Kantemosha & Ambrazka

Republic of Kantemosha and Ambrazka Kantimossi ja Ambro
Flag of Kantemosha Flag Coat of Arms of Kantemosha Coat of Arms
Motto: "Česť, služba, odolnosť" (Czech) "Honor, service, resilience"
Political Map of Kantemosha & Ambrazka Political Map of Kantemosha & Ambrazka
Capital and largest city	Koskunen
Official languages	Kantemoshan, Ambrazkan, Soravian
Recognised regional languages	Kirenian
Ethnic groups (2010)	Kantemoshan (45%), Ambrazkan (34%), Soravian (14%), Kirenian (5%), Other (2%)
Demonym(s)	Kantemoshan / Ambrazkan
Government	Multi-Party Parliamentary Republic
• Premier	Heimo Hämäläinen
• Water (%)	WIP
Population
• 2018 estimate	16,520,820
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$276,492,000 (7)
• Per capita	$13,340 (???)
GDP (nominal)	2017 (WIP) estimate
• Total	$2,612,154,000 (WIP) (???)
• Per capita	$29,129 (WIP) (???)
Currency	Kantemoshan Laatta (tile) (LTA)
Time zone	UTC-1 (N/A)
Date format	yyyy-mm-dd
Driving side	right
Calling code	+62
Internet TLD	.uka

Kantemosha & Ambrazka (Kantemoshan: Kantimossi ja Ambro, Ambrazkan: Kantemosko a Ambrozhko), officially the Republic of Kantemosha & Ambrazka, also known as 'The Union', is a young sovereign state situated in Western Euclea. It's borders meet with the countries of Soravia to the west, Kirenia to the east, and East Miersa and West Miersa to the direct south. It has a northern shoreline with the Perovo Sea, making it the only way in and out of the Republic by means of water transportation. The country spans over 372,431 km2 worth of land, with a population of 16.5 million people inhabiting it in scattered towns and cities, with most of the population concentrating on the northern shoreline. The Union is organized into 16 different provinces. The capital city of Koskunen lays in the midpart of the Kantemoshan Coast, boasting a population of 1.2 million people, almost 6% of Kantemosha's total population. Officially, the language of the Union is Kantemoshan, which is also the most spoken language, with Ambrazkan coming in a close second, spoken mostly in the state of Ambrazka in the southern part of the Union. Episemialist Sotirianity is the dominant religion of the Union, and has been so for most of its history, with 93% of the inhabitants of the Union following the Episemialist church's doctrine.

Etymology

(WIP)

History

Early History

It is common consensus amongst anthropologists and historians that the first settlements along the Kantemoshan coastline were Marolevic migrants moving from the west during the years of 600-610 AD. Some of these early Marolevs stayed in Kantemosha, either due to the possibility of a rich catch or economic opportunity. Whichever reason truly motivated them, they were inclined to set up numerous walled villages and towns along the common path of migration, farming various cereals and sugar beets to sustain themselves alongside catches from annual fish migrations across the Perovo Sea, interbreeding with Kostellime natives in the area, giving them a sense of individuality from common Marolevs in due time.

A Kantemoshan pot recovered from the Kaappo wreck found off the coast of Samistopol by Soravian divers in 1977. Preserved now in Soravia

Following decades of settlement, Northern Kantemosha was dotted with individual citystates vying for control over fishing grounds and abundant, yet valuable plots of land. This land was often scarred with works of irrigation ditches, dikes and other water control measure to exploit seasonal storms for agricultural use and storage within granite cisterns, either in use by castles or communally in small towns. Fighting over these works and the land they modified was not uncommon, manifesting as quick and bloody skirmishes between often conscripted peasants and/or reservist citizen soldiers, as it was too financially straining for some of these city states to keep standing, as is the case with many other parts of the world. Rarely in the time before the 8th century were city states prompted to try and work together, instead vying to stay independent and only collectively fighting against mutual enemies.

