New Piedmont

United Commonwealths of New Piedmont 3 official names Colonial Burgwieser Vereinigte Republik Neu-Piemont Fluvan Jünaitöd Kamönwälths uv Nuu Peedmont (Piedmontese alphabet) Piedmontese Vereenegt Republik vun Nei Piemonte
Flag Coat of Arms
Anthem: Hail the Red Flag!
Capital	New Oshkosh
Largest city	Williamstown
Official languages	Colonial Burgwieser Fluvan Piedmontese
Recognised national languages	Autonomous Regional Languages Vinn Louisiana Creole Umitaku Yudipraha Nonautonomous Regional Languages Semharan An-Naas Yawathan Qalawena Odehen
Ethnic groups (2022)	40.5% Burgwieser 20.5% North Galians 10.1% Semharan 4.0% Janolian 3.3% Yawathan 3.3% Temelaelian 14.8% Fluvan 8.7% Vinns 6.2% Gagian 4.1% Louisianian 2.0% Gagian 0.1% Marchan 3.6% Umitaku 3.1% Jewish 2.0% Piedmontese 1.1% Iodaian 2.6% Other
Religion (2020)	55.65% Christianity 38.5% Fluvannian-rite Catholicism 9.55% Piedmontese Reformed Protestant 5.1% Benevian Church 1.6% Protestant 0.5% Other Christian 0.4% Latin-rite Catholicism 9.55% Northern Polytheism 6.6% Muslim 3.0% Yawathan Polytheism 2.5% Jewish 1.8% Buddhist 19.27% Irreligious or Unaffiliated 1.64% Others
Demonym(s)	New Piedmontese
Government	Federal semi-presidential republic
• President	Paul Bettel
• Prime Minister	Jakob Fumori
• Speaker of Parliament	Olaf Biskel
• Chief Justice	Sabine Esser
Legislature	Union Parliament
Independence  from Fluvannia
• First Colonies	Summer 1801
• Confederation	1 December 1919
• Independence from Fluvannia	29 August 1953
• Partition of Semhara	1985
Area
• Total	182,056 km2 (70,292 sq mi)
Population
• 2022 estimate	7,850,000
• 2013 census	7,841,110
• Density	43.07/km2 (111.6/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	₭225.5 billion
• Per capita	₭28,382 (12th)
Gini (2022)	21.1 low
HDI (2022)	0.886 very high
Currency	Galian Shekel ($) (NGS)
Date format	mm-dd-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+911
ISO 3166 code	AL
Internet TLD	.np

New Piedmont, officially the United Commonwealths of New Piedmont, is a country in Northern Galia, situated along the southeast coast of the Yawatha region. New Piedmont is bordered by Temelaeli to the north, Iodaia to the east, and Janolia and Louisiana to the west. To the south lies the Naossian Gulf, and the country shares maritime borders with Naossia. The country's capital is the inland city of Williamstown, but the largest city is the port of New Oshkosh. Other major cities include Angel City, Jacksonville, and Kexem.

The areas which are now New Piedmont were the last large habitable swaths of land to be settled by foreign colonies in Galia. In 1642, the Alaoyian explorer Abel Tasmanen became the first non-native to sight and record New Piedmont. Colonists, primarily Burgwiesers from Fluvannia, began arriving in the late 1700s and early 1800s, often pushing native populations out. Other Fluvan colonists, Gagians, and Iodaians arrived during this period. New Piedmont was confederated in 1919 and became fully independent in 1953, becoming an independent republic. New Piedmont escaped direct damage to its territory in the Second Great War, but did suffer from missile and bomber strikes during the Third Great War. After the Third Great War, New Piedmont partitioned Semhara with Iodaia and Louisiana. In contrast to its neighbors, New Piedmont has fully integrated much of its Semharan territory.

Today, the majority of New Piedmont's population is of Fluvannian descent, with native Galians being the largest minority, followed by Gagians and Jewish people. This ethnic and lingual heritage has made New Piedmont one of the most diverse countries on the planet, with twelve languages having more than 100,000 native speakers in New Piedmont, with seven of them having some official status in the country. The largest native language is Burgwieser, but Fluvan is understood by most people and in urban areas, serving as a common language for most of the country. A unique aspect of the Piedmontese dialect is the unique alphabet adopted in 1883. The alphabet is a simplified one of standard Fluvan and is entirely phonetic.

