) |
7.6 (45.7) |
13.9 (57) |
16.6 (61.9) |
18.5 (65.3) |
17.0 (62.6) |
12.2 (54) |
6.0 (42.8) |
0 (32) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
3.1 (37.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −6.3 (20.7) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
2.9 (37.2) |
8.6 (47.5) |
11.0 (51.8) |
13.0 (55.4) |
12.4 (54.3) |
8.0 (46.4) |
3.5 (38.3) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
3.9 (39) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −39.9 (−39.8) |
−35.4 (−31.7) |
−30.2 (−22.4) |
−18.4 (−1.1) |
−5.0 (23) |
-0 (32) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
−12.7 (9.1) |
−20.0 (−4) |
−30.3 (−22.5) |
−39.5 (−39.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 45 (1.77) |
39 (1.54) |
44 (1.73) |
42 (1.65) |
65 (2.56) |
89 (3.5) |
89 (3.5) |
68 (2.68) |
60 (2.36) |
52 (2.05) |
48 (1.89) |
49 (1.93) |
690 (27.17) |
| Source: Veikan Commissariat of Internal Affairs | |||||||||||||
Biodiversity
Veikaia has a varied amount of fauna thanks to its large areas of forests and lightly touched wilds, ranging from Artemian brown bears commonly used in regional and historical royal heraldry to roe deer, grey wolves, rabbits, wild boars, lynxes and moose. Many species of owls and eagles can be spotted across the country's wilderness. Most of the bear population in the country can be found in the northern areas of the country across the highland taiga, while wolves are generally found in the southern mixed forests. The country's rivers and sea are home to species of salmon, sturgeon, herring, trout, pike and smelt among many others. Mink and otters also live in and around the country's lakes and rivers. Many species extinct in other areas of Artemia can be found roaming Veikaia's forests.
Much of Veikaia is covered in forests, primarily highland taiga on the north and sarmatic, mixed, deciduous and coniferous forests to the south. The most common species of trees found in the country are oak, poplar, willow and pines among others. Forests cover up around 30% of the country's territory, and are a refuge for most of the country's wild life.
Criticism has been levied against the country for its lack of solid policy on biodiversity protection. The rivers, lakes and forests of Veikaia are home to rare species of animals that cannot be found outside the state and thanks to the encroaching industrial development of the nation, said biodiversity finds itself in danger of being eliminated. Many environmentalist organizations have demanded the government take action in protecting the country's biodiversity, but so far said demands have fallen on deaf ears.
Government and Politics
As a Council Republic, the Veikan Government is composed of a hierarchy of decentralized assemblies going from the lower local levels to higher supreme one. The country is divided in local, city, regional and national councils each having a level of autonomy and control on their assigned working areas. Members of the party selected by their local communities are elected in a 5 year basis for positions in their assigned local council, members of said local council can be elected by their city council for positions within it and so on. Still, even when decentralized, the national council holds the power to dissolve minor assemblies, call for Party Congresses, override orders by lesser councils and other rights as to maintain what the Veikan Constitution calls "Ideological Unity".
Legislative Power is held by the unicameral Congress of Councils, the principal national council. The 600 members of the Congress of Councils are elected by each Provincial Council every 5 years like every other council in the nation. They are tasked with the passing of laws and assignment of members to the Table of Commissars, the executive branch of the state. The Congress of Councils also holds major power over the other councils under it and the Table of Commissars, being able to dissolve them by passing a motion of no confidence. Through all Veikan history under communism a motion of no confidence has never been passed, but has been threatened several times. A Chairman of the Congress of Councils is also elected to function as the representative of the Congress and Head of Government. Special seats in the congress are reserved for representatives of the Armed Forces and members of political organizations such as the Veikan Women's League, Veikan Federation of Trade Unions and Najiluvist Youth.
Executive power is held by the Table of Commissars and its chairman, elected by the Congress of Councils also every 5 years. Each member of the Table of Commissars is tasked with managing an specific commissariat. Currently, 5 commissariats exist:
- Commissariat of Defense
- Commissariat of State Security
- Commissariat of Internal Affairs
- Commissariat of Foreign Affairs
- Commissariat of Education and Sciences
- Commissariat of Justice
- Commissariat of Food
- Commissariat of Finance
- Commissariat of Education and Sciences
- Commissariat of Health
- Commissariat of Agriculture and Industry (Also known as the Commissariat of Economic Affairs)
Aside from the Commissars, a Chairman of the Table of Commissars is also selected. The Chairman is generally, but not always, also the Chairman of the Communist Party. The Chairman of the Table of Commissars works as the Head of State of Veikaia.
Finally, Judiciary power is held exclusively by the Communist Party and its Party Commissars, who work in a similar manner to judges in western democracy but answer directly to the Party Head and the Congress of Councils. The judiciary is divided in the National Judiciary Council which governs over national scale matters, regional judiciary councils which govern under them, the military judiciary council which deals with matters of the armed forces such as desertion, crimes while in service and others, and the party judiciary council which answers directly to the Communist party and deals with political crimes.
Veikan Communist Party
The only legal political party in Veikaia, the Veikan Communist Party (VCP) holds extreme power over the state. For example, all candidates for government have to be vetted by a special council within the party before they can run in local or national elections. The party's official ideology is Najiluvism, a Duvalist ideological current founded by Gabril Najiluvo. The Party is governed by a central party committee with the objective of maintaining ideological adherence to communism, ensure control over the state's mechanisms of government and furthering the Najiluvism tenet of communist internationalism.
The Veikan Communist party traces its origins to the 1890s, where the All Veikan Labour Party was founded in Ostovo's underground political scene. In 1922 the party split due to disagreements between Social Democrats and Communists, leading to the creation of the Veikan Communist Party, or VCP. Illegal at the time, the VCP grew exponentially in size as the decades went by, eventually becoming a major fighting force in the Veikan Civil War.
Factionalism is common and tolerated to an extent within both the party and government; several factions within the Communist Party work almost as parties of their own within it. The major Factions of Veikaia are the Najiluvists, Market Communists, Duvalist-Wagnerists and Democratic Socialists, with the most popular among them being the Najiluvists, holding an almost permanent majority since 1979, and the least popular the Democratic Socialists. During election times, these factions within the party are known to campaign in a way similar to that of western democratic parties.
