Darmen

Darmen, officially the Republic of Darmen, is a presidential republic in Rushmore. It is bordered by two nations: to the northwest by Xinhua and to the southeast by the Westlands State of Valladares. The country's north and east is bordered by the South Xandrian Sea, while the south and west is bordered by uninhabited frontier land. Darmen has a population of 9,208,123 as of the 2053 census.

Darmen is most well known for its sporting achievements. Formerly a regional mid-power within Rushmore, a massive decrease in population and an economic downturn has relegated it to a status of a small, but developed nation, holding relatively little influence over the rest of the region. A significant portion of Darmen's GDP, estimated to be close to 1/6th of the total GDP, is provided by the local automotive manufacturing industry.

Politics
The Constitution of Darmen establishes Darmen as a unitary presidential constitutional republic. There are three branches of government; the executive branch, headed by the President of the Republic and the Executive Cabinet; the legislative branch, which consists of the unicameral Parliament; and the judicial branch, which consists of multiple levels of courts culminating in the Supreme Court of Darmen.

Darmen is ranked as a "Full Democracy" in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, with a score of 8.62 out of 10. One of the largest problems facing democracy in Darmen is the lack of participation by the public; political apathy is rampant and the nation routinely struggles to achieve voter turnouts of greater than 50% in national elections.

Elections and political parties
The President and members of Parliament are elected every four years. Previously elected by an electoral college, the President is now elected by popular vote in a two-round election. If a candidate receives a simple majority of the votes in the first round, they are declared the winner. If no candidate receives a simple majority of the votes, a second round is held between the top two candidates from the first round. Members of Parliament are elected via closed party-list proportional representation in regional constituencies. Seats are apportioned between parties based on the D'Hondt method. The first round of the presidential election occurs simultaneously with the parliamentary election, while the second round of the presiditial election, if held, occurs two weeks after the first round.

Additional elections held in Darmen include those for the Municipal Councils and for the Regional Assembly of the Esportivan Darmen region. Esportivan Darmen is the only region in Darmen which has its own separate regional government.

Darmen has a multi-party makeup to its political party system, with three major parties and many minor parties. The three major parties are the center-right Republican Party, the centrist Liberal Party and the center-left National Labor Party. Important minor parties include the far-right Fascist & Ultranationalist Union, the far-left People's Communist Party and the ecological Progressive Greens.

Administrative divisions
Darmen is subdivided into 12 regions and 161 municipalities. Regions do not currently have their own separate regional administrations; although Esportivan Darmen is an exception due to its distance from mainland Darmen. Municipalities are governed by municipal councils, which consist of between 7 and 25 members elected by closed party-list proportional representation and led by a mayor.

Government finance
The Darmeni tax system is a progressive system. Most government income comes from income tax on individuals and corporations.

Law
Much of Darmeni law is based on the common law system, although elements of civil law are also present. Below the Supreme Court exists the High Court of Appeals, the regionally based Superior courts and the municipally based Municipal courts.

Foreign relations
Darmen is a member of the World Assembly. It operates embassies in all Rushmori nations as well as nations outside of Rushmore which have significant relations with Darmen. It maintains good relations with most nations; an exception is Valladares, where disputes over the sovereignty of the Westlands and the southeast of Darmen has caused animosity at times.

Military
The National Defense Force (NDF) is organized into three branches: the Air Force, Army and Coast Guard. The military is primarily defensive in nature, with overseas actions being limited largely to humanitarian operations. Although not part of the National Defense Force, the National Gendarmerie can be placed under the direction of the Department of Defense during times of war. The combined manpower of the National Defense Force currently stands at 109,047 or 1.27% of Darmen's total population, with a majority serving in the Army.

Law enforcement
Policing in Darmen is conducted on a regional basis. The National Gendarmerie and the National Investigation Bureau are important law enforcement agencies at the national level.

Population
The total population of Darmen is 9,208,123 as of 2053. The population is growing at a rapid rate; a 21.99% increase occurred between the 2037 and 2045 censuses, while a 7.4% increase occurred between the 2045 and 2053 censuses. 25.8% of Darmen's total population resides within Scott City. The average life expectancy is 94.5 years.

Language
The official language of Darmen is English, spoken by 95.17% of the population. It is the predominant primary language for must multilingual speakers, and is used for instruction in the vast majority of schools and in all collegiate institutions.

Having formerly held the status of co-official language, Darmeni Norse has now been relegated to the status of a Recognized Language. 7.73% of the population is able to speak Darmeni Norse.

Spanish is also a Recognized Language. The vast majority of Spanish speakers are located in the Southeast, in the municipalities of Chavarría, Kalenda and Rogerton. 5.8% of the population is able to speak Spanish.

Languages recognized by the government at regional and municipal level are: Acquan, Arabic, Banijan, French, Portuguese and Tamar Anglo-Spanic. Acquan, is a Romance language originating in the nation of Ossidiacqua which shares many similarities with Italian and Spanish. It is predominantly spoken in the municipality of New Darmen by members of the Acquan refugee community that settled there. Most Acquan's are now either bilingual or trilingual, speaking either English or Spanish as their second language, if not both. A total of 0.6% of the population can speak Acquan.

