Lemobrogia

Overqueendom of Lemobrogia Hírenric Lúnkelis
Flag Emblem
Motto: Cékosa Cékun Ten Rábus Nothing Without the Hand of Love
Anthem: Land of Eternal Spring Royal anthem: Last for a Thousand Years
Lemobrogia
Capital	Lóhxina
Largest city	Pálhisar
Official languages	Standard Paleo-Lemobrogic
Ethnic groups (2023)	List 25% Paleo-Lemobrogic 25% Neo-Lemobrogic 25% Lemobrogian 25% Other
Religion (2023)	List 25% Hahtta 25% Zobethos 25% No religion 25% Other
Demonym(s)	Lemobrogian
Government	Semi-constitutional, semi-elective and semi-parliamentary monarchy
• Overqueen	Kelósdedis V
• Overking	Ríxuras X
Legislature	Diet of the Realm
• Upper house	Chamber of Representatives
• Lower house	Chamber of Delegates
Establishment
• Independence of Pteleía from the Symmerian Empire	22 June 1161
• Independence of Elmadeśa from the Rideva Empire	14 April 1333
• Union of the crowns of Elmadeśa and Pteleía	20 April 1569
• Start of Acrean protectorate	21 December 1659
• End of Acrean protectorate	12 April 1659
Area
• Total	729,855 km2 (281,799 sq mi)
• Water (%)	12
Population
• 2023 census	101,449,845
• Density	139/km2 (360.0/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	₻ 2,118,881 trillion
• Per capita	₻ 20,886
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Per capita	₻ 13,400
Gini (2023)	23.2 low
HDI	0.732 high
Currency	Mark (₻) (LBM)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy CE
Driving side	left
Calling code	+69
ISO 3166 code	LB
Internet TLD	.lb

Lemobrogia (Standard Paleo-Lemobrogic: Lúnkeli, /lunkeli/), officially the Overqueendom of Lemobrogia (Standard Paleo-Lemobrogic: Hírenric Lúnkelis, /hirenrit͡ʃ lunkelis/), is a landlocked country in Tyran's continent of Siduri; it borders Auroa to the northeast, Quenmin to the northwest, Tennai to the southwest and Vartaxia to the southeast. It covers 729,855 km² and it is inhabited by 101,449,845 people; first settled by Cro-Magnon early modern humans around 56,800 years ago, it saw the birth of peaceful settled societies as early as 5000 BCE. However, due to its altitude and isolation on one hand, and due to unpredictable and violent natural hazards on the other hand, this country of mild and pleasant temperatures has historically been a relatively poor country, even as advances in infrastructure and transportation were able to propel the nation, divided for several centuries between Syara and Tennai, and an Acrean protectorate until 1992, to the status of developed country.

Today, Lemobrogia is a decentralized planned economy focused on sustainable development, in which private and state businesses are collectively owned and cooperatively run. A leading country in the field of sustainability by necessity, as the subtropical highland that the nation occupies is an ecologically fragile area by nature, Lemobrogia is nonetheless dealing with the fiscal and social consequences that having to shield a country of over 100,000,000 inhabitants from the ravages of climate change and global warming entail; a significant portion of the nation's GDP is spent to deal with the issues related to Lemobrogia's rapid advances in the 20th century, and to pave the way for the country's future. A semi-constitutional, semi-elective and semi-parliamentary monarchy, Lemobrogia retains close ties to Acrea, as well as with culturally or politically adjacent countries such as Gylias and Megelan, and with neighbouring countries such as Auroa, Quenmin, Tennai and Vartaxia.

History

Lemobrogia was first settled by Cro-Magnon early modern humans around 56,800 years ago; there, they interacted and interbred with the indigenous Denisovan archaic humans. On one hand, since food in the area was plentiful, and the subsistence needs of the population could be fulfilled without a lot of effort, the Paleo-Lemobrogic peoples were able to develop peaceful settled societies without the need to develop agriculture (even though they did develop horticulture); on the other hand, the resulting food surpluses begat social stratification - with the area's high incidence of natural hazards favouring the rise of those that were thought to have the deepest understanding of these, that is, sacerdotal and religious authorities, to the top of Paleo-Lemobrogic society. By around 5000 BCE, the polities of Lemobrogia had unified under a pacifist theocracy whose authority was enforced not through violence, but through the ritual shunning of those individuals and polities that did not adhere to its edicts and decrees.

