Alva

Alva, officially the Imperial State of Alva, (Goetic: Reichsstaat Alva) (Thalassian: Αυτοκρατορική πολιτεία της Άλβα, Aftokratorikí politeía tis Álva) (Aravan:إمبراطورية دولة ألفا, 'iimbraturiat dawlatan 'alfaan) is a country in Kesh. Alva is situated between the Eurybian Sea to the north, and the Kesh Alps to the south; it covers an area of xxx,xxx square kilometres (xxx,xxx sq mi), with a population of over 41 million within its 8 constituent states. Situated at the crossroads between northern and eastern Kesh, Alva is bordered by xxx to the west, Kodeshia to the south, and Bakfong to the northeast. Alvastadt is the nation's capital and its largest city. Other major cities include Alexandria, Kalylene, New Drachyro, Neu-Amden, and the twin cities of Saiyadh and Al Mirija.

Early settlement by Aravan tribes began during the spread of Haqiqatan in the early 900s. With the hostile environment outside of the coast and the Alva River, and extreme distance from any sort of authority, the region became infamous for becoming a hotspot for banditry and piracy as well as a money sink for any prospecting invader. Multiple attempts to pacify the region by Bakfong and Haqiqatani emirates all ended in failure. The arrival of Thalassian Tovik traders along the North Kesh coast in the late 1300s provided the incentive for one last attempt at pacification; the establishment of multiple trade ports on the Alvak coast by 1380 marked the end of Aravan piracy on the North Kesh coast.

The flight of Thalassian refugees to the trade colonies following the chaos surrounding the collapse of the Tovik Empire led to the informal establishment of a fully-fledged Thalassian colony on Alvak shores by the 1400s. Following repeated incursions from hostile Aravan tribes over the course of several decades, these formerly loosely-knit groups of Thalassian colonial city-states united into the Drachyrine League and entered into a tributary status with neighbouring Bakfong, a regional power. This state of affairs shielded the League from further conflict with the native Aravan tribes who were also being subjugated under Bakfong and permitted the League's members to grow in industry and population.

Goetic ambitions in Alva originated with the 1851 de Chavigny Expedition that forced Bakanese ports to open up to Goetic shipping. Following repeated attacks from League pirates in the following years, The 1853 Goeto-Bakanese Treaty transferred the overlordship of the Drachyrine League and several Aravan sheikhdoms to Goetia, who then promptly rearranged the region into three polities: The Protectorates of New Thalassia, Upper Alva, and the Alvastadt Colony. The Goetic colonial administration in the region heavily collaborated with the previous Aravan and League polities in the process of developing the region due to frequent colonial policy shifts at home, allowing New Thalassia and Upper Alva to exercise greater autonomy.

Of the three states, only Alvastadt (by 1900, renamed as "Lower Alva") entered into the Grand Campaigns in 1915. Lower Alva's impact on the war was minimal. With the downfall of the Goetic Empire in 1925, the three states entered into a state of martial law as the Imperial Goetic Government in Exile exercised its power. Lower Alva became a military dictatorship by 1926, and New Thalassia and Upper Alva's autonomy were reined back in. By 1941, ultranationalist military figures seized power in a coup. In 1945, the Act of Union was passed, with New Thalassia and Upper Alva being absorbed into Lower Alva, forming the Imperial State of Alva.

Alvak participation in the Great Kesh War was limited; civil unrest following the 1945 Act of Union and internecine conflict within Alva's military structure eventually led to the 1958 May Putsch, ending two years of conflict with Kodeshia over disputed territory. Under more moderate leadership, Alva entered a period of rapid economic growth before being stunted by the Yindong Economic Crisis. Following widespread civil unrest in the wake of the Red Wave, Alva ended its 54-year-long state of martial law and held its first elections in 1980, starting a new era of multi-party democracy. The country is now considered among the most advanced democracies in Kesh, with the highest level of press freedom on the continent.

Alva is a   and. The current monarch is Kaiserin Irene, who has reigned since 2012 after her grandmother's abdication, making her the world's youngest-serving current monarch. Alva is considered both a regional and middle power. The Alvak economy is the second-largest in North Kesh (behind Jungastia) and is the nth-largest in the world. Alva is a developed country, ranking nth in GDP per capita. It is ranked highly in terms of political and civil liberties, education, health care and human development.

