| Byzantine Republic Ρωμαίων Δημοκρατία Timeline: A Crescent Over Covadonga
East Roman Republic Byzantium OTL equivalent: Greece, Toskeria, North Macedonia, Cyprus, East Thrace and Anatolia | ||||||
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| Motto: Εκ της κονεωε μου αναγεννωμαι! "From my ashes I'm reborn" (Greek) |
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| Anthem: Hymn to Freedom |
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| Capital | Constantinople | |||||
| Other cities | Athens Smyrna Angora |
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| Official languages | Greek | |||||
| Religion | Secular state | |||||
| Demonym | Byzantine East Roman (regional) |
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| Government | Federal constitutional semi-presidential republic | |||||
| - | President | Dimitris Koutsoumpas | ||||
| - | Chancellor | Vaios Orlandos | ||||
| - | President of the Senate | María Akshener | ||||
| - | President of the House of Representatives | Níkos Botsaris | ||||
| Legislature | Hellenic Parliament | |||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | Roman East–West division | 29 October 1396 | ||||
| - | Byzantine–Islamic Wars | 8th century–1331 | ||||
| - | Byzantine Revolution | 1803–1811 | ||||
| - | Current constitution | 22 May 1977 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 656,659 km2 253,537 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||||
| - | estimate | 80,504,712 | ||||
| Gini (2018) | 34.6 (medium) | |||||
| HDI (2018) | 0.859 (very high) | |||||
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
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| Time zone | UTC+2 to +3 | |||||
| Date formats | dd/mm/yyyy | |||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| Internet TLD | .by | |||||
| Calling code | +30 | |||||
Byzantium, also known as the Byzantine Republic, or regionally as East Romania (Greek: Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή; Anatolikí Rhomanía) and East Roman Republic (Greek: Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Δημοκρατία; Anatolikí Romaïkí Dimokratía) is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe, in the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa. Byzantium shares land borders with Dalmatia, Serbia and Bulgaria to the north, Armenia to the east, Kurdistan to the southeast, and Syria to the south. It is located between the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Basin.
Byzantine Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilisation, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre and the Olympic Games. Annexed by Rome, the Byzantine identity emerged after the West-East split and the fall from the Western Roman Empire, predominantly Greek. The Byzantines were an influential power in the High and Low Middle Ages, defeating the Turkic invasions in the crucial Battle of Angora in 1331, while rivalling with the Catholic world entering the Modern Age.
However, the Byzantine influence started to decline after the Age of Discovery. This led to the eventual Byzantine Revolution during the Napoleonic Wars where the Palaiogos Dynasty was overthrown by a joint of revolutionaries and the Army. The Empire itself was dissolved with the independence of Armenia, Bulgaria, Dalmatia, Serbia, Transylvania and Wallachia, while the remaining territories joined and/or were conquered by the newly-founded Byzantine Republic.
In 1938, a coup d'état overthrown President and elected Marshal Pavlos Kostakis, starting the Autocracy era. The period known by its authoritarianism, conservatism and corpotarism, and by restrictions on civil liberties, and the imprisonment, torture, killing and exile of political opponents. The period ended in 1987, three years after Pavlos' death, with the Poppy Revolution (Μήκων Επανάσταση) also known as the 8 May, when Byzantium adopted democratic solidarist principles in the constitution, although being considered a liberal democracy.
Currently, Byzantium is a federal constitutional semi-presidential republic, led by Dimitris Koutsoumpas. A federation and a crossroads between three continents, it is known by being a melting pot with multiple ethnicities inside the republic, ranging from Continental Greeks (self-labelled Byzantines), Turks (largest minority), Macedonians, Slavs, Bulgarians, Albanians, Cretans, Cypriots and Romanis. It is a member of the European League and the Council of Nations.