Transvechia
Union of Transvechia Union de la Transvéchie other languages:
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| Motto: Ensemble nous nous dressons "United we stand" | |
 Location of Transvechia in northern Messeno-Joriscia | |
| Capital | Santa Constantina |
| Largest city | Barielle |
| Official languages | Savamese, Orrannol, Roménian, Sangreze, Siletian |
| Recognised regional languages | Baseriote, Hyperborean (standard) |
| Religion | Cairony |
• Argan | Orthodoxist Transvechian |
| Demonym | Transvechian |
| Government | Federal parliamentary respublic and elective constitutional monarchy |
| Léonard II | |
| Paul Maccelese | |
| Marc de Santalbano | |
| Legislature | Parliament of Transvechia |
| Formation | |
| 1771 | |
• Formation of the Union | 1773 |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,397,583 km2 (1,311,814 sq mi) (5th) |
| Population | |
• 2017 estimate | 30,578,246 |
• Density | 8.67/km2 (22.5/sq mi) |
| Currency | Aurel |
| Time zone | IAT M+1 and +2 |
Transvechia (Savamese: Transvéchie, Siletian and Sangreze: Transvéchia, Roménian: Transvechia, Orrannol: Transvèccia, Verborian: Transvecchia), officially the Union of Transvechia, is a country located in north-eastern Messenia and in Boréa, generally synonymous with the Great North. Transvechia is bordered from west to east by Savam, the Rastovid Confederacy and Kiy; it is separated from Inner Joriscia by the Severnistine mountains.
Transvechia is a Cairan Sabamic country with a federal parliamentary respublican government, known for having a unique bi-cephalic head of government position. The Union is linguistically very diverse and has five official languages although in practice Savamese is used as the main language of government and affairs. The Union is a client state of the Savamese Empire, fully integrated within the Savamese Customs Union.
Transvechia is considered a developed economy by world-standards, although significant regional inequalities exist. The Transvechian economy is driven by commodities extraction in Boréa, international trade & logistics via the Grand North Way, and normal and superior goods manufacturing.
Geography
Transvechia forms a large peninsula in the Arctic Sea, bounded to the west by the Arcedian Sea and to the east by the Blaisine Sea. It is a vast country spreading over 3.3 million square kilometres, which makes it the largest Messenian country. It is the fourth largest country in Messeno-Joriscia, and fifth in the World, after the Rastovid Confederacy, Domradovid Joriscia, and the Lutoborsk. However, since Boréa's appartenance to Messenia is often disputed, Transvechia is usually not counted when ranking Messenian countries by their area, leaving Ceresora as the largest. Transvechia is usually synonymous with the geographic concept of the Greater North, especially within Savamese scholarship.
The vast majority of the Transvechian population of 30 million live in that part of the country that is located south of the 55° north latitude line. Most are concentrated in the south-west, which was historically known as Transvechia proper (from Sabamic for "beyond the Védomagne"), or "Peninsular Transvechia", at the fringes of the traditional Sabamic world. That name was later, by extension, applied to the whole country, including the far northern regions and Far Transvechia on the Blaisine coast.
Traditional Transvechia forms a peninsula between the Fulvian Gulf and the Deodi Bay; its total land area is 465,571 km²1. The region can be seen as a north-eastern littoral extensions of the Sabamic Plain. The peninsula's main features are the Lassian Uplands and the watershed of the Silet river. The ridges of the Lassian Uplands reach elevations of about 700 m above sea level in the centre of the region. The Silet river flows eastward south of the Lassians before entering the two lakes of Grande Sassi and Ghirla; from there the Silet flows to the sea in the eastern Deodi Bay. Peninsular Transvechia is often compared to the Quenian Peninsula which has a similar climate and features, and thus is often called the Transvechian Quènie. Traditional Transvechia is separated from the Steppe of Inner Joriscia by the west-east oriented Severnistine mountains, which reach up to 3,200 metres above sea level in this part of the range (Gran Putèn is the highest peak at 3,267 m).
The eastern-most part of Traditional Transvechia is the region of Rochinia, which expands on both side of the Deodi Bay and up east to the region around the Great Rock Pass. Most of the region was only included in traditional Transvechia in the medieval period, having been the traditional homeland of the Baseriotes and thus keeping the alternative name of Baseria.