Eventually, as Erani-Eracuran expansion drove a significant percentage of Lemobrogia's inhabitants east, to Gylias, the sudden drop in population resulted in the priesthood losing a significant degree of influence and power; and, as Lemobrogia was quite isolated and nearly unreachable, it stagnated socially and technologically, its ancient glory turning into legend both inside and outside the country. Therefore, it was unable to resist being partitioned between those foreign dynasties based in Syara and Tennai; the conquest led to ethnic and ideological rifts in the population: ironically, those less receptive to foreign influence turned against the nonviolent ethos of their ancestors, seeking to liberate Lemobrogia by force, while a significant part of the country's population stood by it, integrating these foreign peoples (not only defectors and slaves, but also colonists and nobility) into their society while pursuing a policy of nonviolent resistance against their leadership.

Even as the ethnic factor of this divide faded into irrelevance - outside sources eventually stating that their colonial population had gone native - and the distinction between Paleo-Lemobrogic and Neo-Lemobrogic turned into an issue of ancestry rather than nationality, and even as Lemobrogia regained its independence (northern Lemobrogia as a Hellenized, Zobethian state in 1305 CE, southern Lemobrogia as an Indianized, Hahtta state in 1333 CE), the ideological factor of the divide persisted; the northern and southern polities were forced to deal with centuries of unrest and, eventually, a civil war that put both polities against the absolutist, theocratic Xevdenite proto-state in the east. The civil war not only forced the southern and northern states to unite, but the depopulation of several areas led the Crown of the union to invite several neighbouring ethnic groups inside Lemobrogia's borders to try and recoup the losses, just as the defeated Xevdenites started heading towards Gylias.

Moreover, the Acrean conquest of Auroa in the 17th century sparked fears of annexation, as Lemobrogia couldn't hope to resist Acrea; in the 1650s, the Crown put itself under Acrean protection, to avoid annexation and conquest and retain the independence of the country, at least in its internal affairs. During the centuries of Acrean protectorate, infrastructure was built that facilitated trade and transit in Lemobrogia, the country eventually turning into a relatively developed society; however, intensive agriculture and the Industrial Revolution had dire consequences on the nation's territory even as they brought wealth to it, wealth that - due to Lemobrogia's reliance on the export of natural resources - was often distributed in an unequal, uneven fashion. A Georgist consensus arose as a result, and the central government was able to pass laws such as the institution of a land value tax, Pigovian taxes, and a citizen's dividend, that lessened inequality while favouring private enterprise.

Even as these policies benefited Lemobrogia, with the country's economy diversifying and thriving, the resulting quick urbanization and population explosion caused several demographic and environmental issues; a series of natural disasters in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in the birth and rise of several cults and sects, and in the emergence of a decentralized planned economy focused on sustainable development, under the guidance and supervision of the so-called "Red King", Pavéponis Várnat - that had been elected to the throne also due to the respect he'd obtained abroad as the aide and eventual husband of princess Nyvi Varnaþ of the Nerveiík Kingdom. A developed country since the 1990s, Lemobrogia ceased to be an Acrean protectorate in 1992; it retains close ties to its erstwhile suzerain however, as well as with culturally or politically adjacent countries such as Gylias and Megelan, and with neighbouring countries such as Auroa, Quenmin, Tennai and Vartaxia.

