Castellua

Divine Kingdom of Castellua Reino Divino de Castelhua
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Mãe-Lua, abençoe suas crianças com sua graça" "Mother Moon, bless your children with your grace"
Castellua, in the Continent of Madurin, in Teremara
Capital	Porto Leal
Largest city	Águasmornas
Official languages	Lusitanian Nordese Tartamese Leonian
Ethnic groups (2020)	33.5% Lusitanian 26.3% Interethnic 22.2% Nordese 7.6% Tartamese 4.1% Leonian 7.3% Others
Religion (2020)	48.4% Neo-Hellenism/Lunaism (Official) 10.6% Castellese Fay Church 9.4% Irreligion 8% Roman Catholicism 6% Druidism 4.9% Ásatrú 4.5% Other Christianity 3.2% Other traditional faiths 1.5% Judaism 3.5% Others
Demonym(s)	Castellese, Castellard
Government	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Divine Queen	Ricardina das Asturias
• Minister-President	Solovico Resende Del-Duque
• Justice of the Royal Court	Catácia Vermelairo Ramalho
Legislature	Royal Parliament
• Upper house	Royal Senate
• Lower house	National Assembly
Establishment
• Kingdom of Portidoro	1205
• Unification of Castellua	1502
• Revolutionary War	August 10th, 1843
• Castellese Civil War	October 5th, 1910
• Current Constitution	February 1st, 2000
Area
• Total	267,150 km2 (103,150 sq mi)
Population
• 2023 estimate	49,892,883
• Density	186.75/km2 (483.7/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$1.675 trillion
• Per capita	$33,589
Gini (2023)	36.3 medium
HDI (2023)	0.860 very high
Currency	Escudouro (E$) (CED)
Time zone	MWQ -2
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+800
ISO 3166 code	CS
Internet TLD	.cs

The Divine Kingdom of Castellua (Lusitanian: Reino Divino de Castelhua), more commonly referred to simply as Castellua (Lusitanian: Castelhua), is a medium-sized, partially industrialized nation in the continent of Madurin, in the region of Teremara. With a population of almost 50 million, it is bordered by Espicuta in the southwest, Austrakia in the west, Taranima in the north, and wildlands to the east. In the south it is bordered by the Lacetan Gulf, and to the southeast it also borders an important maritime canal. Its capital is Porto Leal, a bustling port famous for its tourist traps. The largest city is Águasmornas, a financial and industrial center. Castellua is composed of a political union among more than 30 provinces. These administrative units have their own customs, recognized languages, and political traditions, with their own elected representatives and local rulers.

The Castellese economy, worth almost 1.7 trillion dollars a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Mining industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. The average income is 33,589 U.S. dollars and is somewhat unevenly distributed, with a Gini Index score of 36.3, which puts Castellua as a country with "medium" income inequality. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost unknown, although the rates have grown in the last few years. Castellua's national animal is the Fox, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

While fairly developed, with an HDI of 0.860 (categorised as very high), the Castellese economy suffers from chronic inequality, corruption, and badly administrated public resources. Despite such issues, Castellua has been "blessed" with an abundance of natural resources (such as iron, coal, and gold) and fertile soil combined with a temperate climate. Politically speaking, Castellua is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, in which provinces are granted a high degree of political-economic autonomy, the parliament is democratically elected, and the monarch's powers and limits are written in law. However, the nation's most-followed faith, Lunaism (also known by its exonym, Neo-Hellenism) is the state's official religion. As such, it has a few privileges, such as tax exemption for Lunaist temples.

Etymology

The name "Castellua" is an English adaption of "Castelhua", which comes from Medieval Lusitanian "Castelloua". Castelloua was the name of the fortress founded by Dom Gesimundo de Abreiro in 1207, two years after he founded the Kingdom of Portidoro. Castelloua meant "Moon's Castle", as it was established near a crescent moon-shaped rock - by that time, the moon was already a very important symbol in Castellese symbology due to its association with the Owl, Athena's "spirit animal". Eventually, the name Castelloua came to denote the entire region at the vicinity of the Abelar River.