Cotdelapomais French, although almost identical to Québécois French, does have some differences, having been influenced by the separate culture of Cotdelapoms. Like Acquan, the majority of its speakers reside in New Darmen. 1.03% of Darmenis are Cotdelapomais French speakers.

Spanish is the most widely spoken regional language, and ranked third among all languages, behind only English and Darmeni Norse. 6.56% of Darmenis speak Spanish. Unlike Acquan and Cotdelapomais French, Spanish is spoken not only by the Tamarindian community in New Darmen but also by the large number of Valladars and Darmeni-Valladars living in the southeast of the nation.

Five other minor languages are also spoken, primarily for religious reasons. They are Arabic (Muslim's, 3.3%), Hebrew (Jews, 2.75%), Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish, 0.03%), Iyaric (Rastafarians, 0.03%) and Chinese (Taoists, four total speakers in the whole nation).

17.2% of the nation is able to speak more than one language. In most cases, English serves as one of the languages spoken by multilingual speakers.

Religion
Darmen is a predominately Christian nation. The Church in Darmen, an organization formed as a merger of the Holy Forden Church and multiple Protestant denominations, is the largest Christian denomination in Darmen, with 53.44% of Darmeni's claiming membership in the church. The Catholic Church is followed by 28.44% of the population, while the final Christian denomination, the Amish, has only 0.03% of the population adhering to its beliefs.

10.36% of the Darmeni population is Irreligious, with many being members of the Secular, Humanist, and Atheist Activist Society. The SHAAS was founded as an organization to help counter the influence of the two largest Christian denominations on Darmeni society.

Among non-Christian religions, 3.29% of Darmeni's are Muslims. Islam in Darmen is largely organized in a non-Denominational fashion, the distinction between Sunni and Shia, as well as other branches of the religion, having eroded some time ago. 2.74% are Jewish, predominantly Orthodox and Conservative, though there is a single Reform Synagogue in Scott City, and 1.34% are Buddhist.

0.31% of the Darmeni population follows a local folk religion revering the two godesses Violet and Margaret in their fight against the evil of Cxaxukluth. Practices of the religion include the sacrifice of rubber chickens to Margaret and the ritual consumption of large amounts of cheese during the full moon.

Other religions with only a small following include the Jehovah's Witnesses and Rastafarians, only 0.03% of Darmeni's identify with each of the groups; and Taoism, which, according to the Taoist Association of Darmen, has only three followers in the whole country.

Ethnicity
95.7% of the population considers themselves to be Darmeni. Darmeni's are considered to have at least some amount of aboriginal ancestry. This section of the population can be further broken down into six different subsections: Darmeni-White (86.05%), Darmeni-Arab (3.23%), Darmeni-Valladar (2.69%), Darmeni-Black (2.44%), Darmeni-Asian (1.27%) and Darmeni-Aboriginal (0.3%). The vast majority of Darmeni-Whites have descended from immigrants from an American, British, French, German or Irish origin. Most Jews living in Darmen also consider themselves to be Darmeni-White, despite their lack of aboriginal ancestry. Darmeni-Asian's are mostly of Hmong or Thai heritage. The Darmeni-Aboriginal group is unique in that almost all of citizens who identify as such claim pure aboriginal ancestry.

The Valladar ethnic group, made up of immigrants and permanent residents from Valladares makes up 2.14% of the total population, and is the largest group to not be considered Darmeni from an ethnic standpoint. The Southeast of the country is home to almost all of the Valladar's living in the country, together with most Darmeni-Valladar's. A large Valladar community also exists in the capital, Scott City.

Due to previous tensions between the Darmeni and Valladar governments regarding control of the Valladar Westlands that border the southeast of Darmen, tensions between the Valladar and Darmeni ethnic populations was once a major concern for both governments. These tensions occasionally turned violent. Relations between the two groups, as well as between both governments, have improved greatly in recent years, with only minor disturbances occurring between the most radical members of each group.

Darmen is also home to several other immigrant communities. They are: Cotdelapomais (0.7%), Acquan (0.52%), Tamarindian (0.43%) and Carmadese (0.1%). The Acquan and Tamarindian ethnic groups both have their origins as refugees to Darmen from their homelands. The Carmadese might also be considered refugees, as their nation no longer exists, but they originally settled in the northwest of Darmen prior to the collapse of their nation, working primarily in the film industry that exists in Liverpool.

0.13% of the population identifies as "Other".

Health
4.45% of Darmeni's are considered to be obese. The majority of hospitals in Darmen are operated by the National Health Board. There are also a number of private (both for-profit and non-profit) hospitals as well.

Culture
Darmeni culture draws its main influences from two sources: first, its Christian religious heritage and secondly, its significant interactions with the British between the 16th and 20th centuries.