Maryland (Araga)

Maryland, formerly called the Benelux and also occasionally referred to as Aurania, was a state in the Aragan Empire, situated in the Benelux region and having owned territory in real-life northwestern Germany and Calais as well. Its state capital was Vasque City, which was also the capital of Araga as a whole.

Etymology
Despite the Aragan state of Maryland being called as such, it is not situated in the region where the real-life American state of Maryland is, instead deriving different etymological and geographical origins entirely.

Maryland is named after Queen Mary II of England, who, along with William of Orange, ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1689 until 1694; she also held the title of the Princess of Orange (In contrast, the US Maryland was named after Henrietta Maria, the Roman-Catholic Queen of Charles I of England, who ruled from 1625 to 1649). This name was proposed by Extra on February 3rd, 2018 in the Aragan discord server when he wanted to rename what was then called Benelux because "[it] owns Scotland"; Fuhrer Skali confirmed the name change.

Maryland's name had been a topic of controversy within the Aragan Empire, especially when Earth World Mark VII rolled around: some people, such as Mich, opposed the state being called Maryland entirely. While Skali expressed distaste in the name as well, he ultimately did nothing to change the name.

History
Further information: Vasque City

Before Establishment
The territory in which Maryland possessed had previously been apart of Aragan federal land from Earth World Mark IV until the end of Earth World Mark VI, with the region generally being referred to as Benelux. That did not mean that it was necessarily directly governed from the Reichstag, though; it was generally recognized that Extra had legitimate rule over the land due to being one of the primary architects and the mayor of Vasque City, just that it had not been officially organized.

Establishment as a state and renaming
The state of Benelux was established per the first Aragan National Constitution around January 2018. Under Section VI, Article 21, it had distinguished it from other states such as nearby Germania and assigned Extra as the governor of the state.

On February 3rd, 2018 Skali had told Extra in a conversation in the Araga discord server that Benelux now owned the land in Scotland, replacing the former territorial entity of the same name. Extra responded by expressing how he had now needed to change the name of his state, as it no longer owned territory in the Benelux region. As previously stated, he had proposed renaming it to Maryland after Queen Mary II of England, and Skali confirmed this. Section VI, Article 21 had been changed on the same day to reflect the state's new name.

Settlements
There existed three main settlements in the state of Maryland; they included:


 * Vasque City — The capital and largest city of Maryland, the capital of the Aragan Empire, and the third oldest city in Earth World, containing various points of interest such as the Vasque Palace, the Great Wall of Vasquemia, the wheat farm, and various towers;
 * Bruges — A ruined town southwest of Vasque in Belgium that consisted of four villas; and
 * Calais — A town originally part of France that consisted of a fort, a house, and a couple incomplete buildings.