Politics

Lemobrogia is a semi-constitutional, semi-elective and semi-parliamentary monarchy; the role of head of state is shared between a hereditary queen and an elective king, that exercise a substantial degree of power in their respective areas of responsibility, in accordance with the constitution and with tradition. Moreover, the legislature is split into an elected upper house that has the power to appoint and dismiss the executive, and an allotted lower house that acts not unlike the independent legislative branch of a presidential republic. One third of the lower house is reserved for delegates of the country's electoral districts, another third of the lower house is reserved for delegates of the country's political parties, and the final third of the lower house is reserved for delegates of the country's trade unions, according to the population size of each electoral district, each political party's electoral result, and the percentage of people registered to each trade union.

Lastly, the judiciary of Lemobrogia is headed by a supreme court in which one third of the membership is allotted, another third of the membership is appointed, and the final third of the membership is elected; except for the heads of state, that serve for life, and for the prime minister, that can serve for as long as they have the confidence of the upper house, the term limit for all those in the country's executive, judiciary and legislative branches is of 12 years. No one can be allotted, appointed or elected more than once, up to and including the prime minister, if they lose the confidence of the upper house; elective officials are elected through the Modified Borda Count voting method, taking into account only the top two political parties for the upper house, according to the winner-takes-all principle, and all the eligible political parties for the lower house, in a proportional fashion. Decisions are taken by consensus, with the Modified Borda Count being used to break deadlock when necessary.

Administrative divisions

Lemobrogia is divided into 1,728 municipalities: they are general-purpose administrative divisions that, in the greater part of the country, are the only bodies of local autonomy, as there is no official intermediate unit between the municipalities and the central government of Lemobrogia; the chosen political system and guiding political ideology of Lemobrogia's municipalities can vary, as does the extent of their duties and tasks - that is rearranged and renegotiated at every queenly coronation. There are also 144 districts, that have only an electoral and statistical role - unless they are coextensive with a city that comprises several municipalities, or with several municipalities whose small size or sparse population prevents them from fulfilling their usual functions - and 12 provinces: these provinces enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the rest of Lemobrogia, despite their small size or sparse population, due to their peculiar cultural or geographical circumstances.

Geography

Lemobrogia is a country of 729,855 km² in eastern Siduri; it lies between the 30th parallel north and the Tropic of Cancer. The country has no access to the sea, and it borders Auroa to the northeast, Quenmin to the northwest, Tennai to the southwest and Vartaxia to the southeast. Lemobrogia's borders with Tennai and Vartaxia follow the chain that connects Gylias' Salxar range to Tennai's Khastravali range, with the country on the northern side of the drainage divide; its borders with Auroa and Quenmin coincide with the drainage basins of those rivers whose source lies on Lemobrogia's side of said chain. Lemobrogia's altitude rarely falls below 1,500 metres above sea level, and rarely rises beyond 4,000 metres above sea level; due to river erosion and volcanic activity however, it is characterized by a gentle and pleasant landscape of flat uplands and rolling hills. 12% of the country's total area is covered by lakes, rivers and ponds, often of glacial or volcanic origin; the capital itself is located on a lake island.

Lemobrogia lies on a continental fault, and several active volcanoes are located in its territory; therefore, the country is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Avalanches and slides are frequent in the southern third of the country, and near the steep slopes that border Lemobrogia's flat uplands and plateaus; drought and heavy rain can happen during the dry season and the wet reason, respectively. Moreover, the year round balmy and moist climate provides an ideal environment for bacteria and viruses to thrive; diseases and illnesses can therefore spread rather quickly. Characterized by mild and pleasant temperatures on one hand, and by unpredictable and violent phenomena on the other hand, Lemobrogia is at once a land of endless abundance and incredible danger. More than 50% of the land has been set aside as a natural reserve, due to environmental reasons as well as due to safety concerns; this is not a contiguous area, but several areas connected to each other by wildlife corridors.

