Norsivar (NOR-siv-ar)

Norsivar is an ancient state spread across broad swaths of the northern jungles of Aotra. The nation's lands are rich with ore, timber, and fertile soil; Norsivar is a significant producer of most types of natural resources. It also has long claimed the northern half of the Great Reservoir, the largest body of water on Aotra, the southern half of which belongs to Norsivar's sister state Solisvar. Norsivar is the oldest of the Nations of the Circle; it celebrated its two-thousandth anniversary in 713 YC. For much of its existence, it has been a far smaller state than it is now, as the boundary-drawing efforts of the Circle of Nine resulted in a significant amount of rural territory and small independent states being tacked onto the historic center of Norsivar. While not the largest Nation of the Circle by area, Norsivar is by far the largest in population, with an estimated pre-Severing population of nearly 63 million. Almost 90% of Norsivar's population is human, a rate far above the 72% of the global population constituted by humans.

Government

Because of its extremely long relatively stable history and its massive population, Norsivar is a powerhouse among the Nations of the Circle. Norsivar is arguably the political and cultural center of the Circle of Nine. It is a bastion of the traditional, philosophical variety of Dichotomism that underlies a great deal of international culture, and its size and economic power have meant that it has had an strong influence on international politics since long before the establishment of the Circle of Nine. Polar Norsivar is host to Northern Capital of the Circle of Nine, a palatial city of government buildings that hosts the representatives from each nation for meetings of international governance.   Norsivar's Co9 representative is Minister Senya Do'hirin, a senior member of Norsivar's National Congress, its legislative body. The National Congress is made up of elected representatives from each of Norsivar's thirty-three provinces (many of which were autonomous states prior to their consolidation into Norsivar in the early years of the Circle of Nine). Each province elects three representatives in a six-year election cycle. Strict rules govern eligibility for public office, such that less than a quarter of the population of Norsivar is theoretically eligible to run for election to the National Congress.

Military

Norsivar maintains a relatively small military, the Norsivaran National Forces (NNF), which is split into two branches: the Norsivaran Army and the Norsivaran Navy. Due to a diplomatic agreement with Solisvar, whose massive military serves the Circle of Nine at large, Norsivar elects not to operate the NNF outside of its own borders, so the NNF solely functions as a domestic protection force.

Norsivar Post-Severing

Norsivar was devastated by the Severing, though not as severely as the nations with a greater dependence on arcane magic, like the Federation and Kassaan. One of the most noteworthy consequences of the Severing was that the communication networks between the provincial and national governments broke down; as a result, many of the provincial governments have coalesced into mini-states, while the Norsivaran national government has largely failed to recover.