With the discovery of shipwrecks on the Porovo seafloor full of a variety of products, including sealed vases of honey (in the case of the Kaappo wreck found off the coast of Samistopol), it has been surmised that the various city states of Kantemosha had rather profitable trade with the northern principalities of the Great Vesemir confederacy, particularly to the port cities of Lipa, Samistopol, and Ovdapol. Westerly going trade from Ambrazka to Ulan Khol and Uzyn has been proven by unearthing of period-specific trash alongside buried stone roads in eastern modern Soravia, ontop of preserved parchments and/or interpretations of oral stories onto paper described these trails as being particularly treacherous and an unpopular route to take for merchants.

The Marauder Age (8th-11th Century)

The Marauder Age is considered one of the most influential points of time for the regions of Kantemosha and Ambrazka, setting itself as the fork in the road where, had the Ghailles not come from the east, history could have been very different from what it is now, atleast history pertaining to the KA. During the early part of this era, Kantemosha, the most vulnerable to any raid to the marauders, was safe, with raids only touching Cathia to the far east and seemingly only the eastern coasts of Svoya. This left the fragmented region, still a hotbed of intercity fighting over property rights, wholly unprepared for what was soon to come, especially considering that at the time, western Euclean vessels did not have the range as the Ghaillish longship and such a long-ranged vessel was not to the knowledge of the cities or atleast in their capabilities. In the very early 840s is when the first marauder raids began on the far eastern coasts of Kantemosha. Sea piracy and raids on coastal villages began sending many refugees to larger city states like Koskunen, Palkule and Senisakiima, while leaving other villages that were relatively unmolested either without laborers or trying to make quick friendships with large cities that had better ability to defend themselves.

Marauder colonization of the Ludoy Islands and further colonization of Solstiania with bases on said land's west coast brought upon an 'Age of Terror' in the mid-870s as described in recovered lithographs and transcribed oral stories from the period. Marauder raids that penetrated into the land became more auspicious for the pirates, who took back great amounts of crops and livestock particularly doing harvest season, hitting otherwise safe villages and towns. Aaro Liikanen, then ruler of Koskunen, fearing that the destruction of surrounding villages would deplete his overpopulated city of much needed food from the countryside, began making a set of treatise with towns and villages that were still standing on the year of 882, known as the Perovo League. Unfortunately, rules and regulations set by Liikanen, such as a monthly tribute to Koskunen, turned many away after a few years, and by 889, the 'alliance' was left a shriveled husk of its former self. Despite this, the Perovo League was the first time that multiple duchies and fragment states in the Kantemoshan region actually began working together for an extended period of time, the league working to actually defend against marauder raids. Such a thing would not be seen again until the 980s. Liikanen never lived to see the day, passing away in 922 and passing the control of Koskunen to Pekka Liikanen.

By the 910s, sea trade to cities like Samistopol and Ovdapol in the west had halted due to the widespread piracy, forcing merchants of the Kantemoshan coastal states to conduct trips over land, which brought improvements to roads leading westward into the newly formed Duchy of Pavatria ruled by Nuruk. Koskunen and its rival city, Palkule, established reputations for being fortress cities, with great amounts of funds going into increasingly complex (for the time) fortifications to ward off opportunistic raiders from attacking their countryside. With the formation of the Kingdom of Maltaire off to the west at the head of their, to Kantemoshan duchies and cities, 'manic warrior queen' Eleanora of Caldia, raids intensified for a short time again in 954, mirroring the 'Age of Terror' of the 870s. By 972, Moimir of Dulat from Pavatria had conducted invasions into the land of what is modern-day West Miersa, and, soon after the death of Eleanora of Caldia, invaded and brutally subjugated the Kingdom of Maltaire. With the destruction of Maltaire and the overall decline of Marauder piracy, Kantemosha was left rift with 'empty spaces' of where people used to live or own, something which the city of Koskunen, now under the leadership of Pekka Liikanen's son, Riku Liikanen. Riku was determined to bring something different to the table, and immediately began absorbing weakened states and no-mans land around Koskunen in 980, meanwhile offering that towns and cities pay tribute to Koskunen to escape complete subjugation, reforming the Perovo League in a more hegemonic fashion.