East of traditional Transvechia, the Severnistines curve to the north and bisect the far northern region of Boréa. Boréa is the largest region of Transvechia but is sparsely populated. Boréa extends up to 78°N, making it the second most northerly point in the World after Diothún; from Cap Ultime the North Pole is only 1,337 km away, easily accessible on the permanent arctic ice pack. In its middle, the Severnistines are covered by the Borean Ice Sheet, with the first major glaciers of the sheet found as far south as 56° north. This part of the chain is known as the Arctic Range of the Severnistines and this is where it reaches its highest altitudes with several peaks jutting out of the ice sheet. The tallest is Mount Péringé standing at 3,334 metres above sea level. The Borean Ice Sheet is the second largest ice cap in the northern hemisphere, after the Diothún Ice Cap on the Ascesian island of Diothún (owned by Odann); its maximum thickness is about 600 metres. The climatic influence of the whole chain creates a strong distinction between western northern Transvechia which receives significant precipitations, and the Transvechian Far East, which is at best semi-arid.
On the western side of Boréa, the Syltima Peninsula alternates rolling low-altitude hills and plains, covered in thick sub-arctic and boreal forests, progressively giving way to tundra further north. On the other side of the country, the Transvechian Far East is an elevated but flat region mostly comprising the northern part of the White River Plateau and its Steppe, which both extend further south into the Rastovid Confederacy (the whole plateau used to be Transvechian territory prior to the Long War). The plateau gently slopes downward to the north until the arctic coastal plain and its tundras; to the east there is a more defined escarpment into the littoral plain. The Rosso river forms part of the boundary with the Rastovids and the Kainish mainland territory of Far Transvechia. Further north the Bec-de-Pigeon Peninsula is mostly ensconced into the Boréan Ice Sheet, expending north of the polar circle. In far northern Boréa there is a system of large lakes that are permanently covered in a thick ice cap. According to the most recent research those lakes have not been exposed to the open air in several million years, and it is hypothesised that unusual forms of life could be found in the lakes' fossil water reserve.
History
Government
Transvechia is a parliamentary respublican federal monarchy formed by the union of nine principalities. The country gained its full independence in 1773 at the conclusion of the Reform Wars after the Transvechian uprising (1767-71) against the 250-years-old overlordship of Dordanie.
Similarly to other states associated with Savamese (or Sabamic) political culture, there is a strong tradition of respublicanism in Transvechia; the integration of some respopular elements allows it to be classified among the enlightened respublics. However, among the Sabamic countries Transvechia is one of the least open to respopulous, especially with regards to suffrage: a typical enlightened respublic will usually have a franchise that covers about half of the adult population (in Savam this number is as high as 60%), Transvechia however only has about a quarter of its adult population eligible to vote, with the non-noble portion of this group a minority. As a result the classification of Transvechia as an enlightened respublic is disputed among academics.
The country's government is still largely organised along the traditional aristocratic principles of pre-19th century respublics (including the trend toward fusion of powers to the benefit of the legislature). Transvechia is more comparable to Elland than Savam or Ceresora regarding the influence of the nobility on politics and government. The head of state and federal sovereign is the Prime Prince. The Prime Prince plays a mostly ceremonial role; the position is elected for life among the sovereigns of the nine Transvechian member states, similarly to the Savamese Emperor. The Parliament of Transvechia (usually simply called la Chambre (Savamese), "the Chamber") is the unicameral federal parliament which exercises legislative power for the whole country. The parliament is of mixed composition: half its seats are reserved for noble representatives (selected by election or seated for life-long terms attached to their titles), the other half is composed of members elected by the general public in local constituencies (note that noble voters take part in those elections too, meaning they can double vote in some circumstances). Executive power is held by a bi-cephalic head of government, a situation unique to Transvechia in the Sabamic world. The Chancellor, the Parliament's speaker, is the prime holder of executive power and exercises it through the cabinet of ministers. The Chancellor shares power with the Captain-General; originally the head of the Transvechian rebel army during the uprising, the Captain-General now has exclusive control over defence and law enforcement (the latter through the Écussonnerie Civile, legally an army unit with police powers), and plays a significant role in the management of foreign affairs with the Chancellor's minister. While the Chancellor is elected by their fellow members of parliament, the Captain-General is directly elected by noble voters. The Captain-General is required to have a military background to serve; in most cases Captain-General have served in some capacity on the Transvechian general staff headquarters.