Sources of petroleum were discovered on 18 May 1911 and followed up by several other major finds in the East Bank in the following decades; the largest find, the Al Ghassan field, was discovered on 5 September 1943 and is still being used today. Alva has since become the world's third-largest oil producer (behind Kodeshia and Yarova) and the world's largest oil exporter, controlling the world's nth-largest oil reserves and the nth-largest gas reserves.

Early settlement (to 1400)
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Under Bakanese suzerainty (1400-1853)
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Goetic rule (1853-1925)
On 25 January 1853, the Goetic East Kesh Company landed a large force of mercenaries at what is now Alvastadt. Their aims were to establish a supply port and stop attacks by Aravan and Thalassian pirates against Goetic shipping headed eastwards. The Goetic Government thereafter considered Alva to be an essential settlement due to its location, as the Eurybian fleet of the Imperial Navy could easily access the port for resupply and repairs. Later, Goetic influence extended progressively into the hinterland, both west and south, leading to the establishment of the Protectorates of Upper Alva and New Thalassia through a formal treaty of protection in 18xx, and the Alvastadt Colony.

Rulers within the Upper Alva and New Thalassia protectorates kept their sovereignty: banners of local kingdoms and city-states would remain flying over their government buildings, governing of the land continued to be carried out by them or in their name, and their states still kept a distinct international presence, unlike the Alvastadt Colony, where the Goetic sovereign was the head of state.

This state of affairs between Goetia, New Thalassia, and Upper Alva remained unchanged up until the appointment of Karl Adelman to the post of Governor of Alvastadt in 1882. A staunch imperialist with ties to prominent industry magnates in Goetia, Adelman pushed for greater integration of the Upper Alvak and New Thalassian economies with the burgeoning Alvastadt industrial landscape in order to remove the Bakanese monopoly on trade in the southern Eurybian region. His policies included massive and far-reaching infrastructure construction and revitalization projects like the Alexandria-Alvastadt Rail Corridor upgrade and the Adelmanprogramm which formed the basis for the 1945 Act of Union.

The appointment of Sebastian Kleinheisterkamp as Adelman's successor in 1900 brought the full brunt of industrialization to the Alvak region. New Thalassia's issue with its myriads of trade families competing for attention from Goetia and Propyrgia was exploited by Kleinheisterkamp through intermediaries in the New Thalassian government, providing Goetia much-needed incentive to invest in the region instead of its more profitable colonies in Schangau or Singaradscha. The 1907 Al Khasiybah incident brought to light the deficiencies regarding the lack of oversight when it came to the governance of Upper Alva; Kleinheisterkamp's "New Policies" sought to pacify dissenting voices in both New Thalassia and Upper Alva via concessions and government interference.

Kleinheisterkamp's New Policies came to an abrupt halt with the start of the Grand Campaigns. Lower Alva, under the direct overlordship of Goetia, was called into the war while New Thalassia and Upper Alva remained out. With all materiel and efforts directed towards the war, talks of federalizing the three polities into one came into the spotlight as a way to support Goetic ambitions back home. However, with the 1924 Goetic Revolution and the subsequent exile of the Goetic Empire to Lower Alva, these initiatives were shelved to focus on the rapidly changing political scene in the region.

Interwar era (1925-1949)
The communist takeover in the homeland proved to be the determining factor in Alvak foreign and internal policy. As expected, thousands of members of the Goetic nobility, businesspeople, right-wing politicians, as well as ordinary but wealthy people, frightened by the prospect of radical purges and violence, went into exile in Alva, the closest part of the Goetic Empire that was not as touched by the revolutionary waves unlike her allies in Mero-Curgovina and the rapidly disintegrating Samot-Seratofian Empire.

Along with the exiles, the elements of the Goetic Army and Navy that had not mutinied crossed the Eurybian as well. This resulted in Alva quickly taking the role of leader of the remnants of the Empire such as the Provisional State of Schangau and the State of Neuleithanien-Shimakawa. This role would be short-lived from the start due to Alva's position; it was too far away, too underdeveloped, and too small to influence anything. Schangau would eventually join the Confederate States of Northern Avalonia after a plebiscite in 1935, and the short-lived state of Neuleithanien-Shimakawa was quickly taken down by the Akitei occupation force, which set up the current Protectorate regime.

