Latveria
Latveria is a fictional nation in the Marvel Comics Universe. It is depicted within the storylines of Marvel's comic titles as an isolated European country ruled by the fictional supervillain Doctor Doom, supposedly located in the Banat region. It is surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, and also borders Symkaria (home of Silver Sable) to the south. Its capital is Doomstadt.
Publication history
Latveria first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #2, published in 1964. Victor von Doom is the ruler of Latveria. Though he has been dethroned a number of times, Victor has inevitably managed to return to the throne of his country within a matter of months.
Victor also has a council who obey him entirely. In Fantastic Four #536 in 2006, he killed his own Prime Minister for claiming control of Latveria in his absence, and threatened to kill two other ministers if they failed to find the landing spot of Thor's hammer.
Doctor Doom's style of rule can best be described as an absolute monarchy, as it was revealed that there is no legislature, and one minister boasted "Doctor Doom decides everything. His slightest whim is Latverian law!" It is shown Doom has devices throughout the Kingdom to watch his people and even has hidden weapons to prevent them leaving without his consent. In one story he is able to activate a force field around Latveria which prevents anybody leaving, though apparently it can be a defense against nuclear attack. (Avengers vol 1 #21)
