Ripuaria

Ripuaria (/ri:ˌpʊˈɛri:ɑ:/; : Ripuarie; : Ripuarië), officially the Grand Duchy of Ripuaria, is a landlocked country in Western Vestea. It is bordered by Lindenholt to the north and Umbrellia to the south in the Lauterhügel hills. Geographically, Ripuaria has two distinct geographic regions, the hills and mountains of Lauterhügel in the south of the country and the plains of Howffwiese, in addition to the district geographical regions Ripuaria also has two large lakes, namely, Janears See and Hachen See. It is significantly diverse geographically compared to its relatively small size. Its capital, Ripuaria City is also the official capital of the Vestean Union. The Ripuarian monarchy is seated at Staatsschloss on the outskirts of Hazenberg. The Ripuarian cultures and people are highly intertwined with its neighbours and is considered a mixture between Lindian and Umber cultures.

With an area of 5,441.5 square kilometres (2,101.0 sq mi) it is the smallest sovereign nation on Vestea. In 2020, Ripuaria had a population of which made it one of the smallest country on the continent but with an average growth rate of 1.9% it is growing faster than most countries. Foreignors account for 36.4% of the total population, slightly more than a third of the country. It is a highly developed country, as of 2020 it has a GDP per capita nominal of 88,509 $US. Although it is minuscule in size, Ripuaria is one of the essential building stones of the Vestean Union and has much influence over the affairs of Vestea.

The first historical records of Ripuaria originate in the mention of Ripuariaschloss and the Agrestic Tower of Riparium(modern day Ripuaria City) through the years the barons of Ripuariaschloss increase theirs size in influence through construction, diplomacy, marriage and war and built up what is today the Grand Duchy of Ripuaria. By the 15th century Ripuaria had evolved in a large duchy within Vestea.

Ripuaria was established in its current form in 1950 after the signing of the Treaty of Artwingen. During a transitional period lasting until 1954, the main national institutes of Ripuaria were established and signed into local laws. The status of the royal family was restored. The Treaty of Artwingen dictated Ripuaria would become a  with the  as head of state and executive and legislative powers vested in the Chamber of Deputies which derives its powers from the citizens of Ripuaria according to democratic values.

As a, it is headed by Henri III von Ripuaria and is the world's only sovereign. The legislative branch is established as the Chamber of Deputies which reformed itself after the Vestean War in 1950. All laws, regulations and legislature procedures go through the chamber. The chamber is composed of democratically elected representatives(called deputies) by the citizens of the various districts of Ripuaria, proportionally to its population. The executive branch derives its powers from the chamber and is known as the coalition. Composed of deputies who won the majority votes and built a governing coalition the prime minister is appointed by the duke and servers as prime minister if he manages to get the majority of the chamber to vote confidence in his leadership.

Ripuaria is a highly developed country with one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, advanced healthcare system and a robust education system. Ripuaria is a founding member of the Vestean Union. The city of Ripuaria City is the seat of several Vestean Union Institutes.

Etymology
Ripuaria is derived from Latin Ripuarii meaning "River People". The exact instances by which the word was introduced in Latin is still debatable and no clear answer is present.

The original Latin word, if using proper form would be Riparii. It is suggested by some linguists that a probably cause for the shift to Ripuarii occurred when the Latin word was introduced to a native language spoken at the time in the region.

Ripuariaschloss
In the Roman era, the city was the location of a fortified tower guarding an important roads intersection called Riparium. The first historical accounts of Ripuaria as a western territory goes back to the 11th century with the acquisition of Ripuariaschloss(Today Staatsschloss) situated near the historical area of Lauterhügel south-west of Ripuaria City. A town developed around the castle ruled by the barons of Ripuariaschloss. The gradual development of the territory highlighted the great strategic value of the castle. The castle provided overwatch over the regions of Lauterhügel, Howffwiese and partially Lindenholt's Hoveland province.

Throughout the middle ages, Ripuaria became a strategic military center in the region. By the end of the 11th century, fortifications and walls were built around the city. By the 12th century the city had expanded to include the Cathedral of Saint Hubris, new fortifications and walls that included around 12 hectares of land were constructed. In the 15th and 16th century it was already considered one of the most fortified cities in the world with the addition of and tunnels.

