Lemobrogia
Unified Realm of Lemobrogia Daènókèŋó ós Maèsókèŋó (Lemobrogian) | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Emblem
| |
| Motto: Bisò ós Kanò òn Cəbasò (Lemobrogian) Nothing Without the Hand of Love | |
| Anthem: Havòyu Naþòsu ós Deíné (Lemobrogian) Land of Eternal Spring Royal anthem: Anukyó Unaryó òn Ócyə (Lemobrogian) Last for a Thousand Years | |
 Lemobrogia in Tyran | |
| Capital | Maèsóňisó |
| Largest city | Deíyéľuyé |
| Official languages | Lemobrogian |
| Ethnic groups (2023) | 75% Lemobrogian 25% Other |
| Religion (2023) | 75% Naxóteíðó 25% Other |
| Demonym(s) | Lemobrogian |
| Government | Semi-constitutional, semi-elective and semi-parliamentary monarchy |
• King | Əlyax és Érnax |
• Queen | Wèsané és Mèjidé |
• Prime Minister | Kéði és Séŋi |
| Legislature | Diet of the Realm |
| Chamber of Representatives | |
| Chamber of Delegates | |
| Establishment | |
• Independence of Pteleía from the Symmerian Empire | 22 June 1305 |
• 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 1992 |
| 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 | ℳ︁ 2,118,881 trillion |
• Per capita | ℳ︁ 20,886 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | ℳ︁ 1,359,427 trillion |
• Per capita | ℳ︁ 13,400 |
| Gini (2023) | 23.2 low |
| HDI | 0.732 high |
| Currency | Lemobrogian Mark (ℳ︁) (DKM) |
| Date format | dd-mm-yyyy CE |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +69 |
| ISO 3166 code | DK |
| Internet TLD | .dk |
Lemobrogia (Lemobrogian: Daènókèŋó, /daɛ̯ˈnokɛŋo/), officially the Unified Realm of Lemobrogia (Lemobrogian: Daènókèŋó ós Maèsókèŋó, /daɛ̯ˈnokɛŋo ˈos maɛ̯ˈsokɛŋo/), is a landlocked country in Tyran's continent of Siduri; it borders Erania 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 Erania, Quenmin, Tennai and Vartaxia.
Etymology
The country's exonym, Lemobrogia, is a calque (in Latinized Gaulish) of the nation's endonym, Daènókèŋó, that is, "country of elm trees" or "country of the elm tree" - both interpretations being valid, as the Lemobrogian language does not usually mark grammatical number. While the Lemobrogian term for "elm tree", daèné, is an indisputably native word, the Lemobrogian term for "country", kèŋó, derives from a metathesized rendition of the Nordic word konge, that is, "king" - the inanimate gender term deínó is now used to refer to a province or subdivision, while its animate gender counterpart deíné is still used to refer to a country in its geographical or natural sense, as opposed to an organized nation or state. This semantic shift happened relatively recently in Lemobrogia's history: the name of Xevden, a country founded by ethnic Lemobrogians in Gylias at the start of the 18th century, preserves the older meaning of the word. Other exonyms by which the nation is known, such as Elmadeśa and Pteleía, are calques of said native Lemobrogian term as well.
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 Lemobrogian peoples were able to develop peaceful settled societies without the need to develop agriculture (even though they did develop arboriculture and horticulture, eventually developing a kind of recessional agriculture, too); 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 Lemobrogian 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 non-violent 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 non-violent resistance against their leadership.
Even as the ethnic factor of this divide faded into irrelevance (outside sources eventually stating that the colonial population had gone native), the distinction between being of native or foreign descent having 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 war that put both polities against the absolutist, theocratic Xevdenite proto-state in the east. The ruinous 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 Erania 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 land value taxes, 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", Varnaþ és Kəlnaþ - 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 Erania, 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 an elective king and a hereditary queen, 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.
Foreign relations
Lemobrogia retains to this day close ties to its former suzerain, Acrea; it has also developed strong ties to culturally or politically adjacent countries such as Gylias and Megelan, and with neighbouring countries such as Erania, Quenmin, Tennai and Vartaxia. It has a police force under civilian control, but no armed forces; responsibility for the country's defence has been retained by Acrea even after the end of its protectorate over the nation, that has nonetheless been buying the services of Megelan's several PMCs ever since the early 1990s, in an effort to balance and counter the influence of Acrea's interests over Lemobrogia's foreign policy. The country's key trade partners are Erania, Gylias and Megelan; Erania, as a neighbouring nation with a shared colonial history, Gylias and Megelan due to their comparable economic models and political institutions - however, Lemobrogia has opted not to join the Common Sphere in any capacity, despite several referenda on the subject over the years. Relations with Quenmin, Tennai and Vartaxia are also cordial, despite occasional tensions with Tennai.
