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The '''Republic of Viquelle''' is a landlocked country located on Yasteria Minor, bordering the countries of [[Phoenixia]] and [[Ostrucia]]. The country is named after the Viquelle River and consists of most of its watershed. Viquelle has been inhabited by several different species for hundreds of thousands of years and contains several sites of archaeological significance to research on the ancient migrations of [[Species#Humans|humans]], [[Species#Elves|elves]], and [[Species#Symphs|symphs]]. In the modern day, Viquelle is a multi-ethnic, multi-species country that is highly diverse in both sapient and non-sapient life; the Viquelle Rainforest has one of the highest rates of biodiversity on Urth.
Initially colonized by [[Alksearia]] in the mid-18th century, the history of Viquelle has regularly seen inter-ethnic conflict and political instability. The country has fought two civil wars, the most recent of which lasted 35 years and ended in 2022. Due to this political upheaval, Viquelle is significantly underdeveloped and impoverished despite its relative wealth of mineral and other resources. With a GDP per capita (nominal) of SHD $525, Viquelle has one of the least productive economies on the planet. As of 2020, 64.1% of the population earned less than SHD $1 a day, an internationally recognized definition of poverty. Tropical diseases such as [[wikipedia:malaria|malaria]], various types of [[wikipedia:Flavavirus Infections|Flavavirus]] infections, and [[wikipedia:scabies|scabies]], as well as foodborne illnesses, remain significant public health risks. A lack of infrastructure and public corruption also contribute to the country's level of poverty.
==History==
Evidence of habitation by sapients in Viquelle goes back hundreds of thousands of years. Some theories believe that Viquelle was along the first migration routes modern humans took out of Arcturia. Prehistoric elves and symphs migrating south from Yasteria reached Viquelle at approximately the same time. Society in the Viquelle River basin was predominately hunter-gatherer for all of prehistory into early history; the first settled, permanent farming villages in the country—primarily in the north and east—date to approximately 1000-1200 CE. In approximately 1540, a large city was established at what is today Sulabuorai that contained several large ritual temple complexes and stone walls quarried from rock in the far northwest of the country. At the time of Alkari arrival in 1740, an estimated 75,000—100,000 people lived in the city, which according to contemporary Alkari records, the natives named "Zullabor."
The Alkari referred to the city as the "capital" of the Viquellan people, though at the time no unified Viquellan state existed. Zullabor was the largest and most powerful of dozens of city-states and petty-kingdoms along the Viquelle River at the time, and many more people still lived in tribes in the dense interior jungle. While Zullabor was known to exercise at least some sway over its neighbors, collecting tribute and waging war with nearby rulers, in reality it had essentially no control over the region outside of what is today south-central Viquelle. In the north, Esidonai was the seat of a far older polity called the Kingdom of Esidu, while Produonu in the east was strong enough to resist several waves of invasion attempts from Zullabor that were recorded between 1400 and 1600. Nevertheless, the Alkari generally insisted on negotiating exclusively with Zullabor, which generated a significant amount of economic and political power for the city.
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