Topagunea

Topagunea Mistózburó (Miersan)
City
Motto(s):  Askatasuna ala herioca! (Lemovician) Freedom or death!
Country	Lemovicia (de-facto) West Miersa (de-jure)
Province	Bidegurucean
Founded	TBD
Government
• Mayor	Ancelmo Espila
Population  (2017)
• City	148,572
• Rank	1st in Lemovicia
• Urban	148,572
• Metro	229,050
Time zone	UTC-1 (Lemovician Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	not observed

Topagunea (Lemovician: Topagunea, Miersan: Mistózburó, Narodyn: Містозбору, Mistozboru) is the capital of the partially-recognized state of Lemovicia, situated on the Andia River, in the Bidegurucean Province, of which it is the capital, situated adjacent to the city of Mistózburó in West Miersa. With a population of 148,572 people, it is the largest city under the control of the Lemovician government: although Sechia is larger, it is under the control of the West Miersan government.

Etymology

The name Topagunea is a Lemovician term meaning meeting point, as according to Lemovician tradition, it was the site of a traditional meeting ground between the various clans, with the site marked by an oak tree. However, many archaeologists and historians argue that the site of present-day Topagunea was not the traditional site of Topagunea, with most suggesting that the meeting point was situated in the city of Loiola.

A calque of Topagunea was the origin of the Narodyn name for the city, Mistozboru (Містозбору), which was borrowed into the Miersan name, Mistózburó.

History

(TBC)

Lemovician War

Ruins of a neighbourhood in Topagunea, 1994

After the conclusion of the Lemovician War of Independence in December 1979, Saroi Garnica promulgated the 1979 constitution, which made Topagunea the capital of Lemovicia. During the next several months, Garnica instituted policies to make Topagunea the economic and political centre of the fledgling nation, especially as Garnica sought to institute national syndicalist policies.

Following the suppression of protests in Sechia on 5 March, 1980, protests broke out against the Lemovician government on 8 March, 1980, but these protests were brutally suppressed by the Lemovician Armed Forces and the local police forces.

Thus, following the declaration of independence by the Miersan separatists at the end of the month, and Otxote Sasiambarrena's declaration of his presidency, Topagunea found itself under the control of the Lemovician government. However, from the beginning, it was a prized target, given its status as the national capital, and the belief that seizing the city would cripple the ability of the Lemovician state to function.

Thus, on 10 April, 1981, the first Battle of Topaguanea took place, which ended with the Lemovician government succeeding over the opposition forces. Thus, Topagunea was largely safe from the war until the second Battle of Topagunea took place in 1983, which saw the Miersan separatists besiege the city. While they did ultimately take control of the outer neighbourhoods of the city, a stalemate developed in Topagunea, which was only interrupted in 1986 when the third Battle of Topagunea took place, which saw the southern neighbourhoods of Topagunea fall to the Miersan forces, with the neighbourhoods under Miersan control eventually becoming the municipality of North Topagunea.

However, over the course of the Lemovician Civil War, the city experienced substantial damage by all three sides fighting the conflict, with substantial areas of the city being damaged or destroyed, particularly during the three battles in 1981, 1983, and 1986, but also during the various skirmishes fought in and around the city until the end of the civil war in 1992.

Post-war and contemporary era

Modern architecture, 2011

After the Arciluco Agreement was signed ending the Lemovician War in June 1992, the areas of Topagunea occupied by the West Miersan forces became the separate city of Mistózburó, which remained in the voivodeship of Malomiersa. As the traditional provincial capital, Loiola, was now under Miersan jurisdiction, Topagunea became the provincial capital, in addition to its role as national capital.

During this period, reconstruction of Topagunea took place, which was greatly facilitated by the fact that as the national capital of Lemovicia, it was essential to rebuild the buildings where Lemovician institutions were housed. As well, as many Lemovicians who previously lived in West Miersa fled to separatist-controlled territory, many of them settled in Topagunea, with the result that the 1997 census saw Topagunea become the largest city under Lemovician control (as the city of Ipaŕateja was, continues to be, under West Miersan control). This led to the creation of the largest hedapenak in the country, with 53 residential neighbourhoods and 10 industrial neighbourhoods.

By the early 2000s, most of the buildings in Topagunea that were damaged by the Lemovician War had been repaired: however, due Lemovicia's continued lack of international recognition by much of the world, Topagunea, although it is the largest city in the country under Lemovician control, and serves as the economic centre of the country, has not achieved much international prominence, due to its lack of widespread international recognition.

In the aftermath of the West Miersan shootdown of Lemavia Flight 1 in May 2003, which was flying from Dynsk International Airport to Topagunea International Airport, Topagunea became the site of ethnic violence between the Lemovician and Miersan communities, with twenty-six assaults against ethnic Miersans, and two murders of ethnic Miersans taking place in the month after the crash, marking the worst case of ethnic violence in the city since the Lemovician War. Although authorities tried to crack down on the violence, hate speech and hate crimes against the Miersan community increased by 64% between January 2003 and January 2004 in Lemovicia, with the increase highest in Topagunea and the Corridor Security Zone. This led to a decrease in the Miersan population between the 2002 and 2007 censuses, with the Miersan population only beginning to increase in the 2017 census.

Geography

The city of Topagunea is situated on the banks of the Andia River, and although Topagunea is around the transition between the Lemovician highlands and the Lemovician lowlands, it is considered by most Lemovicians to be part of the lowlands, and it is significantly flat.

Climatically, Topagunea sees lows between −7 °C in January to 14 °C in July, and highs between -2 °C in January, and 22 °C in July.

Government

The local government of Topagunea is a mayor–council government, with a mayor (Lemovician: alkatejak) elected every four years from all citizens residing in the city, currently held by Ancelmo Espila, who served in office since 2012.

The mayor presides over the city council (Lemovician: udalecieja), which comprises of eighty-four members, each elected from the eighty-four district councils who are directly elected by the people.

Demographics

As of the 2017 census, Topagunea has a population of 148,572 people within its borders, and a population of 229,050 within its metropolitan area, making Topagunea the largest city under the administration of the Lemovician authorities.

The largest ethnicity in Topagunea, at 131,422 people, or around 88.5% of the population, are ethnic Lemovicians. The next largest individual ethnicity, at 6,772 people, or around 4.5% of the population of Topagunea, are ethnic Miersans, although this figure is higher due to the presence of East Miersans, while 2,537 people, or 1.7% of the population of Topagunea, are Savaders. Finally, 7,841 people, or 6.9% of the population, are made up of other ethnicities, such as Vedmedis and Kirenians.

(TBC)