Alduria

Aldurie, officially known as the République de Aldurie (Canrillaise: République de Aldurie) is a nation located on the south-western coast of Seleya. It is composed of five regions, has a population of 99,691,468 and is bordered by Kanjor to the east, Rilandor to the north-east and Mordusia to the north. Alduria is the 26th largest country in terms of population and it is the 4th largest nation in terms of size (1,791,900 km). Alduria is a unitary semi-presidential republic with a constitution that is rooted in secularism and republicanism, its capital is Aldur City, located in the Bendérie region.

Alduria has a long and rich monarchist history having had close historical ties with the Holy Luthori Empire and being ruled by either members of the House of Orange-Villayn or several other Luthori families. The Holy Luthori Empire's influence on Alduria cannot be neglected, it however also created an overtly nationalist population who prided themselves on loosing the shackles of a foreign monarchy, and thus an almost radical Republican ideology has influenced a large part of the population. The nation of Alduria has teetered between several pro-monarchist period and several pro-republican periods throughout its history, most recently Alduria has faced a surge in left-wing political parties and political ideologies.

History
In December 3965 the Government of the Democratic Republic of Alduria recognized its first political party in decades in Arise Alduria, the first political party based on Auchism. Underneath the leadership of Marc-Antoine Saunier and Augustin Sadoul the two began a period of pro-government policies that culminated in the passing of several acts, including a new constitution to proclaim the "Republic of Alduria" in May 3967, 7 years after officially registering as a political party. Underneath the new government that focused on the power of the state and was staunchly Auchist, they began rebuilding the Aldurian nation which had suffered for decades underneath financial mismanagement and political neglect.

Government and politics
The Republic of Alduria is a Parliamentary republic binded together by the Constitution of the Republic of Alduria, the most recent constitution was approved by referendum of the people of Alduria on May 3967 with another referendum expected to be completed in April 3968. The Republic of Alduria is headed by the "Président of Aldurie", currently Arthur Guilloux of Parti Libéral. Alduria unlike some states in the world, has a very strong executive tradition, where in other countries the majority of power rests within the legislative branch, the Aldurian style of government focuses on the strength of the executive. The counter balance to this is the fact that many Aldurian institutions are democratic in nature and regional and local politics focus heavily on democracy. The Prime Minister, who heads the National Assembly, is the head of government and is appointed by the Chief of State.

The legislative branch of the Aldurian government is the National Assembly (Alduria) which is currently composed of 650 deputies who are elected every 4 years alongside the President and effectively the Prime Minister. The National Assembly is lead by the President of the National Assembly who is elected by the deputies of the assembly itself, members of the National Assembly have the power to dismiss the government with a majority vote.

Alduria has a strong multi-party political tradition and traditionally Aldurian politics has been filed with dozens of political parties jockeying for power, however as of the past decade Arise Alduria, a Republican and Auchist political party has been the single party registered for national elections. Other minor regional political parties exist.

Military
The Aldurian Armed Forces (Forces armées alduriennes) is composed of three branches: the Aldurian Army, the Aldurian Air Force and the Aldurian Navy. While Alduria is one of the world largest countries, Alduria does not have the worlds largest military. The Aldurian Armed Forces, in their Defense White Paper in 3966 announced the decision to downsize the bloated military and focus on a highly mobile and effective military. This would mean that they would focus on airborne (known as parachute forces in Alduria), highly mobile mechanized forces as well as supporting a large air force and navy to move troops, equipment and supplies throughout the world to support their troops efforts.

Command and control over the Aldurian Armed Forces rests with the Chief of State who is the Chief of the Army (Chef des Armees), the Chief of State has final say over all defense matters but traditionally yields to the Ministry of Defense under the leadership of the Minister of Defense. Operational leadership over the Aldurian Armed Forces resides with the Chief of Staff of the Aldurian Armed Forces.

While there have been claims that Alduria is a nuclear nation, the recent Aldurian government has stated that the Aldurian nation does not posses nor have the desire to posses nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. Alduria can research and develop nuclear technologies (including weapons) underneath current Aldurian law, but does not have plans to do so. Minister of Defense Patrice Thibodeau stated that in order for Alduria to develop nuclear weapons they would have to rely on the support of allies throughout the world to build a nuclear weapons program infrastructure and it was "the least of his concerns right now".

Education
The Republic of Alduria has three famous universities, University of Aldur, Arrat Tech University and Caveaux University.

Biggest Cities

 * Arrat
 * Aldur
 * Charday
 * Sauvon
 * Caveaux

Religion
Alduria is a fairly devout nation with regards to religion. Most Aldurians profess membership of a faith, and almost one half of the nation attends Church at least once a month. However only rarely has there been an established faith in Alduria, and most parties are fairly secular. To some extent religion is a sensitive issue in Alduria, and the last religious census was taken in 2823.
 * Church of Alduria – 35%

The Church of Alduria came about in 2150 with the establishment of a monarchy in Alduria, and the subsequent split in the Patriarchal Church between those who remained loyal to the Terran Patriarchal Church, and those who were loyal to the Stuart Dynasty. Eventually the split became permanent, and the C of A became a separate entity. Traditionally the C of A was heavily linked to the monarchy, although in recent years monarchism has been reduced within the Church. The C of A is largely followed by Confessionals.


 * Theognosian Church – 31%

After the split between the C of A and the Terran Patriarchal Church in 2150, the TCC gradually lost support in Alduria. Many Catholics joined the Michoch Sect, using a Canrillaişe rite, and maintaining its independence from the excesses of the TCC. In the early 23rd century it overtook the TCC as the main Catholic Church and after the formation of in 2334, the Michoch Sect joined with it. Due to heavy Mordusian influence, Orthodox Catholicism has enjoyed unprecedented support as is now the state religion of Alduria with mandatory membership.


 * Spiritual Secularist – 3%

Spiritual secularism is an unusual religion, largely followed by urban liberals. It combines aspects of Islam, Buddhism and Hindu spirituality with secular teachings to produce a spiritually pleasing faith, without the formality of organised religion.


 * Other - 11%

Includes Atheists, Jews, and other small religions.