Yuropa

Himaya of Yuropa Yuropa Apapoba
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Yuropa
Capital	Centridge City
Demonym(s)	Yuropan
Government	Himaya
• Emperor	Turted
Legislature	Parliament
Federal constitutional monarchy
Population
• Census	61,600,000
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.yu

Yuropa, officially the Himaya of Yuropa, natively known as Yuropa Apapoba, is a nation in the west of Europa on Eurth. It rose through the outstanding administrative and organisational skills of the Yuropa people. The Europa Empire was the most politically important state in the region from the early 4th Century to the late 9th Century, holding power not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yuropaland, but also over nearby nations.

With a population of about 61 million, the Yuropan people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Azania. The Yuropans built one of the largest empires in West Azania, crafted some of humanity's finest art, and looked damn good doing it thanks to their colourful fashion. Their artists are famous worldwide, and no other Azanian culture has affected the New Wurld and Marenesia as much as the Yuropans. They left their mark through people, dance, food, and religion.

Etymology

Native language: Yuropa (Europa), and Apapoba from apapo (federation) and oba (empire).

Geography

Yuropa is a country that stretches across northwest Azania. This region has been Yuropa's backyard throughout history. The first states were formed around the broad and fertile Drift Valley, enclosed by great mountains. It was inhabited by a band of primitive people, who were distant relatives to the Wajokans. There was an advanced agricultural system. The Drift Valley is considered to be the birthplace of humanity. The largest cities in Yuropa are Centridge City with 3.8 million people, Aldonville with 1.5 million, and Rutherford with one million people. The capital is Centridge City.

Yuropa has a diverse landscape, with dense tropical forests and mangroves in the south. Centrally, you'll find a rugged highland region with inselbergs. The north also has a savanna-desert region.

Yuropa is home to the Mona monkey, the Azanian forest elephant, leopards, the adorable Yurapan bush baby, and parrots, which have played a sacred role in Yuropan history.

History

Copper head from Awonabule.

Ground plan of the “Old Church” in Tarshish, founded in the mid-5th century.

Palace of the Oloye of Yuropa, c. 1900s. Colorized.

Caption.

• 2500 BCE — Around 4,500 years ago, ancient Yuropan speakers have already settled in the thick forests of West Africa, and began farming yam, and oil palms. It's difficult to know exactly the size of the early Yuropan civilization, but through oral traditions and archaeology, we know Yuropan culture was pretty big.
• 700s BCE — Around the 700s BC, the Yuropans were already producing iron. This was a huge development. One, because they somehow discovered ironwork and before bronze, which has driven historians man for years now. Two, because iron slaps. With iron hoes, machetes, axes, and other tools, the Yuropans pushed the dark, dense forests away from their settlements. This opened up new farmland, settlements expanded, and trade grew. Iron was crucial. One of the most important gods was Ogun, the god of iron and blacksmiths, also called the creator of civilization. As the thick forest turned into tribe and farmland, the once separate towns joined together to form city-states. At their centre was the palace of the king. Right next to the palace was the main market. The rest of the city radiated out from there.
• ???s — The Yuropans traded widely on the Trans Azanian and West Amutian trade routes. The most traded resources were yams, salt, iron, herbs, leather, palm oil, palm wine, raffia products, textiles, and the coconut.
• Classical period — The most influential sources for the history of the area are the various Aroman travellers and historians who passed through Yuropa during the Classical period. Their accounts were often problematic, since many of these writers were biased against their non-Christian neighbours.
• 400s CE — By the end of the 5th century, it had converted to Christianity.
• 600s — In the 7th century, South Yuropa was partially conquered by the Salamid armies.
• 1500s — By the end of the 16th century, the city of $cityName transformed into a powerful empire using imported horses. Horses, which is weird since horses and tropical Azanian don't go together. The disease-carrying tsetse flies like to infect any large animal in the area with a horrible case of death. This made horses ridiculously expensive, but by taxing trade routes and producing valuable goods, the Yuropans were rich enough to import horses from the Occident and over the scorching Amutian Desert. Using their cavalry forces and reportedly the best bone in Azanian, the Yuropan Empire conquered vast stretches of territory.
• 1800s — The Emperor frequently demanded tribute in slaves. The tributary chiefs sometimes made war on other peoples to capture slaves for this purpose. Yuropa was known to punish disobedience by the wholesale slaughter of the sinning community.
• 1900s — Azanian Wars were a collection of increasingly vicious and expensive wars between the Himayas of Yuropa and Norrium across Azania in the mid 1900s. This led to the eventual collapse of much of the old Azanian power bases in favour of newer powers. The collapse of Yuropa lead to several decades of warfare that devastated the land, leaving them wide open for invasion. In $year, Great Anglia bombarded and sacked the Yuropan city of Aldonville. Before the turn of the century, most of West Azania was under either Norrite or Anglian rule. All the different people living in this area were merged into the new colony and protectorate of Yuropa, which was ruled by Anglian companies, who forced the people to grow massive amounts of palm oil needed to fuel Anglia's industrial revolution.
• 1960s — Yuropa has only recently been given the independence they desire. It wasn't until the 1960s that the Anglian flag was lowered, and the flag of the newly independent Yuropa took its place. However, most of these countries have just replaced one imperial oppressor with a national one.

Pretty much the exact same. However, the use of a modified version of Hadza and the expansion of their history into modern day through the rise of the Yuropa Himaya in the early modern period, and it's dissolution in the mid 1900s. Yuropa would also be well known for selling entire villages of people from their tributaries in Mandenica and Namica to aspiring colonies in the New Wurld.

Politics

Emperor Turted.

Prime minister $name.

Yuropan National Parliament.