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 can be rearranged and renegotiated at every 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.
| Map | Territory | Capital | Largest city |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buŋiveĩn | Iryut | Užis | |
| Dožceveĩn | Evox | Oŋsem | |
| Ðaxveĩn | Faňəs | Jəxa | |
| Ḱirusveĩn | Uürži | Viroũḱ | |
| Leboveĩn | Ðonwe | Enyo | |
| Ľaxkəveĩn | Þəla | Žaŋcə | |
| Muciþveĩn | Iḱum | Usþir | |
| Ŋežveĩn | Eŋkot́ | Oned | |
| Ṕəndaveĩn | Aänzə | Ḱəyva | |
| Siňuveĩn | Hupiþ | Isku | |
| Xemorveĩn | Boḱe | Cebaõn | |
| Yəlveĩn | Dəžka | Maŋə |
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 Erania 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 Erania 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 Erania 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.
Transport
Lemobrogia's transportation infrastructure is free and funded by land value taxes (on the land occupied by said transportation infrastructure) and Pigovian taxes (on fuel and vehicles); despite the antiquity of several of the country's roads, the constant care they needed in order not to be overrun by the nation's dense forests and woodlands, and the fact that deer, despite being suited to the terrain, were inferior as rides to horses, hindered progress in the field until advances in infrastructure and transportation, introduced in the nation by Acrea, were put to use. Today, Lemobrogia's forest-flanked highways and high-speed railways, as well as several other means of air, land and water transportation, are either operated for free by private service providers, especially routes linking several municipalities together, or operated for free by public service providers, especially routes restricted to a single municipality, or to a single district, in the case of those districts that 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.
Resources
Lemobrogia's natural resources are considered a common good, especially those natural resources that are inherently limited in supply - such as the country's reserves of industrial minerals and precious metals or the fertile, very dark soil (anthropogenic or natural, depending on the exact kind of soil) that favoured the birth of arboriculture and horticulture in the nation's prehistory. Possession of such natural resources by private citizens, often as common land that has belonged to the inhabitants of a certain household or municipality since time immemorial, or that was returned to them in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of the collectivist and cooperativist policies enacted under the reign of Varnaþ és Kəlnaþ, is heavily taxed, their efficient use being rewarded and their inefficient abuse being punished with tax cuts or tax hikes, depending on the case. More than 50% of the land in Lemobrogia has been set aside as a natural reserve, due to environmental reasons (especially those related to the resource exploitation of the late 19th and early 20th centuries) as well as due to safety concerns (especially those areas characterized by a high incidence of natural hazards, even for the rather disturbing standards of the country).
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.
Largest cities or towns in Lemobrogia
2023 estimate | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Province | Pop. | Rank | Province | Pop. | ||||
 Deíyéľuyé  Kuyarkò |
1 | Deíyéľuyé | Lemobrogia | 12,046,507 | 11 | Lèxanó | Lemobrogia | 2,277,238 | _DSCF3670.jpg) Maèsóňisó  Xalundè |
| 2 | Kuyarkò | Aènódeínó | 6,834,511 | 12 | Þoúsu | Ŋéžódeínó | 2,059,881 | ||
| 3 | Maèsóňisó | Lemobrogia | 6,249,874 | 13 | Kəyòkóheísó | Mèkaródeínó | 1,952,943 | ||
| 4 | Xalundè | Duseívódeínó | 4,681,932 | 14 | Óxanét | Lemobrogia | 1,703,342 | ||
| 5 | Akéci | Ŋéžódeínó | 3,795,448 | 15 | Rèňəvayoúta | Òcəsódeínó | 1,582,388 | ||
| 6 | Kòliþam | Èþódeínó | 3,411,321 | 16 | Uwèhæl | Uxeínódeínó | 1,389,520 | ||
| 7 | Uséya | Eílkódeínó | 3,131,443 | 17 | Bérdikó | Lemobrogia | 1,254,108 | ||
| 8 | Yòbažis | Lemobrogia | 2,848,700 | 18 | Mèði | Voúlódeínó | 1,179,886 | ||
| 9 | Citéhu | Ənxódeínó | 2,662,177 | 19 | Ŋalcisè | Xoúryódeínó | 1,048,783 | ||
| 10 | Ðeíli | Kælsódeínó | 2,385,987 | 20 | Tèyu | Lemobrogia | 1,029,379 | ||
Ethnic groups
Lemobrogia is an ethnically diverse country: 25% of the population belongs to one of the 1728 so-called Paleo-Lemobrogian 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 Meso-Lemobrogian peoples, that can trace their ancestry back to foreign peoples that interacted and interbred with the Paleo-Lemobrogian peoples - the Paleo-Lemobrogian and Meso-Lemobrogian peoples are distantly related to the Gylic peoples, the latter tracing their ancestry to Paleo-Lemobrogian peoples that headed east as a result of Erani-Eracuran expansion. Moreover, half of the population is neither Paleo-Lemobrogian nor Meso-Lemobrogian 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 (the so-called Neo-Lemobrogian peoples) and the final 25% of the population consists of people born outside the country.
