was reached in 1998, although divisions remain high in some areas and sporadic violence still occurs. The end of the 20th century brought major governing changes, with the establishment of devolved national administrations for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales following pre-legislative referendums. The Scottish National Party, the largest political party in Scotland, is committed to the goal of an independent Scotland within the European Union, but this is opposed by the leadership of the next three largest parties in the Scottish Parliament. A referendum on Scottish independence was held in September 2014, and 55% of the electorate rejected independence in favour of retaining the union. Plaid Cymru, a Welsh nationalist party, has a similar ambition for Wales. Plaid Cymru is currently the second- or third-largest party in Wales depending on how it is measured. Several parties in Northern Ireland, including the second- and third-largest, seek to establish an independent United Ireland, and have repeatedly called for border polls. The d'Hondt system used in Northern Ireland means that either the First Minister or Deputy First Minister will be from one of these parties. Former multinational states Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, which succeeded the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, was a historical monarchy composed by two multinational states. The centrifugal forces within it, coupled with its loss in World War I, led to its breakup in 1918. Its successor states de jure included the First Austrian Republic, the Kingdom of Hungary, while part from her former territories entirely new states were created such as Czechoslovakia, or other parts incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Poland, Kingdom of Romania, Kingdom of Italy and the Soviet Union. The principal languages of Austria-Hungary were German, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, and Croatian, but there were also many minor languages, including Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovak, Serbian, Slovene, Rusyn, Italian, and Yiddish. Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was the dynastic state of the Turkish House of Osman. At its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, it controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, the Caucasus, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. In addition to Turks, the ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire included Albanians, Amazighs, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Circassians, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Kurds, Laz, Macedonians, Romanians, Serbs, Tatars, and Zazas. Through millet courts, confessional communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own legal systems: for example, sharia law for Muslims, Canon law