Fyor

Fyor (pronounced Fee-or) (Fyoric: Fiyir) officially Republic of Fyor (Fyoric: Respubliko de Fiyir) is a sovereign state in the north of Sakoda. It covers an area of 384,536 square kilometres, the country of Fyor is inhabited by approximately 3,354,456 inhabitants and its capital and largest city is Kailo. Fyor has sovereignty over the special self governing territory of Kiraso and the non self governing Explorers Island. All together the Fyoric state has a population of 3,460,828.

History
There is disagreement of the earliest confirmed date of inhabitants in Fyor, with estimates ranging from 8000 BC to 5000 BC. The general consensus is that it was in the 8th millennium BC. The disagreement has caused a lot of controversy over the History course taught in schools. There is also disagreement surrounding the location of ancient settlements and mountains in Fyor. Much of the controversy is around Monto Majo, it is commonly regarded as the first area of a settlement in Fyor, with humans living at the top of the mountain. However, it is also believed that the mountain never existed and instead the first settlement, "Hira", was instead over 300-400km away. Nomadism was not prevalent in Fyor, most inhabitants stayed within a certain area. For up until 101 AD it is thought that over 60% of the country was undiscovered.

The native Fyoric had a very low birth rate, there appears to have been strong population decline around 6000 BC (which is disputed due to disagreement over when inhabitants resided in Fyor), 4000 BC, 3500 BC and 2000 BC. Apart from an apparent economic collapse in 3500 BC, there is no explanation for the general low birth rate and sudden population decline at some points. In 3500 BC the general population moved to the east of the country from the west, which was more richer in resources at the time. In the 1st millennium BC, there seems to have been a reverse of this movement with the population moving from east to the west again. Life in Fyor throughout the BC years and up until around 101 AD was concentrated in small clusters, with much of the country unexplored.

101 AD saw the beginning of the mass exploration of Fyor, while many people stayed put in the west, many others moved South to discover and settle in the mountainous regions (modern day Ĉovantojarun province). This is used as evidence against the existence of Monto Majo. By the 3rd century the population of Fyor was more spread out and balanced, the birth rate had also seemingly increased, though was still relatively low in comparison to other areas. While much of Fyor was split into different kingdoms and rulings, there was peace and co-operation between them all. Around 330 there was a famine in the east of the country, resulting in mass migration to the west and south. Much of the population that remained in the east died, it was rumoured that having children would result in not enough food to feed everyone, as such the birth rate of Fyor declined again. Rumours also spread about the east of Fyor being a 'cursed land' and for many years few people dared to travel to the east.

The 5th century saw the spread of Christianity to Fyor, which seemingly caused a big increase in the birth rate, and gradual movement of people back to the east where life was re-established. Christianity spread very fast, in much of the kingdoms and other areas at the time it was made the official religion and it was strongly encouraged, in some even forced. The east of Fyor again suffered a famine in 467, resulting in declarations that it was 'cursed'. Some areas of Fyor prohibited entry to people from the east, some allowed them but only if they were 'cleansed'. In the 6th century there was increasing unity between the rulings of the west and south of Fyor, and in 675 an official unified Kingdom was established, the exact naming is disputed. Sometimes it was referred to as the "Fyoric Kingdom" while in other cases the "Fyoric Area". Today it is officially referred to as the "Fyoric Kingdom" but this has been contested by many Fyoric historians. There was strong resentment towards the east of the country from the Kingdom. The east of the country was split into various areas and rulings and not yet unified at this time.

Throughout the 8th and 9th centuries, the east of Fyor suffered greatly due to the Fyoric Kingdom, which often exploited the limited resources of the east which only landed the inhabitants into a worse situation. The central part of Fyor was inhabited in high numbers during the 9th century, while part of the Fyoric Kingdom, it had never been populated, instead mostly being used as a travel corridor between the west and the east. The population of central Fyor only increased the wealth and power of the Fyoric Kingdom. In the east people came to realisation that unification between different areas was needed, and thus in 846 the east part of Fyor unified as the "Eastern Fyoric Kingdom". While the situation in the east improved, it was still much poorer, though resentment during the 9th century between the 2 kingdoms had decreased and there was increasing co-operation which benefited both of the places.