Administrative divisions
After the civil war, the country's old subdivisions were scrapped and replaced with new, federal-styled and much smaller subdivisions based on the new system of government in the country. Each of the country's 19 provinces is governed by a provincial council with jurisdiction over the entire territory of its assigned province and all rural and urban councils under it. Administrative authority is given to an appointed governor, in turn approved by the central Congress of Councils and tasked with the day to day administration of the province. Each federal province has its own constitution and set of laws separate from other provinces, the only restriction provinces within Veikaia encounter is that none of their laws must go in contradiction with federal laws or the constitution. There are 2477 Rural and Urban Councils within the country, which are its second level subdivisions. These Rural and Urban councils are further subdivided into Town or Village and Communal Councils respectively. All provincial councils are constitutionally defined as mutually equal in rights and duties.
Foreign Policy
Foreign relations are under the jurisdiction of the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs but may also be handled by the Congress of Councils or Chairman Commissar under special occasions. Day to day operations however fall entirely within the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. Veikaia's relations with most of its neighbors are tense, specially with the nations of Mero-Curgovina and Litania. Relations with its northern neighbor, Ostboland, however have normalized since the end of the Veikan Civil War and both nations now enjoy normalized relations.
Veikaia has largely held a policy of Najiluvist internationalism since its inception as a socialist state. This has put it at odds with most anti-communist states in Artemia which view Veikaia as a threat to Artemian stability. This policy of internationalism has led to Veikaia forming strong bonds with communist states across Anterra, specially with Goetia and the URSA, the later of which is its strongest ally. Economic and military integration within the Goetian-URSA-Veikaia sphere is one of the main concerns of the Veikan government in the field of foreign policy.
In recent years however Veikaia has begun to move away from its interventionist, internationalist policy in favor of further integration into the larger Artemian sphere and easing relations with its neighbors. A campaign of detente with its neighbors has led to increased cooperation and the alleged agreement to support the stability of Artemia in the name of international cooperation. This however has not stopped the nation from supporting its interests outside the continent. This new policy has caused tensions to flare up between Veikaia and Goetia and the URSA
Veikaia is one of the founding members of the International Movement for Socialism, being one of the main pillars of the organization. As a member of the IMS, Veikaia participates in various international events and meetings and its military has participated in international military exercises with the nations of Goetia and the URSA in the past. The nation is heavily integrated into the IMS trade network, being one of the primary suppliers of goods to socialist states across the world after Goetia and the URSA. Veikaia is also an important member of CISTO, having joined the organization later into its creation.
| Country (Feel free to add your own country here) | Status | Current state of relations | Mutual Embassies | Visa Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Goetia
|
Allied | Ruling party is member of the International Movement for Socialism | Yes | No |
 URSA
|
Allied | Ruling party is member of the International Movement for Socialism | Yes | No |
 Albel
|
Allied | Ruling party is member of the International Movement for Socialism | Yes | Yes |
 Aftarestan
|
Allied | Ruling party is member of the International Movement for Socialism and CISTO | Yes | Yes |
 Kaya
|
Friendly | Friendly relations established after the end of the Veikan Civil War. | Yes | Yes |
 Tiperyn
|
Strained | Strained relations established after the end of the Veikan Civil War. Recognized sovereignty of the Veikan Kingdom in lieu until 2004. | Yes | Yes |
 Alva
|
Strained | Strained relations established after the end of the Veikan Civil War. Also recognized sovereignty of the Veikan Kingdom in lieu until 2004, following Tiperyn. | Yes | Yes |
 Yarova
|
Strained | Yes | Yes | |
| File:Lonk darket.png Modrovia | Strained | Strained relations established after the end of the Veikan Civil War. | No | Yes |
 Litania
|
Strained | Relations strained since the end of the Veikan Civil War but also historically uneasy due to territorial tensions related to the local Litano-Veikan minority. | Yes | Yes |
 Zahava
|
Strained | Strained relations due to Najiluvist policies being viewed as being against the key principals of the Zahavan faith | No | Yes |
 Mero-Curgovina
|
Neutral | Though not openly hostile Mero-Curgovina is reluctant to embrace any close relations with a nation that would be on the opposing side in an Artemian hot war and has history of conflict. However, there is no cultural animosity. | Yes | Yes |
Military
The Workers' Revolutionary Army, also know as the WRA or Veikan Armed Forces in most of Anterra, function as the armed forces of the Council Republic. The WRA consists of the Workers' Revolutionary Ground Forces, Workers' Revolutionary Air Forces and the Workers' Revolutionary Naval Forces primarily. The Armed Forces answer directly to the Commissariat of Defense and the Chairman of the Table of Commissars the latter functioning as the Commander-in-chief.
While the WRA maintains a large reserve and active force, the country has significantly demobilized and downsized its army since the end of the Veikan Civil War. The primary objective of the WRA is the defense of the nation's territorial integrity and interests both locally and abroad. Military integration with several key members of the IMS is also one of the chief goals of the WRA within recent years, with military exercises and exchanges being a commonplace occurrence in recent years.
Women are constitutionally allowed to serve in the military "In Defense of the Najiluvist Revolution" as volunteers according to law, although they are rarely allowed in front line combat positions by recruiters in practice. Women are generally relegated to non-combat roles, but exceptions have been made in several occasions, specifically with the Veikan Women's Revolutionary Battalions. Veikan Women's Revolutionary Battalions are a gender segregated, entirely female force which has been used extensively in Veikan propaganda. They trace their origins to the Veikan Civil War, where several Women's Battalions were spontaneously formed to fight by women loyal to the Red Front. These battalions however rarely saw direct front line combat in practice, being mostly relegated to garrison and anti-partisan duties. In the modern day the Veikan Women's Revolutionary Battalions are primarily used in parades and as a garrison force to protect military installations.
Conscription has been legal and actively enforced in Veikaia since the inception of the Council Republic, with a large conscript base supporting the primary volunteer force. Veikan conscripts serve for 12 months at a minimum and are selected for service between the ages of 18 and 28, with every citizen being expected by law to serve their 12 month period within the armed forces. Conscripts are prohibited from being deployed abroad, serving exclusively as a defensive force, but some exceptions have been made. Women, while technically allowed within the armed forces, are not subject to conscription.