Climate

Lemobrogia is part of a belt in eastern Siduri where the tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw) is ubiquitous; the far north of the country, where it borders Auroa and Quenmin, is part of this belt. However, as the average altitude of Lemobrogia is rather high, the cooler equivalent of the tropical savanna climate, the subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb and Cwc) characterizes the greater part of it. Throughout the year, the average temperature of most of the country rarely falls below −3 °C and rarely rises above 22 °C; the only noticeable seasonal differences concern average rainfall, as fall and winter are quite dry, while spring and summer are quite wet. The far south of the country, where it borders Tennai and Vartaxia, is defined by an alpine climate (Köppen: ET). Due to its peculiar climate, influenced in equal parts by its high altitude and subtropical location, Lemobrogia is often referred to as a land of eternal spring, but climate change and global warming could disrupt this fragile balance in the future.

Ecology

Lemobrogia's land surface can be subdivided into three separate biogeographical units; in the far north, savanna - open country characterized by a continuous grass cover occasionally interrupted by trees and shrubs. It is inhabited by species that subsist on the grass cover, such as the buffalo, and on the trees and shrubs, such as the elephant, as well as by their predators, such as the lion, and by scavengers, such as the hyena. The centre of the country is characterized by a thick cover of broadleaf and conifer trees, gaining their moisture from clouds and fog; in addition to a wide variety of birds and insects, these forests are inhabited by carnivores such as lynxes and wolves, as well as by herbivores such as aurochs and deer. The far south, above the tree line, is alpine tundra whose fauna and flora display striking adaptations to cool, wet conditions and intense sunlight; a cooler counterpart to the savanna of the far south, it is inhabited by species like the bison, the ibex, the saiga and the tarpan.

Economy

Historically a relatively poor country (because of its altitude and isolation, and also due to centuries of foreign rule) Lemobrogia was able to turn into a relatively rich country as soon as advances in infrastructure and transportation, introduced in the nation by Acrea, allowed Lemobrogia to open itself to trade on a wider scale. At first reliant on the export of natural resources, Lemobrogia was able to avoid the resource curse through private ventures in the late 19th century, funded by a citizen's dividend that was introduced during a period of Georgist rule - together with other Georgist proposals such as land value and Pigovian taxes - and through public ventures since the 1970s, after the nationalization of several key businesses. These eventually turned into the backbone of a decentralized planned economy in which private and state businesses are collectively owned and cooperatively run, and prices are deliberatively and periodically agreed upon by consumers and producers alike.

A developed country since the 1990s, Lemobrogia is largely self-sufficient with regard to the country's energy needs, due to the widespread availability of geothermal power and hydroelectric power; however, the rapid increase in the country's population over the course of the 20th century has engendered overpopulation and pollution issues, especially relevant in an area as ecologically fragile as the subtropical highland that the nation occupies. A leading country in the field of sustainability by necessity, Lemobrogia is nonetheless dealing with the fiscal and social consequences that having to shield a country of over 100,000,000 inhabitants from the ravages of climate change and global warming entail; a significant portion of the nation's GDP is spent to deal with the issues created by Lemobrogia's rapid advances in the 20th century, and to pave the way for the country's future. Because of this, individual wealth in Lemobrogia is lower than in the neighbouring countries, despite the equal distribution of said wealth.

Demographics

Lemobrogia has a population of 101,449,845 inhabitants, and a population density of 139/km²; the population is highly urbanized, with 60% of the population living in just 12 of the country's districts. These districts are located in areas where natural hazards are not as pressing a concern as in other areas of Lemobrogia, areas whose location was historically ideal for defensive purposes, and areas that have fulfilled both purposes over the centuries; the rest of the country is either sparsely populated, or not populated at all. Lemobrogia's population has a replacement rate of 1.9 - below the replacement rate of 2.1, but only barely so; the life expectancy in Lemobrogia is of 85 years (one of the highest in Tyran), with a sex ratio of 0.80 (one of the lowest in Tyran). The median age in the country is of 35 years, but it is expected to increase in the future, albeit at a slow pace. 75% of the population consists of people born in Lemobrogia, while 25% of the population consists of people born outside the country.

