Greater Meridon

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Greater Meridon
Meridonian Map.png
AreaTBD
Population1,230,977,722
Population densityTBD
DemonymMeridonian, Meridonians
Countries26

Greater Meridon is a transcontinental region describing the cultural area of the Verdean Archipelago in concert with the Meridonian Continent. The corresponding derived adjective is Meridonian (also used within the context of the continent of Meridon), as is the derived noun.

Verdeans, Valdens, Tokushimans, Isarléans, and Treleinis, represent the largest ethnic groups in Greater Meridon. Other major ethnic groups include Sumaavans, Falkenslovask, Norlanders, Walakians, Ghiralis, Bastainnach, and Datchens. A number of widely spread ethnicities exist, many possessing a nationstate, these include Versiteans, Gokans, Narendians, and Verdeans.

The history of Greater Meridon stretches back thousands of years, and dates back to the earliest extant civilizations in the history of [WORLD NAME], with enormous geopolitical importance. Several major religions were founded in Greater Meridon including El Sacramento, Diternalism, and Regio dela Verde.

Terminology

The term "Greater Meridon" originated from Verdean anthropologists during the waning years of the First Verdean Republic, in order to establish some form of alikeness between the cultures of the Verdean Archipelago. This was due a desire to distance liberal republican Verdean society from the older era of aloof imperialist practice when dealing with the continent. It gained popularity with several pro-Verdean nations on the Meridonian continent, most notably in Isarlé, which had a longstanding relationship with the Verdean Empire, as well as the Republic. The first formal use of the term came however during the coronation address of Emperor Carlos XII Parisa upon the restablishment of the Verdean Empire, where he said.

"In restoring the Empire, I hope not for a return to the isolationist ways of the de Bastille Dynasty. Quite the opposite, I instead desire to bring a new era of prosperity for the Verdean peoples here on our archipelago, and those scattered throughout the world. I wish to bring our influence back to the Meridonian continent, like my own forbears, the Parisas of old. I wish to reassert the place of my people as leaders of Greater Meridon, and to forge for the people, a nation to be proud of once more."

After this address, the usage of the term "Greater Meridon" spread like wildfire, with many pro-Verdean nations adopting it as a sign of the Verdean Empire moving closer to the continent; and many nations critical of the Verdeans as a cautionary sign that the restored Empire was preparing to strike against the nations of Meridon in the hopes of reestablishing their old territories by force.

Usage and Criticism

The term is the preferred term used to describe the Meridonian Union area of [WORLD NAME], though it has fallen out of use in certain circles with the expansion of the Meridonian Union itself, and many have instead opted to refer to the region as the Meridonian Union or MU for short. However, the movement to do so is relatively small, and most conventional information sources dismiss this citing the fact that many Meridonian nations, even recognized ones are not in fact, part of the Union.

In the modern era, many Post-Revolutionary Verdean scholars have rejected the term, preferring instead to limit cultural association to ethnic Verdeans, and, to a lesser extent, specific other nations that have had longstanding positive relations with the Verdean peoples.

History

Greater Meridon has been the birthplace and spiritual center of several major religions including Regio dela Verde, Diternalism, El Sacramento, and Răscumpărare. Southern Meridon and the Verdean Archipelago have also been the center of several major geopolitical and historical events. The earliest civilizations in Greater Meridon were formed mostly 6,000-4,000 years ago, with the first major societies forming along the The Stor Flod, River Shanon, in the Verdean Archipelago, and along the Eastern Coast of Meridon. These civilizations managed to establish trading relationships, exchanging ideas such as mathematics, seafaring, navigation, metallurgy, and even the spread of the early religions.

These settled areas expanded throughout the later parts of pre-history, coving the Southernmost tip of Meridon, the entirety of the Verdean Archipelago, though geographic isolation meant the exchange was largely done over water. This meant that in spite of several large and powerful early civilizations, many regions, most notably, Northwest Meridon and the Versitean Plains would remain largely unpopulated, or populated by nomadic peoples. Eventually however nomadic peoples from the Gökan Steppes would eventually settle in other regions, with several societies forming in what would become Illaria, Walakia, and Narendia.