Transvechia is a federal state with nine member states. Although there has been a degree of centralisation toward the federal government during the 20th century, the states continue to enjoy a number of exclusive responsibilities in cultural affairs, law enforcement, and local finances, and share responsibility with the federal government in areas such as infrastructure or social welfare. As the country started as a confederation instead of a federation, the states all have fully fledged governments, with their own heads of state (hereditary princes), chancellors, and parliaments. The vast region of Boréa is not part of any state, rather it is administrated as two territories officially referred as federal condominiums. At present, there are two condominiums (the Western and Eastern territories) but there used to be a third one covering the White River Province and Far Transvechia prior to the Long War.
Administrative division of the Union of Transvechia
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Geopolitics
The Union of Transvechia has been a client state of the Savamese Empire since the Settlement of Etamps-La-Sainte at the end of Great Verborian War in 1867; Transvechia had participated in the war on the Ceresoran side and was soundly defeated by the Savamese. While the Savamese made their major territorial gain in annexing Benovia to the imperial territory, Transvechia remained independent but a tutelage relationship was made official by the Settlement. This special relationship required that Transvechian foreign policy be subject to the government in Quesailles, that the Transvechian army was placed under Savamese command, and removed barriers for Savamese economic activities in the country, including completely free circulation of merchandises. Although some considered this a first step toward an eventual annexation of Transvechia by Savam, this never materialised (perhaps because the Savamese did not want to add a large amount of Orthodoxists in the Empire). Special rights for the Kérates in the east were also provisioned for, with south-eastern Boréa and the White River Province being integrated in the Transvechian territory at Mir shortly after the Settlement of Etamps-La-Sainte.
While there was much hostility to the Savamese suzerainty in the late 1860s, Transvechia was the first country where the politic of "assimilation" was tested. Within the context of Savamese foreign policy and imperalism, assimilation is a targeted effort to transform a country into a dependent client from an originally neutral, or potentially hostile, standpoint by investing large sums in the country's reconstruction in a post-war environment and spreading propaganda. The goal is to lift the country's prosperity and to associate this change with Savam's in the population's mind, as well as make the country's upper class dependent on economic ties with Savam. This strategy was first proposed in 1868 by chancellor Serge de Couvier and thus became known as the méthode Couvier. The Couvier Method was pursued in Transvechia during the 1870s and 1880s and proved to be a success; eversince, it has been applied with varying degrees of implication and success in Brex-Sarre, Cantaire, and Ceresora.
Following successful "assimilation", Transvechia has been a loyal ally to Savamese interests in northern Messeno-Joriscia since the late 19th century. The Tranvechians have acted as proxies for Savam in the north-eastern Steppe and have been at the forefront of trying to stall Kainish expansionism in the Great North. Although a trading partner of Savam and Transvechia after the Kainish embargo, in the 1930s Kiy's attempts to secure exclusive control of Far Transvechian resources led to the Northern Wars. The Kainish eventually occupied large parts of south-eastern Transvechia, and following a cease-fire in 1958, the Formulating Council at the Congress of Kethpor validated the annexation of Far Transvechia by Kiy and the transfer of the White River Province to Rastovid sovereignty. The Transvechian elites never really accepted this outcome and tensions surrounding the discovery of rich energy resources in the Great North eventually led to a fourth northern war in the late 1980s, referred to as the Borean War. The legacy of this war and unresolved tensions in the region still largely inform the Transvechian foreign policy.
