Dewnania
| This page (or section) is a work in progress by its author(s) and should not be considered final. |
Republic of Dewnania | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
 Dewnania within Northern Aurora | |
| Location | Map |
| Capital and largest city | Synta Berlewen |
| National language | Terghyntek |
| Ethnic groups (2024) | 83.2% Cava 8% Elven 1.4% Human 7.4% other |
| Demonym(s) | Dewnanow, Dewnanian |
| Government | Unitary dominant-party semi-presidential republic |
| Mawgan Kitto | |
| Ruan Pethick | |
| Legislature | Parliament of Dewnania |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,572.63 km2 (607.20 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate | 5,630,442 |
• Density | 3,580/km2 (9,272.2/sq mi) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | ♅304,021,346,232 |
• Per capita | ♅53,996 |
| Currency | Owr (⏃) |
| Date format | DD/MM/YYYY |
| Driving side | the left |
| ISO 3166 code | DEW |
| Internet TLD | .dew |
Dewnania, officially the Republic of Dewnania (Terghyntek: Repoblek Dewnanieth) is an island nation in Northern Aurora, located in the Filari Sea between Kaltariezh, Biramura and Oscrelia. It is the region's most densely populated country. Its capital and largest city is Synta Berlewen, which is home to about 71% of the country's roughly 5.63 million residents. Over an area of 1,573 km² (607 sq mi), Dewnania is the worlds fifth smallest and second most densely populated country, and second in Aurora behind Blueacia despite land reclaimation projects increasing its size by approximately 16% since the 1970s. The official and national language is Terghyntek.
Dewnania has been inhabited since before the Great Vanishing, with limited records pointing to cava civilisation as old as 3000 BCE. Known as Dewnan, its location as the sole island in the western Filari Sea has historically given it a great strategic importance as both an emporium and naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Kaltariz, Salovians, Morstaybishlians, Ethalrians, and later Terghintians. Its contemporary era began in 1703, when it formed apart of the wider Kingdom of Terghintia whom gained independence from the Grand Matriarchy of Ethalria in the Ethalrian Succession War. Terghintia prospered as a minor colonial empire. During the Great War, the Gwlas, a socialist movement and later political party led to the overthrow of the absolute monarchy and establishment of a socialist state. Loosing the Marisva region in the Great War and suffering severe territorial losses in the Auroran Imperial War to Ethalria, the Terghyntow government fled to the island of Dewnan in 1971. When Ethalria surrendered in 1975, Morstaybishlia did not hand back their mainland despite two appeals to the International Forum in 1975 and 1981. The Terghyntow government officially established Dewnanieth as its successor state in 1975, and since then has been relatively skeptical of Morstaybishlia and Ethalria; the ACA and its successor organisation the UNAC. Dewnania applied to join the UNAC in 2018 following the Auroran-Cerenerian War, but was denied on democratic grounds. It since applied to join as an observer state in 2024.
An industrialised exporter of natural resources such as copper, gold, oil, fish and wood in the second half of the 19th century. Terghintow chemist Jago Marghek discovered Dewnanium in 1886 and named it after the nations' island. Ironically, Dewnania has been the world's largest exporter of Dewnanium products since mass extraction from placer monazite deposits began in the 1950s; including Dewnanium acetate, cryocoolers, Dewnanium magnets, glass, lasers, et cetera.
Terghintia introduced labour-market and social reforms in the mid 20th century which formed the basis for the present Dewnanian welfare state model and advanced mixed economy. With its growth based on economic globalisation and international trade, it has integrated itself within the world economy, successfully reconciling economic efficiency with social equality. Dewnania has a relatively high GDP per capita of 53,996 KRB compared to the rest of Aurora.
