Lyras
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Protectorate of Lyras
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| Motto: "Undaunted" | ||||
| Anthem: "In defence of the weak, undaunted" |
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| Capital (and ) |
Bredubar | |||
| Official languages | Lyran English | |||
| Recognised regional languages | English | |||
| Demonym | Lyran | |||
| Government | Protectorate | |||
| - | Warmarshal | Leon Krell | ||
| Population | ||||
| - | 2009 estimate | 8.604 billion | ||
| - | 2009 census | 8.604 billion | ||
| GDP (PPP) | 2009 estimate | |||
| - | Total | $159.03 trillion | ||
| - | Per capita | $18,483.32 | ||
| Currency | Varessan crown (VC) |
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| Internet TLD | .ly | |||
Lyras (officially the Protectorate of Lyras) is a large nation in the Greater Dienstad region.
It is bordered to the north by the Ironharbour Bight and Gulf of Kush, to the north and east by the Republic of Fehnmar; to the east by South Fehnmar and the Straits of Tal. The territory of Lyras is the largest within Greater Dienstad's Storn Archipelago, and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate, and the East-Dienstadi Current. With over 8 billion people, it accounts for the second largest population among the states of the Storn Archipelago and is home to two prominent trading entities, Lyran Arms[[1]] and Lambda Financial[[2]].
As a modern nation-state, the country was de jure established by Warmarshal David Lyras from the elements of the military of the Storn League that followed him into exile amidst the disintegration of the League in 1840. In 1890, after the First Lyro-Fehnmari War, Lyras expanded to include formerly Fehnmari territory north of the river Os. Lyras expanded again (and most substantially) in 1925, following its defeat of the Erukushi-Fehnmari alliance. The third expansion, circa 2004, has been through the colonisation of the Lyran Havenic Territories.
Lyras is a member of the Fedala Accords, and adopted the Norheim Doctrine in 2007.
Lyras is a quasi-unitary, sovereign stratocratic militarist state. The capital and largest city is Bredubar. It is a major power with Greater Dienstad's largest trade surplus by nominal GDP and the in purchasing power parity. By virtue of its unusual origins, the country has developed an extremely unusual national society and culture. It holds a key position in Greater Dienstadi affairs and maintains a multitude of close partnerships on a global level. Lyras prides itself upon scientific and technological innovation in several fields, all of which are connected to theorised or actual military applications.
Contents |
Etymology
History
Politics
Subdivisions
Military
Geography
Lyras is the largest country in the Storn Archipelago, and accordingly, Lyras's climates, vegetation, and soils span considerable distances. Lyras has a very wide natural resource base including major deposits of iron, petroleum, natural gas, coal, titanium. aluminium and other mineral resources.
Topography
The two widest separated points in Lyras are about 3000km apart along a geodesic line. These points are: the coastline southeast of Lughenti on the Straits of Tal, and the farthest northwest of the country, about 200km west-northwest of Dexter. Lyran maritime access is considerable, with major ports situated along most of its very long coastline. The Gulf of Kush is a major source of crude oil, and tensions between Lyras and Fehnmar remain high partly because of this.
Most of Central Lyras consists of large stretches of rolling steppe plains, which give way to alpine forests along the mountains to the north, and then in turn become lowland deciduous forests along the coastal areas south of the Ironharbour Bight. East of Central Lyras the ground rises up to the Barrier Ranges, the old border between Lyras and the Sovereignty of Kush. East of this is the rocky Kush Desert, with fertile lowlands along its northern extent, watered by coastal rains and extensive rivers. Lyras possesses 40% of the Storn Archipelago's arable land.
The Blackreach Mountains, rich in mineral resources, form a northwest-southeast range that divides Lyras and South Fehnmar. Major islands that Lyras occupies in the Gulf of Kush remain disputed, with both Fehnmar and Erukush also laying claim.
Lyras is well-watered, and has thousands of rivers and inland bodies of water, providing it with extensive surface water resources. The largest and most prominent of Lyras's bodies of fresh water is Lake Woy, which alone contains over 20% of the archipelago's fresh surface water. When it comes to rivers, Lyras is second to Varessa by total renewable water resources, although the figure is contested. Of the country's many rivers, the Tal is the longest, running for over 1,500km, but is second to the Os in water volume discharged.