A major plague swept through the Northwestern part of Meridon causing the near destruction of all civilizations in Northern Meridon. Those that survived frequently retreated to the coast, leaving the interior of the continent relatively unoccupied. Tribal societies would dominate the area for most of the Post-Classical Period. These tribal communities would later come to form the basis of later civilizations, and the remaining societies would eventually result in the founding of two of the Oldest nations in Northern Meridon, The Vale, and Datchlia. Meanwhile the Verdean Empire would be formed as a unified political bloc.

The coming centuries would lead to the development of the Capsiarian states, as well as the Valden Empire, as well as early Finorsk states. These embyronic nationstates would eventually grow to be the primary powers in Eastern Meridon, while Datchlia, Walakia, and the Vale would be the nuclei of settled societies in the Northwest. Nomadic peoples from the plains of Northwest Meridon would eventually come together as the Stampeding Horde, which eventually formed the powerful, but short lived Gökan Empire. Towards the end of this period, the first of the modern states would get their state as Liberal, and nationalist ideas spread throughout the continent.

In the early modern period, nation-states would begin to form throughout Meridon, and industrialization brought rapid progress to the people's living on it. However, the newfound technology, and the rapid population growth of the continent led to a number of increasingly devastating conflicts, which started with the First Walakian Datchium War and the Carlosian War, and continued to the Second and Third Walakian Datchium Wars, the Midlands Wars the Plains Wars, the Valden War, the Morning War, and the Northern War. This period would also lead to the rise of the multinational states with the formation of Finorskia and Capisaria. During the past few decades, Meridon was defined by ideological conflict with leftist, social democratic, and socialist nations being pitted against the capitalist nations, most notably The Federal Republic of Capisaria. This conflict resulted in the eventual collapse of the Capisarian Federal Republic, along with a number of other Capitalist states.

Geography and Climate

Economy

Rank Country GDP (millions of NSD) Peak Year
1.  Finorskia 14,179 2018
2.  Capisaria 6,202 2018
3.  Verde 3,561 2018
4.  Datchlia 2,679 2017
5.  Ghiraul 2,150 2018

Greater Meridon is home to some of the largest, and most developed economies in [WORLD NAME], and was traditionally home to the most advanced economies in [WORLD NAME]. Economic historians believe that the first proper economy was found on the Verdean Archipelago, which became the locus of a major trading network that spanned the entirety of Greater Meridon. Later on this would instead become a global trade network. Another early rival to the Verdeans, were the Datch peoples, who's nearly monopoly on the export of Datchium in the pre-industrial period resulted in a powerful trade network, and the most productive societies, per capita, in [WORLD NAME]. By the beginnings of Industrial revolution however, economic focus and power had shifted north to the states on the eastern coast of Meridon, who had most successfully industrialized. By the start of the 20th century, the most economically powerful nations in Greater Meridon, The Capisarian Federation, Valden, and Sumavia would complete the eclipsing of traditional economic powers on the continent, though Datchlia would remain quite influential due its large supplies of Datchium.

Throughout the 20th century, conflicts slowed the pace of economic development with the Valden War, and the Northern War in particular destroyed much infrastructure and reduced many industrial centers to ruins. Late in the twentieth century however, as wars became increasingly infrequent, economies developed rapidly, with the Finorskian state proving to be a rapidly growing economy, surpassing Capisaria to become the largest economy in Greater Meridon. After the Capisarian Revolution, and the Verdean declarations of independence, Capisaria's total gdp fell briefly before beginning another substantial growth curve thanks to the development efforts of the Post-Revolutionary Capisarian government. Similarly, the Verdean economies would begin to grow rapidly thanks in large part to the efforts of post-revolutionary governments to develop economically, and rebuild infrastructure neglected by the Federal Republic.

