Trophy Ports

Trophy Ports Khalen Seraf
Metropolitan province of Trellin
Flag
The Trophy Ports (dark green) in the Kingdom of Trellin (light green)
Nation	Trellin
Settlement	175 BC (Durats) 759 (Vacoas) 1189 (Mintra) 1236 (Rha'gutza and Khorvu)
Andamonian occupation	1895
Reunification	20 September 2014
Administrative seat	Durats
Population  (2013)
• Total	1,242,967
Demonym	Khalitan
Area code(s)	077, 058, 060, 067

The Trophy Ports (Trellinese: Khalen Seraf; Andamonian: Bithar Ectzru), officially the Crown Dominions of the Trophy Ports (Trellinese: Demvesaz Toron'qa Khalin Seraf), are a province of Trellin comprising five cities on the Sea of Velar, in western Teudallum. Three of the ports, Durats, Vacoas and Mintra, are surrounded by Trellinese territory, while Rha'gutza and Khorvu are pene-exclaves in the Dangish Empire.

By area, the Trophy Ports comprise the smallest province in the empire, at just 762.42 square kilometres, and their combined population of 1,242,967 makes it the third least populous. As the province consists exclusively of urban areas, it is the third most densely populated province, with a population density of 1630.29 per square kilometre. While each Trophy Port has its own government, in practice the administrative centre is located at the city of Durats. Durats is located on the east of the Jajexan Peninsula, bordering Jajich; Vacoas is on the Rezati island of Morikz; and Mintra is on the south coast of Namija. Rha'gutza and Khorvu both border the Dangish Empire.

All of the ports, with the exception of Durats, which was originally a Hyseran colony, were founded by Trellinese merchants between the 8th and 13th centuries. They held great strategic importance in controlling trade on the Sea of Velar and enjoyed a high level of freedom as semi-independent cities in the Trellinese Empire. During the Trellinese Civil War, which lasted from 1892 to 1899, the easternmost ports were seized by the Andamonian Empire. This illegal occupation became the cause of the Trophy Wars between the two empires, one of the bloodiest conflicts in Astyrian history and which failed to achieve any satisfactory ends. Rha'gutza and Khorvu remained in Andamonian control until 2014, when they were seized by the Trellinese navy in an act which precipitated the War of the Eastern Velar. Referenda on 20 September 2014 saw the populations of both cities vote to rejoin the Trellinese Empire.

The economies of the Trophy Ports all rely heavily on sea trade for prosperity, as has been the case since their founding. All five are located on sheltered deepwater harbours, ideally suited to maritime traffic, though trade through Mintra has become more rail-based with the rapid industrialisation of surrounding Namija. The port at Durats remains one of the busiest harbours on the Sea of Velar, as the main harbour in Jajich. The two eastern ports have witnessed a significant decline in their trade in recent decades due, in part, to competition from Dangish harbours and tolls imposed by Trellin at the Straits of Jajich, both consequences of the Andamonian government administration.

History

Colonisation

The Hyseran port of Durats, circa 200 AD

Demographics

City	Population	Area (sq. km)	Pop. density (per sq. km)	Ethnicity (percentage)
				Trellinese	Hyseran	Andamonian	Velaric	Dangish	Txekri	Other
Durats	432,227	256.02	1688.25	54.75	42.44	0.00	1.06	0.01	0.01	1.73
Vacoas	257,149	112.4	2287.80	74.23	6.32	0.00	18.02	0.01	0.07	1.35
Mintra	265,456	212.29	1250.44	93.25	1.33	0.49	1.39	0.54	1.22	1.78
Rha'gutza	157,291	102.8	1540.86	72.87	0.71	21.36	0.54	2.99	0.01	1.52
Khorvu	130,844	79.63	1643.15	69.99	0.54	23.68	0.37	2.99	0.07	2.36
Total	1,242,967	762.42	1630.29	70.9	16.5	5.3	4.5	0.8	0.3	1.7

Religion in the Trophy Ports
Religion			Percent
Thaerinism			59.6%
Roman Catholicism			15.8%
Other Christian			11.4%
No religion			7.8%
Other			5.4%

The population of the Trophy Ports is dominated by Trellinese people, who are the majority ethnic group in each city. This varies between the extreme of 93% Trellinese Mintra and 55% in Durats, where the vast minority (42%) is of Hyseran descent. The other ports tend between 70 and 75% Trellinese. Velarans comprise the largest minority in Vacoas, at 18%, but elsewhere do not exceed 1.5%; this seemingly high proportion of Velaric ethnicity is nonetheless much lower than the rest of Morikz's population, which is 54.1% Velaric. Andamonians make up a large portion of both Rha'gutza and Khorvu's populations, at between a fifth and a quarter, but are a negligible presence in Mintra and not present at all in Durats and Vacoas. Dangish people are nearly 3% in Rha'gutza and Khorvu, as well, but scarcely present elsewhere. Txekri nationals are a tiny presence in each city, exceeding 1% only in Mintra. 1.7% of the Trophy Ports' population is classed as "Other" in official censuses. This group includes Beriquois, Nikolian and Nahua citizens, but also people of more distant origins such as Aquitaynians and ViZionarians.

Church of the Risen Christ in Mintra

Religion

Just under three fifths of the province's population are Thaerine adherents, with a quarter being Catholic or various Christian denominations and the remainder being of various other religions or irreligious. Though each city has a Thaerine majority, the largest are found in Vacoas and Mintra. Although statistically Roman Catholicism's strongest presence is in Durats, Holy Week processions in Mintra are famed as spectacular acts of public religious devotion. Rha'gutza has the largest non-Catholic Christian communities because of its Dangish demographic and proximity to the city of Intel, while both Rha'gutza and Khorvu house pockets of Andamonian religion.