Although most exiles had hoped that the situation would soon be resolved as the newly created Socialist Republic of Goetia would undoubtedly either quickly collapse on itself, or be put down by the Crown Alliance. Neither happened and instead, a peace treaty was concluded between the Crown Alliance and Goetia, with little to no regard for the exiled government. The Socialist Republic was recognized as the successor of the Goetic Empire by most of the world, while the exiles remained seen as the legitimate government by those who had fought beside them in the Grand Campaigns. The lack of a peace treaty between the now-exiled Goetic Empire in Alva and the Crown Alliance would be resolved in the 19xx Treaty of XXXX.

The arrival of the exiles caused a great upheaval in Alvak political life. After Governor Ansgar Preisner's refusal to let what remained of the Goetic government in exile replace the Alvak government (most of the government had fled to Schangau instead), the office of Governor was abolished, replaced by the ceremonial role of Minister-President (which was subsequently replaced by the role of President after the 1945 Act of Union). The Alvak and Goetic armies and fleets were merged under mixed Goeto-Alvak leadership.

Alvak politics shifted to the right, and the still powerful Conservatives were accused of Crown sympathies while the Labour was blamed for having lost most of the Empire to Communist takeover. Moreover, the Kaiser and the Goetic exiles were quickly accused of interference in Alvak politics, directing them into a rearmament and offensive program conceived for preparing the reconquest of the homeland, which most had seen as an impossible feat given the circumstances. The liberal nationalists, who were only beginning to push for independence in the aftermath of the Grand Campaigns, viewed with great discontent the Exiles' influence on their politics, stressing the recently rushed coronation of Kaiser Adalbert II, and would rather see their country as the peacekeeper of troubled East Kesh, a role that had been abandoned by the substantially weakened Kodeshia.

The socialist agitations that followed the devastation of the Grand Campaigns, inspired by the Goetic Revolution, led to counter-revolution and repression throughout Alva. The now right-leaning establishment, fearing a communist revolution, started to endorse the small National Party, led by Josef Schweinitz. In October 1926 the Whiteshirts of the National Party attempted a coup which failed at the last minute when Kaiser Adalbert II proclaimed a state of emergency and called in the Reichswehr to rid the capital of coup supporters. Quickly, the Reichswehr, taking advantage of the political chaos that followed the failed National Party coup, forced Adalbert to declare martial law, forced all political parties to merge into the Imperial Assistance Government and curtailed personal liberties, thus forming a military dictatorship with Generalfeldmarschall Christoph Leitgeb as its de facto leader, with Adalbert and the interim chancellor Nestoras Stavriades being forced into their roles acting as figureheads.

The period of military rule that followed, now named the "Emergency" period by historiographers, was rife with discontent. In 1938, vast reserves of oil were discovered in the Westufer region, and full-scale development of the oil fields began in 1941 under the Tiperyn-controlled Noard-Keske Oaljemaatskippij (North Kesh Oil Company). Oil provided Alva with economic prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally. Cultural life rapidly developed, primarily in the Capital, Westufer, and Ostufer regions, which were the center for newspapers and radio as well as the lifeline of the country. However, the large influx of foreign workers in the south in the oil industry increased the pre-existing propensity for xenophobia in the Aravan communities. At the same time, the regime became increasingly wasteful and extravagant.

A silent coup orchestrated by the militarist bloc of the junta overthrew Leitgeb on 11 September 1945. As the armed forces loyal to the militarists stormed the Reichstag, Leitgeb apparently committed suicide. The new military junta, led by Brigadegeneral Oskar Arendt, took control of the country. The first years of the regime were marked by human rights violations. In October 1946, at least 91 people were murdered in the infamous Reeder Massacre. According to the 46-Kommission, at least 2,115 were killed, and at least 27,265 were tortured during Arendt's reign. In 2011, Alva recognized an additional 9,800 victims.

Arendt's regime pushed for cooperation with Tiperyn and its allies, distancing itself from its traditional Keshian allies in Beifang, Akiteiwa, and Kodeshia. The aggressive expansion of Alva's natural resource extraction projects was an issue and a major worry for Kodeshia, whose own oil fields (still under Selengerian control at the time) would soon be dwarfed by Alva's own. With the additional issue that was Alva's re-alignment with Tiperyn, tensions boiled over frequently along the Alvak-Kodeshian border, resulting in dozens of border conflicts.

Contemporary era (1949-)
While dozens of incursions had occurred on the Alvak-Kodeshi border prior to 1949, the Kodeshi incursion into Alvak territory in the Beiguan Ridge Incident on the 9th of November, 1956, ultimately brought Alva into the Great Kesh War on the side of the Crown Alliance, resulting in a declaration of war by Alva on the 10th.

