Nordewald
Nordewald
יער צפון | |
|---|---|
| Kinderlanden Of Nordewald | |
| Nickname: The Apple State | |
| Motto: May the North Forever Stand | |
| Anthem: A La Gretsky | |
| Country | United Republic of Aurelia |
| Admitted to the Union | () |
| Largest city | Schnowald |
| Largest county or equivalent | Scump |
| Largest metro and urban areas | Schnowald |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Sarah Vanernickel |
| • [[Lieutenant Governor of Nordewald|]] | Adam Darris |
| Legislature | Senate of Nordewald |
| • Upper house | {{{Upperhouse}}} |
| • Lower house | {{{Lowerhouse}}} |
| U.R. senators | Harold Valden, Simon Erflough, Ivan Relykosovssy, David Grossman |
| U.R. House delegation | 9 (list) |
| • Rank | 8th |
| Lowest elevation (Meridian Ocean) | 0ft ft (0m m) |
| Population (2024) | |
| • Total | 4,250,000 |
| • Rank | 8th |
| Demonym | Nordewalders |
| Language | |
| • Official language | Hanseatic |
| • Spoken language | Hanseatic, Elianite, Tribian |
| Time zone | Hanseatic Standard Time |
Nordewald is the second least populated of the Hanseatic Kinderlandens. Located in the far north of Hansa, it borders Mitteland and Anseatia to the south. Nordewald has a coastline on the Meridian Ocean to the east. Covering (X) and with ~4 Million residents as of 2020, it is the (X) and (X) in area and population.
Nordewald is nicknamed the apple state due to the large prevelence of apples grown in the state. Nordewaldenhanse is known for its apples with over 50 varieties being invented at the university of Nordewaldenhanse. Historically Nordewald was the birthplace of Hansan resistance against the Daresian empire with Raddeussia being based in Schnowald. Later on Nordewald was heavily Elianite. Throughout the middle ages, the Drupe and Hanseatic trade leagues fought over the territory with the Hansa becoming victorious. Due to its low number of Matheiests Nordewald largely escaped the wars of reformation and exported a lot of timber to supply the growing empire during the Wilsonian era. During the Great War Nordewald had an instrumental role in overthrowing the empire and founding the republic and subsequent federation.
Historically the Nordewalder economy has been dominated by agriculture, timber, mining and finance. Traditionally Nordewald has been the epicenter of the Hanseatic ship building industry and supplier of timber. Nordewald is known for farming a large number of fruit such as apples and cherries. Due to its position between the Drupe and Hansa Schnowald became a booming trade hub due to its politically neutral nature. Nordewald is flanked on the far east and west with large iron deposits. However there is much debate between the environmentalist movement and remaining iron deposits. In the modern day there are 20 of the top 100 Hanseatic companies are based in Nordewald.
Etymology
The named Nordewald comes from the Old Hansan word Nard which comes from the Santee word for left due to the direction when facing the rising sun. This is combined with the Old Hansan word Wald which means wood. Wald has an unknown origin.
History
Antiquity
Nordewald has been occupied by humans since the stone age however little is known about this period. Due to its geography far from the Littenfluss Nordewald was largely free of the santee culture and developed its own unique ancient culture. However written history in the region starts with the Daresian conquest in the classical period. Daresian control of Nordewald was characterized by moving deported Osrelians to the frontier. In Daresian times the region was known as Anseatia Minor.
With the Daresians moving people here the region developed a distinctly Elianite culture that would come to represent the region even today. Though the Daresians founded cities such as modern day St Dylan and built roads and infrastructure the people felt neglected and various clashes on the border with other Hanseatic tribes was common.
Elianite Hansa
In Catsium (Schnowald) rose the legendary "founder of Hansa" Raddaseus. Under Raddaseus a new Kingdom was carved out as the Daresian empire rapidly fell. Though Raddaseus died in 435 AD, his subsequent sons were hugely sucessful in conquering most of Hansa, reaching its territorial peak in 576. During the period from the 580s to the 650s the Kingdom stagnated and decentralised until the death of Ardien III in 666 which started a chain of events known as the Crisis of the 7th Century, which led to the fall of Raddeussia.
