Werdiana

Werdiana (Nineliese: Verdiana, Aquian: Verdiana, Astalan: الويرديا نية, Werdianan: Verdian) officially the Most Serene Republic of Werdiana (Nineliese: Serenissima Repubblica di Verdiana) is a sovereign state in the south of Serica. It covers an area of 1,055,643 square kilometres and is inhabitated by approximately 112,953,753 inhabitants. Its capital is Klepatra and its largest city is Morissette. The country shares land borders with Saint Vittoria, Qasentria, Namimori, Katsyria, Takimorujin and Yster. It is separated from Vradiazi and the continent of Latinica by the Gerawan Strait. With around 113 million inhabitants, Werdiana is the second most populous country in the Association of Southern Serica, as well as the fifth most populous country in Fantasia. It is composed of fifty states (stati), shared between seven geographical regions. Werdiana also administers three island territories (territori), where approximately 12,000 people live. Everish and Nineliese are the country's official languages, with Aquian, Astalan and Werdianan being spoken regionally.

Etymology
There are various hypotheses regarding the origin of the name “Werdiana”. The most common one is that “Werdiana” simply derives from the Nineliese word for “green” (“verde”), to which the suffix “-ana” (“land of”) was added. Despite the country name officially being “Verdiana” in Nineliese and Aquian, the alternative starting with “W” is much more common throughout the country.

From “Verdiana” to “Werdiana”
There are various theories explaining why the country name specifically starts with the letter “W”, despite originally being called “Verdiana”.

The first one concerns a transcription error of the name: a proof is the fact that, by looking at official manuscripts and documents, we can actually notice that, from somewhen around the XVI century, the name of the country begins to appear in its “W form”. The second theory is that this changing was purposely wanted by the various kingdoms of the time to distinguish themselves and create a more strong national identity in the region. A third theory involves the spread of Everish in the region, which began somewhere around the XIV century. According to this final theory the spread of this new language popularized the alternative “Werdiana”.

Usage of the name today
The classical form “Werdiana” is extremely common today, with road signs, official documents, advertisements and news outlets using such name. It is rare, although not completely impossible, to still find the more latinized “Verdiana”, especially in large Nineliese and Aquian-speaking communities, which constitute an important minority in the country. Werdianans themselves don’t really care about what version of the name is used.