Nineteenth century
The treaty of Ripuaria signed on 14 May 1839 between the Grand Duke and the Lindian King established the Grand Duchy of Ripuaria as an independent state from Lindenholt. The new independent administration of Ripuaria brought the option for diplomatic relations with Umbrellia and the development of the steel, coal and railways industries in Ripuaria. The Ripuarian railway network expanded greatly from 1842 until 1850 and Ripuaria became a hub for transport around Vestea.

Ripuarian neutrality was established around the second half of the 19th century when Ripuaria established itself as a center for diplomatic mediation between the nations of Vestea. Neutrality allowed the Ripuarian economy to grow considerably.

Twentieth century and beyond
The first years of the twentieth century saw an industrial economic boom in Ripuaria. Modern agriculture was introduced to many regions of the duchy and the industrial revolution only increased the production of Ripuarian steel mills. Population growth increased to an all time high and it is generally considered a prosperous time for Ripuaria. The requirements for more rural workers saw the founding of many of today's towns and cities.

In 1941 the Vestean War broke out between Umbrellia and Lindenholt. During the first year of the war Ripuaria couldn't maintain its neutrality being a stratigic point bewteen the two nations and was invaded and occupied by Umbrellia. During this time many of the previous administrative institutes of Ripuaria were disbanded. The royalty exiled into Nordal.

In 1950 after the end of the Vestean War, the Treaty of Artwingen was signed with re-established Ripuarian independence. Ripuaria entered a process of rebuilding and returning of the pre-war administrative national institutes.

Politics
Ripuaria is described as a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional monarchy. Executive powers are exercised by the Grand Duke and the Governmental Cabinet, consisting of the Prime Minister and several junior ministers which are appointed from the Chamber of Deputies.

Legislative power is vested in the Chamber of Deputies, a unicameral legislature of sixty representatives called deputies who are elected by their respective district's citizens to five-year terms.

Ripuaria has six district tribunals, twenty-two communal tribunals, and a superior court of justice. In addition there is a constitutional court and a administrative court both located in the capital

Administrative Divisions
Ripuaria is divided into six districts which are further divided into a total of twenty-two communes. Ripuaria-City commune holds a special capital-state status.

Foreign Relations
Ripuaria has long been a prominent supporter of Vestean political and economic integration within the Vestean Union. Since the start of the 20th century Ripuaria has been in an economic union with Lindenholt preceded by the Vestean Union Common Economic Zone. Ripuaria is a founding member of the Vestean Union and seats the Vestean Union Parliament.

Military
The Ripuaria Armed Forces, established in 1957 after the Second World War, is the military branch of the Ripuarian Security Forces. The military numbers 25,000 personnel active standing army including civilian employees. Ripuaria has mandatory conscription for all men aged eighteen years for eighteen months of basic and specialty training after which the conscripts are considered army reserves which are called for regular training once a year for a few weeks. According to the Ripuarian conscription and mobilization laws, mobilization includes fielding of at least 80,000 reserves and can get up to 130,000 reserves called for active duty. The commander-in-chief of the armed forces is Grand Duke Henri III. The armed forces are divided into the Ripuarian Army, Ripuarian Air Force and the Royal Home Guard, which includes a small navy stationed in Lindenholt and Umbrellia.

Monarchy
The monarchy in Ripuaria is a, monarchy whose incumbent is titled  or grand duchess (: "Der Großherzog / Die Großherzogin") and serves as the country's head of state. As a constitutional monarchy the role of the monarch is dictated by the Ripuarian constitution and as such his powers are limited to be a representative of the people, with the role of guarding Ripuarian national unity, stability and independence. The broad terms in which the duke's roles are described allows him to have power in terms of foreign affairs, especially during times of emergency. Just like the head of government, he is allowed to forge international treaties and sign them on behalf the Ripuarian people. In addition to his powers in foreign affairs he is the military's and as such all military actions and plans go through him. Due to this complicated relationship between the monarch and the military and the head-of-government it is a constitutional requirement for the monarch to hold prior military service as an officer and academic education and degree in political science. As such, while the constitution requires theses titles before a monarch abdicates, there hasn't been once a case were the heir to the Ripuarian monarchy didn't meet these requirements.