Languages
The Lemobrogic languages form a dialect continuum, in which neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but widely separated varieties are not; Lemobrogian is a conservative and literary register of these languages, and it serves as the lingua franca of Lemobrogia. Even though most people in the country do not speak it as their first language, it is easily comprehensible and largely intelligible not only for average and ordinary speakers of the Lemobrogic languages, but also for cultured and educated speakers of the Gylic languages, and especially of the Yaskan and Zineran languages. The Lemobrogic languages share several key features with the Gylic languages in general, and with reconstructed Proto-Gylic in particular; for this reason, several linguists have postulated the existence of a language family that would include all Gylic languages and all Lemobrogic languages, provisionally named Sidurian. Moreover, the gap between local vernacular and national standard is filled by 12 regional varieties that first arose as trade languages during the Syaran and Tennaiite occupation.
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; most of the country's inhabitants, however, adhere to the Naxóteíðó faith, that is able to coexist with other religious identities, or with the lack of any such identities: because this faith, that originated in prehistory, either anticipated or suited foreign beliefs and practices, it was able to accompany and complement the likes of Hahtta and Zobethos, rather than being swept away by either. In addition to these native beliefs of ancient origin, to those native beliefs that reached foreign countries in recorded history (such as the Salvationist faith) and to those foreign beliefs 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, largely a consequence of several demographic and environmental issues that were caused by the quick urbanization and population explosion of the early 20th century, and by a series of natural disasters in the 1960s and 1970s.
Education
Education in Lemobrogia is free and mandatory from the age of 6 to the age of 18; it consists of three stages of four years each, roughly equivalent to elementary school, middle school and high school. Classes are held outdoors at least once a week, and the entire school community, including the children, takes part in the various collective decision-making processes that define the school itself; decisions are taken by consensus, and the typical learning and teaching styles emphasize observation, imitation, storytelling, collaboration and cooperation. Often, older pupils from the higher grades double as teachers for younger pupils from the lower grades, as the country's schools are built in order to accommodate and receive students for the entirety of their compulsory education, despite not being boarding schools; preschools and universities are also free, but not mandatory. Moreover, mental and physical fitness have been an integral part of the nation's curricula ever since the Syaran and Tennaiite occupation; in fact, several schools in Lemobrogia began as ashrams or gymnasiums.
Health
The life expectancy in Lemobrogia is of 85 years (one of the highest in Tyran); the country runs a universal public healthcare system, that is free for the inhabitants of those municipalities that decide to fund said universal public healthcare system through the tax revenue collected from them by the central government, and not free for the inhabitants of those municipalities that decide to forgo this kind of coverage in favour of receiving a citizen's dividend instead. While the nation's inhabitants are, by and large, hale and in good health, Lemobrogia's year round balmy and moist climate provides an ideal environment for bacteria and viruses to thrive; diseases and illnesses can therefore spread rather quickly, and insect-borne diseases in particular had a role in delaying the country's development and progress over the centuries, even as their presence hindered Syaran and Tennaiite efforts at colonization and occupation, and was a factor in Acrea's decision to put the nation under a loose protectorate, rather than conquer it outright.
Culture
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 Meso-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 non-violent 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 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 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 the standard variety of Lemobrogian 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 local vernacular languages, as well as in the 12 regional trade languages and in a wide variety of foreign languages (Nordic above all others) are owned and run by private citizens. In those provinces of Lemobrogia where languages not part of the Lemobrogic dialect continuum 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; dispute resolution in the form of ritual fighting and conciliation 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 non-violent and pacifist ethos of a significant portion of the populace - indoor sports such as volleyball being played during the country's wet season, and outdoor sports such as cricket being played during the nation's dry season. Several other sports are enjoyed and played, especially association football, a professional league for the sport having been established in 1992.
Holidays
In addition to those holidays that are celebrated in several other states in Tyran, and to those holidays that pertain to Lemobrogia's religious faithful, the country also celebrates, as public holidays, dates related to the local culture, to its rulers, and to the history of the nation itself. 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.
| Society | | |
|---|---|---|