Provinces of Ayaupia

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The provinces of Ayaupia

The 17 provinces of Ayaupia are the second level of sub-national divisions within the territory of Ayaupia under the jurisdiction of the Administrative Code and the Constitution of Ayaupia. Each of them are part of one of the three constituent countries (Nestonia, Palayonia and Asconia), which hold more decision and power, as they can second or veto debatable or unpopular laws proposed by the Provincial Assembly by their oversight ability. However, the provinces had maintained broad rights and liberties since their creation, which resulted in notable differences in public services, environmental management, urban planning and waste cleaning throughout the country.

A province is considered as a sovereign territory, therefore is apointed by joint vote from the people and the assembly two commissioners, who will be respectively sent to represent their provinces at the Constituent Assemblies (according in which constituent country they are located) and to the Federal Assembly. The Provincial Assembly is a form of self-governing institution, which obeys to the Constituent Assembly and the Federal Assembly, but supervises the Subprovincial Councils, as it administrates some of the 90 third level subprovincial divisions (named as such because of their varying natures depending on the cultural and linguistic background of the province).

Provinces

Flag	Emblem	Name	Postal abbrev.	Capital	Location	Population
		Acasteloocia	AC	Acastel	Palayonia	4,250,020
		Alanuste	AL	Nuste	Nestonia	684,358
		Ateloocia	AT	Atel	Palayonia	2,202,340
		Cetapumia (Eastern Mountains)	CT	Vastal	Palayonia	359,394
		Ecalta	EC	Ralapale	Palayonia	1,540,933
		Estol	ES	Nesopum	Nestonia	100,901
		Melanicia	MN	Apunacoo	Nestonia	120,297
		Melapumia (Western Mountains)	MP	Ovrapunac	Asconia	228,592
		Mircinia	MI	Pocaluyo	Asconia	2,203,482
		Opapocia	OP	Pascatel	Asconia	800,105
		Ostec	OS	Ocastaval	Asconia	840,281
		Pacel	PC	Planapap	Nestonia	1,310,573
		Palescia	PL	Plapoc	Nestonia	1,793,759
		Piyecor	PI	Yitinap	Asconia	50,630
		Postacor	PO	Planacor	Asconia	880,492
		Puvastel	PU	Ostayoo	Nestonia	90,190
		Ustacor	US	Valap	Asconia	74,192

Culture

Tribes

The provinces were created in order to give a voice to every tribe living on the ayaupian soil. Some provinces correspond to a unique tribes, whereas multiples tribes were gathered under one province as they shared common features and were identified as belonging to the same family, for instance Postacor or Ostec provinces. Other tribes had less of a common link but were united by geographical area, as for the Melapumia and Cetapumia provinces.

Dialect

Tribes distinguish themselves from other groups by their unique dialects. For ayaupians, speaking such language is one of the first step to identify as a group and to be differenciated. Dialects can be gathered into families, which are represented by the province. There are some exceptions, as for instance the Ustacoran dialect can be divided into the south and north versions, but there is only one tribe of Ustacor, where one dialect is mainly considered as the "official language".

If most of them are different enough to be designated with a unique name, it is harder for some to clearly establish linguistic boundaries. In Opapocia, it is debated if the Upper Opapocian, Lower Opapocian and Eastern Opapocian are three distinct dialects or just variations of the same one. This is due to opapocians interacting a lot with each other and quickly belonging to the same kingdom, while other tribes were much more isolated. There were three distinct tribes (the southern, the northern, and the eastern ones) which identified as such but at the same time felt like they were being part of the same group. For example, the eastern Opapocians were influenced by the Ecaltans, an elf tribe bordering them. It has been decided to gather these "sub-tribes" into one province.

Same could be said for Ostecan (an asconian dialect), where Lower Ostecans were heavily influenced by Mircinians, while Upper Ostecans were heavily influenced by the Postacoran tribes, whether it is in their way of speaking or in their culture and traditions. Such that Ostecan tribes were divided into three different tribal groups, each one ruled by their own masters and having their own priests and temples, as well as totecs. Aspocan and Aslenacan were dialects and tribes closer to Ostecans than for any other regions, therefore they were put under the rule of the Ostec province. The same happened for the nestonian province of Pacel with Eastern Pacelans, which were Pacelan people influenced by Puvastelan people, who identify as being their own tribe. This is reinforced by the fact that Nestonians gather themselves into tribes according to their furs, thereby Eastern Pacelans had a more red-ish fur compared to the orange fur of Pacelans.