In 981, Moimir of Dulat committed to a military campaign, pushing with armies of not only Pavatrians but also with Miersan auxiliaries and mercenaries, into western Kantemosha and some parts of northern Ambrazka. This started the Six Years War, where unprepared city states and towns were burned until being stopped by a quickly growing Perovo League. Utilizing the region's numerous canals and dikes, Riku Liikanen was able to put an end to Moimir's unstoppable advance at The Battle of Viitasaari Manor, where a Kantemoshan army of 25,000 was able to halt a 45,000 strong Pavatrian army. Despite this victory earning breathing space for the League, they could not fully stop the advance, especially with Riku suddenly dying to tuberculosis in the year 984, killing off the brains of the defense effort and throwing the alliance into complete disarray. By 988, Koskunen had been reached and the city surrendered without much of a fight. Despite this quick forfeit, Moimir sentenced Koskunen to be razed and brutally pillaged for its part in leading the defense of Kantemosha and leading to thousands of his soldiers dying, leading to the Burning of the Rock.

Economy

Industry

The Union suffers greatly from its pre-independence relegation as an agricultural core of Soravia and being used as a buffer state, with heavy industry besides basic processing of raw materials being in an almost non-existent state. Low investment by foreign industrial firms, corruption and corporatization of the vast agricultural industry of the country has only served to keep the country mated to this industry as a method of making money for government programs and for people to spend. As such, the most significant exports by the Union are of its various agricultural stocks and the various raw materials afforded by it, that being copper, coal, lumber, and a minor other few. Despite this, the Union's government has taken steps to make the Union less dependent on foreign manufacturers for refined goods, and as such, has employed many foreign advisors to preside over the creation of nationalized industries and innovate upon existing ones.

The Kantemoshan and Ambrazkan government has made multiple subsidies to local manufacturing startups, especially with investment into the Ambrazkan Automobilový závod Bybrowa (AzB), leftover after breaking from Soravia in the 80s. This is also done to existing heavy industrial enterprises, such as the small coal mining industry present in Ambrazka and copper mills in Kantemosha, both leftovers from Soravian rule and the latter of which has seen increasing viability in today's international market.

Demographics

Education

The majority of educational institutions in the Union are public, regulated and controlled by the Kantemoshan Federal Education Commission headquartered in Kuskak. Whilst recent years have seen the appearance of more private primary and secondary schools, most private education institutions are post-secondary schools with specific niches that the government's public colleges do not fulfill or are inadequate in fulfilling. Homeschooling without license and/or training (depending on the province) is considered a misdemeanor and is paramount to child neglect in the Union, however, there are movements trying to repeal or reform this law. Religious education is always there throughout public schooling in the Union, being more pervasive in primary schools than secondary schools as the latter have less funds to work with on average in regards to their more varied curriculum.

Parents of children are often recommended by the government to put their children into preschools by the age of four, though are enforced to put them in if they haven't by the age of six. Preschool and kindergarten/'Lasten puutarha' focuses mostly on teaching the children Kantemoshan (and/or Ambrazkan, depending on the district or province), counting, the alphabet. Such curriculums are also engineered to find out possible career/artistic interests early on, acting as a 'litmus test' for parents when children grow older, so as to help them find their way in the job market. Upon reaching the first grade of five in primary schools, children are immediately exposed to basic principles like arithmetic, geography, science, etc. Going throughout primary school, more complex subjects are touched upon throughout, though the scientific curriculum in primary school is canted towards giving children the foundations for a possible career in the agricultural sector, in compliance with the 1981 Järvensaari Act that emphasized career education in public schools. Extracurricular activities are limited and are usually organized by parents rather than the schools.

Secondary school would ideally begin once children were entering or just entering their teenage years, going on for six more grades. Increasingly more complex subjects would be taught and within the latter two years of secondary school, career classes to determine the 'best fit' for individual students are required to graduate, aswell as college preparation classes. Extracurricular activities in secondary schools are, in direct contrast to primary school protocol, organized by the school itself.

[WIP]