Veikaia possesses a strong industrial base which produces a large amount of the country's military equipment. Even then many imports dating as far back as the 1930s through 1940s are still in active use by all branches, albeit heavily modified in the case of active divisions. The Veikan Defense industry is able to produce individual and crew served weaponry, artillery, armored vehicles and tanks among others, but suffers from an underdeveloped air and naval industry relying mostly on foreign imports. The majority of imported military equipment comes from Goetia and the URSA, with other industrial nations members of the IMS also selling weapons and ammunition to the state.
The Veikan Communist party exerts control over the Armed Forces through several mechanisms; Only party members can reach higher officer positions within the Armed Forces and Party Commissars have been directly integrated into the armed forces in a similar way to military police to exercise party discipline on dissenting officers and enlisted personnel. Conscripted and Professional soldiers are screened disloyalty before being allowed to serve and must also go through lectures on Duvalism. These aggressive policies have led to a large number of officers loyal to the Party and its ideology, even if most enlisted personnel are not active members of the VCP. Still, factionalism within the Communist party has also caused friction within the armed forces and its officers.
Veikaia is generally considered to be a latent nuclear state. It possesses the materials, expertise and technical capacity to make nuclear weapons at will if deemed necessary but its government has actively gone against the idea as to avoid making Veikaia a possible nuclear target in the event of an international war. Veikaia has a number of nuclear reactors built under the URSA and Goetia's supervision in the mid 2000s and imports nuclear material primarily from Goetia, as it lacks a local source of uranium in high enough quantities. The country's nuclear latency has caused worry among some of its neighbors, but Veikaia's consistent avoidance of producing a nuclear arsenal has put most concerns at rest. Veikaia has been open to international NGOs when it comes to their possession of nuclear weapons in an attempt to prove their non-nuclear status since the year 2011. As of 2019 no nuclear weapons or infrastructure to produce said nuclear weapons have been found by said NGOs within the country.
Law
Veikaia is governed by a supreme Constitution based on the principle of civil rights and governed by the code of civil law, it establishes standards for governance and how the Council Republic must function. The Constitution also lists the rights and obligations of all Veikan citizens. It is one of the few in the world to stress the citizens' rights to bear arms and organize themselves in protection of the Council Republic against both foreign and internal threats, even if this right has its limitations. Overall the constitution stresses the need for a single party government, guarantees limited democratic rights to the population, solidifies the Communist Party's position of power within the state, ensures rights to all ethnic minorities within the country, acknowledges personal property rights and guarantees the right to form trade unions and strike. These rights however have been violated in several ocassions by the central government.
The judiciary is composed of two levels, the National Judiciary Council and several other Regional Judiciary Councils. The Veikan Communist Party also has its own judiciary council separate from the state councils, which is used to judge crimes related to the party. National judges are appointed by the Congress of Councils and can also be dismissed by it. Regional judges are appointed by the National Judiciary Council and cal also be dismissed by it.
Veikaia has a low homicide rate at 0.7 murders per 100,000 people, as of 2018. Rape, assault and violent crime remain at a very low level, although not all cases are recorded by the authorities. Other crimes are more common but still on the lower side of the scale.
Law enforcement and emergency services
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Law enforcement is primarily handled provincially by each province's own Red Guard and Militia divisions. The Red Guards are a direct descendant of the Civil War era Red Guard Battalions. Said battalions functioned as pacification and military police forces in occupied territory which protected the land from bandits, insurgents and partisans. The modern Red Guards are a militarized policing force, equipped with firearms ranging from handguns to submachine guns and battle rifles, with assistance from helicopters and APCs. The Red Guards are a heavily decentralized force, with each province's Red Guards battalions answering only to the local government and in case of emergency to the Congress of Councils itself. A national-level Red Guard force also exists, answering exclusively to the national government. They also have several subdivisions on the national level that handle terrorism, cyber-crime, intelligence gathering and corruption among others. The Red Guards are generally given jurisdiction over general provincial lands and large to medium sized urban centers. Overall they function as a form of high level policing force similar to a gendarmerie tasked with more dangerous, specialized operations than the militia.
Red Guards are notable for their highly militarized nature, being armed with military surplus and gifts from the armed forces. Their decentralized nature and history as a military force during the civil war has led to some tensions rising between provincial branches of the Red Guards. Through the chaos of the early 1980s provincial governments were reported to have used Red Guard detachments for what became known as "Dirty Operations", where Red Guards operatives sabotaged rival members of the Communist Party and other provincial governments in the name of their assigned province. These "Dirty Operations" were cracked down on by the national Red Guards and became rare as the government and economy stabilized into the 1990s. By the 2000s the system functioned with only minor issues.
A secondary, significantly less militarized policing force exists known as the Militia. The Militia is tasked with everyday law enforcement work across the country. They answer directly to the provincial government and are subservient to the Red Guards in most cases. The Militia was created with the objective of being a smaller and lighter force capable of faster response in more remote areas of the country or where the full strength of the Red Guards is not needed, being composed generally of people selected from the local population. Most large cities have communal Militia forces to police over minor disputes and criminal offenses.
Emergency services in Veikaia consist of the national medical emergency services, search and rescue services provided by the armed forces, and state fire service. All emergency services personnel are uniformed and security services can be easily recognized during regular patrols in both large urban areas or smaller suburban localities.
Human rights and corruption
Human rights have been a topic of debate and criticism from international observers and pro-democracy and human rights activism groups. Veikaia has been consistently described as a semi-democratic autocratic system, where elections are too surveilled and controlled to be considered truly free. Still, by comparison to other socialist states in Anterra, and specifically in Artemia, Veikaia affords its citizens more political and civil rights in the form of regulated universal elections. While some level of freedom of expression is permitted, a number of laws limit it in regards to statements that go against what is described as "The socialist ideals" of the Veikan revolution: That is, anything deemed counter-revolutionary in nature. It has been posited by activist groups that the definition of "Counter-Revolutionary" is generally "twisted" to fit what the current ruling government deems most favorable to its rule.
While large scale purges have been absent since the end of the Veikan Civil War, most publicly known figures that pose ideas that go against the Veikan Communist Party's many ideologies are forced into exile, arrested indefinitely or made to disappear. Sham courts are a common way to target political dissidents, with their purpose according to the government being "Not to prove a crime was committed – such a fact is already decided by the authorities – but to provide a form of agitprop". Journalism is also heavily regulated, with most non-state managed forms of media suffering from heavy regulation on the topics they may cover, the wording they can use and the political affiliation their journalists must follow. Censorship is also common, with every major private media company requiring a censor selected by the communist party. Access to the internet is somewhat regulated, with several websites being blocked by internet providers under orders of the government.