Foreign policies
Overall, the Transvechian foreign policy is tied to that of Savam. In the Great North, the Transvechians act on their own interests and have generally focused on defending their claim for sovereignty over the whole region, which is contested primarily by Kiy. Revanchist tendencies are still widespread after the loss of Far Transvechia to Kiy following the end of the Long War, even if 60 years have passed by now. Although all Savamese and Transvechian populations in Far Transvechia were removed following the transfer of sovereignty, the Transvechian government still maintains a claim on the region. The discovery of rich energy ressources in northeastern Boréa has somewhat shifted the focus of dispute away from Ditdangallal since the 1970s and 1980s, but it nonetheless remains a significant sore point for Santa Constantina. Another increasing issue is the demographic differential: Kiy has followed since the early 2000s a systematic policy of colonisation, meaning the population density of Far Transvechia is now quite more important than all the rest of the eastern Great North. This demographic change has entrenched Kainish presence on the mainland and made it easier to support long-term military operations. Despite the Kaino-Transvechian Armistice of 1989, Kiy maintains a claim on the entirety of the eastern littoral of the Blaisine Sea. A round of diplomatic talks involving Kiy, Savam, and the Lutoborsk (which opposes both Savamese and Kainish interests in the region) took place in Selogrod (Domradovid Joriscia) over the summer of 1992, but no solution to the conflict between Kiy and Transvechia could be found. As a result, the situation on the ground remains largely similar to the post-war 1989 positions.
While Savam and Kiy's rapprochement in the wake of the Lutoborsk's resurgence has made another war unlikely, it is still a common fear among local Transvechians. Tensions remain high in the border regions, with regular incidents along the militarised border and on the waters of the Blaisine Sea. The sea, in particular, is an important stage for tensions. For the Savamo-Transvechians it is difficult to operate large vessels in the Blaisine due to the geography of northern Messeno-Joriscia forcing a long detour via the west (with the exception of Savamese nuclear submarines that can pass under the polar ice pack). This has always allowed Kiy to easily gain naval superiority in the Blaisine, and organise landing operations with impunity during the Northern Wars. The Messenians have relied on air power and missile boats to counter this advantage to a degree, and the Transvechians have been found to use other fast boats to harass Kainish vessels, which they claim is in retaliation for harassment of their shipping vessels by the Kainish navy.
The Savamese government has not officially supported any of the Transvechian claims, arguing that it is primarily interested with maintaining the balance of power in the region, but in practise it supports the Transvechians, even intervening directly in the Borean War in their favour. Transvechia remained officially neutral during the Savamo-Lutoborian Rastovid War of 1999-2003. Although it supported Savam logistically, Santa Constantina also refused to commit troops to the conflict; when the Lutoborsk invaded the White River Province, Transvechian troops were withdrawn to safe distance, leaving the Savamese alone to (successfully) defend the province.
Current issues in Transvechia
In recent decades, the country has been faced with a number of issues regarding income inequality, which especially plagues the indigenous Baseriote and Hyperborean populations, who often complain of being discriminated against by the Sabamic-dominated federal and local governments. Although the Transvechian government regularly denies that official discrimination exists, studies from both Transvechian and foreign academics have shown that non-Sabamic minorities have suffered from widespread poverty and face systematic difficulties to rise on the social ladder. This resentment has boiled down to armed insurgency in the early 21st century. Although the Baseriote Insurrection of the mid-2000s was eventually quelled to a substantial degree, terrorist insurgent groups continue to operate in the country, in particular in Rochinia and Boréa, attacking important economic facilities related to the Northern Transcontinental Railway or resources extraction installations like mines, oil wells, or pipelines.
Economy
The Transvechian economy is a regulated free market, considered to be a developed economy by world-standards. Transvechian citizens enjoy, for most part, relatively high standards of living, especially in the south-western regions (although not as high a in neighbouring Savam). Transvechia's economy is driven by three major sectors: (1) resources extraction in the resource-rich Boréa (especially strategic commodities such as natural gas, oil, uranium, thorium, etc. as well as forestry); (2) manufacturing in the south-west; and (3) international trade through the Grand North Way (the Northern Transcontinental Railway). A client state of the Savamese Empire, Transvechia is integrated within the Savamese Customs Union as a full member and uses the Savamese Aurel as its currency. The country's economy is largely dominated by native aristocratic companies and Savamese investors. Savamese influence is exerted by both private interests and the Savamese federal government, the latter focusing on investing in strategic sectors like infrastructures, the energy sector, or the defence industry through the Savamese Imperial Bank. The Imperial Bank and other Savamese private financial institutions hold more than ninety percents of the Transvechian public debt and a majority of its private debt.
