Arola

''Not to be confused with the El Kadsreian country Alola.

Arola, officially known as Republic of Arola, is an island country in Northern Europe, bordered by Dryicor, Varkia and in the.

Arola has a population of 4.4 million, out of 18% people are white originating from the or the. This is due to English being a second official language in the country and the good standard of living there, hence it is the most popular migrating country among English speakers. It is also ranked 2nd in the by a score of 7.786.

The capital and largest city of Arola is Kelvia.

Etymology
The name Arola derives from the Finnish word “aro”, meaning hard relatively infertile ground or wet meadow swamp. The name is believed to have come from a description of the biome in southern Arola, which was the only part to have some population until the arrival of the British Empire. Arola is also in use as a surname of Finnish descent.

Prehistory
In the 17th century, a few Swedish explorers discovered an island that snowed all-year round but with no inhabitants and only had a few species living on the island. The Kingdom of Sweden attempted to use the island as a military base with barracks and docks, but due to a lack of resources, plans were not materialised and the Swedish kingdom gave up.

British era
While expanding the British Empire in Asia, the British realised that they never expanded their Empire in the Nordic region. They first explored this possibility after conquering Heligoland during the, but could never find a suitable location.

After the war ended, the British decided to search for an island which there were no inhabitants, where they could set up a trading post and a military base. They also searched for an island due to trade with Sweden, as they did not have a brief refuel stop since Dryicor did not allow them to dock their ships there.

In December 1829, the British found a completely remote island just south of Dryicor. Due to its closer location to Great Britain compared to Dryicor, the British ultimately supported the idea of a trading post there. However, it took them two months to convince the Viking tribes and finally signed an agreement in February 1830. Soon after, the British claimed a small part of the island, where Quay@KVK in Kelvia now stands, and set up a trading post there.

Further treaties were made in the next few years, and like many British trading posts in Asia, Arola grew to become a crown colony, when it was upgraded to that title on 17th December 1836. The original trading post also grew into a trading port town and named Kelvia.

After the British ceded Heligoland to the Germans in 1890, the British started to prioritise using Arola as a bustling trading port and tourist hotspot. Kelvia was granted free port status in 1892 and grew rapidly. Arola’s population began to surge with an influx of Nordic immigrants entering the country, swelling to 110,000 in the early 1920s. Similar to other Nordic and Scandinavian countries, Arola was unaffected by the (1914-1918).

Second World War
The greatly affected Arola during  when Norway lost British support and fell to German forces. Arola also had a limited supply of defence due to the British allotting funds to France during the German invasion of France. The invasion indeed culminated in the Battle of Arola, which began on 22nd June 1940. Within a day, the German forces had invaded Kelvia, forcing the colonial government to retreat to Uilo in the west away from the fighting. Arola ultimately surrendered to German forces on the morning of 27th June after the British negotiated a cessation of hostilities and expulsion of all remaining Commonwealth forces in Arola.

During the five years of the Nazi occupation of Arola, Arolans attempted to build a resistance movement using guerrilla warfare, although most attempts eventually foiled. Most ex-Commonwealth soldiers and almost the entire Arolan Jewish population at the time were sent to POW camps or tortured to death.

Post-war period and Republic of Arola
On 13th May 1945, Arola was formally surrendered from remaining Nazi forces to the Allies, one of the last in Europe to do so. As World War II came to an end, Arolans began fighting for the country’s independence amidst poor living conditions and slow reactions of the British government. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, political factions including the most prominent Salo Gang were formed and scattered throughout Arola.

In 1954, the British government announced that it would withdraw troops from Arola due to tensions caused by the, thereby enabling Arola to gain independence. The Salo Gang citied this as an opportunity and began laying the foundations of Arola's self-governance.

Arola declared independence as the Republic of Arola on 1st July 1958, when the last British forces left Kelvia. Samuel Salo was sworn in as President. The first election in the newly independent Arola was held on 29th July 1958, with both the temporary President and Prime Minister winning and re-elected in August. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Arola’s economy skyrocketed overnight with the construction of the country’s Arolan Freeway System, a surge in the country’s GDP value, new laws being enacted that reshaped the education sectors, and even turned Arola into one of Europe’s only drug and substance abuse-free countries.