Political parties
There are seven political parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies. The natural multicultural society of Ripuaria has made it very difficult for one political party to out perform its rivals and as such there are no political majorities for any of the parties. The current strongest party in Ripuaria is the Chrëschtlech Union, which sits in the opposition, with 19 of the 60 seats in the chamber.

This allows for smaller united parties to form a coalition government such as the case with the current Demokratesch Partei-Sozialistische Parti coalition which totals 31 seats majority in the chamber, even though not one of the parties in the coalition holds the most seats in the chamber.

The results of the latest elections in 2020 are displayed on the table below:

Geography
Ripuaria is the smallest country on Vestea. It is about 5,441 square kilometres(2,101.0 sq mi). The country measures 110 kilometres wide and 90 kilometres long. To the north-east, Ripuaria is bordered by Lindenholt's Elstergouw province and to the north-west by Hoveland. To the south it is bordered by Umbrellia's Grenitame.

The northern portion of Ripuaria, called the "Howffwiese", burial plains, are more densely populated due to their abundance in aquifer water, comfortable climate and lack of changes in elevation. The southern portion called the "Lauterhügel", Luther's Hills, are less populated although scenic in views and attract many tourists especially around the cities of Jena and Hachenbech.

Elevations range from 20 meters from sea level at the lowest points in Howffwiese up to 600 meters some areas in Lauterhügel where significant natural resources can be found such as iron ore, coal, copper, nickel and potash.

Ripuaria has two lakes, Jenaers See in the Jenaer See District and Hachen See in the Sud District.

Ripuaria is located on a region considered a climate, with no dry season, warm summers and cool winters.

Climate
The climate is with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb), like most of northwest Europe. It has warm and humid summers with precipitation and cold winters with higher precipitation values. The average temperature is lowest in January at 4 °C (39.2 °F) and highest in July at 21 °C (69.8 °F). The average precipitation per month varies between 46 mm (1.8 in) for February and April, to 62 mm (2.4 in) for July. Snow is uncommon in Ripuaria, the Lauterhügel region and the administrative district of Ripuaria City average 30 days of snowfall while Howffwiese can reach at most 12 days of snowfall.

Ripuaria is considered an environmentally conscious country with great drives towards cleaner air and reduced pollution. The Ripuarian ministry of environment was established in 1980.



Demographics
As of 2020, the population or Ripuaria is estimated a according to the national bureau of statistics. of whom, 63.6% are Ripuarian nationals. Lindian nationals account for the second largest minority group with 17.9% of the permanent residents with Lindian citizenship. Over the last decade Ripuaria has been at the center of immigration from all around the world thanks to a developed welfare program and social benefits to permanent residents.

There are four metropolitan areas in Ripuaria sorted by size:
 * Ripuaria-City-Metro which includes cities in the Center District, Ost District and Jenaer See District
 * Dassel, which is sometimes considered a single metro area with Landau
 * Landau
 * Gefell

The largest commune is Ripuaria City with 813,713 inhabitants and an area of 80.36 km squared (31.03 sq mi). Ripuaria has 18 communes with the city special status, meaning they have more control over their commune in the local legislative council.

Ethnicity
The nationals of Ripuaria are called Ripuarians, but are diverse in ethnicity, especially since the second half of the 20th century due to the arrival of immigrants from Lindenholt, Umbrellia, Nordal and Felsinia. In 2018, there were 508,002 permanent residents with Lindian nationality. In 2018, only 63.6% of the population were Ripuarian nationals.

Languages
The three languages recognized in Ripuaria are, and. Ripuaria is in a unique position where, in the 2018 census, 77% of the population speak on some level all three languages and at least 85% of the population are fluent in at least two of the recognized languages at some level. While Ripuaria is the most spoken language, it is not used for all administrative purposes and there are yet many regions in Ripuaria where either Lindian or Umbèrge are spoken on a daily basis by the local populations.

is the official administrative and legislative language of Ripuaria and as such all official government documents, signs and letters must be in Umbèrge. During the second half of the 20th century, has increasingly become a de facto administrative language with Umbèrge translations appearing underneath official writings. Debates in the Chamber of Deputies often use both Ripuarian and Umbèrge, with Umbèrge being used as the technical law language and Ripuarian being used as a more informal language.