Corruption is a latent problem in the country. Cronyism and skimming are the primary and most common forms of it, with many describing the rampant corruption of the management sectors of large cooperative companies and industries as an open secret. These issues were specially rampant in the early infancy of the Council Republic, with bribes reaching exorbitant levels in the early 1980s and notable portions of foreign aid disappearing into overpriced infrastructure projects. By the mid 1990s the issue was still a problem but had settled to a more stable level, generally agreed to be due to the stabilization of the nation's government. Corruption has historically been a major issue with the nation since the early and mid 20th century thanks to the weak grasp of the royalist government over the economy and government, with tax evasion, cronyism, bribes and even police-based organized crime being major issues.
Anti-corruption campaigns become common after a 2001 study showed that over 10% of the national GDP was lost to corruption in the past 20 years. Following this report the Congress of Councils began a large scale anti-corruption effort to purge the lower levels of government of largely ignored corruption problems.
Demographics
The 2020 census recorded a total population of 61,465,465 people, primarily composed of ethnic Veikans but also having a significant Veikan Geudic and Veikan Litanian minority, primarily located within the south-east and south-west of the nation respectively, and a number of other ethnic and religious minorities thanks to the country's open immigration policy. A very large portion of the population lives within the capital of Ostovo and other major urban centers, specially after the government's post civil war campaign of urbanization.
Veikaia has for most of its modern history been primarily composed of ethnic Veikans, but a large minority of Geudic and Litanian Veikans descended from medieval era peoples native to the region live within the country, and have been granted equal rights relatively recently within the country's history in the early 20th century. Another minority within Veikaia are Veikan quakaliqs, who are descended from both immigrants and historical slave populations within the country.
Veikan Geudics, known primarily by the name Veigudics, are the largest minority in the country with a total population of around 5 million people. They inhabit primarily around the south-east of the nation and have a distinct set of traditions and a culture that separates them from the Veikan majority. They, nevertheless, have experienced a certain amount of cultural assimilation through history. This assimilation is primarily displayed in the Veigeudic people's language, a member of the East Geudic language family, which has absorbed a number of pieces of lexicon from the Veikan language. Veigeudic are descended from ancient geudic tribes and petty kingdoms in the central and south-eastern region of modern day Veikaia, which were conquered through the 11th to 14th century by the advancing Veikan Kingdom of Vipusk. The rights of Veigeudic peoples in Veikaia have been respected and attacked depending on the ruling government, with historical monarchs supporting and going against the Veigeudic people's rights. In the modern day Veigeudic rights are respected by the Veikan Government, with some Veigeudic Autonomous Zones existing within provincial boundaries in some Veikan provinces.
Litano-Veikans, on the other hand, are a much smaller minority. Most Litano-Veikans emigrated to the territories that now compose Litania through history instead of remaining within Veikaia. The original Litano-Veikan duchies that composed the south-western part of the territories of modern day Veikaia were conquered in the 14th century by the Kingdom of Vipusk. Litano-Veikans are a more insular group than Veigeudics and are generally of a higher class upbringing than their geudic counterparts, being historically a large part of the south-western Veikan intellectual and bourgeois sphere. A large portion of the Litano-Veikan people emigrated from Veikaia towards Litania through the nation's reconstruction period, mostly due to the country's ongoing repression of wealthy citizens and the seizing and redistribution of private property by the Veikan communist government. In the modern day Litano-Veikans only make up approximately 300 thousand people within Veikaia, with a large minority living within Litania.
As of 2021, birth rates in the country remain among the highest in Western Artemia, at 11.8 births per 1000 people, and a death rate of 9.1 per 1000. However, the average life expectancy in the country is of 77 years, being shorter than the Artemian average. The total fertility rate of the country is around 1.80 children per woman. These overall statistics depict Veikaia as a growing nation with a young population.
Education
The vast majority of Veikan adults are literate and have finished primary and secondary education, with many seeking tertiary and university education. Education in Veikaia is free and universal, being available to all those living within the country and, in the case of some universities, even those living abroad. Free and universal education is guaranteed by the constitution, alongside other rights. Complete primary and secondary education are compulsory, with options for adults who have not yet completed them. A pre-school education system exists but is entirely optional and generally unpopular, with only two fifths of children within pre-school age actually attending it. The Commissariat of Education and Sciences is responsible for all education within the country, and receives a large portion of the country's funding budget.
Private education does not exist in the country, with all private institutions being seized and made public after the end of the Veikan Civil War alongside most other forms of private property. After the end of the Veikan reconstruction era, access to education and the rate of literacy rose sharply thanks to the new government's campaign of education reform. The past royal government had neglected education in the nation, which led to below-average literacy rates for the standards of the era with some areas of the country having literacy rates under 60%. In the modern day, however, 99.4% of the population is literate and all children in the nation have access to primary and secondary education.
A number of special classes are required within the Veikan curriculum in all secondary schools of the country. These classes include "Civics Class", which teaches students the basic tenets of Duvalism and how the nation's system of government functions among other topics. Sex education is also mandatory in secondary school, with some conservative members of government opposing it. Foreign observers have accused the Veikan education system of feeding propaganda to children, a claim that has been denied by the Veikan government in several occasions.
Higher education while not legally mandatory is seen as very important by Veikan society and is pursued by most of the population, with 58% of the Veikan population being tertiary-level graduates. Admission to higher education institutions is generally easy and open, with very little competition. This has led to Veikan Universities becoming the primary option for those living in countries where tertiary education is prohibitively expensive. Most degrees take 5 years to complete but may take longer or shorter spans of time depending on the degree.
Health
Prior to the Veikan Civil War health conditions in Veikaia were inferior to its neighboring states and even Artemia at large, largely due to neglect from the central royal government of the healthcare system, which was largely private with very few public or free options available to the poorer sectors of society. After the civil war the new communist government launched a large scale public healthcare reform campaign that rapidly increased the conditions of the Veikan lower classes in the nation, this project was largely funded by Goetia and the URSA as Veikaia was still suffering from a lack of basic resources thanks to the recent and highly destructive civil war.