Eventually in the town of Ketzern a new Kingdom rose that would also dominate Hansa. Roger I was the first leader of Ketzern and founded the Byerd Dynasty. The Byerd dynasty sought to reunite Hansa however did not accomplish much. When the dynasty ended in 810 Raymond Kyerzen I (now known as Raymond I). Compared to the Byerds the Kyerzens were vastly more successful reaching a new territorial peak under Andrew I in 900. However disaster came during the Harchlianian Invasion in the early 900s. Throughout the Harchlianian conquest Nordewald was pillaged and sacked and never fully recovered politically. In fact, it was such a large failure that the Elianites and Nordewald as a whole would never truly rule the nation again.
Middle Ages and Empire
Eventually the Harchlianian rule over Hansa was lost and Nordewald was left once again independent. With the rise of christianity and the decrease in Elianism, Nordewald was no longer the political center of Hansa. Quickly a new state was formed and was the first one to actually be called Nordewald in 980 shortly after the fall of the Harchlianians. This rump state repeatedly failed to centralize and was quickly taken advantage of by the rising Drupe and Hanseatic Leagues. Throughout the 1200s and 1300s Nordewald was the site of many wars and remained quite poor. Eventually the Hansa won the territory during the 1400s as the Drupe League faded into obscurity and an independent Nordewald ceased to exist. However it was still culturally independent.
Throughout the reformation wars Nordewald was able to escape the majority of the fighting due to its unique cultural and religious makeup. After the peace of Gallagher in 1564 Nordewald was now a part of the Hanseatic Republic. With the advent of the colonial age trade no longer needed to go through Nordewald which was detrimental to a lot of business and trade in the region. However the Nordewalders found a new niche in their large forests and supplied timber and iron for the fledgling Hanseatic Empire. Due to the new investment in Nordewald by the rulers of the Republic (and later empire) and overall tolerance there was little need to independence and the people were largely pacified.
Industrial Age
During the industrial revolution Nordewald returned to economic greatness continuing to export iron with several steel mills opening in Schnowald and along the Anseatia River. With the Manzarek reforms Nordewald enjoyed more liberty and the Universities of Nordewald opened in 1794. However everything crashed with the Civil War. Nordewald was hit particularly hard due to its Elianite majority causing it to be taken over by the Malcolmite Order who wished to cleanse it.
During the Hansan anarchy period Nordewald was under the thumb of the Malcolmite order who destroyed a lot of industry and attempted to eliminate the cultural diversity of the state. There was much push back and a new state of Nordewald was declared to push the Macolmites out. In 1856 Nordewald was formally invited by Emperor Brian Regnochtfolger V to rejoin the empire which was accepted.
Upon rejoining the empire it was found that much of the steel industry that built up the nation was moved south to Tollerland which did little to help the economic depression. Despite being helped in the first empire Nordewald was largely ignored in the late 1800s and its industry did not truly recover to pre war levels.
Great War and Present
Though Nordewald was a backwater during the early 1900s there were still pockets of prosperity. Particularly with agriculture centered on the University of Nordewaldenhanse which made many new agricultural reforms and discoveries.
Though initially far from all of the fighting the Great War came to Nordewald in 1935 with the Drupe and Artevenian invasion of the north. The Nordewald national guard rose to the task of defending the nation and was credited with stopping the Artevenian and Drupe invasion and starting the push into the Drupe Coast. Nordewald was targeted hard by the purges of Arthur MacHeath and the Nordewalders fought hard in the civil war to restore Hansa to a republic, with Nordewald even becoming the headquartes of the republic for a short period of time.
In 1946 under Adam Gorz Nordewald was one of the states most eager to found a new republic and was very anti communist. Howevever once Gorz was deposed Nordewald aligned itself with Adrian Gower and the new republic. Nordewalders participated in many battles against the communists and even engaged in invading Anseatia. Once the war was over and the 1954 consitution was signed Nordewald was one of the biggest supporters of the new nation.