New Piedmont is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy. While its economy is the eighth largest in the region, its GDP per capita is third. A founding member of the Global Community, New Piedmont was the third member to join the North Galian Union and is one of three Shekel States, alongside Iodaia and Louisiana, and the Trans-Galian Partnership. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Galian Entente. New Piedmont has a unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, and prominent shipping sector. The country's rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its many heritage sites and high diversity.

Demographics

Main Article: Demographics of New Piedmont

Language

New Piedmont has three national languages: the largest is the colonial dialect of Burgwieser (spoken natively by 31.6% of the population in 2013) in the central parts of the country; Fluvan (16.15%) in the south; and Piedmontese (11.8%) spoken in the southwest. In addition to the three primary languages there are four regional languages with special status: Vinn (6.34%); Louisiana Creole (4.0%); Umitaku (3.61%); and Yudipraha (1.7%). All laws and regulations must be published in three national languages and, if over a certain portion of the population (varying by context) speaks the recognized regional language the government must communicate and provide services in that language. The federal government is obliged to communicate in the official languages, and in the federal parliament simultaneous translation is provided from and into all three national languages automatically and for all four recognized regional languages on a case by case basis.

In addition, 24.8% of the population does not speak one of the seven languages with official status. These five languages do not have special status but have large numbers of speakers (over 0.5%): Semharan (10.1%); An-Naas (4.0%); Yawathan (3.3%); Qalawena (3.3%); and Odehen (0.8%). The government is not required to provide services in these languages.

Aside from the official forms of the respective languages, each language has its own variety of dialects and accents. The role played by dialects varies dramatically. For example, Umitaku dialects vary wildly city to city, including in spoken form, and Umitaku from Fluvannia report difficulties communicating with their Piedmontese counterparts. In contrast, Piedmontese dialects are all relatively similar with few written differences and their dialectal differences have almost disappeared. In still other languages, such as Colonial Burgwieser, the dialectal forms and standard forms are used interchangeably, with more casual dialects being used in family settings and casual conversation and more standarized forms used in business and formal communications.

The principal official languages have key difference to their colonial counterparts. Chief among these are the unique alphabet of New Piedmontese Fluvan, which uses an entirely phonetic alphabet. Other examples including differing key terms and the development of creoles (such as Piedmontese deriving with Burgwieser). As with dialectal differences, these differences range from near perfect intelligibility between the Fluvannian and New Piedmontese speakers of Fluvan to massive and sometimes mutually unintelligible dialectal differences with Umitakus.

Learning one of the other national languages is compulsory for all New Piedmontese pupils, with many citizens being at least partially bilingual. Because the capital lies in the Fluvan-speaking part of the country and the greater role Fluvan plays in world affairs, the most common language learned in New Piedmont is Fluvan. While the New Piedmontese dialect uses its own alphabet, schools are required to teach one of the two more common scripts. The preferred standard in New Piedmont is Furbish script.

Race, Nationality, and Ethnicity

New Piedmont has a racially and ethnically diverse populaion. At the federal leve, race and ethnicity have been categorized separately. Ethnicities are further divided into "national groups", categorizing specific ethnicities which are related to each other under a nationality, which is considered a tier above ethnicity and a tier below race. The New Piedmontese census recognizes five racial categories (White, North Galian, East Galian, Umitaku, and Other/Unknown). Nationality groups lie a tier below race and there are six (Sexish Fluvannian, Galian Native, Gagian, Umitaku, Jewish, and Other). Broader notions of ethnicity are recognized, with a total of twelve (some sources say thirteen) ethnicities with over 1% of the national population (roughly 78,500 people).

Race

Racial Groups of New Piedmont

  Whites (70.2%)

  East Galians (20.4%)

  Umitaku (3.6%)

  North Galian (3.2%)

  Other/Unknown (2.6%)

The largest racial category is White, which makes up 70.2% of the population and consists of Sexish Fluvannians (in turn consisting of Vinns, Fluvans, and Burgwiesers) and Gagians (which consists of Louisianians, Gagians, and Marchan). Whites are the majority in the south and southwest of the country, with Gagians more common in the west and Sexish Fluvannians in the south and east.

Umitaku make up 3.6% of the population and primarily live in southern coastal cities. The most isolated group, they have no close relations in New Piedmont and are primarily descended from Fluvannian traders.

East Galians (consisting of Semharans, Janolians, and Temelaeli) make up 17.3% of the population. Galian Jewish (which consists of Piedmontese Jews and Iodaian Jews) are considered a separate nationality from the East Galians but the same general race and make up an additional 3.1% of the population for total of 20.4% of the population.