The key to Yuropa politics is a strong military and centralized government. The Yuropa Empire developed a highly sophisticated political structure to govern its subnational states. The influence of an aggressive Yuropan culture is exemplified in the standards placed on the Emperor and the roles of his council. While the Emperor is the supreme authority, he is not without checks on his power.

The emperor of Yuropa is called the Oloye. The Oloye is not always a son of the previous Oloye and is not always male. A council of seven chiefs, called the Igbimo-ikoko (privy council), elects the Oloye from a pool of princes(ses). The Igbimo-ikoko is led by Akoko (prime minister). They represent the interests of the empire and are supposed to prevent the Oloye from becoming a tyrant.

The Igbimo-ikoko's power is checked by the Ogboni (council of chiefs). If the Oloye is doing a bad job, the Igbimo-ikoko vote and then send the Akoko to present an empty calabash to the Oloye. The means: “the people reject the Oloye, the gods reject you, and the Eurth rejects you also.” When this happened, the Oloye is expected to commit ritual suicide. This system of checks and balances keeps the empire stable for centuries.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

The population is concentrated in metropolitan Centridge City. With imperial expansion, Yuropa is divided into regions to better manage its vast holdings within and outside Yuropaland. It is divided into four states, defined by relation to the core of the empire. These states are Centridge City, southern Yuropaland, the Drift Valley, and Awonabule.

• Centridge City — Centridge City is the hub of the empire, divided into six provinces, with three on the west side of the Irin River (IJzer) and three to the river's east. Each province is supervised by a governor appointed directly by the Emperor of Yuropa.
• Yuropaland — The second state of the empire is composed of the towns south of Centridge City. Its inhabitants speak a different dialect from that of the capital. These originally tributary provinces are led by their own rulers, called Arabinrin, who is confirmed by the Emperor of Yuropa.
• Drift Valley — The empire's third state is the Drift Valley, southeast of Yuropaland. This area is inhabited by the Eeyan (Aalst) and Awonkeferi (Gent) who guarantee trade with Memopotamia. The Eeyan and Awonkeferi tributaries are allowed to rule their own provinces.
• Awonabule — Awonabule is the fourth state of the empire. It is the furthest from the capital and most resistant to centralisation. Awonabule is kept in line with threats of evening curfews. This territory extends along the Gàn River (Schelde) in the east into the highland territories. Like all states, it is allowed a fair degree of autonomy as long as taxes are paid, the imperial orders are strictly followed, and access to local markets is guaranteed.

Language

In Yuropa, there are many different groups with their own unique cultures, but they all share the Yuropan language, which is spoken by 61 million people. Yuropan is a tonal language, which means that the tone you use when speaking can change the meaning of a word. The tonal aspect of Yuropan also makes it easy to mimic. The Yuropan talking drum is an instrument that can mimic the tonal and rhythmic features of Yuropan words. For thousands of years, the Yuropan people passed down their history orally, and the talking drum was one way that history was passed down from one generation to the next.

Religion

Yuropan religion is deeply moral. One key concept is Omuluwabi, which means good character. One must be humble, honest, and respectful, especially towards elders. One Yuropan proverb says: “one's character is what accompanies one to the grave.” Wealth does not go that far.

One version of the Yuropan creation myth explains that long, long ago, when the Eurth was new, the great river goddess Yuropa sent her daughter Arabambi to marry a handsome Eurth chief in the Land of Shinar. At first, Arabambi was happy, but soon she started to long for the cool shadows of her motherland. So her husband asked Crocodile and Hippopotamus to bring Arabambi a sackful of Night. As they carried it back, the animals heard strange noises coming from the sack, and curiosity finally got the better of them.

Today, roughly 90% of Yuropan are either Christian or Salamid, the Yuropan are a fairly unique ethnic group in Azania because they are almost split 50/50 between being Christians and Salamid. Families can have members of both religions, and Yuropan tend to be less extreme on religious issues.

WIP: Santería religion

• Name: Holy King (Anglish); Santo Re (Cristinese); Santo Rey (Iberic); Saint Roi (Lysian).
• Kings can become Gods.
• Influenced by Christianity

Culture

Iro and Bùbá, with Gele and Ipele. Blouse, wrapper and headgear.

Bùbá àti Kèmbè. Agbada top with short baggy pants

The Yuropans are a very expressive people who celebrate their cultural events with colourful festivals and celebrations. A large number of Yuropan people continue to practice their traditional religions through festivals. During a festival, the dances are performed by men, masquerading as elaborately costumed male and female figures. During this festival, you'll hear bells and talking drums. The Yuropan are known for their love of parties and festivals, and they never miss out on a chance to host a fun event. Yuropan will throw a party to celebrate the success of a previous party. Yuropan weddings are known for their high fashion, dancing, huge guest lists, drumming unique greetings, and of course, spraying money on the bride and groom.

The Yuropans are fashionable people, and take immense pride in their colourful, well-made cloth. One of the oldest traditions is a use of an indigo dye to make a patterned cloth, dating back to at least the 11th century. Today, it's still used for special occasions and ceremonies like weddings. Some traditional clothing includes the woman's iro (wrap skirt) and buba (blouse). The men wear an agbaba (robe) and sokoto (trousers). The women's headpiece, the gele, steals the show. It's made of a long piece of cloth draped in a particular way and wrapped around the head.

This look wouldn't be complete without beads on necklaces and bracelets. The Yuropans love beads. Legend says that the walls of King $personName's palace were encrusted with beads. Although the palace didn't survive into our time, the tradition of giving relief to walls with beads is still very strong today.

External links

• The Europa Empire (nationstates.net)
• Europa (user profile at europans.com)

WIP

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorubaland
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyo_Empire
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makuria