(write the rest of the history when decided)
Geography
Nordewald is the eighth largest Kinderland by area, only larger than Mitteland and New Gotland. Nordewald is in the northern part of the Hansa Federation. The Densmore river forms part of the northern border with the Drupe Coast and the Anseatia forms part of the southern border with Mitteland. Nordewald is in three eco regions. The smallest eco region is the Dirnt Mountains which only take up a small portion on the border with Anseatia. Otherwise the state is divided roughly north and south between the Mittel plain in the south and the Raspian forest in the north.
The Dirnt Mountains exist in the far southwest of the state but contain the highest point in the state. The vegetation of the region is alpine in nature with coniferous forests existing. The north is dominated by the Raspian forest which extends north into the Raspia region of the Drupe Coast. The Raspian forest is where much of the timber industry is located. The Mittel plain is centered around the Anseatian river valley and is the most fertile region in the state. Here is where most of the agriculture and population is.
Nordewald has many named streams but is dominated by the Anseatia river. Throughout the state there are thousands of lakes. The largest lake is Laverne Lake in Botans county.
Geology
Nordewald is located in the southern part of the Raspian forest but is geologically similar to the Bonnie Blue Republic. The rocks are very hard in the north making agriculture difficult. However the geology makes the coastline very beautiful which is shown in Desplern National Park in the northeast corner.
Wildlife
Nordewald is the home to a diverse amount of mammals reptiles and amphibians. Though logging has destroyed much of the Raspian forest, there are still pockets of old growth forest that are now protected.
During the spring Nordewald flowers such as the state flower the Nordewald Aster bloom throughout the state. In St Dylan the state botanical garden provides a haven for every known native plant in the state.
Climate
Nordewald experiences temperature extremes characteristic of its continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. However its proximity to the ocean helps regulate temperatures causing a slightly more mild climate then neighboring Anseatia. In the summer daytime highs are generally in the upper 70s range throughout the state in july, while it gets drastically cooler at night. Janurary highs range in the upper 20s but winters typically stay below freezing all winter except on the coast where it remains in the 30s and only sometimes freezes.
The states record high temperature is 103F, set in July 1943 in Einstadt. Precipitation is evenly distributed year-round. However summer is typically drier then winter. The coldest temperature ever recording was at -55 at Sylvenwald South Weather Station in January 1994. The table below consists of averages for summer and winter for 5 cities in various regions of the state.
| Location | Summer (F) | Summer (C) | Winter (F) | Winter (C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Dylan | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Schnowald | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Vallihanse | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Nordewaldenhanse | Example | Example | Example | Example |
Natural Disasters
Thunderstorms strike Nordewald often, as well as blizzards in the winter. The state has also experienced several tornadoes in the south however they are uncommon. Flooding along the Anseatia river is also somewhat common after heavy rain. Hurricanes have also sometimes passed through Nordewald however these have all been weakened hurricanes and have not been known to cause significant damage.
Greenhouse Gases
As of 2024, Nordewald is last in the nation for greenhouse gas emissions. The state has a low amount of greenhouse gas emissions due to cleaner energy initiatives and a very liberal government.
Administrative Divisions
The state has one metropolitan area with a population exceeding one million; Schnowald. The Schnowald metropolitan area is defined by the NCB (National Census Bureau) as Schnowald proper, and the suburbs of East Schnowald, Klaen, Stradoia, Obonia, New Ketzern, Spanch, Raisin, and Eleana. The Schnowald area has around 3 million people in the total metro area.
(do highways later)
Outside of the Anseatia River valley, there are many rural settlements throughout the Rapsian forest. These cities are typically poorer and less connected to the rest of the nations.
Nordewald has 78 counties. Each county is ruled by an elected official known as the county chair. The county chair overseas all of the municipalities in the county and directly administers unincorporated territories. Though every county in theory has its own systems in certain regions that are not as populated, this is not practical and services such as school districts are shared. The distinction between a city and town is based roughly on population. There are 3 levels of incorporated territory, village, town and city; however, there is no definitive legal distinction.
