Kaliva

Kalivese Republic Ljþveldj ƕespəraſj (Kalivese)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Kʃám ashtjuʃ ca ƕeska kselåkā práha. "Yours is the Earth and everything the light shines upon."
Anthem: Kʃuktaspər"Evening Hymn"
Location of Kaliva (dark green)
Capital	Avesnja
Largest city	Mjonsk
Official languages	Kalivese
Recognised national languages	Syrixian ∙ Xentheridian Ceretian ∙ Mercanti
Ethnic groups (2020)	Whespurashi 45.2% Mishra 27.1% Vraspmi 12.3% Prinzish 9.3% Ceretian 3.1% Prydanian 2.1% Others 0.9%
Religion (2020)	Irreligious 38.1% Śrutism 31.9% Courantism 24.3% Laurennism 1.87% Shaddaism 0.5% Other 4.33%
Demonym(s)	Kalivese
Government	Unitary semi-presidential parliamentary republic
• President	Amrjt Masra
Legislature	National Council
Formation
• Independence from Syrixia	1836
Area
• Total land area	46,354 km2 (17,897 sq mi)
Population
• 2020 estimate	27,520,632
• Density	593.7/km2 (1,537.7/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	1.39 billion IBU
• Per capita	50,652 IBU
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	1.48 trillion IBU
• Per capita	53,863 IBU
HDI	0.88 very high
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy
Calling code	+27
Internet TLD	.ws

Kaliva [kælɪˈvæ] (Kalivese: ƕespəraſj [wɛsˈpərˈɑʃiː]), officially from 1982 the Kalivese Republic (Kalivese: Ljþveldj ƕespəraſj [ˈlʊiːˌvɛltɪ wɛsˈpərˈɑʃiː]), is a country located in Collandris, bordering Xentherida to the South and Caselania to the North, with Syrixia and Callise lying across the ocean from the east. Originating as a Syrixian outpost largely dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, it later grew into a major industrial and manufacturing hub after its independence. It has a population of 27.5 million, of which roughly half live in the Mjonsk metropolitan area. Avesnja is the nation's capital while the largest city is Mjonsk. The country's territory spans from the Prinzish Highlands in the West, to the Collandrian Basin in the East; the vast majority of the nation’s population resides within the Collandrian Basin.

The territory of present-day Kaliva was first inhabited by modern humans sometime between the Lower and Middle Paleolithic period, with archaeologists generally agreeing the initial settlers were descended from horse-riding Gotic tribes that crossed in via present-day Xentherida. By the early 900s, seafaring vikings from modern-day Prydania began to sail down the Phoenix Strait, founding settlements along the Kalivese Coast. In the following centuries, Prydanians, and to a lesser extent other Gotics, immigrated to Kaliva, bringing with them thralls (i.e., slaves or serfs) of Slavic origin.

The foundation of the Kalivese state was established in the late 13th century AD with the unification of the Collandrian Basin by Grand Chieftain Arnarfjörður the Great. His son Suðurfirðir I ascended the throne in 1389. By the 14th century, Kaliva became a trading power, engaging in trade missions across the Phoenix Sea. This brought Kaliva into close contact with the nascent Syrixian Empire, which would begin exerting its authority over the region. Following the Concordact of Mjonsk in 1511, the state would pledge suzerainty to the Syrixian Empire. Later, it would be fully incorporated into the Syrixian Empire under the name “The Commonwealth of Kālapahaadon and Windermere Shores.”

Under the Syrixian Empire, the state was governed as an independent commonwealth under the native parliament, one of the world's oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of civil strife in the wake of the Wars of the Callisean Republic, the Althing would be suspended from 1815 to 1825. By 1836, Kaliva would gain its independence from the Syrixian Empire, with Syrixian Prince Narayana declaring the Kingdom of Kaliva. Following the end of the Fascist Wars, Kaliva voted overwhelmingly to become a republic in 1956, thus ending its remaining imperial ties with Syrixia. Although the parliament had been suspended following the Callisean Revolution and during the Fascist Wars, the republic has nevertheless been credited with sustaining one of the world's longest-running legislatures.

Kaliva has played a powerful scientific, commercial, and cultural role in the history of the Craviter and Collandris. Before the Fascist Wars, Kaliva was a center for the socialist, temperance, and transcendentalist movements. It maintains a social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. Kaliva ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, government transparency, and economic freedom.

