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Krada
City
Motto:  TBD
Country	West Miersa
Voivodeship	Święciżar
Founded	6 December, 1103 (traditional)
City status	19 October, 1643
Government
• Mayor	TBD
Population  (2017)
• City	891,411
• Rank	1st in West Miersa
• Urban	891,411
• Metro	1,129,050
Time zone	UTC-1 (Miersan Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+0 (Miersan Summer Time)

Krada (Narodyn: Крада) is the largest city of the Miersan Federation, situated in the Święciżar voivodeship, of which it serves as the voivodal capital. As of the 2017 census, the urban area of Krada has a population of 891,411 people, making it the largest city fully under the control of West Miersa.

First founded around the twelfth century as a fort to deter bandits on one of the major trade routes, Krada was a minor settlement. Its fortunes began to grow when in 1607, it became the capital of the Święciżar voivodeship, and it only intensified when after the War of the Miersan Succession, it became the capital of the Narozalic Miersan Governate in 1638. Due to this, it was officially granted city status by the Narozalic authorities in 1643.

Over the next two centuries, Krada's stature grew, as government officials from Narozalica moved to Krada to help administer the governate, and later, by internal migration as the city continued growing. This led to a flourishing of culture and arts, while Krada became a centre of education, with the opening of the University of Krada in 1753. By the turn of the nineteenth century, a sizable Narodyn community existed in the city, forming a dominant minority against the majority Miersan population.

In the nineteenth century, Krada continued its growth, facilitated by the (TBC).

Etymology

The name Krada is believed to derive from the masculine singular present transgressive form of the Proto-Marolevic word *kràsti, or "to steal," suggesting that the area around Krada was historically a hotspot for banditry, with bandits and other criminals based in present-day Krada often preying on the trade routes going over the Środek connecting northern and southern Euclea.

The name for those born or resident in the city are Kradians (Miersan: TBC).

History

Middle Ages

Saint Nicholas Church, oldest building still extant in Krada, 2017

Krada first appears in the historical record around 1100 CE, when either the King of Firencja, or the voivode of Święciżar ordered the construction of a fort to "guard the trade routes" into the Środek. Tradition gives the fort's construction as taking place on 6 December, 1103, or on the feast day of Saint Nicholas.

Despite its position on the trade routes, Krada never became a prominent destination on the north-south Euclean trade routes, as most of the goods tended to go towards the coasts, or towards TBD, where they could be transported west to Pavatria, or east towards TBD. Although throughout the centuries, Krada grew, by 1500, its population was recorded as only being around 15,000 people, with most of its residents working in the surrounding fields.

By the turn of the seventeenth century, Krada was still largely insignificant, but in 1607, the voivodal capital was moved from Strozyk to Krada, after a fire destroyed most of the community. This led to a slight population increase in Krada, as the voivode and their officials moved from Strozyk to Krada. However, Krada was still smaller than Strozyk by 1622.

During the Miersan Interregnum, Krada remained largely insignificant, although its position as the capital of the voivodeship of Święciżar did give Krada a more important status in the Miersan Republic than it otherwise would have experienced. However, with the outbreak of the War of the Miersan Succession between Miersa and both Gaullica and Narozalica, who sought to take control of Miersa... (TBC)

Early Narozalic rule

Historic City Hall of Krada, 2006

Following the conclusion of the War of the Miersan Succession in 1638, Krada found itself in the Narozalic-occupied regions. As the Duchy of Żobrodź was created to serve as a buffer state between Narozalica and Gaullica, the Narozalic authorities needed to establish a capital for their occupied regions, in order to effectively administer the Miersan Governate.

While other cities were considered to become capital of the Miersan Governate, Krada's central location in the governate, combined with its location south of the Środek, in conjunction with the fact that there was ample room for expansion, meant that Krada was selected by the Narozalic Empire to serve as the capital of the Miersan Governate.

This decision led to the rise of Krada as a major political centre, as government officials moved to Krada in order to set up the administration of the governate: thus, in 1643, Krada was officially given city status.

This influx of people led to economic growth, making Krada an important economic centre in the Miersan Governate, and by 1650, it was estimated that Krada's population had increased sixfold from what it was in 1500, to 90,000 people, of which a fifth were Narodyn settlers.

Following the failure of the First Miersan Uprising in 1687, the Duchy of Żobrodź was partitioned, with the city of Żobrodź ending up under Narozalic rule. While there were proposals to move the governate's capital to Żobrodź from Krada, the location of Żobrodź near the border with Gaullica led to concerns that in the event of a war between Narozalica and Gaullica, the Miersan Governate would quickly fall to Gaullican control. Thus, Krada would remain the capital of the governate. By 1700, the population of Krada reached over 100,000 people, which although it was smaller than Żobrodź was at the time, meant that Krada was one of the major cities in the western regions of Miersa.

With the population and economic growth, Krada became a centre for culture and arts in the eighteenth century, initially among the Narozalic officials and Narodyn settlers who migrated there, but with increasing numbers of ethnic Miersans making their way to Krada, it also became a centre of Miersan culture, although Żobrodź continued to play a more important role than Krada in this regard. In 1753, the University of Krada was opened, which became a centre of learning in the region, especially relating to mathematics and astronomy.

By 1800, Krada's population had risen to approximately 120,000 people, with a quarter of the city's population being ethnic Narodyn. While much of the Narodyn population in Krada formed the upper class, few of the Miersan majority were part of the upper class, with substantial inequality existing between the two communities.

Independence

With the independence of the Miersan Federation on 3 October, 1936, Krada became the provisional capital of the newly-founded country, as although the western neighbourhoods of the city of Żobrodź was to become the capital of West Miersa, as Krada had been the administrative centre of the Narozalic Miersan Governate, many of the government buildings were in Krada.

In the immediate wake of independence, around half of the city's Narodyn population left, as they were largely employed with the Narozalic government. Despite this, the 1937 census still shown 527,396 people residing in the city of Krada, of which 87,883 people were Narodyn, or about one-sixth of the local population, while 394,498 people, or 74%, were Miersan.

During this period, although most of the country's political institutions left Krada for West Żobrodź, it remained one of the three major cities in the fledgling state, alongside West Żobrodź and Sechia, and was relatively undamaged by the Great War compared to either Żobrodź or Sechia. This effectively allowed Krada to have an economically dominant role in West Miersa.

(TBC)

Demographics

As of the 2017 census, Krada has a population of 891,411 people, making it the largest city under the full control of the Miersan Federation.

(TBC)

Culture

As the largest city under West Miersan control, Krada has become a major cultural centre, particularly given most of its residents have origins across all of Miersa, and the city of Krada only began developing in the seventeenth century.

(TBC)