Ethnic groups

Lemobrogia is an ethnically diverse country: 25% of the population belongs to one of the 1728 so-called Paleo-Lemobrogic peoples, Cro-Magnon early modern humans that settled in the area as early as 56,800 years ago, interacting and interbreeding with the indigenous Denisovan archaic humans; 25% of the population belongs to one of the 144 so-called Neo-Lemobrogic peoples, that can trace their ancestry back to foreign peoples that interacted and interbred with the Paleo-Lemobrogic peoples - the Paleo-Lemobrogic and Neo-Lemobrogic peoples are distantly related to the Gylic peoples, the latter tracing their ancestry to Paleo-Lemobrogic peoples that headed east as a result of Erani-Eracuran expansion. Moreover, half of the population is neither Paleo-Lemobrogic nor Neo-Lemobrogic in origin: 25% of the population belongs to one of 12 ethnic groups of foreign origin that sought refuge in Lemobrogia over the centuries, often under the patronage and protection of the Crown, and the final 25% of the population consists of people born outside the country.

Languages

The predominant language of higher learning and, to a certain extent, of official and commercial business in Lemobrogia is Standard Paleo-Lemobrogic, a very conservative and literary register of the dialects spoken by the Paleo-Lemobrogic peoples, that first arose as the political and religious lingua franca of the country in antiquity; it shares several key traits with the Gylic languages in general, and with reconstructed Proto-Gylic in particular. 12 other languages, of the Neo-Lemobrogic branch, are recognized as national languages, and are used as lingua francas and as second languages by the greater part of the population; they first arose as a result of foreign influence in the country or as trade languages used by different native peoples inside the country. Moreover, every ethno-cultural group in Lemobrogia has their own vernacular; those belonging to the wider Lemobrogic language family form a dialect continuum, in which neighbouring varieties are mutually intelligible, whereas widely separated varieties may not be.

Religion

Lemobrogia has a diverse religious history, having been the birthplace of several philosophical currents and religious faiths, and having been influenced by several other such currents and faiths; Hahtta and Zobethos are practiced by 25% of the population each, with another 25% practicing other faiths, and a further 25% being agnostic or atheist. Most of the country's inhabitants, however, adhere to local folk beliefs and practices that coexist with their wider religious identity, or their lack of any such identity; these local folk beliefs and practices often originated in antiquity or even prehistory and, as they either anticipated or suited foreign beliefs and practices, were able to accompany and complement the likes of Hahtta and Zobethos rather than being swept away by either. In addition to native beliefs of ancient origin, and to foreign religions that reached Lemobrogia in recorded history, the country has also seen the birth and rise of several cults and sects in the last few decades.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Lemobrogia

Lemobrogian culture shares several key characteristics with other historically hunter-gatherer and horticultural societies, in that it is a matrilineal and matrilocal society where kinship and descent are reckoned according the Crow kinship system, in which one's father's relatives are distinguished only by their sex, while one mother's relatives are also distinguished by their generation. Due to the widespread availability of fungi and plants with accidental abortifacient and contraceptive qualities in Lemobrogia, the practical link between sex and pregnancy was not very evident in the country until relatively recently - a factor that only strengthened certain features of the Crow kinship system, such as the key role of uncles in the education and raising of their sisters' children, the role of one's biological father being secondary. In fact, partners often keep living in their respective birth households even after having children of their own, that are typically raised in their mother's household.

Related, is the belief in partible paternity - that is, the belief that pregnancy is the cumulative result of multiple acts of sexual intercourse, and that more than one man can be the biological father to a child; historically, this belief played a role during the centuries of Syaran and Tennaiite occupation, as several leading figures in Lemobrogia's society took Syaran and Tennaiite partners in a polyandrous or polygynous fashion, refusing to state the resulting offspring's actual parentage and playing both sides as a result, ensuring a certain degree of independence for the country even while under foreign occupation; a significant percentage of those who identify as part of the Neo-Lemobrogian peoples can trace their ancestry to this period. That said, and despite popular belief, Lemobrogian society has never been a matriarchy: as in other historically horticultural societies, men held sway in military and political affairs, while women led economic and religious affairs.