Kalivese culture is founded upon the nation's mixed Gothic and Syrixian heritage. Most citizens are irreligious (37.9%), with Srutism being the second-largest group (34.9%). Courantism is the third-largest religious identification (21.4%), concentrated primarily among ethnic Prinzish and Ceretians. Kalivese, a para-Gothic language, is related to several now-deceased Gothic languages, employing loan words from both Prydanian and Suchari. Kaliva is a member of the Prydanian Cultural Community. Currently, Kaliva possesses no standing army, only fielding a lightly armed coast guard.

Etymology

The name for Kaliva in Kalivese is Whespurashi (ƕespəraſj). Before Whespurashi was adopted in the early 10th century, the region was known by the Gothics as Hálvæðir (ᚻᚪᛚᚠᛇᚦᛁᚱ), which translates as "night hills". Whespurashi is typically used by the general population in everyday speech. The term means "People of the Evening Song", which is the source of the popular Craviterean epithet "Land of the Evening Hymns". The true origin of the moniker “People of the Evening Song” is currently unknown, but the most widely-accepted hypothesis by historians is that this term was utilized by Prydanian vikings who interpreted the cries of cicadas, which tend to occur during the evening, as a hymn.

Kaliva, a Syrixian-derived exonym, is favored for official uses, such as on contracts, passports, and banknotes. The name "Kaliva" is a corruption of the Syrixian name Kālapahaadon (कालेपहाड़), meaning "black mountains." Following the Syrixian conquest of Kaliva during the 14th Century, the name was introduced to other countries through trade.

History

Prehistory and antiquity

Settlement by anatomically modern humans of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning about 20,000 years ago. By the end of the region's prehistoric period, the population is thought to have mainly belonged to a culture termed the Brachiogotics, who were related to the neighboring Xentheridians to the South. The Ostrur Cave in the Province of Kasmina shows lively pink, brown, and red cave paintings (dated to 20,000 years ago) of mammoths, lynx, aurochs, and sloths. The carvings of Kosria (21,000 years ago) signify the high level of Upper Paleolithic art in the Collandrian Basin. Neolithic agricultural settlements (c. 5500–3500 BC), such as those in present-day Mydia and Vindermer, predated the introduction of horse-riding nomadism, a pivotal event in the history of Kaliva which became the dominant culture prior to the Viking Era.

Horse-riding nomadism had been documented by archeological evidence in present-day Kaliva during the Copper and Bronze Age Oynhos culture (3500–2500 BC); this culture was active in the Kasmina Mountains of Central Kaliva. The wheeled vehicles found in the burials of the Oynhoseans have been dated to before 2200 BC. Pastoral nomadism and metalworking became more developed with the later Dweynev culture (2nd millennium BC), Troiklan culture (2300–1000 BC) and Kuartem culture (1500–300 BC), culminating with the Iron Age Kasmawḗy Empire in 209 BC. Monuments of the pre-Kasmawḗy Bronze Age include deer stones, grave candles, leatherworking, and rock paintings.

Although cultivation of crops has continued since the Neolithic, agriculture had remained small in scale compared to pastoral nomadism. Agriculture may have first been introduced from the west or arose independently in the region. As equine nomadism was introduced into Kaliva, the political center of the horse cultures also shifted into Kaliva.

Vikings and the Middle Ages

The collapse of the Whespurashi Empire left Kaliva open to invasion by seafaring warriors from northern Craviter, chiefly the Prydanians who had long raided the coasts of the Phoenix Straight. These groups then began to settle in increasing numbers over the course of the ninth and tenth centuries, initially in the eastern shores of the country. The southeastern shore, which had become a political center for the invading Prydanians, became known by the settlers as Windermere (ᚢᛁᚿᛐᛁᚱᛙᛁᚱᛁ). The nature and progression of the Prydanian settlement of Kaliva is consequently subject to considerable disagreement; the emerging consensus is that it occurred on a large scale in the eastern coasts but was less substantial to the west, where the Prinzish languages continue to be spoken even in modern day.

During the settlement period the lands ruled by the vikings seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 11th century, they had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Mjonsk, Hálvæðir, Windermere, and Predonni. Over the following centuries, this process of political consolidation continued. The 12th century saw a struggle for hegemony between Mjonsk and Windermere, which in the 13th century gave way to Windermere preeminence.