Commodities
Mining and oil & natural gas extraction in Transvechia represent a large part of the country's GDP and the principal activity undertaken in the arctic (followed there by defence-related activities). Oil extracted from fields in the Syltima Peninsula is pumped to Santa Rosalia where it is exported to Messenia via ship and pipelines. As of 2018 Transvechian productions is now approaching two million barrels per day. Natural gas fields are mostly found in eastern Boréa, centred around the processing hub of Speranza; the Far East Pipeline carries gas to the west from Speranza but about 25% of its production is purchased by Outer Joriscian customers to be shipped by boat. Since the 1990s, coal strip-mining has been booming in the country as well, principally in the southern regions of eastern Boréa. Other extracted resources are cobalt, zinc, lead, thorium, and uranium. The two latter are both in high-demand from the Savamese energy and defence industries (see SoNEN, SoNCN). Finally, northern Rochinia and south-western parts of Boréa have a significant forestry industry that is also export-driven, managing the southern edge of the sub-arctic and boreal forests.
Manufacturing
A diversified manufacturing industrial base exists in the country's south-west. Barielle, Transvechia's largest city, is its most important manufacturing centre. Semi-finished products imported from the Savamese sphere of influence in Ascesia via the ports of Falles and Belny (in Savam) are transformed in the city's sprawling industrial districts, as well as other regional centres (notably near the ports of Saint Marceline and Lucce). The main industries found in Transvechia are transports (automotive and train carriages manufacturing, as well as parts), industrial machinery, advanced metallurgy, and chemicals (mostly plastics). A significant part of the country's heavy industrial output is aimed at supporting the resource extraction and transport industries.
Logistics & international trade
The Grand North Way is one of the major international corridors associated with trans-messeno-joriscian trade (including the Steppe Route). The Grand North Way never reached the importance or traffic volume of more southern routes, but it was nonetheless significant for Savamese interests because it was, for most of its history, wholly controlled by Savamese interests and allowed to reduce the influence of middlemen compared to other overland trading routes, as well as away from the reach of the Outer Joriscian Factories system. The western part of the route carried arctic goods into the Savamese realms, and the completed route allowed, from the sixteenth century, to connect to the northern regions of Outer Joriscia. Today, it remains a significant corridor with the Northern Transcontinental Railway, which formerly ran from Belny to Ditdangallal but has now been extended from Sankt-Edit to Tiperevesk due to the diplomatic hostilities with Kiy. The rail connection between Sankt-Edit and Ditdangallal remains but is now far less used than before the Long War and subject to considerable restrictions; today, it is used for merchandises exchanges with Kiy, while all other interordinate traffic is diverted to the port of Tiperevesk. Industries supporting the trade route are a major employers in the north.
Other
The waters of the Arcedian Sea provide for a rich fishing industry, which employ many Transvechian in coastal regions. Whaling used to be a significant venture in Transvechia, but it has decreased in the 20th century both due to over-captures and efforts to protect the remaining whale populations; it remains practised by the Ouniscans as part of their traditional lifestyle. Sealing remains a significant activity in the northern regions, both for the export of fur and the production of oil.
Traditional Transvechia has a significant farming industry, as well as intensive animal husbandry (while more traditional pastoralism is practised in the Far East). The principal crops are rye, barley, oat, other winter cereals, as well as legumes. Despite its national output, Transvechia is still a net importer of foodstuffs from Savam, which has a very large agricultural sector and food processing industry.
Ethnology & demographics
Demographics
The total population of Transvechia is about 30.5 million, which is mostly concentrated in the country's south-west traditional Transvechia (about 25-26 millions). There, patterns of inhabitation are similar to those in Savam (although a lot less dense) with a majority of the population found in urban settlements in coastal and alluvial plains, although dense tissues of small cities and villages exist in the major agricultural lands of the Silet basin and the border state of Roménie near Savamese Dordanie. The population density in peninsular Transvechia is 56 inhabitant per km² (40 per km² if including the whole of the nine principalities).
