Ragnarsøy/Zemlya Petrova
Ragnarsøy (Ragnar’s Island) or Zemlya Petrova (Petrov’s Land) is an island located between Breheim and Cossackia, and which both nations claim is a part of their country, with Breheim currently occupying the north and Cossackia the southern half of the isle. The island has a total civilian population of sixty-five thousand, with thirty-five thousand Breheimians and thirty thousand Cossackians.
History
The discovery and settlement of the island is the matter of significant dispute between Breheim and Cossackia. Breheim claims Ragnar Kvite (Ragnar the White) discovered the island during the 11th century and settled it, and that it was used as an intermediary port during the conflict between Breheimians and Cossackians. Cossackia, meanwhile, claim the island was discovered by Dmytro Mikhailovich Petrov in the 10th century and that native Cossackians were driven out from the island by Breheimian vikings, which sparked the long-standing Breheimian-Cossackian conflict over the island.
Regardless, the island was largely abandoned following the end of the Breheimian-Cossackian War, until the mid-16th century when the Kingdom of Breheim decided to settle the island once more. In response, the Hetmanate of Cossackia also decided to settle the island with a more permanent population. Following minor skirmishes throughout the 16th century, the Kingdom of Breheim and the Hetmanate of Cossackia signed a treaty, although neither renounced claims to the island. The treaty involved a truce, and that neither the Breheimian Crown nor the Cossackian Hetmanate would establish military outposts on the island. Legal jurisdiction was shared, although in practice Breheimian law only applied to the north, and Cossackian law only to the south.
The population of the island boomed as both countries wanted to stake their claim through settlement. The Breheimian settlements of Ragnarsby and Tordenstrand were established, as were the Cossackian villages of Petropavlovsk and Petrograd.
The island became known as a major smuggling den nearly immediately after settlement. Breheimian goods arrived in Cossackia through the island, as did Cossackian goods arrive in Breheim.
Following the Republican Revolution in Breheim, the island became increasingly militarized. In 1798, President Johannes Sjøfarer of Breheim claimed that Cossackia had violated the old treaty which prohibited military presence on the island, on virtue of Cossackia’s military system. A company of soldiers were sent to Ragnarsby, to protect against potential Cossackian aggression. Cossackia responded by establishing a military mission in the south of the island, which prompted Breheim to construct two forts in 1801. This prompted Cossackia to increase the size of the professional soldiery on the island. By 1813, the military population of the island reportedly outnumbered the civilian population.
Geography
The island has a largely temperate climate, and a total area of 1,351 kilometers squared and a population density of 48 per kilometer squared. It is largely dominated by forests and hills, although cultivated land has gradually supressed the forests of the island in the last few centuries. The island has few natural harbours, the shorelines being dominated by hills. The local fauna has largely been introduced from Breheim and Cossackia, but in the modern age boasts a significant deer population.
Legal Status
Both the Republic of Breheim and the Almighty Cossack Host claims the whole of the island to be a part of their country. De facto, the north of the island is undisputedly Breheimian due to the significant Breheimian population, while the south is undisputedly Cossackian due to the Cossackian settlements. The exact border between the two have never been formally established, and in the past have been the source of sporadic skirmishes between Breheimian and Cossackian forces. However, a demilitarized zone run through the middle of the island in the modern era, with significant garrisons from both sides watching the de facto border.
Neither Breheim nor Cossackia have made attempts to make a formal de jure divide of the island, although neither Breheim nor Cossackia have been willing to wage war to settle the matter. Officially, both sides offer citizenship to the population of the island (wether they are on the northern or southern half), and a minority of the island are officially citizens of both countries.
Economy
The Breheimian side of the island acts as a major whaling port, and food processing have grown into a keystone industry on this half of the island. Agriculture remains the second-largest industry, due to the island’s higher fertility than most of Breheim itself. Timber and timber products are also a significant source of revenue, with the timber and whaling industries being the primary sources of employment on the island. In the modern era, a significant portion of the economy has grown dependant on the military garrison, as pubs, saunas, restaurants and other service industries have grown dependant on the wages of soldiers.
The Cossackian part of the island is noticeably less dependant on fishing industries and is more agricultural, growing a number of staple crops such as potato. Thus, agriculture and food processing is also a key industry to Cossackian Zemlya Petrova. It also has a robust timber industry. Not unlike the Breheimian part of the island, Zemlya Petrova is also largely dependant on the service industries that cater to the Cossackian military garrison, with a robust network of bars, restaurants, public houses and bath houses (banyas) springing up over the course of last century to tend to the soldiers' needs.
Demographics
As of 2011, the island has a population of 65,233. 52.4% are citizens of Breheim, 45.2% are citizens of Cossackia while 2.4% of the population are citizens of both countries. Ethnicity roughly corresponds to declared citizenships, although due to centuries of living together, few if any on the island remain purely Breheimian or Cossackian outside of recent migrants. In addition to Breheimians and Cossacks, the island also has a recent immigrant population which consists of less than one percent of the overall population.
