Zamorodna

Zamorodnian Hetmanate Замородинський гетьманство
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Kostyanopol
Official languages	Zamorodnian
Ethnic groups	Kozaks (73.1%) Suvarovans (7.3%) Balts (6.4%) Baderians (6.0%) Staryzamians (5.1%) Ostrozavans (1.3%) Others (<1%)
Religion	Alban Nazarism (55.4%) Docetic Nazarism (31.7%) Fabrian Catholicism (2.4%) None (10.4%) Others (<1%)
Demonym(s)	Zamorodnian
Government	Confederal minarchist elected autocracy
• Hetman	Oleh Bohdanuk Petrenko
• Koshovyy Otaman	Volodymyr Matvyyuk Nesterenko
Legislature	Starshyna Rada
Establishment
• Great Kozak Migration	1332-1426 CE
• Unification of the Hosts	1538 CE
• Independence from Suvarova	1672 CE
Area
• Total	147,136 km2 (56,810 sq mi)
• Water (%)	6.8
Population
• Estimate	14,293,012 (2021)
• Density	97.14/km2 (251.6/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$178.6 billion (2021)
• Per capita	$12,494.43
Gini	39.9 medium
HDI	0.67 medium
Currency	Hrish (₴) (ZHR)
Date format	yyyy-mm-dd (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+443
Internet TLD	.zam

The Zamorodnian Hetmanate (Zamorodnian: Zamorodyns'kyy Het'manstvo), also known as Zamorodna or Zamorodina, is a small, landlocked nation in northern Belisaria. Zamorodna is the homeland of the Kozak peoples, who migrated westward from the Altunid and Ikdemid Khanates in the high middle ages, settling in a harsh, swampy region in the western hinterlands of Suvarova. The Great Kozak Host was an autonomous nation under the Crown of Suvarov, but gained independence in 1672.

In the present day, Zamorodna is a culturally integrated but politically disunified entity. The various constituent polities of the Hetmanate, the tovarystva, have varying degrees of authoritarian or democratic and capitalist or socialist elements. As such, the tovarystva can often be isolationist, particularly from very different neighbours. However, the unified culture, language, and traditions of the Kozaks tie the tovarystva together.

Economically, Zamorodna is self-sufficient but only moderately-to-poorly industrialized. Approximately one-third of the population are traditional pastoralists. Mining and other resource extraction are growing industries and leading sectors in the export economy. Domestically, economic figures can be difficult to ascertain due to limited governmental oversight and a widespread informal economy.

Name

The name of Zamorodna is inconsistently associated with the Kozak peoples who inhabit it. The term originally referred to the land before the Kozak hosts arrived and occupied it. Since then, however, it has come to refer more specifically to both the ethnic Kozaks living on the land and their language. The Zamorodnian language is distinct from that which was spoken by the first migrant Kozaks, having been heavily influenced by Slavic speakers in the region that they settled but retains Turkic influences.

The etymology of Zamorodna can be broken down into three components. The first component, "zam" or "sam", means "on its own", or "independent". The second component "o" is a linking element between the first and third components. The third component is etymologically uncertain and may stem from "rodna" or "rodina" and either means "fertile" or "of nature", or "of family". Read together, "Zamorodna" has the sense of either "fertile wilderness" or "free families". The former is likely descriptive of the harsh marshes and swamps of the region, while the latter has been widely accepted as referring to the independent Kozaks or the previous inhabitants of the land. There is no academic consensus on which interpretation is more likely the original.

Geography

Zamorodna is a relatively flat, low-lying, landlocked plain, dotted with extensive swamplands and forest groves. The predominant climate is humid continental. Summers are hot and humid while winters are exceedingly cold. The transitional seasons of fall and spring are particularly long, wet, and muddy. Despite cold winters and extensive wetlands, the land is extremely fertile and well-suited to both cereal agriculture and livestock grazing due to heavy pockets of chernozem soil, in contrast with the common, sandy, and less fertile podzol soil common in the rest of the region.

The Zamorodnian plain was formed through the world's last major glaciation period, receding from the Nordic Sea to the mountains to the south. The major breaks in the flat topography are primarily light foothills in the south and moraines in the north. A number of rivers cut through the geography, most draining into the Nordic Sea though a number flow southwest to Lake Kupalnitsa.

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  Moraine formations

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  Wetland brush

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  Oilseed fields

Government and politics

The Starshyy Palats in Kostyanopol, meeting place of the Starshyna Rada

The Zamorodnian Hetmanate is, in effect, a confederation of different Kozak polities descended from the hosts that migrated to occupy the present area of Zamorodna. These 15 polities are referred to collectively as the tovarystva (singular: tovarystvo) but belong specifically to one of two categories. The first and most numerous of the rovarystva are the osavulstva (singular: osavulstvo), or "chiefdoms". The second and less common tovarystva are the sovyetstva (singular: sovyetstvo), or "council realms".

The Zolotyy Palats, offices of the Hetman

At the upper level of the Hetmanate's government, is the Starshyna Rada, or "Elder Council". The Starshyna Rada is composed of the 15 elders of the tovarystva. The process for appointing an elder varies according to the tovarystvo. The Starhyna Rada meets at Kostyanopol at least yearly, and every three years it appoints a Koshovyy Otaman ("Domestic Executor") who in turn appoints a Hetman ("Chief Executor") to act as the head of state of the Hetmanate. Both candidates are then subject to ratification by a popular referendum.