The rest of the country is sparsely populated (on average 1.6 inhabitant per km²) with a large domination of urban population where resources-orientated economic activity is concentrated. Southern Boréa, and to some extent the region around Ambra, go against this trend with significant rural populations; this is especially the case in Baseria.
Barielle is the largest city in Transvechia, its metropolitan area extends to include the port-city of Falles, 55 kilometres downriver, and boasts a total population of 3.7 million inhabitants. The second largest city is Fort Saint-Pierre, the gateway to the Far East and capital of Rochinia, with 1.9 million inhabitants. The federal capital Santa Constantina (Sainte-Constantine in Savamese) has a population of just over 1.1 million, ranking third.
Languages
Transvechia is a diverse country where many languages are spoken. The native languages of most Transvechians belong to the Aquilonial sub-family (or more precisely Sabamo-Aquilonial) of the Sabamic languages. The Aquilonial dialects are classified as north-western Sabamic languages and present characteristics both of the Dordanian subgroup (including Savamese and Embute) and the Verbian subgroup (including Verborian); some scholars consider them as intermediate, while others argue for a more independent existence The four main Transvechian languages are Orrannol, spoken in Val d'Orran (official); Roménian, spoken in Roménie, Frangène (official in both), and Rochinia; Sangreze, spoken in Sangro, Alcedio, and Trinia (official in all); and Siletian, spoken in Siletia, Lower Silet, (official in both), Val d'Orran, and Rochinia. A few additional minor Sabamo-Aquilonial languages exist in the country but their geographical extent is very limited. The Transvechian languages totals about 27 million speakers.
The Savamese language is used as the sole bridge language in the country; this stems from the long Transvechian history as client state(s) of the Savamese realms and was not reformed during the period of full Transvechian independence2. Savamese is official at the federal level, and also the official state language of Rochinia, due to the state's more recent history and mixed population. While the four main Transvechian languages are also official at the federal level (meaning Transvechia has five official languages), in practice all governmental affairs are conducted in Savamese. While government officials will speak with citizens in the local language all written communications are in Savamese; another example is road signs: they are all labelled exclusively in Savamese. Local media are more biased toward the most common language spoken locally but can also exist in Savamese only; national media is exclusively Savamese. As a result of this situation, Transvechians speak Savamese equally well as they do one of the aquilonial languages, making Transvechia a textbook example of a diglossic region.
There are small groups in Rochinia and Lower Silet who are monolingually (or close to monolingual) Savamese (which is uncommon even in Savam proper). Those groups are either Kérates or the so-called Transvechian Savamese; both descends from Savamese immigration the region, with the former originating in pre-19th century immigration while the latter having came later. The Kérates in Transvechia proper are usually do not speak the common Kérate dialect found east of the Severnistines and have converged on using standard Savamese, like the more recent immigrants, although the Dordanian dialect is still spoken by some.
There are some valleys of southern Val d'Orran where the native language is Verborian due to the proximity of Verborian populations in Transturby. Historically Verborian was spoken in more areas of the upper valleys of Val d'Orran but the language has declined in the state since the 19th century in favour of Orrannol.
Ethnic identity & subgroups
Sabamic people
The largest ethno-cultural group is, of course, the Transvechians, who account for 88.5% of the population (27 millions people out of 30). Although they can be found everywhere in the country they form the majority in the main states of the south-west, while in the more remote regions of Boréa they are not in majority.
Within the context of Savamese cultural nationalism they are seen as a part of the Savamese people but this notion is disputed by many Transvechians, in particular due to religious differences. Indeed, the Transvechians largely reject, and own their independence to the rejection of, two of the "founding stones" of the Savamese ethno-national identity: (1) the Cairan Reformation, and (2) the Savamese answer to the century-old Imperial Question. With a strong identity rooted in their loyalty to the Orange Orthodoxy and refusal to accept the Emperor of the Savamese as legitimate, the Transvechians see themselves distinct from the Savamese in the same fashion the Verborians do.
