Karonas

Karonas (Karonian and Lithuanian:Karonas) (Karonian: /karo:nas/ Lithuanian: /Karonas/) is the second Official Nation of Lisastr67, replacing Yamnu. It has a population of 20,700,683 people in 2018. It was founded in 1364, from the unification of Karonian tribes by Zmelaicas. There are two Karonian coats of arms, one royal with a yellow crown and one for other purposes with a blue colored crown (to match the national colors).

Etymology
The name of Karonas comes from Latin "corona", meaning crown, derived from the monarchical structure of the nation.

Names in real world languages
English: Karonas (archaically Caronia)

Lithuanian: Karonas

Turkish: Karonas/Karonya

Latin: Caronia

French: Caronie

Swedish/Norwegian/Danish: Rafland

German: Karonien

Names in official nation languages
Parbounlinese: Karon, Kvaginion Karona

Sorian: Karonas

Tribal Era
The Karonians came from the region called Aukstatija in IRL Lithuania.After a while they then migrated to the Samogitian and  Curonian regions. In that era,their autonym was "Zhmones" meaning people. They practiced the Romuva religion,much like their Baltic cousins. The Romans had recorded them in their sources as the Zamonii.

Contact with the Norse and the Poles
In the 10th century, contact with the Christianized Poles brought knowledge about rest of Europe, the Latin alphabet, Christianity (which was fervently refused) and organized monarchy. Due to this, small duchies started to form, but none of them gained much influence. Some started to call themselves Karona/Carona, derived from *corona* due to their government form. In the early 11th century, contact with the Vikings have been reported. The Vikings called their land Rafland (Amber land) due to the amber deposits on the Baltic coast and this name is still used by Scandinavian languages. The Karonians learned how to build ships from the Vikings. In the early 14th century,the Teutonic Order tried to Christianize the tribes militarily but failed.

Unification of the Tribes
A chief known as Zmelaicas founded a duchy called the Duchy of Zmelaicas in 1354. This monarchy gradually expanded and at 1364 had all other chiefs subject to him. This duchy would rename itself the Duchy of Karonas. The duchy, which only owned Curonia and Samogitia, gradually expanded and conquered Saaremaa and modern day Riga. Zmelaicas died at 1378 and his son Mintautas succeeded to the throne.

Zmelaicid Age
Mintautas realized that his kingdom was quite undeveloped compared to rest of Europe so in 1380 he invited Polish and Austrian experts to help develop the country militarily and technologically. He set up relations with the Holy See and got recognition as Rex Caronorum (King of Karonas), despite not being Christian. He had three daughters and one son: Ausra, who would marry Aldrich of Yorkshire, Birute, who didn't marry, Laima, who did not marry either and the son Kestutis, who became king at 1405 and Christianized the country in 1410, turning it Catholic. Meanwhile, Karonas conquered the Lithuanian lands in Aukstatija in 1415 and as a result, Lithuanians started to move into Karonian lands where they started to mix. Kestutis died in 1420.

Aldričian Rulership.
Ausra and Aldrich had both died in 1420, but not before having a child. The child was called Aldrich as well and he succeeded the throne as king of Karonas, despite the revolts from existing Karonian nobles. Thus the house of Aldričius began.

Influence of the Renaissance, Reformation and the Exploration Age
The Renaissance trends influenced Karonas but the influence was not as widespread as Italy or Hungary. Nevertheless,the king Mintautas II invited Italian architects and educators to help influence Karonian architecture and to build the University of Šiauliai. The king also conquered Estonia from the Danish dukes. (The Livonian Order in OTL wasn't able to conquer it). The Karonians were unaffected by the Reformation except in Curonia where Lutheranism spread. In 1575, Karonas sent their explorers who discovered Newfoundland. A colony was set up 10 years later. That colony was named Navias Karonas (New Karonas) and spanned modern day Newfoundland and Labrador after 30 years of expansion.