Arola has been a member of the since 1962, the  since 1995 and the  since 2003. However, it has never joined the as it was still a British colony at the time of its creation, though it has an agreement with Dryicor to travel and reside between both countries without travel documentation.

Climate
A majority of southern Arola experiences a, with the exception of most of Valtala province which experiences a , while northern Arola is mostly in the. This means that the northern part of the country has year-round winters while the southern part has cold winters and hot summers. Snow is prevalent during winter time, especially in tundra regions such as the Rivomaa Highlands.

Territories
Arola has a total of 5 provinces, Kelvia Capital District, Pudas, Valtala, Talola and Kronvik.

Government
The Constitution of Arola, the supreme law of the country, defines the structure of the government as a federal parliamentary republic. The government is separated into three branches:
 * The executive is led by the Prime Minister and consists of a cabinet comprising a coalition of at least three political parties. They collectively enforce and implement laws and government policies, as well as being responsible for the daily adminstration of affairs in the country.
 * The legislature is led by the head of state, the President, and represented by the Arolan Parliament which meets in the capital of Kelvia. The legislature creates and passes laws for the state.
 * The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court, which interprets and applies laws made in the country and settles disputes regarding the state.

Political parties
There are two main parties, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Other minor parties such as the Green Party, Forward First Party and Liberal Party also exist in Arola.

Presidents and Prime Ministers
Main article: List of presidents of Arola and List of prime ministers of Arola

Transportation
Arola has a network of 13 freeways that have a total of approximately 12241 miles in length. Arola used to have a state railway, but its state deteriorated and was shut down shortly after the country’s full independence in the early 1960s. However, after several attempts to revive intercity rail travel in the country since the 1990s, the Arolan government announced in 2024 that it would set €9.6 billion for a potential high-speed rail corridor between Kelvia and Uilo.

Kelvia has a light rail system with 2 lines and 14 stations in total. The first section of the system opened on 6th June 2008. A medium-capacity metro system is currently being opened in Uilo, with the first stage opening in 2022. Other towns in the country are mostly dominated by private bus operators.

Long-distance intercity connections are provided by Aronian Bus Lines, which uses a fleet of motorcoaches on coach services along Arola's freeways and major roads.

The main airport in the country is Kelvia Kasala International Airport, located 11 miles from the city center and located in the Kasala suburb and industrial park. The other airport located on the other side of the country is Uilo Airport. Air Arola is the flag carrier of the country flying internationally, with its subsidiary Air Arola Shuttle operating domestic flights and flights to countries in the Nordic region.

The only and most popular automaker in Arola is Dillon Cars, which was founded in 1985. To date, 85% of Arola’s population own a Dillon car.

Education
Arola’s education system consists of grades M1 to M3, and 1 to 12, similar to neighboring Dryicor and and the. Arola is the only country in the world to have completely no mandated examinations in the education system, and are instead replaced by bimonthly unweighted tests that mostly consist of less than 10 questions. Due to the lack of standardised tests, all schools in Arola operate on a strictly policy. This also eliminates the use of report cards in the country, saving time and paper.

This education system used by the Arolan government has less emphasis on academic grades and focus more on transitioning to adult life and coming-of-age through mental health programs, counseling and technology. The system is the most well-received in the world, making Arola a good country to study in. This has also led other countries to experiment removing exams completely from their own education systems.

Arola’s education system is partially funded by the government while the remaining share comes from private donation funds through door-to-door donations, charity drives and campaigns.

Every school year in Arola usually starts in early September and ends in late May, and is split into a total of four quarters:


 * Q1 starts on the first weekday of September and ends on the last Friday of October.
 * Q2 begins a week after Q1 in early November and ends on the Friday before Christmas.
 * Q3 begins a month after Q2 in mid to late January and ends on the last Friday of March.
 * Q4 begins a week after Q3 in early April and ends on the last Friday of May.