A last case can be found in the Acasteloocian province. If the Acastelan dialect (which was at the beginning limited to the region surrounding the city of Acastel) has been spread and is now evenly and unanimously spoken, the west part of the province has been influenced by trades with Mircinians, as some of them regularly made exchanges and even lived among Acastelan elves during a short timespan. Thus the "Western Acastelan" was born, but those who speak it still identified as Acasteloocians and didn't feel they were from another tribe. This is why there is a unique province, and the subprovincial divisions of Western Acasteloocia was created. In a reverse effect, the same thing happened to Mircinians, the easternmost inhabitants of the kingdom were speaking "Eastern Miran".

Dialects of Ayaupia.

Administrative Code

Provinces were officialy established in 1955, right after the country was formed. Their territories follow the broad variety of dialects and people that live in Ayaupia. Each province corresponds to an area where a dialect is spoken and where a specific tribe lives. The Administrative Code of Ayaupia explains why provinces are used as such :

Article 5. In order to maintain a peaceful and federate nation, it is by all means crucial to give a voice to any particular distinctive group of people. Therefore, each constituent countries shall be divided into linguistical and historical inherited territories belonging to them, named "provinces". More precisely, a province correspond to a distinguishable group of languages and tribes that played a role in Ayaupia's history and culture. A province shall have its own flag, made-up totec merging all tribal emblems into one, parliament named the "Provincial Assembly" having administrative power over its own territory, as well as various related institutions.

A province has its own parliament, the Provincial Assembly, which is able to dictates and votes its own laws, and can manages everything that is not under the federal jurisdiction. This assembly can deny a law proposed by the Federal Assembly and create their own version, which will need to receive half of the vote from the federal deputees. Gathering the most influential political parties, it is composed of 100 seats, where a party has to own at least 5 seats to be represented.

The provinces can also decide on how their land is administred, therefore are able to choose between three types of the so-called subprovincial subdivision : the department, the region or the clanic territory (exclusive to Nestonia). According to the Administrative Code, provinces are organised as such :

Article 10. To, as mentioned in the article 5, consider again the broad variety of our nation's culture and to propose a justified and accurate division of our country, provinces are allowed to organise themselves. Therefore meaning they posess an ability to be divided into types of subdvisions that will correspond to their historical and cultural identity, differing from other administred territories.

An "identity" is defined as a consistent, unified and precisely distinguishable group of people rallying under one banner, totec and different cultural practices and identifying themselves as a unique tribe, owning a unique way of speaking, being able to be differenciated from another group of the same definition.

The three types of subprovincial divisions are detailed as follow :

1. The department : refers to any subdivisions not matching with any historical or cultural identity and used only to administrate the said territory. The word "department" is used to indicate the use of multiple subterritories without any specific attachment to any notion, in the sole purpose to organise the province. This province shall be divided into departments if there aren't any distinctive entity to represent, or if the majority of the province's territory correspond to a unique identity.
2. The region : refers to any subdivisions related to a historical or cultural entity that existed in the past and still is today. The word "region" indicates a territory possessing a distinct and unique dialect and tribe, as well as traditional customs and manners. The region shall strictly follows the location of the said entity thus its borders corresponding to the specific identity it represents, as well as the province shall be divided into regions if there are multiple of those distinctive identities.
3. The clanic territory : refers to any subdivisions following the clanic or familial organisation that ruled and managed a territory. The word "clanic territory" stands for a particular land owned by a clan or a family. This is specific to the constituent country of Nestonia and shall not be used in any other constituent country. A clanic territory shall correspond to the land of a clan that lasted until today and is a fundamental part of the province. This province shall be divided into clanic territories if they were in their history until a recent date organised into clans or families in order to represent the identity of the said province and its specificities.

Being potentially torn apart by the region and the department choice, that situation originating from a small but still significant number of distinctive tribes outnumbered by another unique tribe, the province can be authorised to use both of these subdivisions. This particular use shall be specified in the province's laws, displays and various informations through medias and knowledge.

Subprovincial divisions per provinces.

Cooperative Trans-provincial Development Regions

Such autonomy from the provinces and large differences between one constitutional country and another have created territorial issues, such as inconsistent city development or deficient water and electricity services. Some natural reserves were cut off, whereas fishing wasn't under the same regulations from one shore to another. Thus in January 1995, the ayaupian government created by approval of the Federal Assembly and the Constituent Assemblies the "Cooperative Trans-provincial Development Regions".

Multiple municipalities were grouped from different bordering provinces into "development regions", which associated various councils and also involved the sub-provincial divisions. This was in the aim of facilitating the communication between institutions, creating or renewing infrastructures and spaces of public domain with coherent managements, giving the ability to construct new crossborders projects that will benefit to multiple territories. However, another crucial goal was to promote, support and sustain the remediation of underdeveloped zones, by funding industries and schools as well as creating new workplaces for employment.