Sochvel

Sochvel Sočvəł 빠른 강 ppaleun gang Balungang
City
Downtown Sochvel
Logo
Etymology: Oroshan, "fast river"
Motto(s):  Qitjak vəkənts Hearth of the nation
Country	Oroshia
Department	Sočvəłvək
Founded	1592
Incorporated (town)	1673
Incorporated (city)	1696
Population
• Total	499,387

Sochvel (/ˈsoʊ̯t͡ʃvɛl/; Oroshan: Sočvəł pronounced: [sɔtʃˈvəɬ]; Jogin: 빠른 강 tr: ppaleun gang), historically also known as Balungang, is the capital and largest city of Oroshia. It is also the seat of the department named for it. The city is located at the confluence of the eponymous Sochvel River (Oroshan: "fast river") with Ol-omol Bay, part of the Demontean Ocean. In 2018, it had a population of 499,387, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total population of the country, and it is the largest city of its latitude in the Eastern Hemisphere. The southern coast of Oroshia experiences large temperature swings, and Sochvel experiences cold, wetter winters and hot, dry summers.

History

Earliest settlement

It is known that Sochvel has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples of the area since the first human habitation of eastern Surucia. The city occupies a strategically important location for trade and shelter from the harsh climate typical of the Oroshan Peninsula. Archaeological artifacts have been found from the Go-dayin culture, a pre-Oroshan group hypothesized to be the ancestors of the modern-day Namchog people, dating back nearly 20 thousand years, followed by proto-Oroshan cultures upon the latter's migration into the area some 3 thousand years ago.

Jogin colonization

A sketch of a reindeer hunter's campsite.

Jogin explorer Sun Jin-Ho first sighted an encampment of nomadic Oroshan herders at the site of present-day Sochvel in the winter of 1590, while mapping and charting the coast and rivers of the peninsula. Noting its potential for settlement, Sun would return two years later in the summer of 1592, with a party of 3 ships carrying 65 men. They anchored their ships in the bay, rowed to shore, and made to set up camp next to a resident population of reindeer herders. The native Oroshan populations had grown fearful of Jogin encroachment, having heard of kidnappings by Jogin sailors, and attempted to stop the sailors from setting up camp. The sailors, after little time, returned to their ships, however they would soon row back to shore, where they torched the encampment of reindeer herders, slaughtering every inhabitant. By the fall of 1592, Sun had erected a wooden palisade around a small settlement, which he named 빠른 강, "fast water", unknowingly a calque of the native Oroshan Sočvəł.

Over the next century, the settlement would continue to grow, as colonization efforts on behalf of the Jogin expanded. Native Oroshans began to inhabit the settlement, too, as its importance as a centre of trade was enforced when Jogin hegemony over Oroshia was declared in 1634. In 1673, it had grown enough that it was incorporated as a town, and not 20 years after that, it was incorporated as a city.

The Imperial Iron Mine, today known as the Multimetal International Sochvel Mine, was a site of forced labour used by the Jogin colonial government.

Upon the Oroshan language being outlawed in 1734 by decree, the mostly native populace took to rioting, during which many buildings were damaged. In response, a new emissary was sent from the Jogin Empire, Da Jaesang, to be the governor of the colony residing in the city, and to quell the riots. Da Jaesang was known for his cruelty elsewhere in the Jogin Empire, and brutally oppressed the Oroshan people, who were imprisoned en masse following the riots.

By the time of the Tilgin Rebellion of 1879, Jogin colonial presence in the city had grown to a point where organizing and gathering by the Oroshan population was strictly outlawed, and many were placed in forced labour in the burgeoning heavy industry sector for their attempts to contravene this. Especially feared was being placed in the Imperial Iron Mine to the east of the city.

The rail network that would connect Oroshia together was centred in Sochvel.

Indeed, iron mining was becoming a large business in Oroshia, with Sochvel at its centre, beginning in the late 1870s. The many iron deposits in the nearby mountains fuelled the construction of railways, most by forced or coerced labour on behalf of the Jogin Imperial government, that would unite the country despite its rugged terrain. Sochvel would become a major railway hub in the country by the turn of the century, owing to its relatively mild climate and flatter terrain.

Independence

Independence from the Jogin Empire was proclaimed in 1964, and Sochvel continued as the capital. Three days of official celebration followed, and the first independent parliament convened in the old Jogin government house, now the Oroshan National Assembly. The affording of home rule in 1958 practically meant little to the capital city, where the Jogin colonial government mostly continued as before until their ouster six years later.

Sochvel elected its first mayor the year after, and would grow immensely during Oroshia's second period of industrialization. By the 1990s, though, it would move away from a primarily industry-based economy to a service-based economy, driven by the large population and its strategic location at the hub of railroads and sea routes. It is also home to Oroshia's first international airport, Itikavəŋ Kiłino International Airport, the flagship airport of Oroshia Air Lines. Sochvel has hosted the International Forum for Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast, a conference for Indigenous groups in eastern Surucia, twice: in 1999 and 2005.

Climate

Sochvel
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     51     −16 −25     48     −11 −20     21     −3 −12     19     10 0     18     17 6     19     24 13     17     27 18     17     25 16     26     20 10     48     11 0     58     −4 −11     56     −14 −20 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2     3 −13     1.9     12 −4     0.8     27 10     0.7     50 32     0.7     63 43     0.7     75 55     0.7     81 64     0.7     77 61     1     68 50     1.9     52 32     2.3     25 12     2.2     7 −4 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Sochvel is within the Dsb Köppen climate type, a Mediterranean-like warm-summer humid continental climate, characterized by huge temperature disparities between summer and winter, and relatively wet winters countered by dry, almost drought-like summers. What precipitation does arrive in the winter is suitable for irrigation in Sochvel and the surrounding valley, and has been used to sustain extensive agriculture. The average annual precipitation is 398mm, and is mainly concentrated in the winter. November is usually the wettest month, while July or August are the driest. The driest year on record is the drought year of 1931, when only 201mm of rain fell. The wettest, on the other hand, was 1982, when a record 996mm of rain fell, causing floods and landslides. Snowfall is frequent in the winter, with an average snowpack of more than 40cm.

The temperatures between seasons vary wildly, by more than 50 degrees in most years. The average temperature in January is -20.1°C, while the average July temperature is 24.3°C. Temperature extremes and average variation have become more extreme in the last two decades, with yearly extreme temperatures now peaking at nearly -40°C in the winter, compared with the lower 30s in July. On February 4, 2002, a new lowest temperature was recorded, at -42.6°C. Nearly 10 years later, in June 2011, a maximum temperature record was set, a high of 35.8°C.

Demographics

Historic Population
Year	Pop.	±%
1600	2,750	—
1673	6,540	+137.8%
1696	9,854	+50.7%
1750	18,500	+87.7%
1800	32,000	+73.0%
1830	65,000	+103.1%
1868	98,742	+51.9%
1898	206,872	+109.5%
1918	301,856	+45.9%
1938	356,186	+18.0%
1958	418,582	+17.5%
1978	487,291	+16.4%
1998	501,742	+3.0%
2018	518,021	+3.2%

Ethnic composition in 2018:

• 68% Oroshan
• 26% Jogin
• 3% Namchogi
• 2% Yvlipkan
• 1% Other