Ambara
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| Western Atlantic |
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Ambara is a continent bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, the north by the Gulf of Vasconia, and the west by the Pacific Ocean. It is a diverse land where religous and ethnic tensions have always run very high. Ambara is part of the Western Atlantic. Abt is the only fully self-governing nation in Ambara. Marlund, Jagiella, Gandara, and Alekthos are Caldan Dominions. Pantocratorian Ambara is a colony of Pantocratoria. Knootian Colombia is a member state in the Knootian Federation.
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Geography
Plate tectonics recognizes the vast majority of Ambara as being the surface of the Ambaran Plate.
Ambara can be divided into four main regions: the fertile and green lands to the northwest, which include Pantocratorian Ambara, Marlund, Knootian Colombia and Alekthos; the beautiful but cold and rocky mountains of eastern Jagiella; the northeastern rainforests of Gandara and Abt; and the great plains of western Jagiella.
History
For most of modern history, Marlund was the only inhabited region in Ambara. Until the Second Ambaran War, the Marlund government brutally persecuted Jews, Catholics, dissenters, and homosexuals, as well as keeping people of colour in chattel slavery. These attitudes led to hostility with the outside world.
In 2005, Marlund supported terrorists who launched a massive attack on the city of Armonvale in the Caldan Union. However, many of the terrorists involved in the attack were actually Pantocratorians. Related terrorists purchased Pantocratorian Princess Theodora from Veganan forces who had kidnapped her from her home. Princess Theodora was raped and tortured by her captors.
These two terrorist actions prompted the invasion of Marlund by the Caldan Union, the liberation of the slaves and the prompt establishment of a constitutional monarchy under King Hermann, the grandson of King Karl, the last monarch to reign in Marlund. The constitutional government swiftly invited Pantocratorian and Excalbian forces to join Caldan and local forces in suppressing terrorism and the remnants of the old regime.
King Hermann married Ygraine Crawford, the dowager Grand Duchess of Tarana in order to bring about a dynastic union between the Marlund and Caldan monarchies. When the King was forced to abdicate because of his resistance to a political solution to continued violence, he was succeeded by Owain, King of the Resurgent Dream, bringing about a dynastic union between Marlund and Caldas. Marlund subsequently became a Caldan dominion.
The Rise of Agriculture and the Domestication of Animals
The earliest inhabitants of Ambara are believed to have been Vasconian Indians who travelled south into Ambara around 6125 BCE. There are very few living descendants of the first Ambarans. Most of them are believed to have been absorbed into the African-Ambaran population. The first evidence of agriculture in Ambara dates to 1254 BCE when natives domesticated squashes, chilli peppers, beans, and manioc. Natives also domesticated the llama and alpaca for transportation, meat, and wool.
In addition to agriculture, many ancient Ambaran communities continued to rely upon hunting, gathering and fishing up until the time of European conquest.
Pre-colonial civilization
Almost nothing is known of human societies in Ambara prior to the settlement of Marlund and Adoki. Very few archaeological sites have been found, mostly in Sahor, Jagiella and Gandara. These include statues of the so-called Ambaran Amazons, aboriginal Ambaran women depicted in military endeavors. Largely on the basis of these remains, many anthropologists have theorized that the the aboriginal Ambarans had a radically different view of gender roles from many other aboriginal cultures. Others, however, have maintained that the statues likely represent non-normative figures, either goddesses or other semi-mythical figures comparable to the Amazons in ancient Greek mythology. Still others hold that the statues are not the work of aboriginal Ambarans at all but of now forgotten efforts at Hipolitan colonization of Sahor.
Japanese colonization
The Japanese colonization of Adoki began some five centuries ago when settlers left Japan to seek a new life. They were led by Prince Shoko(1498-1548), an unrecognized son of Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado who resented being denied a throne he considered rightfully his. The settlers founded their first colony in the city of Aaharo, which remains an important Adoki port city and the site of an important imperial palace to this day.
Over the next five centuries, the settlers expanded throughout present day Adoki. Prince Shoko and his immediate heirs styled themselves Emperors of Japan until 1806, when Emperor Ogimachi (reigned 1797-1808) began to style himself Emperor of Adoki. This change in title marked a recognition both that the line of Shoko would never sit on the throne of Japan and that Adoki had now become a viable nation in its own right.