By the 17th century, most records used "Castelhua" to refer to the country. By the 18th century, Castelloua had fallen completely out of use.

History

Pre-History and Antiquity

During the prehistory of Castellua, the country was inhabited by various tribes of diverse origins. To the north, in the mountainous and cold regions, Nordic tribes dwelled, having Germanic origins. To the south, there were communities of Latin origin, such as the Lusitanians and Leonians. In the central region of modern Castellua lived tribes of Slavic origin, specifically the Tartamese tribes. Little is known about these tribes, as all that remains of them are fragments excavated from archaeological sites, along with oral accounts passed down from generation to generation, which are largely fantastical and include religious and spiritual elements.

Around 800 BCE, Lusitanian tribes founded the city-state of Penachal (now Boaventura), in the current Campolargo region, an extremely fertile plain with a temperate climate. However, the city was situated on a higher coastal region, the famous Cliffs of Penachal. The port city developed around trade in the Gulf of Lacetan. Penachal was known for its pottery, wine, and also for its highest quality weapons. Over the centuries, Penachal expanded into the outskirts of Campolargo, founding fortresses and villages to extend its inland trade routes, as sustaining its trade required importing iron and copper from the Northern Mountains.

Around 500 BCE, the Tartamese tribes founded the city of Niucik (now Franca), in the Ancil region. Known for their cavalry skills, these Tartamese tribes ended up engaging in a series of wars for control of the inland routes, disputing them against the Leonians and Lusitanians. These series of conflicts, known as the Wars of the Hinterland, were closely monitored by the Penachal Writing Societies - legions of scribes that left behind a wide range of documents about Castellua's antiquity.

The Wars of the Hinterland lasted for over 50 years and only concluded in 434 BCE when Niucik was burned down and its population enslaved by Penachal. Despite now having control over the continent's trade routes, Castellua's economy was ravaged by the constant state of war, causing the city to enter a sharp decline. The decline of Penachal in the south was contrasted by the rise of the Kingdom of Urbosia, a tribal confederation of Nordics from Landachen.

In the first instance, the Nordics expanded their domains towards the north, reaching the present region of Stummersia, on the border with Taranima. There, deposits of gold were found, which were coveted by foreign traders. Previously, the lack of gold among the Nordics was notable, as they traded through barter. The appearance of gold jewelry and coins used by the Nordic merchants caught the attention of the Lusitanians, especially the Kingdom of Lanejo, who acted as intermediaries between the north (led by the Nordics) and the southern Lusitanians (inhabitants of the current Delta of Matagedo).

The Lanejans, masters of the art of archery, began to expand towards the north, encountering little resistance. In 313 BCE, the Lanejans conquered Penachal in a limited-scale war, thus causing the end of the Penachalese Era. In a way, the Lanejan conquest of Penachal revitalized the trade in the Lacetan Gulf, bringing immense wealth and knowledge to the Lanejan kingdom. Despite the conquest of Penachal, the Lanejans' greatest ambition - the rich gold mines of the northern mountains - was never achieved. All chances of a conquest of the Nordic territory were lost after the disastrous Ulisses Campaign in 190 BCE, in which the Tartamese - then subjugated by the Lanejans - revolted against their Lusitanian overlords and, with Nordic support, declared independence. The war resulted in the complete devastation of the central region of Castellua as well as a steep decline in trade between the north and the south.

In the decades following the end of the Ulisses Campaign, strong social unrest shook the Kingdom of Lanejo, with economic crises and revolts spreading throughout Lanejan territory. The severe socio-economic crisis was exacerbated by the assassination of King Mescolato II in 127 BCE, which fragmented the kingdom into various principalities, duchies, and city-states that competed with each other. To the north of Castellua, the Kingdom of Urbosia absorbed, whether through marriage or the sword, small neighboring realms. Initially trading partners with the Tartamese, as the Kingdom of Urbósia expanded, tensions between the Tartamese and the northerners became clear. Driven by extreme weather events, the growing Nordic population expanded southward, seeking more fertile lands and settling in warmer regions. However, these areas were already inhabited by the Tartamese, leading to a clash with the Kingdom of Urbosia. Eventually, the Tartamese were defeated, and a significant portion of their population was slowly assimilated by the Nordic population.