Healthcare is universal and free as guaranteed by the Veikan constitution for all those residing within Veikaia. Health falls within the hands of the Commissariat of Health, which deals with the day to day administration of the country's large healthcare system. Private healthcare does not exist within the country in any significant amount, with only small clinics generally located in more rural areas of the country where public healthcare has not arrived yet, being privately owned and all large scale hospitals being owned and managed by the state or public cooperative-styled organizations.
While generally seen as high quality, healthcare within the nation still falls short in some areas (Specially rural areas of the country) and the general health of the population has been declining through the years due to several causes. A worrying number of people die of preventable causes such as alcohol poisoning and smoking. Additionally, obesity and systemic high blood pressure are also challenges that the healthcare system has started to face recently. Very high alcohol consumption rates have been an historical issue within the country which has not been properly addressed by the government, Veikaia being one of the countries with the highest rate of spirits consumption.
Religion
Veikaia is a secular state according to its constitution, but freedom of religion is not protected by it. Still, many laws ratified by the Congress of Councils assure a certain level of protection for religions by the state, albeit it is seen as subpar in comparison to states such as the neighboring Mero-Curgovina. The predominant religion in Veikaia is Triuvist gnosticism, with over 76% of the population belonging to it, but a number close to 53% actually observe it. Prominent religious minorities in the country include Dyulik Shamanists, Muslims, Marian Church of Agrana y Griegro and a growing irreligious minority. The Council Republic has a policy of limited religious tolerance towards Triuvists but cases of religious intolerance towards Dyulik and Muslim communities by the government have been denounced by international human rights organizations in multiple occasions.
Prior to the emergence of Triuvist gnosticism, Veikan tribes followed Akiemism, a dualistic pagan religion that was largely abandoned with the unification and mass conversion of the country to Messianism after the ascension of Veislado I to the throne. A modern and revived variant of Akiemism is still practiced to this time by a very small minority within the nation.
Urbanization
Urbanization through the history of the country has been low. Up until the industrial revolution reached Veikaia in the late 19th century the country's population primarily lived spread out in rural areas of the country, living in towns and villages. Through the 20th century there was a slow but steady increase in the population of urban centers, as people migrated towards cities in search of jobs, education and other benefits that the rural lifestyle did not afford. The Veikan Kingdom had a weak policy of urbanization, causing urban centers to grow slowly in comparison to other settlements in the region.
When Civil War struck Veikaia, the country lost a large portion of its urban population as people fled the war devastated urban centers towards the countryside, many people would move from the war torn and destroyed homes to villages and towns which were less damaged by the raging war through the country. This however was temporary, as after the end of the war and during the period of reconstruction that followed the Veikan government put in motion a large scale policy of resettlement to urban centers of rural populations. The economy required manpower that was not available, and the only solution was deemed to be a dual policy of large scale reconstruction with cheap, mass produced materials and the resettlement of a sector of the rural population to large cities. In the modern day, Veikaia still maintains a strong policy of urbanization, favoring urban populations to rural ones and large scale heavy industry to agriculture and resource extraction.
Language
Main article: Veikan Language
The vast majority of the country's population speaks the native Veikan Language, which is the state's only official language. This makes Veikaia a mostly linguistically homogeneous nation, except for a large minority of Veigeudic and Lange d'Lis speakers whose language is recognized as a regional languages by the government. The Veikan language is an isolate language, descending from a long dead family of languages indigenous to the region of northern Modrovia which had existed long before the arrival of Indo-Artemian languages. It has heavy influences from its neighboring Latin and Geudic languages, primarily Govic and Lange d'Lis, borrowing many words and idioms from both languages.
Veigeudic is the second most spoken language in the nation with most of the Veigeudic people speaking it as their first or second language. It's widely spoken between Veigeudic, specially at home and in family meetings where it's the primary language. Veigeudic is part of the East Geudic language family, and is a protected language under the Veikan constitution alongside Lange d'Lis.
The Veikan language uses its own script, a descendent of the old Veikan inscription alphabet with influences from Geudic and Latin scripts. It's commonly used in everyday Veikan life, but a romanized version of the language is also commonly used specially among foreigners and the Lange d'Lis speaking minority in the south-west of the country.
Economy
Veikaia follows a market socialist system, with an economy guided primarily by worker self-managed industry and a large public sector. It has a GDP PPP of $950 billion or $15,203 per capita. The economy is dominated by the industrial manufacturing sector, which makes up 35% of the nation's GPD, with a significant portion of the economy being dedicated to the manufacturing and exportation of goods but also maintaining a large agricultural sector thanks to the country's geography, which allows for large scale farming with relative ease. While the country's economy was in shambles after the Veikan Civil War, currently Veikaia is a growing economy. A large portion of the country's workers are employed in the public sector, but the private worker self-managed sector is growing as the nation's government encourages economic growth. Even when relatively liberal by comparison to its allies in Artemia, the Veikan market economy is heavily regulated. Minimum wages are dictated by the state, alongside the general ranges for wages that cooperative councils may dictate for their workplaces.
Historically, Veikaia's economy has been in a constant and consistent upwards growth. The country has not experienced any major economic crises since the 1990s and the end of the reconstruction period. Through the 1980s the country experienced a very slow rate of economic growth due to ongoing crises related to the severe economic damage caused by the Veikan Civil War. The 1980s saw a famine strike down a large portion of the Council Republic's rural population, causing even more damage to the weakened Veikan economy. The 1990s however were a time of stabilization for the country, no large scale famines were reported and the national infrastructure was again stable, allowing the economy to slowly recover. Into the 2000s the country was already stable and capable of competing in international markets again. Part of the country's fast three decade recovery was due to foreign support, primarily by the nations of Goetia and the URSA, which offered aid and low interest loans in exchange of mutual future mutual aid. This large scale economic recovery and growth is sometimes called the "Veikan Miracle" by observers.
The "Veikan Miracle" has been characterized as a long term event following the complete economic collapse of the Veikan economy during the Veikan Civil War and the following recovery within a relatively short time. It only took the communist Veikan government a period of slightly over 20 years from 1979 to the year 2002 for the nation to reach and surpass its prior economic development levels prior to the civil war. To achieve this, the government instituted a policy of direct economic control based on Goetia's Duvalist-Wagnerist central planning. This allowed the government to directly manage and control the economic output and the distribution of resources, at the expense of quality of life and wealth acquisition for the general population. By the year 1993 the government's tight control of the economy began to cede as it became clear the period of economic chaos had began to recede and by 2002 the finalization of reconstruction was announced, and most of the more direct forms of control over the economy were abandoned. Afterwards the country shifted into an economic model more aligned with Najiluvism economic theory and market socialism, allowing a controlled market economy to function within the nation.