Each of the three recognized languages have their own spheres of everyday life. Ripuarian is used in everyday conversations on the street. Umbèrge is used in street-signs and often appears as a professional language. Lindian is used alongside Umbèrge as a professional language and in the media alongside Ripuarian, mostly since the two are more closely mutually intelligible.

Religion
Ripuaria is a secular state, although it has recognized religions that are administered by the government in exchange for funding for running and maintenance costs. These recognized religions are, , , and.

Traditionally Roman Catholicism is Ripuaria's major religion with more than 70% of the population adhering to the faith. Despite in recent rise in nonreligion, even those who consider themselves nonreligious have strong Catholic identity, The religious culture makes an important part of the Ripuarian lifestyle.

Ripuaria's policy of separation of state and church falls short of definitive separation as churches are largely funded by the government and are not allowed to take in large donations. Despite the interference of the state in religions, in the legislative sense, Ripuaria's constitution and most of its laws abide by the policy of separation. Almost all legislative aspects of life in Ripuaria including marriage, death and newborns have secular alternatives to church ceremonies.

Health
Ripuaria has universal participation in healthcare and insurance programs. All Ripuarians are entitled to basic healthcare as a fundamental right. The 1991 national healthcare bill requires all Ripuarian citizens to be enrolled into one of four regulated private not-for-profit healthcare and insurance programs which are not allowed by law to deny membership of anyone who wishes to join them. Ripuarians who wish to further improve their healthcare and insurance coverage beyond the national programs can join private healthcare programs that offer additional services for a cost. The mandatory insurance and healthcare programs come with a national tax called the "National Security Tax" that funds both the private healthcare and insurance organizations and the national healthcare program.

The national healthcare program covers all costs of medical diagnosis, treatment and recovery in the fields of family medicine, hospitalization (general, maternity, psychiatric and chronic), preventive medicine, surgery (including elective surgery), transplants, treatment for drug abuse and alcoholism, medical equipment and appliances, first aid and transportation to a medical facility, obstetrics and fertility treatment, pre-approved medications announced at the start of every year, treatment of chronic diseases and paramedical services such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and mental healthcare. Certain optional treatments that are not considered standard or life-saving are also covered up to 80% of the costs but these tend to change on a yearly basis and depend on the national healthcare programs fund. IVF treatments for the first two children up to the age of 45 and abortions are also partially covered by the program.

Ripuaria is well known for a good statistical analysis of illness, injury or death of its citizens and thus allows for the minimum tax to be applied to fully cover these fields with additional benefits from leftover funds. Generally speaking the national security tax, is paid mostly by the working population and defaults to 33 AUR a month(396 AUR a year) for unemployed and is completely covered by the pension for citizens who have lost their labor-ability or receiving unemployment funds.

In 2018, there were 3.6 professionally active physicians per 1,000 population in Ripuaria. An extremely high number compared to the rest of the world which allows the healthcare programs to give its members choice to the closest or most favored physician in their area to be contracted by in case of injury or illness which requires treatment.

Education
Ripuaria has mandatory education provided until the age of 18. It is separated into two tiers: primary education(grades 1 - 6) and secondary-tertiary education(grades 7 - 12) with the main difference being that in secondary-tertiary schools students already study in their major of choice for their diploma while in primary schools students are all taught a pre-approved curriculum. The school year begins on the 1st of September and ends on the 30th of June each year.

Ripuarian culture views higher education as the key to higher mobility and socioeconomic status in the Ripuarian society. It gives students an early choice in what they want to be taught starting from 7th grade in order to become professional by the end of 12th grade. The Ripuarian policy believes in employment options directly after schools and thus company involvement in public education is high. Often times, especially in tertiary schools, company sponsorship allows for specialized majors and educations programs fit for the company needs.