Dewnania is a unitary semi-presidential republic. Its legal system is based on civil law. Gwlas has led Dewnania and Terghintia in all but twelve years since 1911, the last time it was out of government was in 1956. While it supports and practices free election and multi-party democracy, Gwlas employs notable dominance over society and politics. They currently hold 101 out of 124 elected seats in the Senedh. Multi-speciesism and multi-culturalism is enshrined in the constitution.
Name and etymology
The Staynish name Dewnania is a staynification of the native Terghyntek cognate word for the island, Dewnan, thought to mean 'deep valley dwellers' from Proto-Uspric *dubnos meaning 'deep'. It likely refers to the dry valley which spawned the base for its civilisation.
History
Prehistory to the Great Vanishing
Prehistory
Present-day Dewnania has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The earliest confirmed site of anatomically modern cava activity on Dewnania is Nanke, situated on the western coast, indicating that hunter-gatherers were active on the island from over half a million years ago. Cava skulls were found buried with circular copper pendants, radiocarbon dated to approximately 26,500 BCE, indicating the earliest use of copper extraction anywhere in the world.
Pre-Great Vanishing civilisation
The discovery of the Kothyndanna underground city below present day Nanclemma found structures that are dated as old as 6,500 BCE. The youngest structures correlate with the city's abandonment in the Great Vanishing around 1,800 to 1,700 BCE. Mass burials discovered around this time indicate that the cava civilisation may have been wiped out by a plague; this plague may have wiped out the wider cava civilisation of Aurora leading to societal collapse in the mixed cava-elf civilisations.
Proto-Usprian was spoken on the island prior to the Great Vanishing. Kothyndanna is believed to have been the underground half of a larger trading city that extended overground because of mosaics and other floor tiles that have been dated to before the Great Vanishing. With other archaological discoveries such as the bronze Ponsisel Helmet, as well as matching jewellery styles from Dewnan as far west as the ancient Morsa Lake settlements and as far east as Alara; it is believed that the Dewnan civilisation was an integral part of the wider ancient Usprian world.
Years of the Great Vanishing
With the cava population bottleneck at the start of the second millennium BCE, trade with continental Aurora was minimal, perhaps non-existent. The cava populations did not recover to significant levels for hundreds of years in Dewnan and the wider continent, and no significant kingdoms were recorded in this region in the years of the Great Vanishing. The isolation of Usprian tribes across the continent in this era led to linguistic divergence from Proto-Usprian. It is believed that by the middle of the second millennium BCE cava begun co-existing with migratory elves from the continental east. Cava remained the dominant sentient species on the island then, and continues to do so in present day.
Bishec civilisation
The first written accord of the Bishec civilisation come in from a stone tablet found in King Eljuedh's burial chamber, which has become one of the most important discoveries for understanding and mapping the immediate post-Great Vanishing era. The chamber was discovered in 1943 whilst doing excavation work in Synt Jowan, and boasted ornamental vases, wooden spiral totems, terracotta busts, and a stone tablet which when translated, described the realm that King Eljuedh held dominion over.
"Eljuedh, King of Kings of the Aberbish [ruled]... over us [for]... twenty eight rotations. Ruler of the twelve [city states]... from the mouth of the river [to the]... sea. Reclaimer of the island of deep valleys; the largest civilisation in north Uspra."
— Bishec stone tablet inscription of King Eljuedh's reign.
Historians deduced from it that the Bishec civilisation was one of the forefront civilisations to come out of northern Aurora since the era of the Great Vanishing and comprised of many city states of the Aberbish ruled by elven and cava kings. These city states elected King Eljuedh in the 4th century BCE as their 'king of kings'. This civilisation would form the basis of elvish and cava civilisation for both Kaltariezh, Terghyntin and Dewnan today and was recorded in various ways as being formed around the 8th century BCE to its height around the 3rd century BCE. King Eljuedh is credited on the tablet as having reclaimed 'the island of the deep valleys'. Since there is only one island nearby with shared cultural heritage at this time, and Eljuedh being considered a reclaimer, historians agree this regarded Dewnan.