The country still relies on many imports such as oil and fuel, but the nation's government is looking for fuel replacements in the biofuels sector to achieve better resource independence on critical areas of the economy. The state's most common exports are Anthracite, Iron, Steel and other metals and alloys, lignite, Metallic Goods, Natural Gas, Heavy Machinery such as tractors and industrial machinery, Consumer Electronics, Grain, Potatoes and Cattle among others. The country is heavily economically involved with member states of the IMS and ICOSEC, trading heavily in critical resources and providing economic aid to its allies.
The country's banking, among many other essential services such as telecommunications, natural gas and others are managed by the central government as they are deemed to be too important to be allowed to be managed by a profit motive. While private banking alternatives exist, they are generally significantly smaller and less popular than the central National Bank of Veikaia.
Power
Power production in Veikaia exceeds consumption by approximately 5 TWh yearly, this is due to the country's large power production network, with nuclear power providing 32% of the country's power and coal and fossil fuels providing 63% of the country's power production. The rest of the power is produced by a growing green energy sector (solar and wind farms). Veikaia is a large producer and exporter of coal, which it uses to its advantage by using a large portion of its produced coal for local power production. This has however led to concerns by environmentalists who warn the large amounts of burned coal are causing severe damage to the environment. Veikaia is a large emitter of CO2 per capita due to the country's large coal burning plants and continues to receive criticism from international organizations due to this.
Veikaia's nuclear power plants have been built under the URSA and Goetia's supervision in the mid 2000s as an attempt to solve the country's ongoing energy crisis, which had been one of the issues not solved during the country's reconstruction period. The plants are not many and are generally small or medium sized, but provide almost a third of the country's power. Nuclear material for these plants is imported directly from Goetia, which possesses large uranium deposits.
Renewable energy is a small but growing sector in the Council Republic, with recent government campaigns looking to lower the amount of power generated through coal in exchange of solar and wind power. Approximately 5% of the country's power is generated through renewable means. The government is looking to reduce the amount of emissions by a large percentage by 2070 through the help of bio-fuels, photovoltaics, construction of wind farms on the land and the Balearic Sea, hydroelectric stations and nuclear power plant.
Transportation
The transportation and infrastructure of the Council Republic is robust. Many methods of transportation exist across the country such as rail, road, marine shipping and air travel. The capital of the country, Ostovo, is a major transportation hub and the center of the country's many railways and highways. Most of the country's infrastructure was decimated by the Veikan Civil War, specially in urban areas. This extensive destruction led to the need for a long reconstruction period, where the Workers' Revoltuionary Army was used alongside youth work groups (Composed of volunteers and youth criminal offenders serving a sentence) as the primary workforce, primarily due to a lack of manpower.
Railways
Historically Veikaia had a weak public transport railway system, lacking proper funding from the state and running largely outdated locomotives and disparate rail gauges. A large majority of the private railroad system was built with the purpose of transporting goods and raw materials across the country's private industries. The modern Veikan socialist state inherited this outdated and heavily damaged system after the civil war. Following the rest of the reconstruction period, and with the help of Goetia and the URSA's foreign aid (Among other nations'), the railway system was entirely nationalized and reconstructed from the ground up. A vast number of new public rail lines were opened with the goal of easing traffic congestion and helping with the transport of people and goods across the nation. A massive electrification campaign began in 1986 in an attempt to decrease the cost of running diesel locomotives with imported fuel. Most new electric locomotives were imported from Goetia and the URSA at discounted prices. As time progressed and the Veikan economy began to heal and grow exponentially many new models of locally produced locomotives began to be introduced across the nation.
Veikan Railways traces its origins to the consolidation of several nationalized railway companies in 1980, and is entirely owned and directly managed by the Veikan state, being considered an essential industry. A small but notable portion of the Veikan railway system is co-owned by large, cooperatively owned and managed companies and the Veikan Railways state company. The state company is also tasked with overseeing railway safety and standards according to Veikan law, in this way it functions similarly to a government agency. Well into the 1990s a push towards further integration of the many government-owned transportation companies led to the move towards better intermodal freight transport integration of railways, primarily with shipping and road transportation networks.
Due to the strained relations between Veikaia and a number of its neighbors, international railway lines are sometimes remarked as being lacking or under-developed. Few connections exist between Veikaia and a number of other neighboring nations, particularly Mero-Curgovina and Litania, which maintain cold relations with the socialist state. As such, not many lines exist connecting these nations and there are many rail gauge disagreements between Veikan Railways and other nations' railway companies. This has made the shipping of cargo across the Curgov and Litanian borders cumbersome, limiting the nations' capacity to trade with each other. Even then, agreements have been made specifically with the government of Ostboland, which has led to arrangements relating to rail gauge agreements and unimpeded international rail transportation.
Roads
Roads, while robust and only slightly below the Artemian standard in quality, are not the most common method of transportation for goods in the nation. Railroads are by far the most commonly used for the transport of goods and people, leading to roads being somewhat ignored by the government in rural sections of the country. Roads have sometimes been reportedly heavily deteriorating in quality at times due to a lack of attendance by the government. A large highway and paved road system exists, but the majority of roads in the country are smaller, rural roads, particularly in the north-east. Still, road transport plays a vital road in the Veikan economy thanks to the massive amounts of freight transported short-distance by motor vehicles between factories, mines, farms, railways and ports, among others.
Due to being generally disregarded in favor of the railway system, the Veikan road system has sometimes failed to meet the growing demands of the population, specially in recent years as personal vehicles became widespread and easier to acquire. Several new highways and other large scale projects were constructed through the 2000s and 2010s in an attempt to alleviate this issue with varying results. Public road transportation is most common in cities, with each major city and province having their own city- or province-owned bus companies, most of them cooperatively owned and managed.
Overall road vehicle transportation has mostly been relegated to the transport of relatively small amounts of people in and between cities, rather than goods, railways being the primary method of large scale goods transportation. Recent years have seen an increase in motor vehicle transportation thanks to the further development of the Veikan vehicle industry and the introduction of new, better models of freight trucks. Bus transport is still the primary form of transportation for most of the urban population, although increasingly lower prices for personal vehicles have led to a 57% increase in car ownership in the last 20 years, causing some strain on urban roads.