Despite scant records about the Kingdom of Urbosia until the year 30 AD, it is known that a poor harvest seriously affected the Kingdom around the turn of the millennium. Historians estimate that 15% of the Urbosian population perished over three years. The northern regions, particularly those extracting metals, including the highly coveted Nordic gold, were most affected by famine. As a consequence, a severe economic crisis occurred, which eventually impacted the Castellua region in the following decades. The economic crisis, in turn, led to a serious social crisis. Rebellions, slave revolts, and violent crimes became commonplace in the Kingdom of Urbosia. The social and economic crises of Urbósia were only alleviated in the 70s AD, during the reign of Ulf III.

Geography

Castellua is a medium-sized country in Central Madurin, bordering the Lacetan Gulf to the south, Austrakia and Espicuta to the west, Taranima to the north, and wildlands to the east. Castellua is known for its rocky, mountainous, and snowy environment to the north and its plain, forested, and sunny ambiance to the south. This is just one of the many differences that separate Northern Castellua from Southern Castellua. The south has an almost unbearable hot summer and a rainy, cold winter, while the mountainous north has year-round cold weather, although summer months are usually dry.

The beaches of Southern Castellua are always bustling with tourists during summer, while the Northern Mountains are open to those who love snow to practice sports such as snowboarding. The Islands of the Bay are particularly popular among foreigners. Unfortunately, most of the country's southern forests have been cleaned up for agriculture. The north, while not sparsely populated, has protected better its forests and environment.

Demographics

For most of the 20th century, following the Castellese Civil War, Castellua had a below-replacement fertility rate, with births reaching an all-time low in 1980 and the death rate peaking in 1983. Surprisingly, birth rates started to recover their pre-war levels following the Pinheiro-Almirantes Proposal, a revolutionary package of policies that sought to open the Castellese borders to foreign families, redistribute land, and decentralize the population by settling the countryside, granting enormous tax breaks to families with two children or more. However, one of the effects of the Pinheiro-Almirantes Proposal was the massive deforestation that took place to accommodate the "Farm Communities" created by the government. Another effect was rising crime rates due to the demographic explosion. Nowadays, the fertility rate is 2.3 children per woman, while there are 2.4 immigrants per 1000 citizens. In terms of religion, less than 10% of the population claims not to have a belief. Out of the remaining 90% that claim to follow a religion, half of them follow Lunaism/Neo-Hellenism, the state's official religion. A large chunk of the population is Roman Catholic, with most Roman Catholics inhabiting the region of the border with Espicuta. Druidism is followed by 6% of the population - it is important to note that Castellese Druidism is different from Ancient Druidism, as the Castellese version was born from a rupture in the rites of Lunaism. 5% of all Castellards are Ásatrú, mostly Nordese inhabiting the northern mountains. A minority of the population follows other Christian denominations, while only 1.5% follows Judaism. 3.5% of the population follows other faiths, the top three of these minority religions being Islam, Buddhism, and Spiritualism (syncretic faith).

When it comes to languages, Lusitanian, Leonian, Nordese, and Tartamese are the country's official languages. 96% of Castellua's population speaks at least one of those languages. Lusitanian is the most common of them, being widely spoken across the country. Leonian is a minority language in Western Castellua. Nordese and Tartamese are common languages in Northern Castellua.

Castellua is a highly diverse country and it has no clear ethnic majority. A third of the country identifies itself as Lusitanian, while a fourth identifies as "interethnic" - a category that includes people who identify with two or more groups. A fifth is Nordese, while 8% are Tartamese. Leonians are 4% of the Castellese population. The remaining 7% consists mostly of immigrants and their descendants.