European colonization
European colonization of Ambara, which began in 1542, largely took place in what is now the nation of Marlund, although settlers originally founded many different colonies each with its own distinctive government. The early settlers were mostly religious dissidents who were fleeing from Europe in order to establish their own ideal religious communities. However, few of these communities embraced the principle of religious freedom in any abstract sense. Even as they complained of persecutions in Europe, most of them conducted their own affairs according to theocratic principles of government.
In Marlund, European colonists considered themselves completely independent of their homelands from the moment they landed. The colonists in Marlund set out not merely to set up their own religious communities but to set up completely independent polities. It was for this reason that, at great expense and danger, they set up their colonies on the west, rather than the east, coast of Ambara. They believed that this would make it essentially impossible for any European power to gain effective authority over them. This practice made most of the early settlers criminals according to the established authorities in their homelands and their self-proclaimed republics, kingdoms, commonwealths and city-states were not formally recognized by any European state until 1754, over two centuries after colonization begun.
The early settlers of Marlund came mostly from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. However, settlers from nearly every European power were included. The early settlers differed not only in nationality and language but also in religion and politics. While all were Protestants, they advocated many different specific sects and forms of government, ranging from austere Calvinists to celebratory Charismatics and from absolute monarchies to democratic republics with universal white suffrage.
The first settlers found some natives already living in Ambara. The early Marlunders were somewhat divided in their approach to the natives. Some regarded them as less than human, capable only of serving as lowly servants to the settlers or even as requiring extermination. Others regarded them as merely uncivilized and sought to Christianize and assimilate them on unequal terms. However, no group of settlers was willing to treat with the natives as equals. The natives were often enslaved and forced to labour for the colonists. As the native population was decimated by overwork, European diseases and frequent massacres, the Europeans turned to the importation of African slaves for labor purposes. The remaining natives were soon absorbed into this new African-Ambaran population.
Slavery expanded rapidly in suceeding centuries, so much so that by the time it was finally destroyed during the Second Ambaran War, African-Ambaran former slaves made up 41% of Marlund's people. While white Marlunders attempted to maintain a myth of strict racial separation throughout the period of slavery, white men had unacknowledged but generally accepted sexual access to their female slaves, willing and unwilling. Most experts estimate that this unequal sexual contact, essentially amounting to serial rape, was so widespread that the average African-Ambaran today is 21% European in heritage.
Recent history
In 1916, Marlund, while still far behind every other nation in the Western Atlantic, was beginning to embrace reform. Slavery had been restricted, abuses curtailed and many slaves freed and even made full citizens. Complete abolition seemed to be imminent. Property restrictions on suffrage had been eliminated. Married women's property and contract rights had been recognized and the first divorce laws were being introduced. A serious movement for women's suffrage was underway. Religious toleration for Catholics and Jews had been achieved, at least as far as the law was concerned. While behind, the nation seemed poised to move into the 20th century. However, these reforms were unpopular with white public opinion.
The First World War created deep schisms in Marlund. Colonel Dirk Fable, an agitator against the recent reforms, claimed that the Central Powers were dominated by Jews and Catholics. He took advantage of the turmoil of the war and the rising unrest among soldiers to lead a far right military coup. Upon taking power, Fable began to attack African-Ambarans, Catholics, Jews, women and homosexuals within his own country. However, he needed time to consolidate power. He concluded a separate peace with Laneria and Adoki.
For nearly the whole of the 20th century, Marlund and Adoki were fighting one another. During the First World War, Adoki was an Allied Power and Marlund a Central Power. After the war in Europe ended, the two nations kept up low-level fighting until the Second World War, during which they were both Axis powers. After the end of the Second World War, Adoki and Marlund each blamed the other for the defeat of the Axis, waging the truly vicious First Ambaran War.
The situation remained much the same until the Second Ambaran War, which saw the restoration of constitutional monarchy and the introduction of the rule of law in Marlund, the democratization and introduction of the rule of law in Adoki and the abolition of slavery and overt racial oppression throughout the continent.
Shortly after the Second Ambaran War, the other Confederal Members in Ambara were founded. The Commonwealth of Peoples was formed and afterwards its Members were incorporated into the Confederated Peoples, a new polity which included most of Ambara. In addition to the Confederated Peoples, Pantocratorian Ambara and Abt were founded at this time.