57.1% of the island state they adhere to the Russian Orthodox Church, with the majority of the people of the Cossackian half being Orthodox, and a minority within the Breheimian half. 18.2% of the population adhere to the Lutheran Church, 21.9% state no religion while 2.8% adhere to other religions (primarily Asatru and Kvitekristianism), with the majority of these groups being in the Breheimian half.
Culture
Due to centuries of living close together, the Breheimian and Cossackian population have in many ways become interlinked. The Ragnarsøyian dialect have taken a significant amount of loanwords from Cossackian, and the Petrovan dialect have taken a significant amount of loanwords from Breheimian. Churches established in Ragnarsøy are built in the Orthodox style (despite being lutheran), while the Petrovan population began gathering around ‘’things’’ starting in the 17th century.
A pidgin language also evolved on the island, due to the significant contact between the two cultures, and which still is alive and well. In many ways, the culture between the northern and southern halves of the island had become virtually identical by the 19th century, although started diverging due to increased isolation and nationalistic sentiments.
Cossackbreheimian (Breheimian: Kosakkbremsk, Cossackian: Kozatschye-Breheimska mova) is a language in Ragnarsøy/Zemlya Petrova which originated as a pidgin language, but in the past centuries have become a fully fledged language not fully mutually intelligible with neither Breheimian nor Cossackian. Roughly 18,000 inhabitants of the island speak Cossackbreheimian as their native language(10,000 in the Breheimian half, and 8,000 in the Cossackian half), with a total of 50,000 inhabitants being able to speak it fluently or semi-fluently. 6,000, primarily the population on the border between the two halves of the island, speak neither Breheimian nor Cossackian fluently. A dictionary of Cossackbreheimian was written in 1894 by Nikolai Torsovich Grønnholm (an islander nationalist), written in cyrillic.
An unique feature of the island culture that has evolved, is the unique naming scheme used by the inhabitants of the island who associate both with Breheimian and Cossackian culture (a majority since the 19th century). They have two first names, one nordic and one slavic, as well as both patronymics and matronymics in both languages, in addition to two family names (or more) and often nicknames in both languages. A typical Cossackbreheimian name might be Fredrik-Boris Ragnarovitch Ragnarsen Svetlanavich Svetlanasen Holm Kalashnik Langøye Dolgoglaz, as an example. In formal occasions and religious occasions, it is customary to always use the full name of attendants when speaking with them. Cossackbreheimian formal and religious occasions have a tendency to drag on.
Politics
Ragnarsøy
Ragnarsøy is officially considered a territory of Breheim, and thus are not a part of any of the Fylker or Storfylker of the country. Officially, Ragnarsøy is split into five kommuner (municipalities), although only four of these are in the Breheimian half of the island, with the last kommune (encompassing the Cossackian half of the island) being largely symbolic, without any actual power over the territory it is supposed to represent. But inhabitants of the Cossackian half of the island have suffrage for both it, and national Breheimian elections. The population elects municipinal councils (kommuneråd), while the island itself is governed by a governor appointed by the Premier of Breheim. Citizens of Breheim on the island also has suffrage for national elections.
Unlike the rest of Breheim, the national parties hold little sway over local politics on the island. Three local parties have traditionally dominated on the island, the Socialist Party of Ragnarsøy, the Conservative Party of Ragnarsøy and the Independence Party. The Socialist Party aligns with the Socialist Worker’s Party nationally, and in the modern era have adopted a moderate social-democratic platform. The Conservative Party aligns with the United People’s Party, although have overally policies that align further to the right than the UPP. The Independence Party primarily advocate unifying with the Cossackian half of the island, and forming an independent sovereign republic, and are overally left-wing on economical matters.
The Independence Party have gained a plurality in most local elections since the 1930s (apart from Ragnarsby), leading the Socialist and Conservative Parties to form coalitions against it. The Independence Party managed to gain a clear majority in the Tordenstrand Kommune in 2006, which they retained in 2010.
Citizens of Breheim residing in Ragnarsøy are exempt from conscription, but male citizens are instead obligated to annual two-week training to act as auxilliaries to the local garrison. Citizens in Ragnarsøy are also exempt from most regulations on possession of firearms, similar to citizens in areas with a high polar bear density, and are obligated to own military grade firearms (unless they have criminal records, in which case regular prohibitions apply).
Zemlya Petrova
Zemlya Petrova is considered an autonomous Polk similar to the other subjects of the Almighty Cossack Host, and is administered by the local military hierarchy and an Army Krug, or a regional parliament, of its own. The Polk is divided into seven battalions, though similarly to Ragnarsøy two of those battalions are supposed to represent the Breheimian part of the island and thus are purely symbolic without any actual political power over the territories they are supposed to represent.
The Zemlya Petrova Polk's Army Krug also has a relatively small presence of national parties such as Kozachya Volya, but unlike Ragnarsøy Zemlya Petrova has not developed much of an independent political initiative and thus its Army Krug is dominated by independents, most of those independents in turn being high-ranked military garrison officials. Due to the military command having such a major political sway, Zemlya Petrova has been dubbed a military dictatorship mostly by Breheimian press and native Cossackian opposition. Cossackia has however denied those accusations, claiming that Zemlya Petrova's political system lies in line with the Cossackian political traditions of direct democracy.