The Kodeshian frontline proved to be deadly and demoralizing. Feldmarschall Nicola von Bodenheimer gained the moniker of "the Blind Butcher" due to his management of the battles of the heavily contested Pelzer Pass. Von Bodenheimer's repeated offensives across the mountains and through the valley were in an attempt to secure control of the Kodeshian end of the Pelzer and the capture of the ancient fortress of Wulongcheng, which would give Alva a defensive advantage against the Kodeshians. Despite his overall success in holding the line, the failures of most of his offensives cost the lives of tens of thousands of men, which led to an investigation into his actions (especially during the last of his offensives, when he fled the front, leaving his soldiers to fend for themselves) and his eventual sacking in 1957.

Arendt's regime proved increasingly unpopular with each passing year, leading to the successful May 1958 countercoup by the Moderate faction of the army. Arendt was placed on a show trial and found guilty of high treason, leading to his execution by firing squad. The new Alvak government sued for peace in June 1958, ending its participation in the Great Kesh War. The resulting Wujin Armistice ceded border strips to Kodeshia, placed a limit on the size of Alva's armed forces, as well as a hefty Hz 125,000,000 for Alvak war reparations. However, these terms would be repealed in 1959 with Kodeshia and her allies' defeat in the Great Kesh War and the following Treaty of Isfahan. While Alva's territorial losses and financial drains had been reversed, the new government relied heavily on financial support from Tiperyn.

The leaders of the new regime, Maximilian Höss, Chirstoforos Nicolatsis, and Niklaus Dimellis-Funke, loosened the Army's overall grip on matters of the state. While the state of emergency remained in place and no new parties were allowed to be formed, the overfunded armed forces relinquished some of their budget for reconstruction while forcing the economy to become export-oriented, hastening Alva's recovery from the Great Kesh War. Alva joined the North-South Concordant in 1964 amidst massive rioting, a sign of increased dependence on Tiperyn and her allies. With the sudden death of Höss in 1963 due to lung cancer, pressure from more moderate advocates grew on Nicolatsis and Dimellis-Funke, who were more liberal than Höss and were left with the task of running the country. They relinquished more and more power to the Reichstag and Reichsrat and diverted more of the budget towards industry and infrastructure but kept up the state of emergency. The Yindong Economic Crisis that occurred in the backdrop of the 1960s and 70s pushed for further reliance on Tiperyn and the North-South Concordant as Alva and her neighbours' economies collapsed.

Nicolatsis' death in the 1975 Charlottenburg air crash left Dimellis-Funke to rule alone. His cabinet eventually convinced him to end the state of emergency in 1980, disbanding the 45-year-old Imperial Assistance Government, allowing parties to form, and restarting elections. Otto Auerbach, a member of Dimellis-Funke's cabinet, stayed as the interim chancellor until the 1980 elections. The transition from autocracy to modern democracy ended in 1980, when Alva's first democratically elected chancellor, Kim Bönsch, came into power.

With Bönsch's rise to power, Alva began reorienting itself once more, further weaning off Tiperyn and North-South Concordant support and rebuilding relations with Kodeshia, Bakfong, and Akiteiwa. The establishment of KTEC in 1994 following repeated successes in talks with Alva's neighbours proved to be the high point of the era of early Alvak democracy.

Government
Alva is a, ,. Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) and Reichsrat (Imperial Council), which together form the legislative body. The Reichstag is elected through direct elections using the system. The members of the Reichsrat represent and are appointed by the governments of the eight federated states. The Alvak political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1980 constitution. Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both the Reichstag and the Reichsrat; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law, are valid in perpetuity.

The head of state is the Kaiserin of Alva, Irene. The president, currently Otto Maier, acts as a representative of the head of state and is invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Reichsversammlung (imperial convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Reichstag and an equal number of state delegates. The third-highest official in the Alvak order of precedence is the Reichstagspräsident (President of the Reichstag), who is elected by the Reichstag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The fourth-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor, who is appointed by the Kaiserin after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Reichstag. The chancellor, currently Hera Cosmiade, is the head of government and exercises executive power through her Cabinet.

Since 1980, the party system has been dominated by the National Conservative League and the Social Democratic Party of Alva. So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal New Labour Party and the Greens have also been junior partners in s. Since 2004, the left-wing populist Socialist Union has been a staple in the Alvak Reichstag, though they have never been part of the federal government. In the 2016 Alvak federal election, the right-wing populist Alva First gained enough votes to attain representation in the parliament for the first time.