Secondary-tertiary Schools can be separated into several types:
 * Arbeitsschule - schools that often work in cooperation with the manufacturing and labour industries. These schools are specialized in providing work in their respective fields. Often they are sponsored by industry companies to insure correct curriculum before students graduate and begin work.
 * Gymnasium - schools that often work in cooperation with local academic universities and collages in order to allow students to apply to high-education directly after school and get on a fast-track to receiving academic degrees in the fields of science.
 * Kunstschule - These schools are separate than the rest by the fact they mostly focus on philosophy, arts, history and other humanitarian subjects. They are often privatized schools that do not work in cooperation with any university or company. Graduates from these schools either go into the teaching field or become independent thinkers, artists, philosophers and often times students of political sciences in university.

Economy
Ripuaria's strong globalized economy and its transport are integrated with the rest of Vestea. It's location at the center of the Vestean Union has helped making it a large trader of goods on the continent. The economy is characteristic by a productive workforce and organized executive hierarchies in companies.

The Ripuarian economy is heavily reliant on services and tourism due to its small size. Manufacturing and natural resources are not large industries and the biggest portions of the economy are taken by professional firms, consultants, solution firms and banking.

Data
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 2010–2020. Inflation under 2% is in green.

Transport
Ripuaria has road, rail and air infrastructure, facilities and services throughout the whole country. Most recently the national roads and highway networks have been expanded throughout the country to facilitate ease of travel to virtually every city, town and homestead in Ripuaria. On rails, Ripuaria is connected to the rest of the Vestean Union through the Lindian Hogesnelheidslijn (HSL) which is a high-speed train network that links Lindenholt, Ripuaria and Umbrellia together.

On average, Ripuaria has more cars per person compared to the rest of the Vestean Union. This is explained by many by the richer life-style in a less dense country. Nevertheless bikes, public transportation and alternative methods of movement are still common especially in urban areas.

In 2018, Ripuaria City introduced a free, no-cost, public transportation services across the entire urban area. This has led to an increase in public transports use and was later used as a basis on a limited ban on non-electric cars in the city's center. The communal council has made it clear that its their goal to make the city, green, and make movement a granted freedom for all inhabitants of the city.

Culture
Traditionally for most of its existence, Ripuaria was an integral part of Lindenholt which culture overshadowed the Ripuarian culture. Despite that, due to Ripuaria being a mostly rural country for most of the time until the 20th century it has developed a local folk lore distinct from its neighbours. Ripuaria has three recognized national museums each adhering to a different part of Ripuarian culture: National Museum of Ripuarian Art, National Museum of Military History and the National Folklore Museum. Ripuaria City itself is well known for its historical fortification and rich military history throughout the years and especially between the 13th century and the 19th century.

Sports
There is no national sport for Ripuaria. However it is considered a very competitive nation in the world. There are several sports team in different branches that some may consider as a national sport but the diversity is too large to accept on one sport. Over 200,000 people are registered around Ripuaria to one sports federation or more. This makes almost one in every ten people in Ripuaria are registered to a sports federation. And also this makes Ripuaria arguably one of the most competitive country on sports.

Most commonly, and  are often played by young children and the Ripuarian teams are considered very well in these games.

Cuisine
The Ripuarian cuisine isn't unique in the sense of unique dishes but it consists of many aspects taken from both of its neighbours, Lindenholt and Umbrellia.

Most of what is considered a native Ripuarian dish makes a "culinary twist" on an existing dish giving it new flavours and tastes. For example

Ripuaria is known to be a large consumer of alcohol in Vestea. While not having many local breweries and distileries it mostly exports alcohol from its neighbours and other countries.

Media
The main media languages of Ripuaria are and. The newspaper largest in circulation is the Ripuarian-language daily Die Zeit. Because of the strong multilingualism in Ripuaria newspapers often alternate between Ripuarian and Umbèrge without translation, this is especially common in the big newspapers.

Ripuaria has several radio-stations, most abide to a single language, either Ripuarian, Umbèrge or but the biggest ones and public radio stations must conform to rules that dictate at least 33% of the radio daily runtime should be in the Ripuarian language.

Film and television are a big part of the Ripuarian media and many take great pride in locally produced television and films. For this, in 2009 the Chamber of Deputies introduced an investment fund direct towards locally produced and filmed movies and television shows in the Ripuarian-language. This has caused a great interest and boost to the local movies industry in Ripuaria and many today have been translated into other languages around the world.