Air transport
Najiluvo National Airport is the primary airport of Veikaia, located in the capital city of Ostovo and reopened in 1993 during the city's reconstruction (known prior to its reopening as the Sildi II International Airport). Najiluvo National Airport supports all common commercial plane sizes currently in use and is the largest airport in the country. A recent project to expand the airport has been put forwards by the government for completion by 2024. Many other airports of varying sizes operate across the country such as the ones in the cities of Balopole, Baska, Viura, Karco and several others.
The country's flag carrier airline is Veikan Airlines, operating across the globe primarily in ICOSEC and IMS aligned states and countries with normalized relations with Veikaia. Veikan airlines is entirely owned by the Veikan government, who sees it as an essential company to the proper functioning of air transportation infrastructure. Currently, Veikan Airlines operates a wide range of aircraft mostly imported from Goetia and the URSA but some smaller locally produced models are also used by the company. Smaller non-government companies exist but their range and destinations are generally limited to regional airports, while Veikan Airlines possesses the capability for international flights.
Prior to the Civil War the royalist government did not have any direct control over any airlines in the nation. Only a few major airlines existed, which commonly only did regional flights across Artemia and internally across the nation. The reduced number of large international airports heavily reduced the capacity for transportation of passengers, with the largest and only international airport at the time being Sildi II International Airport. During the ensuing destruction of the Veikan Civil War all major airlines in the nation went bankrupt or dissolved due to irreparable damage caused to their infrastructure and aircraft. in an effort to re-construct the country's ability for air transport Veikan Airlines was formed, flying modified military transport aircraft for its first few years of service until proper civilian aircraft could be imported again.
Maritime and river transportation
Many seaports exist connecting the nation with the Balearic sea, with the country's ports being the main source of trade in the nation. Freight is transported daily, primarily in the port of Ostovo which sees thousands of tones of freight transported. The country's ports were instrumental to the transportation of armaments and manpower between states such as Goetia and the URSA and Veikan communists during the Veikan Civil War. They were also important through the reconstruction period, as many essential goods were imported into the nation to save its struggling economy. Ferry services exist connecting Veikan ports with nearby URSA ones, however cold relations with Litania cause difficulties with their sea travel paths.
The Veikan merchant marine has increased its size exponentially in the past years as maritime transportation grew in importance thanks to the trading isolation of the country with most of its neighbors. Most of the nations imports are brought into the country through large and short range routes, particularly with nations members of ICOSEC, Goetia and the URSA. The latter being Veikaia's primary trade partner.
Culture
Arts and Literature
Veikan artists such as Sildi Gareo Josepo have become greatly influential in the greater Artemian artistic sphere. Veikan art itself has great Geudic, Ovancian and Litanian influences. In the 18th century the country experienced a cultural revolution and the arts became highly popular and influential among the nation's higher classes. The Royal Academy of the Arts was founded in 1543 with the objective of protecting and nurturing new artists for the Royal Family and the rest of the nobility. Neoclassical art became highly favored by the country's elites and was the most popular for most of the 18th century. The introduction of romanticism in the 19th century led to new artists emerging and following the style, which also became highly popular. Impressionism and Symbolism were also popularized by Ovancian artists of the century. The 20th century saw the introduction of Futurism and Agranan Cubism, and the popularization of topics related to political and social struggle. Many new popular artists such as Impressionist Francisko Naxoperloto were popularized through the 20th century, with the visual arts becoming significantly more popular among the country's lower classes.
Modern day Veikaia is home to many artists and writers, and is the home of the Najiluvist Realism artistic current. Art in modern Veikaia focuses on many topics, but the main themes explored and funded by the government are related to industry and economic growth. Pieces such as Kebeno Andonoto's The Steel Foundry are an example of the popular Najiluvist Realism current within Veikan art. Other forms of art are also explored by Veikan artists, albeit they do not receive the same amount of funding and interest from the central government as Najiluvist Realism.
Literature is popular across the Council Republic, with Ostovo being the historical literary center of the Veikan Kingdom and now the Council Republic. Veikaia is the source of a large number of folk tales, some popularized abroad. Veikan folk tales are notorious for their realistic tales of greed and spiritual neglect ending in misfortune for the main characters. Many great works have been produced by Veikan writers and have received international recognition from foreign institutions, such as T.J Matori's "Besieged", published in 1998 and set in the siege of Ostovo of 1977 to 1979. The Josepo Awards are awarded in the Council Republic of Veikaia to award the best writers and pieces of literature of the year.
Philosophy
Pre-Communist philosophical currents within Veikaia have been heavily individualistic in nature, specially those prior to the 19th century industrial revolution and the introduction of modern Capitalism in the nation. The free will of the individual was exalted and their freedom of choice celebrated. This through most of the country's history went against the ideological leanings of the nation's royal class, which was generally conservative and adhered to a more religious perspective where the individual was seen as subjects to God, and by extension the monarch who was crowned in the name of God. This philosophical difference between the noble and unlanded classes was exacerbated in the 19th century with the arrival of new political philosophies that opposed both the new Capitalist socioeconomic system and the current authoritarian monarchist form of government such as Social Democracy, Communism and Anarchism.
With the new great struggles caused upon the population by the Capitalist system introduced by the industrial revolution and the introduction of more collectivist thought into the country, the working people of Veikaia's philosophical leanings slowly shifted from a generally individualistic viewpoint to a more collectivist one. This new collectivist point of view led to high tensions and is believed to be the main cause of the historical Century of Revolution within the country that lasted through the majority of the 19th century and ended in the Ostovo Agreement of 1920.
The new communist government introduced in 1979 further pushed for collectivist philosophy, attempting to apply Duvalist and Najiluvist thought to everyday life with varying results. The new Duvalist and Najiluvist Man and Woman, as it was called by the government, is to be collectivist, caring not for their individual well being but for the well being of the workers as a whole and being loyal to the Najiluvist way of life.
Architecture
Prior to the civil war Veikaia was home to many historical buildings that had survived for centuries, ranging in style from early woodcraft architecture of the pre-messianic period to more modern styles influenced by Western Artemian architecture such as Romanesque and Geudic architecture, borrowed from the Veigeudic living in the region prior to Veikan settlement. Later into the renaissance period, the baroque style became highly popular and influenced the style of many important buildings that survive to this day. Into the 19th century Neo-Classicism became highly popular, with most public buildings from the era following that style.