The second main Sabamic group in the country are Transvechian Savamese who are recent migrants, or their second or third generation descendants, from Savam proper. With about 800,000 people they represent 2.62% of the Transvechian population, the third largest ethnic group overall. Those Savamese people generally live in the eastern regions, starting with Rochinia, where they have been attracted to by employment in the resource industries or in the various caravan cities of the Grand North Way.
Finally, distinct from the Transvechian Savamese, Kérate populations are present in the Far East around Ambra and in scattered rural communities in Baseria, as well as in the larger cities in Rochinia, thanks to recent economic "retro-migration"3. Pretty much like in Savam, the Kérates are often perceived as rough, uneducated, and violent by Transvechians and some degree of antagonism exist between the two communities.
Both the recent Savamese migrants and the Kérates are majority refomers, as well as some Transvechians in Roménie. Due to the influence of Savam over Transvechia, the Transvechian state rovides significant facilities to this minority: the Reformed Argan of Transvechia is an accepted substitute to the national argan, similarly to the New Ceresoran Argan in Ceresora.
Baseriotes
The Baseriotes are the largest non-Sabamic minority in Transvechia, and second largest group overall (far behind the Transvechians) with approximately 1.2 million people.
Baseriotes are indigenous to Baseria, the southern-most part of western Boréa, which is now largely integrated into the state of Rochinia. They are a predominately rural people who speak the Baseriote language, a language from an isolated branch of the Medianic languages family, unrelated to the other more common branches such as the Cislacunic or Palthosunnic branches.
Baseriotes have suffered from the pressure of Transvechian colonisation since the fourteenth century, which has pushed them into mountain and forest refuges in the Severnistines foothills, away from their ancestral homeland around the Deodi Bay and in the Boréan subarctic forests.
Baseriote culture has been partially sabamicised but preserves many ancestral folk customs. Although they have converted to orthodoxist Cairony, their practice is far from mainstream and is still heavily coloured by pre-Cairan shamanism. In the early 19th century this was a major driver of anti-Baseriote sentiment during the height of Puritain influence in Transvechia. Today, this still generates tensions with the national argan, from which the Baseriotes technically depends, which is still quite conservative in in its views on non-standard ritualistic practices (non-Cairan rituals cannot, by law, be practised on public property or within public view). Further to these religious tensions, like the Kérates, the Baseriotes suffer from relatively negative stereotyping from the majority Transvechians, who perceives them as a primitive uneducated people of violent tendencies.
The Baseriote community enjoy a certain degree of local political autonomy via the Këshill i Parë (Baseriote: "first council") which forms a local ethnic parliament and deals with a number of cultural issues within the community as well as manage interactions with the Rochinian and federal governments. The Këshill i Parë was suspended with the beginning of the Baseriote Insurrection in 2005, but eventually reinstated in 2018.
Hyperboreans
The Hyperboreans are the second largest non-Sabamic minority in Transvechia and the indigeneous inhabitants of Boréa. The Hyperborean population is about 900,000 and is divided into three subgroups along lines of traditional lifestyle and folk culture: (i) the High Boreans, (ii) the Azareans, and (iii) the Ouniscans. The Hyperborean languages are an isolate group in Messeno-Joriscia which has not been linked to any other known language family.
The High Boreans are the most common subgroup with a population of 757,000; they live in the Boréan south-west, in the central mountains, and in the northern White River Plateau and eastern foothills. Their traditional lifestyle is semi-sedentary forest-based hunting-gathering and primitive agriculture (in that quite similar to the Baseriotes, who they have neighboured for millennia). Historically, the High Boreans have interacted with Sabamic people the most, notably by way of the millennia-old amber and fur trade, as well as the Dordanian slave trade.
The Azareans are the second group, who inhabit the northern boreal forests and the tundra, principally in the Syltima Peninsula but some tribal groups are also found in Eastern Boréa. They are characterised by their semi-nomadic reindeer herding livelihood. Their population is approximately 108,000.
Finally, the Ouniscans are the smallest Hyperborean population with a population of 35,000. The Ouniscans live in the northernmost arctic coastal regions along the Borean Ice Sheet. Their traditional lifestyle is well adapted to their mostly frozen environment, focused on fishing and hunting of marine mammals, with a diet containing almost no plant input. Historically they were the ultimate source of arctic ivory which was traded to the Savamese realms.