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Demographics
The resident population of Nordewald was 4,109,321 in the 2020 census, and is currently estimated at 4,215,000. In 2010 the population was 3,989,432.Nordewald is eigth in the nation for population. (ooc subject to change). In 2020 Nordewald had 300,000 foreign born residents. The major countries of origin for Nordewalder immigrants is the Drupe Coast, Ethniopia, Biggonia, and Dolplandia. In 2020 there were an estimated 75,000 undocumented immigrants particularly from the Drupe Coast. Though this number was previously on the decline, the conservative federal government has made it more difficult to immigrate legally causing a rise in illegal immigration.
(population density paragraph here)
According to the Nordewald department of Urban Affairs, there were an estimated 1,004 homeless people in Nordewald.
Languages
The most common accent or dialect spoken by natives throughout Nordewald is commonly reffered to as Nordewalder, itself a sub-variety of Hanseatic. However the Lubecker dialect has been taking over as the predominant dialect in the state. At the 2020 census 82% of Nordewalders spoke only Hansan (of various dialects). Roughly 15% of the population is bilingual while the remainder only speak another language. Other languages spoken are Elianite, Biggonian and Ethniopian.
Religion
Ever since the days of Daresian control, Nordewald has been primarily Elianite in religion. 67% of Nordewalders are Elianite, the highest in the nation. The second largest group is unaffiliated at 21%. Protestant is the third higest with 10% being protestant. The remainder is a mix of pontificals, muslim and other various religions. Unlike most of Hansa Nordewald has a very low pontifical population due to various explusions and historical prejudices.
Curiously there is a large Valdezst population in Nordewald concentrated in St Dylan and Vallihanse. However the more extreme Valdezsts live in the deep woods city of Valdezstan which is a special tax exempt city. However, outsiders are typically not allowed except on official business.
Government and Politics
State Government
The capital of Nordewald is St Dylan. Like every other Kinderlanden, Nordewald is organized into three branched of government- the executive branch consisting of the governor and other Kinderofficers; the legislative branch, a unicameral body consisting of the Kindersenate, and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Nordewald.
Local Government
Nordewald has an extensive system of local government that manages public function throughout the state. Like all states, Nordewald is divided into counties that cover the entire state. However, within counties are cities.
Counties
Nordewald is divided into (X) counties. The county government provides services such as law enforcement, jail, elections tax collections, libraries, fire protection etc, and are responsible for maintaining and enforcing statewide and national standards. In addition the county administers areas not incorporated as cities, though some counties also function as cities. Each county is governed by a miniature version of the senate called the Uberkindersenate.
City and Town Government
Incorporated cities and towns in Nordewald are the lowest form of local government. Cities are primarily responsible for city regulation and various local laws and funding. All cities are ruled by an elected mayor and essentially function as a smaller unit of the national government. Cities are responsible for maintaining their own school districts and fire departments.
Nationall Representation
In the senate Nordewald is represented by four senators. In the Council of Hansa Nordewald is represented by (X).
| District | Senator | Party | Sub Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harold Valden | Leftern | Liberal |
| 2 | Simon Erflough | Rechtsparty | Liberal |
| 3 | David Groolsman | Rechtsparty | Conservative |
| 4 | Ivan Relykolovssy | Rechtsparty | Classical |
Politics
Nordewald's political culture is regarded as more liberal then the rest of the nation but in the senate, the Leftern and Rechtsparty are evenly divided. Overall in federal politics Nordewald is more moderate but still more left leaning. In state politics Nordewald is more left with a Green Party Governor.
(write poltical history when decided)
Economy
As of 2024, Nordewald had a gross state product of (X), the (X) in rhe nation. The state ranks (x) among the Hanseatic kinderlanden by median household, while the poverty rate is 8.49%, making it the the Kinderlanden with the (X) lowest poverty rate. Nordewalds thriving cities, high education rate and rich natural resources have contributed to an economy that punches above its weight.