Much of the country's historical architecture was lost during the heavy fighting of the Veikan Civil War. A new architectural current within Veikaia known as brutalism then took over the old destroyed architecture during the reconstruction period. Most modern buildings in the Council Republic are constructed out of concrete and prefabricated materials in a brutalist fashion. The popularity of brutalism in the country is believed to be related to the low cost of the construction materials involved in the style, with the country having survived an intense civil war and being in low stock of important construction resources the low cost of prefabricated and concrete buildings was highly appreciated by the Veikan government.
With the end of the reconstruction period more freedom was afforded to architects on how to plan and build new constructions, and the brutalist style slowly faded in popularity until it was replaced by other, more modern styles. Neo-Veikan architecture is a current currently taking the country by storm, seeking to recreate old Veikan pieces of architecture lost during the civil war in various styles such as Neo-Geudic, Neo-Romanesque and Neo-Baroque among others.
Cuisine
Most historical Veikan dishes from before the arrival of the Veikan peoples into their current territories have been lost to time, with few surviving the country's migration. Most modern Veikan cuisine is inherited from Veigeudic and Litano-Veikan peoples that inhabited the areas conquered by the advancing Veikan migrants. Meat takes a principal spot within Veikan cuisine, particularly beef and pork although chicken is also common. Vegetables are also very common and are mixed liberally with pork and beef to create a varied number of dishes. International dishes are also common, having arrived recently to the country thanks to the globalization of international trade.
Bread is a Veikan staple food and bakeries, both small and large, can be found across the country. Many varieties of bread are produced in the country's many bakeries daily, alongside pastries and rolls. Most pastries are generally believed to have been inherited from the Veigeudic minority of the country, with many of them sharing similarities to Mero-Curgov pastries. Bread is generally consumed alongside the country's large variety of stews and soups, which are very popular and the most common traditional dishes. Paprika also takes an important part of Veikan cuisine, used to spice foods very often. Many types of pork sausages are consumed in the country daily, generally with mustard.
Spirits are the main alcoholic beverage consumed in the country, but beer is also very popular. Wine and cider are also drunk but not as commonly. A variety of non-alcoholic drinks are also available, the most popular brands being carbonated soft drinks made of herbal extracts.
Notably, Veikan Triuvist monastic tradition demands that priests do not consume pork, which is among the two main staples of Veikan cuisine. This is believed to be related to the traditional vision of pigs as impure creatures, some medieval sources even saying they lacked the spark of life that makes life holy. The dissonance between the large scale consumption of pork by most Triuvists and its nature as "impure" according to tradition has been seen as a sign of irreligiosity becoming common in recent years.
Music
Music has been an important part of Veikan tradition since the pre-migrational era, with music taking an important part in Akiemist pagan rituals in the pre-Triuvist era. Veikan Folk music is very popular in the country's more rural regions, being widely listened to and having a long traditional history. With the introduction of Communism to the country in the 19th century folk music started to take a left wing lean, with songs focusing on class struggle and the day to day life of the working class becoming increasingly common. With the ascension of the Veikan Communist Party to power these left leaning folk music traditions were further strengthened and encouraged by the central government. Nevertheless, non-political folk music is still more popular, and is widely listened to.
Veikaia produced several popular classical music pieces through the 18th century, being mostly influenced by Ovancian and Goetic classical music. Composers such as Coan Gabrilo tiko Samita became highly popular and influential in the music scene of the time, becoming the primary composer of the Veikan Royal Family. Many opera houses opened across the country through the century and became highly popular in high class and noble circles, opera singer Arata Karoto-Agrori becoming one of the most popular household names. Classical music was seen as highly culturally important by the Veikan Royal Family, which funded most of the popular composers of the era alongside the rest of the nation's nobility. The genre became a natural symbol of high class Veikan living, as the lower classes mostly preferred folk music instead.
Many Veikan composers became highly popular in the 19th century when romanticism took the country by storm. Romantics were highly interested in the supernatural and past historical events, exploring unusual and surprising sounds in their music. Romantic music of the century was highly nationalistic, emphasizing national unity and the victories of the Veikan peoples. Impressionist music was also introduced in the mid-19th century via Ovancian influence on the country. With the Century of Revolution, music became highly politicized. Many political anthems and songs were created through the years and became highly popular with the country's lower classes, which had been mostly excluded from the musical developments of the past century. Socialist, Communist and Anarchist themes were explored through music and were promptly banned by the central royalist government, which found them a threat to their continued power. Many underground musical scenes developed, with the early 20th century seeing the popularization of jazz as an underground socialist genre, exploring themes of oppression and liberation and becoming particularly popular among the country's minority groups.
From jazz evolved modern rock music, which became highly popular in the highly volatile political landscape of mid-20th century Veikaia. The 1960s saw the creation of many anti-government rock groups, which were censored by the government but still maintained high popularity among the country's youths. As with jazz, rock explored many socialist and democratic themes, some bands being openly communist ideologically. Punk skyrocketed in popularity into the 1970s and became the most popular genre among young people in the nation, to the chagrin of the royal family, which by this point was facing open civil war against communist forces in the country. Through the civil war music became highly political, with clear sides being formed between pro-government and anti-government groups. The end of the civil war brought a new Communist government into power, which partially supported the development of left-leaning music. Punk, however, was not supported by the government as it became a mostly anarchist anti-authority genre in the 1980s with the popularization of the post-punk genre. Bands such as Semimagiro became highly popular among the young adults of the country, who started to become disillusioned with the state of the nation after the civil war. Themes of depression, war and violence became common in Veikan music through the 80s and were sometimes censored by the communist government in an attempt to maintain morale among the population. The 1990s saw the last stages of the reconstruction period, and life became easier once again for most of the country, leading to themes of love and peace coming back into Veikan music. Folk music was also re-popularized in the 1990s among the country's rural population.
Punk music is still among the most popular musical genres in the country alongside Alternative Rock. Newer genres introduced into the country in recent years include rap and hip hop which have increased dramatically in popularity in recent years. Electronic Dance Music has also gained some popularity with several artists reaching the mainstream spotlight in the past decade. Some artists have reached international recognition across Artemia, specially in the global punk and rock scene.
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