Climate
The climate of the Lyran Protectorate is formed under the influence of several determining factors. The size of the country and the prevalence of maritime influenced weather patterns result in competing climactic zonings. Mountains in the south obstruct the flow of warm air masses from the east, whilst the plain of the west and north makes the country open to northern influences.
In winter, temperatures get colder both from south to north and from east to west. Summers can be quite hot and humid, even in the far north. A small part of southern coast around Port Finch has a subtropical climate. The continental interiors are the driest areas.
Economy
Lyras is the second largest national economy in the Storn Archipelago, has the largest governmental surplus in Greater Dienstad, and is a major manufacturing and financial center. Lyras is one of Greater Dienstad's top exporters with NS$26.604 trillion exported in 2009 and generates a trade surplus of NS$7.79 trillion.[1] The service sector contributes around 5% of the total GDP, industry 90.1%, and agriculture 4.9%. The vast majority of the country's manufactured products are in military engineering, especially in armoured vehicles, production machinery, small arms, and munitions.
Lyras is a strong advocate of closer pan-Dienstadi economic and military integration, and its commercial and trade policies are determined entirely subordinate to governmental oversight. Agreements among Fedala Accord (FA) members and FA guidelines also play a prime role in foreign trade decision-making. Lyras uses the common Nationstates currency, the Nationstates Dollar, and its monetary policy, such as it is, is set in Bredubar. Internally, Lyran personnel are paid a stipendiary, not remunerative, wage, in credits, and all transactions are purely electronic. Any credits not used within three months expire, as they are held to have been not needed. By this device, accumulation of wealth by an individual is impossible. Credits are utilised, in other senses, in the same manner as currency generally, although the available range of goods and services are extremely low. Lyrans generally live very austerely, and most essential items are issued by the government, as seen in militaries globally.
Lyran foreign trade is entirely conducted under the auspices of the Lyran Governmental Trade Department. The import of raw materials and export of high-grade military hardware, subject to government policy, is an important arm of broader Lyran foreign policy. Proceeds from the sale of military hardware are reinvested internationally where possible, with the Governmental Trade Department actively seeking to expand its ownership of foreign enterprises as much as possible. Dividend yields and wider profits are in turn reinvested and, as a consequence, Lyras is one of Greater Dienstad's most asset rich nations. Large amounts of international currency held within Governmental Trade Department accounts was one of the driving factors in the establishment of Lambda Financial, a multi-trillion-dollar banking and financial services house, designed to further expand Lyran access to international markets, and increase Lyran economic influence globally.
Education
Responsibility for educational oversight in Lyras is vested within the individual Orders, whilst Executive Command only has a limited supervisory role. Education starts from very early (~2 years of age), and is indistinguishable from the broader society in most applications of the phrase. Education within a ‘cohort-creche’ is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which education takes on a more pronounced military bent. Training and education within Lyras are synonymous; all students, and ergo all children, upon graduation are considered to have finished their military training, and are held to be ready for active service. All training up to and including primary level is common and non-stratified in most instances, and is residential at all levels, for all persons.
In contrast, secondary education is streamed towards a given arm of the military, by a combination of aptitude, likely positional availability, and student inclination. Students are normally given fairly broad latitude in selection of appropriate courses, and encouraged to seek subjects likely to provide knowledge and training that will benefit them in the arm to which they intend to graduate. At late secondary level (~14 years) the subject choices and student pathing tend to become more firm, as trainees prepare to undertake the final tests and gradings that will determine their position and rankings in the selection paneling.
The more gifted students (~1 in 30) are, at approximately 15 years of age, invited to switch out of conventional training and accept streaming into the officer training course in the area of their respective preference. Declining is rare, but does happen. Officer-trainees are then given a taste of combat in a program called ‘blooding’, which serves to ensure Lyran officers, regardless of position or tasking, are at least passably familiar with combat operations. After a year on the active list, Officer-Cadets are returned to education for the Lyran equivalent of university, with personnel provided with job-specific training and experience.
Lyras' tertiary training facilities are highly regarded internationally, benefiting from a very broad selection base and access to substantial resources, as required.
Demographics
Culture
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