Like the other native populations in Boréa and eastern traditional Transvechia, the Hyperboreans have retreated from the ongoing Sabamic colonisation to more northern latitudes. A small region that straddles the states of Alcedio and Trinia still has a majority of High Boreans inhabitants, a last remain of their former range. In recent times there has been an influx of Sabamic settlers in Boréa proper in areas developed by the energy sector, such as the cities of Santa Rosalia and Speranza.
Secotic people
In the Transvechian Far East there are about 600,000 North Secotes that live in the northern White River Steppe and eastern foothills of the Severnistines, where they mostly still practise their traditional semi-nomadic or nomadic lifestyle. Pastoralism is the principal economic activity of those communities, but a number of Secotes, notably younger people, have been attracted to urban communities in the east to work in the resource extraction industry, a similar pattern as noticed in the Rastovid Confederacy. There has also been a degree of economic migration to urban centres in the west, either in manufacturing regions or in rural areas where the Secotic migrants have been employed by the animal husbandry industry.
Other
There are small Elmiesians populations found in the high valleys of the Severnistines, primarily where the Transvecho-Rastovid border goes south of the crest-line and encloses the upper parts of valleys opening into New Elmiesia (as part of the Sarantaporos river basin). Some scattered Elmiesian farming settlements can also be found in the region between Ambra to the north and the Rosso river to the south, in the White River steppe. The total Elmiesian population is estimated to be about 22,000.
| Ethno-cultural group | 2018 population estimate | Percentage of the population |
|---|---|---|
| Transvechians | 27,000,000 | 88.5% |
| Baseriotes | 1,200,000 | 4.0% |
| Transvechian Savamese | 800,000 | 2.6% |
| High Boreans | 757,000 | 2.5% |
| North Secote | 600,000 | 2.0% |
| Azareans | 108,000 | 0.35% |
| Ouniscans | 35,000 | 0.11% |
| Kérates | 30,000 | 0.10% |
| Elmiesians | 22,000 | 0.07% |
Religion
Cairony is Transvechia's state religion. Transvechians adhere in majority to the Orange Orthodoxy of the Eastern rite, and the government reflects this. Although Transvechia has a mixed-Cairan legal system, the Argan of Transvechia still controls most of the judiciary. The Argan is also the sole responsible for education at both the state and federal level. Because of Savamese pressure, the dissident Reformer argan is also officially recognised as an alternative to the national argan. It runs a parallel "private" education system, and can offer some special rights to reformer plaintiff and defendants in judicial affairs. Most of the Transvechian reformers live close to the Savamese border in the state of Roménie, although they can also be found in Rochinia in relatively significant numbers. Puritanism remains established in the country, despite its defeat during the Transvechian Purity War of 1825-27 and efforts by the Concord movement to stomp it out. At least, the defeat during the Purity War destroyed puritain political influence, and since Transvechia became a Savamese client state the puritains have remained a marginal group. Most of the Transvechian puritains have adopted the position of Neo-Puritanism, which accept the blame of the massacres committed during the Ceresoran Civil War, likely in an effort to appease criticism by mainstream orthodoxists and reformers.
The Elmiesian and Secotic minorities are of the Sirian faith, although some of the latter practise Cairo-Sirian syncretism or "purer" versions of Cairony.
Notes
- ↑ This only includes a small western section of Rochinia; the total area of the nine principalities is 653,297 km²
- ↑ There were attempts to replace Savamese with Verborian or a constructed common Transvechian language, especially early on. For example, prior the Transvechian Purity War the Transvechian Puritains were particularly keen on Verborian instead of Savamese, in particular due to the popularity of Puritanism in the Verborian space (despite the original puritain being Pierina de Vastrel, Matron of Barielle who wrote in Savamese). However, none of these efforts succeeded and Savamese remained the bridge language through inertia.
- ↑ In Savamo-Transvechian scholarship the term "retro-migration" or "back migration" refers to descendants of settlers populations that originally migrated eastward who then migrated westward "backwards" of the main historical migration flux