Aniyunwiya (The Kalmar Union)

The Kingdom of Aniyunwiya, Aniyunwiya, is a large landlocked constitutional monarchy in Central East Leifia. It it is bordered by (clockwise from due North) Erie, Six Nations, Álengiamark, Susquehannockland, Yesanland, Tsalagi Republic, Coyaha Republic,  Chikashsha Republic and the Inokian Confederation.

The capital is Kispokotha and the population is around 11.3 million.

The Head of State is King Weyapiersenwah III.

The official language is Aniyunwiyan though other minority languages are also spoken.

Its currency is the Aniyunwiyan Haas (AYH).

History
The Aniyunwiyan and related tribes had formed a loose confederation often warring amongst themselves and the smaller tribes around their edge. The introduction of Norse technology, particularly iron and horses transformed the tribe(s) into vigourous mini kingdoms. For around a century the various Aniyunwiyan statelets developed and honed cavalry techniques which they used with brutal efficiency against each other keeping a fine balance between the various kings. This balance was fatally upset by a epidemic, probably measles, that spread out from the Norse states around the end of the 12th century. It decimated the population and left a power vacuum. Into this stepped Edoha, prince of Youghiogh.

Wielding a formidable cavalry armed with axes and bows and wearing hardened leather armour, Edoha quickly subjugated the other Aniyunwiyan states and then to keep his allied nobles from challenging his rule began to direct their energies outwards to the other nations on their borders. The Ohio and Muscogee tribes were defeated and absorbed by 1236. In April 1238 the Battle of Seven Kings saw the destruction of the Erie, Unami and Haudenosaunee armies and their annexation. Álengiamark fell soon after. Eventually Edoha's kingdom stretched from the Mississippi to the Atlantic and from the Gulf to the Fraeburt Votnum. Significant Vinlandic naval presence on the Votnum and the reassurgence of Kanien'gehaga warbands prevented a comprehensive conquest of the northeast. Meanwhile sustained resistance helped keep Myrland and various pockets of the Gulf coast independent. Vinlandic sources often referred to the enlarged state as an 'empire' and saw the Aniyunwiya as much as a threat as their contempories the Mongols were to the Eastern European kingdoms.

The 'empire' proved beneficial to many of its peoples, spreading Norse-derivied agriculture and technology to the Mississippi, creating a large road network linking the growing towns and cities and introducing currency across most of Leifia. Many tribes however simply moved out of the empire's borders creating a chain reaction of peoples. Tribes were shunted out of the way by newcomers, either becoming minorities in their own lands or in the extreme, like the Nahua in Mexica, travelling vast distances to escape persecution and claim their own lands.

Edoha's empire lasted until his death in 1275 whereupon the empire splintered into four main successor kingdoms whilst other tribes reasserted their independence. Meanwhile in the Northeast, Álengiamark, already nominally independent, claimed a large swathe of neighbouring territory. The four kingdoms and their smaller satellite principalities indulged in intense internecine warfare only coming to a halt in the 1450s when three were inherited by King Kullaakka. Emulating Edoha but not daring to challenge the rising powers of the Northeast he built a short-lived Second Empire encompassing the lands down to the Gulf and a broad section of Leifia to the west of the Mississippi. While the adjunct territories fell away quickly after Kullaakka's death in 1482 the central Aniyunwiyan kingdom remained united, often interferring in the affairs of its western neighbours.

As Mexica began flexing its muscles north of the Mets'ichi Chena Aniyunwiya was the first point of call for rulers requesting help. Soon it had formed a loose alliance with Vinland (which had its own area of influence in the west to protect) to provide a yearly mercenary force to challenge any Mexic raids. It formed the backbone of the alliance that fought the Mexic-Leifian war while the well maintained road network of Aniyunwiya kept the allied armies fed, clothed and on the move in a way that the Mexic could not match.

The ambition and drive to keep Aniyunwiya's pre-eminence in Western Leifia continued through the 17th and 18th centuries as it repeatedly challenged the Mexic backed tribes as well as those allied to Chinese Leifia. This confidence would last until the so-called Leifian Crisis that was foreshadowed by the huge Eskippakithiki earthquakes of December 1811 and January 1812. Destroying a huge area of farmland and flattening several cities, Aniyunwiya, along with many of its equally affected neighbours entered a period of civil war and hardship. While many converted to republicanism Aniyunwiya's royal house survived, if only by abandoning much of its power and leading the fight to reign in regional independence movements. While it was busy Mexica took the opportunity to annex various small satellite states until Vinland sent an ultimatum.

Recovering, but still occasionally rocked by revolt, Aniyunwiya trod carefully. Calls that it should lead the charge to restore monarchies to its neighbours were considered but rejected. It intervened in the Cotton Wars of the 1880s-1920s though often causing more harm than good. Meanwhile at home its government has long struggled to reconcile the country's latent power against the centrifugal forces of its regions. An already healthy industrial heartland has been boosted by discovery of oil on its territory but the exact demarcation of the oilfield's border with Erie has brought fresh diplomatic troubles.

Government
Aniyunwiya is a constitutional monarchy governed by a single chambered council. Elections are held every 4 years. The monarch retains powers to dissolve the government and fire ministers at will, though in practice this power has rarely been used.

The current head of state is King Weyapiersenwah III and his Chief Minister is Dega Quatalawny.