The Reforms of Mindaugas I and the 19th century
In 1774, Mindaugas I was pressured by Karonian nobles to write a constitution for the country which would decentralize the power. Mindaugas I complied to that but he gave more power to the people than to the nobles. He also let men of the commonfolk vote to choose deputies for a parliament above that of the Nobles but below the King himself. The nobles revolted but the armies loyal to the King crushed the noble revolt. After that, he passed an edict which was approved by the common council, which would give free literacy and arithmetic education to the masses. With this edict, the literacy rate of Karonas rose from ten percent to 50 percent. Mindaugas I died in 1803, but his son Vytautas I protected his reforms and switched to the metric system created by the French in 1817. Vytautas was a Grecophile and had a son, Sigma. When Vytautas I died in 1842, Sigma Aldričius, the current king decided to develop basic education to include science and a bit more advanced math, compile a national history and improve his country in terms of science by opening universities in Riga, Klaipeda and Uostas (The administrative center of New Karonas). In 1845, scientist Jonas Voldemaras discovered elements 59 and 60, naming them Karonium and Naukaronium. Sigma I also passed a law to designate the Karonian flag. It has not changed ever since. After Sigma I passed away in 1864, the subsequent kings also added onto his reforms and King Mindaugas II conquered Gdansk/Danzig and Königsberg, which was renamed Karaliaucius from the Poles (the Teutons never rose due to the Karonians) in 1874. After that, the reforms to modernize Karonas continued. By 1900, the country had 13 universities and many well known scientists such as Laima Kraujalyte who discovered alpha and beta radiation in 1897. Women's suffrage was given in 1905 and a law was passed which limited the kings authority, giving more power to the parliament. Naujas Karonas was given autonomy in 1909 and independence in 1911.

World Wars and the Cold War
Karonas stayed neutral during WW1 and WW2 and successfully avoided Soviet subjugation in the Cold War. In 1921, Karonian Radio was founded, to be followed by the opening of Karonian Television in 1948. The Kingdom of Karonas sided with NATO and experienced a population boom in the 1960s and condemned the Soviets due to their actions in Czechoslovakia and Hungary in 1968 and 1956 respectively. In 1963, an ENIAC like computer was built. Karonas sent a satellite into space in 1971, much later than US and Soviet advances but still sufficient. Development continued and in 1978, Karonas joined the EU. In 1989, internet was introduced. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Karonas started trading with the neighboring ex-Soviet countries. Its development continued.

Present Day
Nowadays, Karonas is a regional power, quite influential in its region. It has a high HDI of 0.895(about the HDI of Finland), a good education system and good living standards. All 20 million of Karonas enjoy this high living standard, as the wealth gap is small. The University of Šiauliai is also one of the best universities in the world by 2000. The future looks bright for the Karonian nation.Karonas also has a GDP per capita figure of $39420 (which is between the UK and Japan.) which amounts to a nominal GDP of around 816 billion dollars.

Geography
Karonas sits in the Baltic region and it is mostly flat except for some hills in the eastern areas. Most of it has the temperate continental climate (Köppen:Cfb)

Administrative Divisions
Karonas is divided into 22 provinces which have limited power due to unitary structure of Karonas.It is also divided into six regions,which are Estonia,Curonia,Samogitia,Lithuania,Prussia and Dainava/Dzukija.

Politics
Karonas is a unicameral state, with the Karonian Seimas as the legislature. The current ruling coalition is the coalition of the Social Democrats of Karonas, the Union of Greens-Socialists and the Pirate Party of Karonas, which add up to 51 percent in terms of vote count. The King has the right to veto the decisions of the parliament,but the power is rarely used. Nowadays the King is mostly just a figurehead.

The September 2019 election
After the 2015 election, the far-right Karonian Light party formed a coalition with the monarchist Aldrician Monarchist Party to form True Karonians,which united with three smaller,non-parliamentary parties called Strasserist Party of Karonas, National Socialist Party of Karonas and the Catholic Theocrats called True Karonians - The Right Way.

The Union of Greens and Socialists on the other hand,split into a few other parties: The Union of Greens,Socialist Party of Karonas, Titoist Party of Karonas, and the Left Agrarians.

The Social Democrats split into two factions as well: The Social Democratic Front and A Central Way, a social-liberal party

The Conservatives split into Karonian Christian Democratic Union,Karonian Conservative Union, Central Secular Union (a centrist party) and the Block for Tradition,which later joined the True Karonians-the Right Way coalition.

The Pirate Party,meanwhile,had a breakaway called Progress Now! which was a technocratic,centrist party.

On 21st of April 2016,the three parties of Progress Now! , Central Secular Union and A Central Way united into "The Center Coalition - For Reason and Moderation!"

The Left Agrarians merged with the non-parliamentary Farmers' Party of Karonas to form the Karonian Greens and Farmers Union

The various regional parties of Karonas which were unable to pass the 3 percent threshold including Laisve, Deutsche Partei, Vienotība, the Samogitian Movement, Aukstatija Rise!, Eestlased, Orthodox Coalition of Russians and Belarusians,the Lithuanian Communist Movement,the Latvian Union, Electoral Action of the Polish, Ventspils Reformists, Karaliaucius Party and the Daugavpils-Tartu Development Group have united into the Regional Revival party.