Industry and Commerce
Nordewalds earliest industries was mining and agriculture. St Dylan grew around being the northernmost navigable point of the Anseatia river. Although agriculture employs only a small amount of the population, it remains a major part of the states economy. The state produces many apples, cherries, sugar beets, sweet corn and peas. 20 of Hansas 100 publicly traded companies are based in Nordewald. Forestry remains strong including logging, wood processing, and paper production and forest products manufacturing. Nordewald is famous for its iron ore and copper mines which made much of the colonial empire possible.
Energy
Nordewald consistently ranks at the top of lists of greenest Kinderlanden and is in last place for co2 emissions. Unlike fellow Dirnt Mountain state neighbor, Anseatia, Nordewald lacks coal reserves. In the past much energy has comes from wood and wood burning. Now, energy is imported from the south but biofuel use is on the rise. The first nuclear power station in Nordewald opened in 2017.
Taxation
Nordewald has a reputation for high taxes. According to the Hanseatic Tax and Revenue Service, Nordewalders tax burdens are the second highest nationally. In 1992 Nordewald was the first state to implement a progressive income tax. There is higher then average state sales and property tax however social services are some of the highest in the nation.
Technology
With large universities coupled with a culture of technological innovation, as well as government grants, the high tech industry has been growing in recent years with various tech companies moving into Schnowald particularly.
Transportation
Highways
Nordewalds terrain is connected by the greater Hanseatic Interstate System. All nationall highways are directly funded and administered by the Highway and Roadway Bureau which is a part of the Transportation Department. Because of its geography, Nordewald has less highways then the other Kinderlandens. Nationwide, Nordewald is stereotyped for its poor road quality as it ranked 9th out of ten.
Air Travel
Because of its lower population, Nordewald lacks any major international airports with most residents in the eastern half opting to drive to New Lubeck. However there are a number of airports that service the rest of the Hansa Federation in most major cities.
Railroads
Like the rest of the nation, Nordewald is serviced by Hanstrack- the nationally owned railroad line. In cities Schnowald is the only city with a light rail system, though St Dylan is scheduled to complete theirs in 2025. Vallihanse and Jardine are also known for their streetcars.
Culture
Fine and Performing Arts
Nordewalds leasing fine art museums include the Schnowald Institute of Art, the Heimen Center in St Paul, and the Elianite Museum of Hansa. The Nordewald Orchestra is one of 10 Kinderlanden Federally funded orchestras. Musically, Schnowald has a thriving club scene. The Scitman Theater in Schnowald is world renowned, boasting many high profile cultural events. Attendance at theatrical, comedy, and musical events in the area is strong.
Music
Nordewald musicians include, Duke, Roland Howard, Birdie Miller, the Green Yam band, The Forgotten, the Fired Eight, Niasha Smith, Keeler Wanker and many more. Compared to the rest of the Hansa Federation Nordewalder music has remained unique due to its cultural differences to the rest of the nation.
Popular Culture
Stereotypical traits of Nordewalders include, a strong sense of community, elianism remains strong and though an increasing number are atheist. The Nordewald state fair, is an icon of state culture. In a state of 4 million, 750,000 people attended the fair in 2021. The fair is widely regarded as the center for Nordewalder culture. Other large annual festivals include the Elianite Days in St Dyland which celebrate Elianite culture.
Sports
(Do once finalized sports leagues)
Education
Historically, Nordewald has had a reputation for high education with Schnowald being a center of learning and the northern Anseatia river being a point of connection particularly between the Drupe coast and the Hanseatic League. Out of the entire Hansa Federation, Nordewald ranks first in both public school quality, and % of bachelor degrees. Because of Nordewald's high taxes, education remains a large issue for many people.
Higher Education
As with the rest of the nation, Nordewalds higher education system consists of the public Universities of Nordewald system, various Community Colleges and various private schools. The Universities of Nordewald were founded in its modern form in the late 1700s under the Manzanareck Decree of Education signed in 1800. Nordewaldenhansa was chosen as the site for the Nordewald state college due to its central location. At first Nordewaldenhanse remained an agricultural school and even today UNN (University of Nordewald Nordewaldenhanse) ranks 1st in the nation for its agricultural program.