Foreign relations
Alva maintains diplomatic relations with most countries in the world. Its relative power has increased somewhat from when it was a colony prior to the turn of the 20th century, and it maintains status in world affairs. Formal diplomatic relations are primarily maintained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Politcal and legal status


The political and legal statuses of Alva are contentious issues. The Socialist Republic of Goetia claimed that the Alvak government was illegitimate, referring to it as the "Authority in Alva". Alva has its own currency, widely accepted passport, postage stamps, internet TLD, and armed forces with an independently elected chancellor and president. While Alva has no claims to the mainland, Alva hosts the Imperial Goetic Government in Exile (IGGE), which does hold claims on Goetia. However, the ITGE renounced its claims on Boagan Goetia, Austrasia, and the Agranan-held Wilhelmsthal Strip when Alva joined the North-South Concordant in 1964. The remaining Imperial Goetic claims on the East Elsezzian Socialist Republic as well as the long-standing claim over the former regions of Roussy-le-Bourg and Husseren-Wesserling in what is now the territory of both the West Elsezzian SR and the Ovancian SR remain to this day.

Following the collapse of the Socialist Republic of Goetia in 2021, the ITGE has become the sole internationally recognized claimant of Goetic lands.

The IGGE did not renounce its claims on her colonies until the 80s and 90s, but let go of its formerly leased territory of Singaradscha in 1966 after East Ramayan pressure. Shimakawa was officially handed over to Akiteiwa in a grand ceremony following the 1988 Kikyo Agreement. The question of the Schangau claim went back and forth for a decade between the IGGE and the Confederate States of Northern Avalonia before being resolved in the 1997 Christmas Agreement, where the IGGE would relinquish its claims on Schangau. The agreement was signed by the governments of the Confederate States and of the IGGE.

Included in the Agreement were provisions that became part of the Schangau Act 1999 in the form of a future referendum on a united Goetia.

The first poll, held in 2000, resulted in 77% of the vote going towards staying in the Confederacy. The second, held in 2010, resulted in 79% of the vote going towards staying in the Confederacy.

Military
Alva's military, the Reichswehr, is organized into the Heer (Army and special forces ), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force), Sanitätsdienst (Medical Service) and Streitkräftebasis (Joint Support Service) branches. In 2020, Alvak military expenditures took up Mxx.x billion, around x.x% of the national GDP.

As of January 2020, the Reichswehr has a strength of xxx,xxx active soldiers and xx,xxx civilians. Reservists are available to the armed forces and participate in defence exercises and deployments abroad. Military service is compulsory for men at age 18. However, calls have been made in recent years to suspend conscription and replace it with voluntary service. Since 2002 women may serve in all functions of service without restriction.

In peacetime, the Reichswehr is commanded by the Minister of Defence. In a state of defence, the Chancellor would become commander-in-chief of the Reichswehr. The role of the Reichswehr is described in the 1980 revision of the Constitution of Alva as defensive only. But after a ruling of the Imperial Constitutional Court in 1995, the term "defence" has been defined to not only include protection of the borders of Alva, but also crisis reaction and conflict prevention, or more broadly as guarding the security of Alva anywhere in the world.

Economy
OLD LORE, WILL MODIFY/REMOVE

Alva's economy depends mainly on tourism, trade, petroleum and other oil-based exports, the export of refined ores, and tourism; there are also more than one million Alvaks working abroad, mainly in Tiperyn and Jungastia.

The oil industry in Alva is staggeringly large, due to the massive oil fields near the mountains. The heavy and rapid industrialization that followed after the discovery of these oil fields has helped boost the economy. However, oil production has shifted from extraction to refinement. The largest buyer for Alvak oil is Jungastia's Petrostado. The trade deal, signed in 1986, has made both Jungastia and Alva a significant amount of profits, especially from the four Gas-to-Liquid plants Petrostado owns and operates located near Al Duluma.

The completion of the Moritz Dam in 1932 and the resultant Lake Moritz have altered the place of the Alva River in the agriculture and ecology of Alva. Agriculture makes up a tiny and almost insignificant amount of Alvak exports, as most of the country relies on these crops to sustain itself. However, imports of foods from other countries like Agrana y Griegro have helped the situation. Agriculture is found along the Alva River and its major tributaries.

