Tuckamore County
Tuckamore County
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|---|---|
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| Country |  Surrow |
| Founded | July 7, 1759 |
| County seat | Tern Harbour |
| Government | |
| • Commissioner | Oliver Redder |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2,765.82 km2 (1,067.89 sq mi) |
| Population (2021) | |
| • Total | 15,105 |
| • Rank | 3rd in Surrow |
| • Density | 5.46/km2 (14.1/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (Surrowese Standard Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | not observed |
Tuckamore County (Chequan: Ishku-minashkuau-assi, Tyrnican: Krummholz Amt) is a county in Surrow, bordered to the north by Disappointment County and to the south by Southland County. Established in 1759 after being carved out of the northern two-thirds of Southland County, which up until that point covered all of Holcot Island, it is today the second-largest county in area after Stoney County, and the third-most populous after Southland County and Stoney County.
Etymology
The name of Tuckamore County derives from the tuckamore formations found in the county, as the forests on Holcot Island become more and more stunted due to the Breuvician environment. The tuckamore also gave rise to its Tyrnican name, Krummholz Amt, as the Tyrnican term for the stunted tree formations is krummholz.
The Chequan name for the county, Ishku-minashkuau, means end of the forest, which reflects how the forested areas of Holcot Island gradually end around Tuckamore County. However, Ishku-minashkuau-assi is commonly shortened to just Minashkuau-assi in colloquial Chequan.
History
The first permanent Auressian settlement was established in 1596, when Tyrnican fishermen established the settlement of Týrhafen (present-day Tern Harbour). Tern Harbour would become the second-largest Tyrnican settlement on Surrow after Kleinerhafen (present-day Klinerhaven, Holcot Inlet), and the third-largest settlement after Holcot Inlet and Kleinerhafen.
The first permanent Rythenean setlement was Port Brassie, established in 1611, followed by Hairings Harbour in 1629. However, the Rythenean settlements in present-day Tuckamore County were small: by the end of the sixteenth century, the population of Týrhafen was only around fifty people during the winter, while the other settlements, both Rythenean and Tyrnican, had an average winter population of ten people.
The close proximity of Rythenean and Tyrnican settlements led to conflicts and skirmishes between fishermen and local authorities, but in the early phases of the Eleven Years' War, Tyrnica would control all the settlements in present-day Tuckamore County until Tyrnica's decisive defeat at the Battle of Klinerhaven in 1758, and the transfer of all Tyrnican settlements to Rythenean rule, although Tyrnicans living on Surrow were allowed to continue living there under the condition that they accepted Rythenean authority.
In July 1759, the colonial government carved Tuckamore County out of the northern two-thirds of Southland County, with Týrhafen, now renamed to Tern Harbour, becoming the county seat. The borders were further altered in 1784 when most of the northern half of Tuckamore County became Disappointment County, and the western coast of the county (plus the western coast of Southland County) became Westland County.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Tern Harbour became the "second city" of Surrow, due to its close proximity to "exceptionally rich fishing waters" compared to Holcot Inlet and other communities further south. By the mid-nineteenth century, Tern Harbour's population of 2,500 people made it the largest city outside of Holcot Inlet, with the city roughly evenly divided between the Rythenophone and Tyrnophone communities.
In 1848, Westland County was dissolved, with its middle third being attached to Tuckamore County, giving it its present-day borders. During the late 19th century, the county government began developing, with the first county council being elected in 1851, and the county government becoming more and more powerful as the century went on, with the county government assuming control over land registration, emergency services, infrastructure maintenance, and day-to-day operation of schools.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Tuckamore County became the centre for the Surrowese language question, as the Tyrnican residents sought to have Tyrnican become a co-official language in the Colony of Surrow alongside Rythenean. The language question would only be settled with the outbreak of the First Great War, with Rythene and Tyrnica entering opposite sides of the war, and the colonial government and broader society seeing Tyrnican as the language of the enemy. This, combined with economic pressures contributed to the decline of Surrowese Tyrnican throughout the twentieth century.
The Second Great War would see the construction of an air base at Gateway, which in 1954 would become Surrow International Airport. The development of the airport, combined with declining economic opportunities in the outports and in Tern Harbour led to younger people leaving the communities for Gateway and Holcot Inlet, and to a population decline that continues to this day.
Government
Tuckamore County is governed by a nine-member county council (Chequan: nekaussei, Tyrnican: Amtsrat), elected every four years. Since the 2022 redistribution and the May 2022 election, seven councilors represents the city of Gateway, one councilor represents Tern Harbour and Hairings Harbour, and one councilor represents the rest of the county.
The county council is headed by a commissioner (Chequan: utshimau, Tyrnican: Kommissar), with the current commissioner since June 24, 2022 being Oliver Redder, who succeeded Arnie Gesner, who served as the commissioner of Tuckamore County from 2014 until 2022.
Per the Surrowese constitution, Tuckamore County, like all other counties in Surrow, has power over infrastructure maintenance, trial courts, emergency services, land registration, day-to-day operations of schools, and provision of medical services. Uniquely, it is the only county in Surrow to be officially bilingual in both Rythenean and Tyrnican, with Tyrnican being made a co-official language with Rythenean in 1986 on the county level.
The county seat is in Tern Harbour, although since the 1950s, there have been constant proposals to relocate the county seat to Gateway, as Gateway is by far the largest city in the county.
Demographics
As of the 2021 census, Tuckamore County's population was measured to be at 15,105 people.
Racially, Tuckamore County is very homogenous, with 15,069 people, or around 99.8% of the population being of Auressian descent, with estimates suggesting that around 50% of the population are of Rythenean descent, 45% of the population are of Tyrnican origin, and the remaining 5% of the population coming from other Auressian countries. The remaining racial groups are minuscule, with 19 people or around 0.1% of the county population being Native Surrowese, with estimates suggesting 100% of Native Surrowese in Tuckamore County are of Chequan descent, and 17 people, or around 0.1% of the county population coming from other racial groups.
Religiously, Tuckamore County is heavily Perendist, with 14,726 people, or around 97.5% of the county population following the religion. Only 353 people, or around 2.3% of the county population are irreligious, while only 26 people, or around 0.2% of the county population follow other religions.
Linguistically, 14,664 people, or around 97.1% of the county population, speak Rythenean as their mother tongue. 429 people, or around 2.8% of the county population, speak Tyrnican as their mother tongue, 3 people, or roughly 0% of the county population speak Chequan, and 9 people, or around 0.1% of the county population speak other languages as their mother tongue.
Settlements
The only city (Chequan: mishautenau, Tyrnican: Stadt) in Tuckamore County is Gateway, with a population of 11,688 people as of the 2021 census, or around 77.4% of the county population.
Tuckamore County has seven villages (Chequan: utenass, Tyrnican: Dorf), with the three largest villages being the county seat of Tern Harbour with a population of 872 as of the 2021 census, Hairings Harbour with a population of 581 as of the 2021 census, and Gisborne Reed, with a population of 354 people as of the 2021 census. The other four villages are Port Brassie, Debes Inlet, Challenge Reed, and Shipwash Bay.