Belacostă

Established: April 20th, 1982/III

Cunstaval: Glüc da Dhi

Governor: Lüc da Schir

Senator: Iason Taiwos

Demonym: Belacostan

Location of Belacostă.

The Free and Sovereign Province of Belacostă (pronounced [bɛlaˈkɔstɐ]), in Talossan la Provinçù Liveradă es Soveran da Belacostă (IPA: [lɐ pɾɔvinˈsu livɛˈɾaðɐ ɛs sɔvɛˈɾan dɐ bɛlaˈkɔstɐ]), is a province of Talossa. Originally known as Mussolini, the province name was first changed to Benito following a referendum of its citizens, during which the actions of the Italian dictator were denounced. The renaming was affirmed at the national level through 38PD1, which became law on April 26, 2008. To completely divest itself of any associations with fascism, the province was renamed for a second time on July 1, 2024/XLV.^[1] This second renaming introduced the current moniker of Belacostă, taken from the Talossan for "beautiful riverbank", in reference to the province's scenic position along the Manaweg. The province was granted the right to self-govern during the 39th Cosa with the proclamation of a Constitution by then-Viceré Owen Edwards; the province adopted a new Constitution in 2025.

Belacostans who reside in the U.S. State of Ohio have established the Cjovani subculture. Notable activities of this subculture include viewing Spaghetti Western films and playing bocce ball.

Geography

Map of Belacostă and its territorial subdivisions

Belacostă lies south of Atatürk (E Kenwood), west of Vuode (N Maryland and a portion of N Prospect) and north of Florencia (E North), which was initially a canton of Belacostă. It is bordered by Milwaukee River on the west.

The province is divided into two cantons: Mazzini (to the north, population 3675) and Garibaldi (to the south, population 3678).

Each of the cantons is further divided into three sextieirs. The biggest, both by population (1642) and area (35.9 ha) is the sextieir of Riverside, the provincial capital, which contains famous landmarks such as Riverside High School (attended by many Old Growth Talossans, and the present Belacostan capitol) and King John Woolley on the Riverside Park, the largest riverside parkland area in Talossa.

Politics

Head of State

The Head of State is the Viceroy (known in other provinces as the Cunstaval or Constable). The Viceroy is appointed for an indefinite term by the Monarch to serve as the vice regal representative to the Province. Under the Belacostan Constitution, the authority of the Viceré is limited to powers which mimic those of the Monarch at the National level.

Head of Government

The collective head of government in Belacostă is the known as the Provincial Council (el Cußeglh Provincial), a three-member panel elected at each general election. The three members of the Council, known as Provincial Consuls, choose from among themselves a presiding officer, the Governor (Governadeir), who fills the role of a "singular" head of government in situations that would call for it. Under the Belacostan Constitution, the Governor can issue legislative proclamations, which are similar to Prime Dictates at the national level.

To assist in their governance, the Council can appoint an indefinite number of ministers, who may be dismissed either by the Council or by the Provincial Assembly. The term of ministers ends when the Provincial Assembly is closed for business upon the dissolution of the Cosă.

The current Governor is Lüc da Schir, who as the final Maestro of the province is serving as an acting capacity following the adoption of the new Belacostan Constitution.

Under the previous provincial constitution, the head of the Belacostan government was the Maestro, who was elected by the Assembly, the lower house of the provincial legislature as it existed at the time. Twelve different Belacostans held the office of Maestro in the 17-year period in which the position existed.

List of Maestros

List of Maestros
Maestro			Took office
1st	#1	Matáiwos Vürinalt (LRT)	8 Mar 2008
2nd	#2	Tímoþi Asmourescu (RUMP)	7 Nov 2008
3rd	#3	Simeon Andrieu (PP)	19 Jul 2011
4th	#2	Tímoþi Asmourescu (RUMP)	4 Jul 2012
5th	#4	Istefan Perþonest (IND)	1 Oct 2012
6th	#2	Tímoþi Asmourescu (RUMP)	21 Apr 2013
7th	#5	Lüc da Schir (MRPT)	22 Jul 2013
8th	#6	Vitxalmour Conductour (NPW)	22 Oct 2014
9th	#7	Iason Taiwos (Lib)	23 Jun 2015
10th	#8	Eiric S. Börnatfiglheu (NPW)	14 Apr 2016
11th	#9	Cresti Françell (IND)	13 Mar 2017
12th	#7	Iason Taiwos (NPW)	9 Aug 2018
13th	#10	Erschéveþ da Schir (ModRad)	14 Jun 2019
14th	#11	Eiric S. Börnatfiglheu (NPW)	-
15th	#12	Mic'haglh Autófil (PdR)	21 Jul 2022
16th	#5	Lüc da Schir (FreeDem)	26 Oct 2023

The Maestro was assisted in their duties by the Arvitieir Prima, a position that served as a sort of combined Assembly Speaker, Secretary of State, and Attorney General. Three different Belacostans served four total tenures as Arvitieir Prima in the 12 years of the position's existence: Istefan Perþonest (the first and third AP), Lüc da Schir (the second AP), and Mic'haglh Autófil (the fourth AP and final holder of the office).

Legislature

The legislative authority of the province is vested in the Provincial Assembly (l'Aßemblatx Provincial), a unicameral legislature in which citizens are able claim a seat for the legislative term by request.

Prior to 2025, the provincial legislature was the bicameral Legislative Chancellery, composed of the Assembly and Senate as the lower and upper houses respectively. The Assembly was an 11-seat chamber elected by party-list proportional vote (Hare-Niemeyer method). The Senate was a house in which membership was open to anyone who had represented the province in the national Senate, anyone who had been awarded the Order of Belacostă, and anyone who was appointed to a temporary seat (for one term at a time) by the Maestro.

Provincial Honours

As per 39LC30, the Maestro of Belacostă is entitled to enroll worthy Belacostans into the Order of Belacostă, the province's only honor established by law.

The current recipients of the Order of Belacostă are:

Name	Date	Admitted by
Don Istefan Éovart Perþonest, O.Be.	April 21st, 2013	Maestro Timoþi M. Asmourescu
Don Flip Molinar, O.Be.	April 21st, 2013	Maestro Timoþi M. Asmourescu
Don Timoþi M. Asmorescu, O.Be.	February 28th, 2014	Maestro Lüc da Schir
Don Lüc da Schir, O.Be.	April 28th, 2015	Maestro Vitxalmour Conductour
Don Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be.	January 25th, 2025	Maestro Lüc da Schir