Economic history
The economic boom after the discovery of oil in the Askari Plains and rich ore deposits on the North Kesh Mountain Range provided enough of a boost to Alva that it could sustain its trade, oil, and metal needs for decades or centuries if need be. However, in later years, the economic priorities shifted from oil and ore production to refinement, trade, and tourism. Today, Alva is one of Anterra's top sellers in refined metals, petroleum, other oil-based products, and to add to it, opens its borders to 950,000 tourists per year and growing.

Administrative Districts
Alva comprises eight federal districts which are collectively referred to as Reichsgaue. Each district has its own state constitution and is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organisation.

Culture
Much of Alvak culture is formed from parts of mostly Goetic, Thalassian, and some Chaldean and Arab lifestyles. Alva has placed emphasis on equality and inclusiveness for all its people. Multiculturalism is often cited as one of Alva's significant accomplishments, and a key distinguishing element of Alvak identity. In the Arab regions, cultural identity is strong, and many commentators speak of an Arab culture that is distinct from the more abundant Thalasso-Goetic culture. However, as a whole, Alva is, in theory, a cultural mosaic - a collection of regional ethnic cultures.

Music
From the late '30s to the '50s, jazz was widely popular in Alva. One notable person is Albert Mödel, who was instrumental in spreading the influence of jazz, blues, and many other genres. In 1949, he released his bestselling album, "My Favourite Things". The album went worldwide, with not one million but thirty million copies sold. More recently, an album was released, posthumously in his name, in 2006, named "Workings", selling 46,000,000 copies as of 2019. His grandson, Emil Mödel, still produces jazz music to this day, playing not only his own works but his grandfather's as well. Today, jazz music still makes up a considerable amount of music Alva exports, and it still has an influence on the music modern Alvak musicians, producers, and composers procure today.

Military marches are prominently used in the Alvak military. Notable tunes include the Regimentsgruß, Goetischer Grenadiermarsch, and Goetens Gloria, all of which are played regularly in ceremonies and parades. Another is Jungastiani-Alvak composer Ronaldo Brechtolt-Almeida (1900-2000), who composed several marches, including the world-famous Marcha do exército #9, also known as the Marsch von Jungastia in Alva. He also co-composed several other tunes, like the Maart van Ambrosia with Tiperyn composer Tobias De Jong.

Pop music in Alva arrived in the early 1980s and became well-known quickly throughout the country. Alvak pop started out as what could be described as a transnational youth subculture. The commercial success started in 1978 with the hit "Die Da" from Die Käfer from Lubach. From there, synth-pop emerged out as one of the many split-off genres. Artists like Johannes Huynh, Andrea Alexandris, and Alec Hahn became stars, pushing synth-pop forward as Alva's #1 produced genre of music. In some ways, the rise of synth-pop helped Alva reach out to their neighbours, creating a sort of "pop peace". In the late 2000s and early '10s, a new subgenre emerged out of synth-pop, forming retro-funk or alternatively, new disko. Artists like Kontinuïteit and Neue Ordnung produced music that was reminiscent of the late '70s and '80s and pulled samples from 80's pop culture with Bakanese movies, Alvak cartoons, Kodeshi imperial-age statues, and even more, being used in music videos. Neue Ordnung's "Englischer Garten" was the first retro-funk song to reach the top 5 played songs on Alvak music streaming app "Ohrwurm" in 2009. Today, the retro-funk movement holds on strong, with the number of songs in the genre being beaten only by jazz and pop music.

Irithaky and similar genres of music have been around Alva for centuries and has its origins in colonial-age Thalassia, but it has only been popular and widespread in Alva from the mid-1900s with the invention of the radio. irithaky or irithaky (Thalassian: ηρηθακυ) is a popular dance of Thalassian-Alvak origin, choreographed by Thely Choromoly for the 1949 film Piro the Thalassian. It is a recent Thalassian folkdance, and a mixture of the slow and fast rhythms of the hasapiko dance. The dance and the accompanying music by Yiroko Nikatho are also called Piro's dance, Piro, or "the dance of Piro".

The name irithaky comes from the Thalassian word yryto – from υρω (θομ χορο), which means "drag (or lead the dance)" -, a common name for a group of traditional Thalassian dances of so-called "dragging" style, as opposed to pidikhitho (πηδηκηηθο), a hopping or leaping style. Despite that, irithaky incorporates both yryto (in its slower part) and pidikhitho (in its faster part) elements.