Nationality Groups of New Piedmont

  Sexish Fluvannians (64.0%)

  Galian Natives (20.5%)

  Gagians (6.2%)

  Umitaku (3.6%)

  Jews (3.1%)

  Other (2.6%)

Both groups are related to North Galians (consisting of Yawathans and various other groups) who make up 3.2% of the population. These groups are primarily concentrated in the north of the country, with Jews and North Galians especially towards the east, but large minorities are present in every major city in New Piedmont.

The final category is "Other/Unknown" which makes up 2.6% of the country's population. The vast majority of this group are Alannans who immigrated from Alanna, but this category is not recognized by government of New Piedmont. Efforts to recognize this group are ongoing, but have not made progress among the New Piedmontese government or census officials

Nationality and Ethnicity

Ethnic Groups of New Piedmont

  Burgwiesers (40.5%)

  Fluvans (14.8%)

  Semharans (10.1%)

  Vinns (8.7%)

  Louisianians (4.1%)

  Janolians (4.0%)

  Umitaku (3.6%)

  Yawathans (3.2%)

  Temelaeli (3.2%)

  Gagians (2.1%)

  Piedmontese Jewish (2.0%)

  Iodaian Jewish (1.1%)

  Other (2.6%)

The largest nationality are Sexish Fluvannians, who make up 64.0% of the population and are considered as belonging to the White group. The constituent parts of this nationality are Burgwiesers (40.5%), Fluvans (14.8%), and Vinns (8.7%). The second largest nationality are Galian Natives, who make up 20.5% of the population, primarily consisting of Semharans (10.1%), Janolians (4.0%), Yawathans (3.2%), and Temelaeli (3.2%). The Galian Native group is split between East Galian and North Galian racial groups. These two nationalities make up the vast majority of New Piedmontese people. File:Piedmontese Ethnicity-1.png

In addition, Gagians make up 6.2% and are primarily made up of Louisianians (4.1%), Gagians (2.0-2.1%), and possibly Marchan (0.1%), though the Marchan population is extrapolated and predicted, rather than accurately measured. They are usually considered members of the White racial group.

Religions of New Piedmont

  Catholicism (38.9%)

  Protestantism (11.15%)

  Benevianism (5.1%)

  Other Christian (0.5%)

  Northern Polytheism (9.55%)

  Yawathan Polytheism (3.0%)

  Islam (6.6%)

  Judaism (2.5%)

  Buddhism (1.8%)

  Irreligious (19.26%)

  Other (1.64%)

Jews make up 3.1% of the population and are made up of Piedmontese Jews (2.0%) and Iodaian Jews (1.1%). They are members of the East Galian group.

The Umitaku make up their own nationality group, though some have advocated for the Umitaku to be considered a part of the Sexish Fluvannians due to their close histories together. Regardless, the Umitaku group makes up 3.6% of the population.

The smallest group is the "Other", which primarily consists of Alannan immigrants and their descendants and make up 2.6%.

Religion

The New Piedmontese Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, forbids the establishment of a state religion, and forbids discrimination on religious grounds. Religious practice is widespread and highly diverse, with eight faiths having over 1.5% of the population describing themselves as adhering to that faith. New Piedmont is, on average, more religious than other wealthy Nordic nations. Over 80% of New Piedmontese people believe in a higher power, engages in religious practices such as prayer, and consider themselves spiritual in some form. The country has a large Christian population, with some form of Christianity being the religion of 55.65% of the country's population.

A 2022 study found that 31% of New Piedmontese reported attending some form of religious sermon or ceremony weekly or nearly weekly. Religious practice varies signifigantly by region and faith. In general, southerners tend to attend religious ceremonies with lower frequency and religion plays less of a public role in the southern portions of New Piedmont. In contrast, northern parts of the country tend to be more religious in general, especially in rural areas. A similar trend is found along religious lines, with Christians, Jews, and Buddhists tend to be less devout and are less likely to engage in religious ceremonies than Muslims and Polytheists do. After Christianity, the largest religion is some form of Polytheism at 12.55%. Islam is the faith of choice for 6.6% of people, Judaism for 2.5%, and Buddhism for 1.8%. Irreligious people make up 19.26% of the population. Religious belief and interest has remained relatively stable in recent years; organizational participation, in contrast, has decreased, especially among Christians.

Other faiths, primarily Prophetism and New Age movements, make up 1.64% of the population.