Lemobrogian culture is also characterized by its nonviolent and pacifist ethos - in a country rich in resources but threatened by foreign invaders and natural hazards, the need for cooperation prevailed over the need for conflict; this ethos was however challenged and defied at several points in the country's history, especially by the anti-Syaran, anti-Tennaiite resistance that eventually birthed Xevden, and it led to historically significant and widespread instances of bigotry and prejudice towards those sectors of the population that were perceived as engaging in bellicose or violent activities and trades, sectors of the population that were statistically overrepresented in Lemobrogia's incarnation of the Xevdenite state. Even today, people in certain lines of work, or people guilty of violent offenses, are doxxed or harassed, at least in places characterized by a traditionalist outlook; this status is not hereditary, but tied to one's reputation or profession.

Media

Ancient Lemobrogia was an unusually literate society for its day; the Proto-Lemobrogic script was used as early as 6000 BCE to record not only religious precepts and taboos, but also practical concerns related to foraging and horticulture - especially since there was not a clear divide between these concerns and precepts. The eventual introduction of the Brahmi script and of the Greek alphabet, and the invention of woodblock printing in the 800s, favoured the rise of literacy to an even greater degree. The relatively high circulation of books and bulletins in the pre-industrial age was encouraged by the authorities as a way to keep their country together in an era where travel was often dangerous and hard, even as the people often preferred the spoken word of chroniclers and singers - often, to such an extent that they were hired to educate and entertain labourers and workers. During the occupation by Syara and Tennai, rebels often used the obsolete Proto-Lemobrogic script to keep in touch and plan their actions.

Nonetheless, the greater part of Lemobrogia's present-day mass media was established during the period of Acrean protectorate over the country; often, mass media spoken or written in Standard Paleo-Lemobrogic are funded by the state, and used to be owned and run by the state before the 1970s shift towards collectively owned and cooperatively run enterprises, while mass media spoken or written in the other Paleo-Lemobrogic languages, as well as in the Neo-Lemobrogic languages and in a wide variety of foreign languages (Elder Nordic above all others) are owned and run by private citizens. In those provinces of Lemobrogia where non-Lemobrogic languages are spoken, the provinces fund mass media in the local languages, rather than the state. Due to its long history, the spoken and written word is favoured by Lemobrogia's inhabitants to this day, over chiefly visual kinds of mass media - not just in traditional forms such as books and newspapers, or music and radio, but also in modern forms such as podcasts and websites.

Sport

Athletic endeavours have a long history in Lemobrogia; ritual fighting replaced offensive warfare before recorded history, and the later Hellenic influence only reinforced the Lemobrogian ideal of paired psychological and physical fitness. To this day, the population of Lemobrogia is quite active, with the leading individual sports being the several types of combat sports (due to the historical legacy of ritual fighting) and the various track and field contests (a Syaran legacy that Acrean influence only solidified), while the leading team sports are, by and large, non-contact disciplines, due to the nonviolent and pacifist ethos of a significant portion of the populace - indoor sports such as tchoukball being played during the country's wet season, and outdoor sports such as ultimate being played during the nation's dry season. Several other sports are enjoyed and played, especially kabaddi - due to the historical Tennaiite influence on the country, and due to the nature of the sport, that does not require any sort of equipment.

Holidays

In addition to those holidays that are celebrated in several other states in Tyran, and to those holidays that pertain to Lemobrogia's Hahtta and Zobethian faithful, the country also celebrates, as public holidays, dates related to the local culture (such as the official start of the rainy and wet seasons), to its rulers (such as the birthdays of both royals), and to the history of the nation itself (such as its unification). Controversially, ritual animal and human sacrifice is still practiced during these holidays, a tradition that goes back to the Neolithic; since 1981, only animals and people in need of euthanasia are eligible as sacrifices, and animal and human sacrifice of healthy victims is considered a criminal offense. That said, even as the greater part of the population supports the status quo, or would rather see ritual sacrifice abolished and criminalized altogether, a significant minority of the population would, according to recent surveys, support a full revival of the ancient practices related to it.