Goetic traditional music lives on in Alva by making its way across the Eurybian through Goetic refugees in the 1925 evacuation.

Visual Arts
Alvak visual art has been dominated by figures such as Helene Wittman – the country's most famous painter – and by the Five Artists. Wittman's career painting Alvak landscapes spanned a decade up to her death in 1958 at age 38. The Five Artists were painters with a nationalistic and idealistic focus, who first exhibited their distinctive works in May 1950. Though referred to as having five members, four artists—Aris Lagellis, Theodosis Marinoulis, Muthanna el-Nasr, and Petrus Wieters—were responsible for articulating the Artists' ideas. They were joined briefly by Arthur Eicher, and by commercial artist Irmelin Homann. Kristina Herzog became part of the Artists in 1956. Associated with the Artists was another prominent Alvak artist, Adele Scharf, known for her landscapes and portrayals of the vast desert and its Bedouin inhabitants. Since the 1950s, works of art have been given as gifts to foreign dignitaries by the Alvak government.

Media
The largest internationally operating media companies in Alva are the Brechtsmann enterprise, BKT SE and ProFunfSat.1 Media. The Alvak Press Agency APA is also significant. Alva's television market is the third-largest in Kesh, with some 40 million TV households. Around 90% of Alvak households have cable or satellite TV, with users spanning from the desert to the coast, with a variety of free-to-view public and commercial channels. There are more than 500 public and private radio stations in Alvakalia, with the public Alvakische Welle being the main Alvak radio and television broadcaster in foreign languages, operating the Hellenic-language ARA2 and Arab-language ARA3. Also, the Goetic-language ARA1 is also run by Alvakische Welle. Alva's national radio network is the AVRadio. The number of national daily newspapers in Alva was 598 in 1950, whereas it was 375 in 1965. Today, there are 549 newspapers in circulation around Alva, most being daily. Notable newspapers include Die Welt, the most-bought Goetic-language newspaper and Chronos, the most-bought Thalassian-language newspaper.

Film
Alvak cinema dates back to the very early years of the medium with the work of Maxim Marcomir. It was particularly influential during the period of stabilization in the '30s with Alvak expressionists such as Kim Wiene and Wilhelm Berchtold. During the Kesh War, filmmakers produced mostly propaganda films, although the work of Alawi al-Riaz still introduced new aesthetics in film. From the mid-1970s, New Alvak Cinema directors such as Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder placed Alvak cinema back onto the international stage with their often provocative films.

More recently, films such as U-23 (1986), In Reis Nei Beifang (A Trip to Beifang) (1990), Flug Nehmen (Taking Flight) (1992), Speichern Kommander Lütz (Saving Commander Lütz) (1995) Ein langer Spaziergang (A Long Walk) (1999), and Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004) have enjoyed international success. The Alvastadt International Film Festival, held yearly since 1951, is one of the world's foremost film and cinema festivals. Although Der Untergang was only somewhat well-received with its portrayal of an alternate Kesh War with Alva joining sides with Kodeshia and Beifang, it was praised for its ingenious use of new technologies in film.

Health
Healthcare in Alva is delivered through the state system of publicly funded health care. It is guided by the provisions of the Alva Health Acts of 1927 and 1978 and is universal. Universal access to publicly funded health services is often considered by Alvaks as a fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country. However, 30% of Alvaks' healthcare is paid for through the private sector. This mostly goes towards services not covered or partially covered by the health care system, such as prescription drugs, dentistry and optometry. Approximately 65% to 75% of Alvaks have some form of supplementary health insurance related to the aforementioned reasons; many receive it through their employers or utilizes secondary social service programs related to extended coverage for families receiving social assistance or vulnerable demographics, such as seniors, minors, and those with disabilities.

Education
Alva is one of the more educated countries in the world; the country ranks nth worldwide in the number of adults having tertiary education, with 62% of Alvak adults having attained at least an undergraduate college or university degree. Alva spends about 5.3% of its GDP on education. The country invests heavily in tertiary education (more than RM 20,000 per student). As of 2014, 79% of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, compared to the worldwide average of 75%.

Since the adoption of section 14 of the 1979 Education Act, education in both Goetic and Thalassian has been available in most places across Alva. Alvak provinces are responsible for the provision of education. The mandatory school age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate of 97%. In 2002, 43% of Alvaks aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 56%.