Numerous attempts were made to unify Fyor throughout the 10th century - in 912, 913, 919 and again in 923. However all failed due to disagreements of power distribution between the east and the west. No attempts were made for a long time, though there was a strong sense of unity between the two kingdoms. Finally, in 1155, the two kingdoms united and overall became the "Kingdom of Fyor". The boundaries are similar to modern day Fyor, though much of Ĉovantojarun, Ekyiro and some of Elĝraj was not incorporated as it had not been explored at the time due to the mountainous terrain. The Kingdom of Fyor was ruled by descendants of the very first inhabitants of Fyor, though this caused confusion as to who exactly this was and what qualified as descendance. Numerous rulers forged papers and lied to gain power, and if any were caught they were killed for a "Unforgivable crime against the nation". From 1155 - 1893, 15 different rulers were executed and it is suspected many more lied but were not caught. Throughout the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries Fyor became more prosperous, and much of the country that was not inhabited was explored on request of the rulers, many of whom organised expeditions to these parts.

In 1498, a large amount of explorers from Tritonia came to Fyor by boat, first landing somewhere in Nordabero province. There is disagreement of where exactly they landed as evidence has been found in numerous areas of the coast in the province and is spread out quite apart from each other. The explorers were met with hostility, so they sailed off to the east instead landing in Gatan, they were not followed. Taking advantage of the fact that this particular area of Fyor had not yet been inhabited, they settled there. Their presence did not become known to the rest of Fyor until almost 6 months later, after a child discovered a large fortress in a forest, which soldiers later investigated and then told the King, Edara Mikaj. An attempt to drive them off failed as adequate defences had been built, how they were built in such a short time is unknown. Another attempt to drive them off a month later also failed. It was decided to leave the explorers to it, and that the situation would be reviewed annually, although it seems as if this was not the case and that there was no monitoring of the explorers by officials. The 2 groups did not communicate, as they were unable to understand each other but also because the Explorers had isolated themselves from the rest of Fyor.

There was no trouble until 1783, when a villager was killed by an explorer for 'treason' (this is what is recorded officially, but the actual reason is widely believed to be something else). This caused chaos and military intervention, a month long battle ensued and the explorers were driven out on what is now known as Venko Tago and sailed to Explorers Island where they have resided since. At first, Joseph Makedi, the King at the time, wanted to continue to pursue them but abruptly decided to drop the plans and instead leave them to reside on the island. People who had intermarried, and had already gained disapproval from both groups, were not allowed on Explorers Island and as such sailed to Kirsao. In 1785, the Kingdom of Fyor took control of some of Inotyol, however this was short lived and by the end of the year it had lost all control. In 1801 Joseph Makedi renamed Fyor from the "Kingdom of Fyor" to just "Fyor", though only a few months later this was retracted.

The 19th century saw a decline of Fyor's wealth, and it became relatively poor, though towards the end of the century the economy started to grow again, there was still a great difference from before. Resentment towards the 'rulers' grew and there were calls to replace the current system of governance.

In 1901 the ruler monarchical-type system of governance was abolished, though intended to be replaced with a republic instead a dictatorship followed, nevertheless Fyor went a name change from Kingdom to the 'Republic of Fyor'. With Elijah Makan taking control of Fyor, he began to take much more of an interest in Kiraso. He requested that Kiraso become a part of Fyor and that all Fyoric Explorers leave the island. However there had been so much integration and mixing that only a small amount of the population remained fully Fyoric Explorer. He soon realised that it was best to leave Kiraso for now, and he focused attention on Explorers Island, which had been functioning technically as a country since it's establishment in 1783. There was numerous threats made to the island, which had been doing relatively ok on its own since it became inhabited, up until 1910 when the Fyoric army invaded Explorers Island. It was placed under lockdown by the army and residents could not leave their homes, in hope of forcing them to come out for food and water. However this plan backfired as there were inadequate supplies for the Fyoric army, who originally expected the invasion to only last for at the maximum 10 hours. The army was forced to go back to bases and ships for supplies, and the Explorers were able to mobilise and defend the island. Fighting ensued for 2 weeks, but the Fyoric army easily overcame the Explorers and the island was put under Fyoric control and declared part of Fyor.

The dictatorship system continued until 1965. Elijah Makan's rule had come to an end in 1943 and his daughter, Sari Makan took control until 1965 where the dictatorship was overthrown and forced to stop due to mass protesting and civil unrest as a result of the bad economic situation which had not improved.

The liberal party PF (Progreso Fyor) won the first general election in 1965 with a landslide. Though Kiraso and Explorers Island were relatively liberal and irreligious (especially Explorers Island as nearly all the population were atheist), Fyor had now become much more liberal and less religious due to scandals involving the church, and also because of the dictatorship. Between 1965 and 1997 much of the social policies and attitudes in Fyor changed, this time period was known as "Malnovaĝo". Same sex activity was made legal and freedom of expression was guaranteed to the LGBT community, with marriage made legal later in 1982. Throughout Malnovaĝo, abortion was also legalised, mandatory religious education was scrapped, women received equal rights, discriminative laws against Fyoric Explorers and Explorers Island were removed and Explorers Island became a special territory of Fyor in 1969. Kiraso also acquired this status in 1978. Fyor only was responsible for defence in these territories, with everything else up to the territory themselves. During this time there was also an economic boom and living standards in Fyor improved massively.