The Rozhevyy Palats, offices of the Koshovyy Otaman

Traditionally, an individual is limited to two terms as either Koshovyy Otaman or Hetman, though this rule is not always observed in practice by the Starhyna Rada. Some conflict between the incumbent executors and the Starshyna Rada has occurred in the past and the peaceful transfer of power is not universal. The elders of the Starshyna Rada remain, effectively, the chief representatives of their respectively tovarystva and can withhold the military power from the Hetman if they deem it necessary.

Each of the executors has different roles and responsibilities. The Koshovyy Otaman appoints members of federal courts, acts as supreme justice, manages land division between the tovarystva, manages federal lands, and exercises taxation and budgeting. The annual tax and budget plan, however, must be approved by the Starshyna Rada. The Hetman is charged with managing foreign relations, the organization of the military, public education, and any residual responsibilities of a federal nature. The tovarystva are otherwise free to manage affairs of a local nature, land division and management within the borders of the tovarystvo, and the budgeting and taxation of their own programs.

Laws and justice

The legal system of the Zamorodnian Hetmanate is a common law system with no written constitution. Courts apply principles established in time immemorial to cases presented before them. Most of these principles come from the Kozak peoples but a limited number of principles of land division are derived from Starzamian traditions. Courts are also, in a way, the major legislative bodies. Rather than a parliament or an individual Rada drafting or proposing legislation, any Zamorodnian is entitled to put an issue before the courts, even a hypothetical issue. The court is only obligated to hear cases that directly affect an individual's rights or property but may grant leave to hear hypotheticals or create their own hypotheticals to be heard. Thus, the court may render preemptive decisions on how the common law principles of Zamorodna may apply to a given hypothetical and any future cases. The ultimate legal distinction between the osavulstva and the sovyetstva is that the former is managed by a singular executor who appoints the courts, while the latter is often a group of judges who are popularly elected and also manage executive tasks.

Administrative subdivisions

Name	Capital	Flag	Population	Type	Starshyy
Sertsy'ska Serednya	Kostyanopol		2,803,735	Sovyetstvo	Ondrey Premysluk Shumeyko
Pyvnychny Bolota	Barabanopol		1,963,452	Osavulstvo	Petr Tymofyyuk Syrko
Karashch	Doshchovysto		1,519,499	Sovyetstvo	Olha Vasylchuk'ska Zhdanyva
Shchytsyn	Svyatyy Mayklhorod		1,496,952	Osavulstvo	Bondar Ylyuk Federenko
Verhny Potyk	Shumhorod		1,264,517	Osavulstvo	Mykyta Mykytanuk Belesarenko
Pshenytsyn	Pshenytsynopol		1,075,923	Sovyetstvo	Bohdan Oleksandruk Melnyk
Katyvyna	Katyhorodka		758,832	Osavulstvo	Martyn Volodymyruk Koval'
Nyzhny Potyk	Eshchyn		713,605	Osavulstvo	Yevgenya Antonuk'ska Huperyvna
Shlashkya	Petrohorod		662,648	Osavulstvo	Prokop Yvanuk Nosach
Pyvdenny Bolota	Kosutyn		542,421	Osavulstvo	Les' Lavrynuk Gryshenko
Hrodnyv	Hrodnyv		456,727	Osavulstvo	Fyodor Fylonuk Fyodoryvych
Nerovya	Nero Zamok		371,660	Osavulstvo	Oleksandr Olehuk Pototsky
Kozelets	Ypelnych'horod		262,923	Osavulstvo	Yvan Petruk Vygyvsky
Dalekosych	Myshchy Zurychy		215,966	Sovyetstvo	Vyacheslyv Dmytryuk Nykonyv
Sarska Spyl'nota	Sarsky Myr		187,151	Osavulstvo	Lukyan Maksymuk Barabash

Osavulstva

Of the 15 tovarystva in the Zamorodnian Hetmanate, 11 are osavulstva, or "chiefdoms". An osavulstvo is a polity governed by an osavul. The process for appointing or electing an osavul can vary, but typically the osavul is either a hereditary position or it falls to the eldest of the community. In two cases, Nerovya and Sarska Spyl'nota, the osavul is an elected position. Regardless, after assuming the role, an osavul governs for life or until they step down. The other key aspect of an osavulstvo is the independent judiciary. Judges are appointed by the osavul but otherwise, act independently. The osavul has the power to govern the osavulstvo in all local matters but does not have the right to make unilateral decrees. Any decree that an osavul wishes to make must be considered by the local judiciary. The osavul is also the starshyy of their osavulstvo, though they may elect to delegate this responsibility to a subordinate.

Sovyetstva

Despite being outnumbered by the more autocratic osavulstva, the sovyetstva generally count among the more populous and powerful tovarystva in Zamorodna. The sovyetstva, or "council realms", are characterized by more democratic governance in addition to a blended legislative, judicial, and executive system. At the centre of a sovyetstvo is the sovyet ("council"). The members of the sovyet are collectively elected by their communities for fixed terms as judges. During the first meeting of a new sovyet, executive roles are distributed by consensus. Legislative functions are effectively undertaken by the members as well though the legal reference system. In sufficiently large communities, the sovyet may delegate most of its criminal and civil judicial functions to a certain number of its members while the rest abstain from adjudicating legal matters in order to more effectively conduct their other functions. The starshyy of a sovyetstvo is typically appointed at the beginning of a new sovyet, though occasionally the role will be left vacant until shortly before the Starshyna Rada is convened.