On the 20th of August 2018,a resolution passed increasing the parliaments size to 300 people and eliminating the threshold.

The Karonian Leisure Party spawned a breakaway called the Karonian Mead Lovers Party.

On 31st of August 2018, a far-right group linked with the TK-TRW coalition attacked a gay bar leaving 41 people dead. Due to this,the views of many of the people on this coalition became negative,and right wingers rapidly moved into the Christian Democrats and the Conservative Union.

The Titoist and Socialist Parties of Karonas decided to form a coalition called The United Left,later on including the non-parliamentary Anarchist Union and the Democratic Socialist Alliance.

On 3rd of March 2019,a new monarchist party called "The Monarchist Center" was formed,and subsequently joined the The Center Coalition - For Reason and Moderation! coalition.

On 6th of August 2019,the Christian Democrats and the Conservative Union united into the Good Party.

Then,the elections came and the votes were cast. The Center coalition won the plurality of seats and formed a coalition with the Social Democrats, the Regional Revival,the Pirate Party and the joke parties called "The Future"



Culture
Karonian culture is very similar to Lithuanian and Latvian cultures, with a splash of German culture.

Cuisine
Karonian cuisine features dishes made with potatoes and meat. One such dish is called Karonian Cepelinai, which, unlike the Lithuanian counterpart, can also be made with Jerusalem artichokes and is usually filled with mincemeat.

Sport
The most popular sport in Karonas is football, with basketball following it. The country is renowned for its basketball teams.

Media
Various forms of private and public media are published in Karonas. The ones owned by the government are everything under Karonas Radio and Television Organization and some newspapers.

Television
The KRTO,or Karonos radiyas ir televiziya organizaciya in Karonian and Karonos radijas ir televizija organizacija in Lithuanian and Lithuanian has a few TV channels,including KRTO1, which broadcasts news in Karonian, KRTO2, which broadcasts soap operas, game shows and foreign shows, KRTO3, which broadcasts scientific and educational shows, KRT4, which broadcasts documentaries, KRTOLit, which broadcasts in Lithuanian, KRTOEst, which broadcasts in Estonian, and KRTOWorld which broadcasts in English via EuroSat.

Radio
The KRTO owns many radio channels including one regional for every province and major city in Karonas, minority language ones for Lithuanian, Estonian, Russian and German and Radio Karonas which broadcasts all around the world on medium wave and shortwave.

Television
There are many private TV channels including KEKO (Formerly Karonas EKO),a channel owned by the Union of Greens and Socialists Party and Saule TV which is a news and entertainment channel run by the largest corporation Maxima-Valtis.

Newspapers
There are many newspapers in the country including Saule, Avsra, Rytas, Dabar, etc.

Internet and cell phone providers
Karonas has one state owned and a multitude of privately owned providers of cellular and internet services. The state owned one is called KaronCom, with Karonacell being the cellular division, and KaronNET being the internet division. The state has net neutrality laws in place enforcing data equality.

Diplomacy
Karonas has diplomatic relations with and embassies in most countries.

Mapperdonian Diplomacy
Karonas is a member of the MCS and the BMO.

Currency
Karonas uses the Karon as its currency, divided into 100 Baltas (abbr. b.). 1 Karonian Karon (ISO Code:KRN) is worth around 1.5 Euros. There are coins for 1/2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Baltas and 1, 2, 5 Karons. The Karonian banknotes are in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 Karons. The smaller coins up to and including 5 Karons all depict the coat of arms with the inscription "Karonos Karalysta" on the back. Larger coins depict the coat of arms and the current king, Mindaugas III. The denominations 1/2 b. is steel, 1-5 b. are copper, 10, 20 b are Nordic gold, 50 b and 1, 2, 5 kn. are bimetallic with the first having a nickel core and brass outer ring, the 1 kn having a nickel ring and a copper core, the 2 kn having a 10 percent silver/80 p nickel/10 p aluminum core and an anodized aluminum outer ring, and the 5 kn having a 10 p Ag/80 p Ni/10p Al core and a tin outer ring. The country has refused to switch to BMO kuruş. As Prime Minister Giedre Aldriciene puts it : "We are proud of our own currency. We also do not think that it would make sense for us to use a currency with a Turkish name in our Baltic country."