While the date when the Arolan school year begins and ends is identical to Northern Hemisphere countries such as the United States, the quarter system is relatively modelled on Australia and Singapore.

Arola opts for a later school time compared to neighbouring countries, with schools starting at around 9am sharp and ending at 2.30pm. Until October 1964, a five-day school week was used, originating from its British colonial years. However, the new government saw that Arolan children were sleep deprived, hence the school week was shortened to 4 days and school lasted from Monday to Thursday. However, the government decided to change it to Tuesday to Friday before the start of the 1975-1976 school year as the original schedule did not succeed.

Media
The national broadcaster in Arola is Arolan National Television (ANT), which operates two terrestrial television channels, four cable television channels and a radio network. Other television channels include free-to-air CTV, A-Star Channel and Nelonen Arola.

Internet and cable television service providers are widely available in Arola, with the most subscribed provider being A-Star with over half of the country’s population subscribed. The main mobile network operator in the country is Kezia.

People and trends

 * Arola's currency is the since January 1, 2023, having replaced the Arolan dollar which served as the country’s main currency until 2022.
 * Arola's population is estimated at 4.3 million people.
 * Arola has among the highest life expectancy at 84.01 in total.
 * Arola has among the lowest rates of homelessness, thanks to its Priority Housing scheme since the 1960s to sell affordable detached houses, which is constructed by outsourcing to private developers and architectural firms.
 * Apart from Arola's two official languages, a variant of the Finnish language called Arolan Finnish is occasionally used, which uses different noun cases and minor modifications.
 * The drinking age is 20 in Arola, which has remained at this number since 2003.
 * Since 1981, Arola has passed a law to only allow a limited number of alcohol purchases per week, which is currently limited to 3 since 2014. As a countermeasure, all establishments serving alcohol have the rights to check previous receipts and report to the authorities if they had more than three alcohol purchases in a week.
 * Arola has one of the lowest drug abuse rates in the world, in stark contrast with most European countries. It is also one of the only countries in Europe to strictly ban cocaine alongside with the United Kingdom.
 * The driving age is 16 for motorcycles, 18 for cars and 20 for large vehicles respectively in Arola.
 * The marriage age is 18 in Arola.
 * One must be 19 and above to participate in lotteries in Arola.
 * Arola has a working week on Tuesdays to Fridays, contrary to Mondays to Fridays in most countries. The 4-day working week in Arola has been observed since the 1980s in line with Arola’s school week. Due to this measure, Arola has been praised as one of the most productive and energy-saving countries in the world.
 * Arola is one of the few countries to have their national day on July 1st, along with and.
 * Most cars on the roads in Arola are locally made by Dillon Cars, with 85.6% of vehicles registered are made by Dillon. This makes it harder to spot a different car such as a Mercedes-Benz or a Toyota, and the Arolan government has attempted to prevent more purchases of Dillon cars in order to prevent monopolisation.

Cuisine
Arolan cuisine is mostly influenced by European and Mediterranean cooking. Nordic dishes such as Swedish meatballs and kiviak are more prominent in eastern Arola, while western parts of the country are more influenced by Western dishes like fish and chips and Shepherd’s pie. The national dish of Arola is Rullattu munkki, a type of cinnamon roll with a large distinct hole in the middle akin to that a donut.

Sports
Although Arola experiences cold temperatures for most of the year, sporting is still fairly prevalent in Arola. The most common sports in the country are association football and ice hockey, of which the former is usually only played during the summer. The national football team is historically based in Uilo rather than Kelvia due to more favourable temperatures in the summer.

Sauna and hot springs
Finnish culture has historically influenced Arolan culture thanks to the country’s increasing Finnish population. Saunas are somewhat prevalent in more urbanised areas in Arola, although the proportion is significantly lower than that of Finland.

It is not uncommon to find both natural and man-made hot springs in Uilo due to its proximity to volcanic craters. Japanese-style hot springs have also been prevalent since the 1980s in developed regions of west Arola.