In 1983 a resurgence of religion began, the opposition of the FNP (Fyor Nacia Partio) declared that the PF were "poisoning" Fyor and that the population "needed to gain back faith". In areas that the FNP controlled, religious education was pushed and in some areas there were reports of forced conversions and mandatory church attendance. Fyor gradually started to become more religious and conservative. The FNP took advantage of bad governance by the PF, blamed social problems on lack of faith and caused division in liberal politics, splitting the PF vote in the process. In the 1985 election the PF lost 15 seats, previously their highest lost was only 3. In the 1989 election they lost a further 10, in 1993 they lost 6. The big hit came in 1997 when they lost 54, losing their majority in the process. Religiosity in Fyor had increased from 53% in 1981 to 87% in only 16 years. Migration out of the country and into bordering nations and Kiraso caused the percentage to only increase. Much of the liberal policies enacted by the PF were reverted and Fyor was now one of the most conservative and religious countries in Fantasia. In addition Explorers Island lost all autonomy, while remaining a special territory Fyor basically controlled it all. The rights of Explorers and other minority groups in Fyor was also limited, Fyoric nationalism grew greatly and in the 2001 election the FNP managed to win 123 out of 150 seats in the parliament, demonstrating the big change in only around 15 years. The FNP has governed Fyor ever since gaining power in 1997 and many minorities in Fyor have migrated to Kiraso.

Since the liberal period, the economy has declined despite Fyor making its economy more open and free. Overall happiness and satisfaction has greatly declined, causing a large increase in mental health problems which continue to be among the biggest issues in Fyor. Crime, though it has always been somewhat of a problem, has increased to the highest levels ever recorded. International observers have claimed that an increase in problems in Fyor is a result of more restrictive and authoritarian laws put into place since 1997. Some religious figures in Fyor have claimed that the FNP have "pushed religion to be some sort of mandatory obligation with no guidance or encouragement on actually following it" which has led to a decline in the nation's happiness.

In December 2020, the FNP did not win an election poll for the first time since 1998, the poll for the 2021 general elections had the NP (Nacia Progresligo) in the lead by a 0.1% margin.

Geography
Much of the area around the west of Fyor, is flat. The area in the centre of the country is much more mountainous with the highest mountain in Fyor, Cayakom Monto, at 2,998m being located there. In the east of the country the area is quite varied. The border areas in Ekyiro are very mountainous while the rest of the province is generally quite flat.

Territories
Main articles: Kiraso and Explorers Island Fyor has sovereignty over 2 territories, Kiraso and Explorers Island, both have varying levels of autonomy but have separate cultures and languages to those of Fyor. Kiraso has full control over everything apart from defence and foreign policy, to which Fyor controls. Explorers Island has little to no autonomy, which is criticised by many other countries in Fantasia and is cited as one of the many ways Fyor oppresses the Fyoric Explorers. While Explorers Island has most of the same laws as Fyor, the Fyoric government has previously used the "exclusive territorial act" in order to pass a law concerning Explorers Island without affecting the rest of the country.

The majority of the inhabitants of Kiraso are Kirasan and speak Kiras, Kirasans are people of mixed Fyoric and Fyoric Explorer descent. Many Fyoric people can understand Kiras and vice-versa, but when a Fyoric person and a Kirasan person are having a conversation they will usually converse in their native languages as they can understand each other, but usually find it hard to talk in the other person's language. Kiraso is much more liberal than Fyor, and many Fyoric people of the LGBT community migrate there for acceptance and safety. Other Fyoric people also migrate there due to the fact that Kiraso is richer, more developed and has a lower cost of living than Fyor. In recent years immigration has become a hot topic in Kiraso, with many Kirasans calling for a limit to preserve their culture as over 15% of the population is made up of people from Fyor.

The majority of the inhabitants of Explorers Island are Fyoric Explorers and speak Jigoton. Fyoric Explorers are people who are descendants of the explorers that came to Fyor from Tritonia hundreds of years ago. Fyor has continuously tried to "modernise" Explorers Island, however the international community have instead called it a "Fyorise". Noting the many occasions where the Fyoric army has come to Explorers Island to remove Jigoton signs and pro independence posters. Explorers Island is again much more liberal than Fyor, and the most out of all the territories.