In the modern day, the largest economy in Greater Meridon is Finorskia, which stands at fourteen trillion NSD in value, more than twice the size of any other economy in Greater Meridon. Behind this economy are those of Capisaria, Verde, and Datchlia with six, three and a half, and two and half trillion NSD economies respectively. In terms of GDP per capital, the Datch Union is the wealthiest, though Datchlia is not far behind, with Tallonius, and Bozton, being the third and fourth per capita economies in Greater Meridon. In recent years, growth has been very quick in Southern Meridon, with Ghiraul, and the Verdean nations being the source of very quick growth, though some Northwestern and Eastern Meridonian nations have also seen rapid economic growth. Northwest Meridon is, generally speaking the weakest economic region in Greater Meridon with many nations proving to be quite poor in nature, with Murmusa having the lowest per capita GDP in Greater Meridon, though Diamante has the smallest total GDP in the region.

Demographics

Rank Country Population Peak Year
1.  Finorskia 342,320,400 2018
2.  Verde 224,670,350 2018
3.  Capisaria 140,030,000 2018
4.  Ghiraul 102,575,240 2018
5.  Walakia 82,867,120 2018

Greater Meridon is home to over one billion persons. The most populous countries in the region are Finorskia, and Verde, with three hundred forty, and two hundred twenty five million people persons, followed by Capisaria, Ghiraul, and Walakia, of which all but Walakia have over 100 million people. For the most part, much of the regional population resides along the West Central, and Northwestern Coasts, as well as the Verdean Archipelago, with most of the largest cities (including Corazón del Río, [INSERT CITY HERE], and Roslinburg) being in these areas. Similarly, most of the most of the nations with the highest levels of human development are likewise in these areas, with only a handful of exceptions outside of these areas. Interior nations tend to be comparatively sparsely populous, and very frequently tend to have lower levels of human development in comparison. Population growth has been the quickest in Ghiraul, with Plata, Golaria, and Göke being the next fasted growing nations in the region. The slowest growing nations in the region are Platnos, Datchlia, the Datch Union, and Verde. The largest ethnic group in Greater Meridon is likely the Verdean group, which represents more than 320 million people, more than a quarter of the total population in the region, with the smallest being the Druk 1.5 million people identifying as such.

Language

There are several language groups spoken in Greater Meridon. In Southern Meridon, languages based on Proto-Versitean. This ancient language formed the basis of several languages, though the most predominant is Ghirali with over one hundred million speakers. Aside from this language, other languages of the Proto-Versitean group include the Myrani language, Vua, and Shujae. In the Northern parts of Meridon, the two primary language groups are the Valdo-Datch languages, and the Wolok languages, with Treleini, and Valdens being the most widely and commonly spoken of the Valdo-Datch languages, and Walakian being the most commonly spoken Wolok language. Other, more distantly related languages such as Gökan, and Sumavian also have substantial numbers of speakers. In the Verdean Archipelago, the the overwhelming majority of people speak Verdean, with the bulk of persons in the archipelago speaking Classical Verdean, with Vulgar Verdean being used as a trade language, and the primary language of poorer countries, and other related languages such as Isarléan, and Illarian, spoken in nations on the Meridonian continent.

Religion

Greater Meridon is dominated by four major religions, the eldest of these El Sacramento is a rapidly declining religion with only minority status in Ghiraul, Versitea, Davidos, Isarlé, and a handful of other communities. However, it was the a major influence on Regio dela Verde, as well as many of the tribal religions of Western Meridon. Regio dela Verde is another religion without a large spread, though it has a high number of practitioners being by far and away the dominant religion of most of the Verdean nations. On the mainland however, the dominant faith is Diternalism, which in its many forms has permeated several societies. Smaller than this is Răscumpărare which is common in Northwestern Meridon, with few practicioners outside this region. Tiensänism is another smaller regional faith that is practiced primarily in Northern Finorskia. Smaller tribal faiths do see some practice but are largely relegated to local communities.

List of Nations

† Not formally recognized by many nations (see Territorial Disputes)

††Government in Exile

‡ Rotates on a decanual basis

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