Politics
For nearly all of its existence Fyor was a monarchy, with it being ruled by descendants of the very first inhabitants of Fyor, though this caused confusion as to who exactly this was and what qualified as descendance. In 1901 this system was abolished and unintentionally replaced with a dictatorship, which continued until 1965 before being overthrown. From then onwards Fyor has bee a parliamentary republic. From 1965-1997 the liberal party PF (Progreso Fyor) governed Fyor. From 1997 till present the conservative FNP (Fyor Nacia Partio) governed Fyor.

While Fyor's economic policies have always been a mix of socialism and capitalism, mostly leaning towards socialism, in recent years the economy has moved more towards a capitalist direction, which many people believe will save the struggling economy.

The current prime minister is Nikolao Aleĉjo who leads the government in parliament, with the president being Antono Lini. Bills are made in parliament and are passed to the presidential office which consists of the president and 9 advisers. Ultimately, it is the president who decides whether to pass the bill or not and make it law. If the president does not pass a bill then parliament can either drop it, make amends to it or try again. This system causes problems when the prime minister and president are from different political parties, and results in situations where bills go back and forth between the 2 places as the president will not make them law. In 2018 a new law was introduced to prevent things from going back and forward without any explanation or changes. If a bill fails 5 times it becomes "mortinta" (dead) and the president must make amends to it, it then goes to the parliament who can either approve or reject the changes. If there is approval the bill automatically passes and becomes law. If it fails, Then it is put to a referendum for the Fyoric public to decide. So far this situation has only happened 3 times, only 1 time did this result in a referendum in 2019 which caused criticism as the issue was seen as too minor to be put to a referendum and was seen as a waste of time for the public. The referendum was about the Elĝraj train routing and the public decided if the train should go to through Elĝraj underground or overground, it had a expected low turnout of only 38%.

The laws in the Fyoric territory of Kiraso are much different to the ones of mainland Fyor and are generally much more liberal. Explorers Island is also a territory but has little autonomy and as such its laws are mostly the same except in special cases where the Fyoric government will pass an "exclusive territorial act" that only applies to the territory.

General

 * You become a legal adult at age 18.
 * You can obtain a driver's license at age 17, however one can start driving lessons at age 16.
 * The age of consent is 18.
 * The legal age of marriage is 18.
 * Capital punishment is used but rarely carried out.
 * Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide are illegal.
 * Pornography is legal with age restriction.
 * Gambling is legal with age restriction.

Suffrage

 * The legal voting age is 16 except for general elections, where the age is 18.
 * People of all Genders, Religions, Social Classes, and Education level have the right to vote. However Fyoric Explorers are usually turned away from voting.
 * Individuals are required to be citizens to vote.
 * Those with 'minor' criminal records are permitted to vote. People with criminal records classified as 'major' are not.
 * One must be 18 years old to run for public office.

Gun laws

 * In Fyor, any eligible citizen is able to obtain a weapon. The legal age is 14.
 * People must complete a practical and written exam to obtain a license, the course can be taken from age 11. A person below the age of 11 can not use a weapon as a result unless in extraordinary circumstances. A person age 11-13 can use a parent's or grandparent's weapon with their consent.

Drug laws

 * Alcohol (<15% by volume) is legal and restricted for those 18 years and older.
 * Alcohol (>15% by volume) is legal and restricted for those 18 years and older.
 * Nicotine and Tobacco products are legal for medicinal use only. However there is widespread illegal use.
 * Cannabis is legal for medicinal use only. However there is widespread illegal use.

Abortion laws

 * In Fyor, abortion is illegal and is not accepted by the highly religious populace.

LGBT rights

 * Same sex activity is legal in Fyor, but the LGBT community can face wide prejudice. Some movements do exist.
 * The age of consent for same sex intercourse is the same as heterosexual intercourse.
 * The LGBT community has the freedom of expression. However this is not well enforced
 * LGBT people are permitted to serve in the armed forces. Trans people are not permitted.
 * The LGBT community is protected by law from discrimination in some areas such as employment and housing.
 * The LGBT community that are Fyoric citizens only have no rights to marry or enter into partnerships, people who hold dual citizenship or one of another country are free to do so. This loophole has resulted in many Fyoric citizens attempting to gain citizenship of another country/territory (mainly Kiraso) alongside their Fyoric citizenship and therefore marry in their homeland. Kiraso has been accused by Fyor multiple times of giving Fyoric people temporary Kirasan citizenship so that they can marry in Fyor. There have been multiple attempts in Fyor to only let Kirasan born citizenship holders to marry, however they have all failed due to pressure from Kiraso and the government saying that it would be "too hard" and "unfair" to enforce it.
 * Adoption is banned by law.
 * HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and sex reassignment surgery are legal, but there is no way to change your legal gender.

Military

 * Approximately 0-0.9% of Fyor's GDP is spent on the military annually.
 * Conscription is enforced but alternative service available. Both men and women are conscripted.
 * Conscription is enforced for 3 'important services' - Lifeguard, Military and Mountain Rescue. Everyone is required to complete at least 2 weeks of each service but will have to choose which one to serve for a full 10 week period. Conscription is not enforced for people who do not have both a Fyoric passport and citizenship, or people who are deemed not fit or healthy enough. Conscription begins at age 17 where a temporary halt is put on education for 16 weeks, after conscription is over every conscript returns to education and has the option to return to a service after finishing their education.

Freedom of Speech

 * Freedom of speech is granted to all citizens constitutionally, however this is not well enforced
 * It is legal to criticize the government.
 * Online speech falls under Freedom of Speech.
 * *Laws concerning hate speech do not exist
 * Laws concerning the incitement of violence do not exist.
 * The press is considered as completely free.
 * There is heavy censorship online by the government.

''*There is an old law that protects people in Fyor, mainly from minorities, from all discrimination including speech. However this law is not enforced and disregarded often. ''

Demographics
The overwhelming majority of the population in Fyor is native Fyoric, at 98.7%. Kirasans make up 1% of the population. The remaining 0.3% of the population consists of immigrants mainly from Atlandia, Inotyol and Taslana. Most of whom reside in the capital, Kailo. There is also a small community of Explorers that mainly reside in Ĉovantojarun province.

Languages
Nearly all of Fyor's population are fluent in Fyoric with only a few hundred* (mostly immigrants) not. While most Kirasans are not directly fluent in the language it is mutually intelligible with Kiras, hence most can understand what a Fyoric person is saying and vice versa without being a proper speaker. Jigoton is only spoken natively by the small population of Explorers, it is not fully recognised or given exposure in Fyor. Attempts to open Jigoton language centres have failed due to shutdown orders from the government.

The most popular foreign languages are Everish, Latinican and Aquian around 93% of Fyoric people have a basic knowledge of at least one of the three languages. 71% can speak Everish fluently, 49% can speak Latinican fluently and 83% can speak Aquian fluently. Aquian is very similar and almost mutually intelligible with Fyoric, and even more with Kiras. While it is not regarded as the most useful foreign language many learn it as due to its similarity meaning it only takes a short time period to learn.

Some other foreign languages are similar to ones spoken in Fyor and its territories. Eldancan, Gameican, Julianoise and Katak are all similar to Fyoric and Kiras while Beklian is similar to Jigoton.

*Kiras speakers are excluded from this figure

Religion
The majority of Fyor at present is Christian, making up 90% of the population. Irreligious people make up 9.7% while people of other beliefs make up 0.3%. While the majority of people in Fyor have always been Christian, throughout 1965-1983 during the liberal period religiosity dramatically declined and in 1983 only 53% of people were Christian, an all time low. However due to the resurgence of religion this increased again to 87% in 1997, the year known as the 'peak of religion'. While religiosity has actually increased by 3% from 1997 till now, the strength of beliefs seems to be decreasing, as polls show that only 61% of Christians consider themselves 'strong believers'.

Irreligious people face discrimination in Fyor, while much of this was stopped during the liberal period, since then it has become commonplace and despite irreligious people making up almost 10% of the population many laws prevent them from getting jobs and running for elections in some provinces.

Religious people of other faiths are generally integrated into Fyoric society and don't experience much problems.

Sports
The most popular sport in Fyor is football, the national team has had some success internationally, they competed at the 2020 FANA World Cup which was also their debut in the competition. In the group stage they came last in their group with 2 points, drawing against Torlova (0-0) and Wedse (4-4) while losing to Freyhurst (1-2). The Fyoric Football League is popular in the country, the most successful team is Kailo Urbo who have won 24 league titles.

Other popular sports include basketball, rugby, ice hockey and snowboarding. The traditional sport of Kurufalolaŭmont is popular, it involves running down a hill and throwing targets at people to make them fall or slow them down, the first person to finish wins. The sport is only played on gentle slopes with no rocks etc to prevent accidents, and in winter it is only played on hills with soft and thick snow. Despite these general precautions it is still responsible for the majority of sport related injuries in Fyor. While now only official games use the original targets that cause minor injury and bleeding, up until 1998 it was possible for anyone to buy the 'dolorapunktoj' before it was banned for sale completely. Now the hard, original targets can only be used and sourced if an official game is being organised and they must be destroyed afterwards, though many are taken from games and used to play informal games with others and the law is not that well enforced.