Economy
Ambara is an economically developed region where every nation enjoys a relative "First World" standard of living. The main areas of significant economic underdevelopment are Marlund, an area in the Resurgent Dream, and the Abt Republic. The former is still in the process of reconstructing itself after the abolition of its previous institutions of slavery, dictatorship, theocracy and a racial caste system. Marlund's economic problems create steady population pressures along its border with Pantocratorian Ambara although many Marlunders simply move elsewhere in the Resurgent Dream. However, Marlund's increasing economic integration with the rest of the Confederated Peoples and her Ambaran neighbors is creating a steady upward trend in Marlund's economy.
For its part, the Abtian economy is still in the process of establishment as the country continues to build up from nothing. The most economically developed and populated regions lie on the shores of Abt Bay. The rest of the country is in the process of continued development, with the government founding cities, industries, expanding infrastructure and transport networks, attracting private enterprises and investment. Abt's finances are still dependent on the taxes paid by the richest citizens, most of them convinced Taraskovyan republicans who chose to emigrate to Abt in order to help build a new and prosperous republic. Due to their business assets back in Taraskovya, their contribution through taxes and private financial initiatives are extremely important to the republic's budget. Taraskovyan republicans back in the Empire also contribute to the economic development of the Abt Republic through various investments and financial projects.
Regional and political divisions
The eastern half of Ambara is sometimes referred to as Sahor, although this has fallen out of use as a broad regional term ever since the name was adopted by a group of Confederal Members taking up only a fourth of the area traditionally referred to as Sahor.
In the far North, where, despite the proximity to the equator, high altitudes keep most of the land colder than many southern locations, the Resurgent Dream lays claim to seven Members: Selinia, Thorlund, Zutern, Alekthos, Amalad, Amory and Carasia.
Just south of this northern region, Marlund, a Confederal Member, is one of Ambara's oldest settlements. Now a fully democratic and multicultural constitutional monarchy, Marlund has a long history of racial and religious bigotry and oppression. The northern part of Marlund is occuppied primarily by the previously dominant European-Ambarans while southern Marlund is occuppied in large part by African-Ambarans.
Pantocratorian Ambara, just to the south of Marlund, is a Pantocratorian colony settled primarily by Pantocratorians, with a substantial African-Ambaran minority originating in Marlund. Pantocratorian Ambara is effectively an independent nation, with Emperor Andreus of Pantocratoria as its head of state, but its own democratically chosen Premier as its head of government, and its own legislature.
A large bay lies between Pantocratorian Ambara and Adoki, the southernmost land in western Ambara. Adoki is a culturally and ethnically Japanese Confederal Member whose people are sometimes considered insular and hostile to outsiders.
Culture
Ambara is culturally, ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse. The continent possesses eight major languages, four broad racial groups and dozens of sometimes overlapping religious and cultural identities.
The different Confederal Members display considerable diversity among themselves with regard to religion although they also each individually have a reasonable degree of internal diversity. Lutheranism is the predominant religion the Kingdom of Marlund and in the Principality of Thorlund. Shinto and Buddhism are the major religions in the Empire of Adoki. The Church of Amory is established in the Principality of Amory. The National Protestant Church dominates the religious scene in Zutern. Alekthos and Amalad both have Islamic majorities. Selinia has a majority Jewish population and Carasia is mostly Oriental Orthodox. Gandara is a largely secular state but its two largest religious bodies are the Gandaran Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and the Gandaran Union for Reform Judaism. Jagiella is overwhelmingly Catholic. A little more than two thirds of Sahori consider themselves Christians and a majority of those belong to the Catholic Church, the Church of Amory, the Church of Excalbia or the Christian Union Church.
Pantocratorian Ambara, while not so diverse as the Confederated Peoples, is a religiously diverse nation containing Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Lutheran populations. Abt, on the other hand, is almost entirely Orthodox.
Pantocratorian Ambara has two official languages: French and Greek. Abt's official language is Russian. The de facto official language of the Confederated Peoples is English. The various Confederal Members in Ambara recognize a number of other languages as official within their own borders, including Amharic, Arabic, French, Hebrew and Polish.
People
Ethnic groups in Ambara include:
Territories
Only three nations possess territory in Ambara: Abt, Pantocratorian Ambara and the Confederated Peoples. The various Confederal Members which currently represent located in Ambara make up a majority of the continent in terms of geographical size. These Members are themselves part of a larger polity which includes a great deal of territory outside of Ambara. Abt, although it has historic ties to both the Resurgent Dream and Taraskovya, is a completely sovereign and independent state. Pantocratorian Ambara is a self-governing part of the Pantocratorian Empire, sharing a sovereign with Pantocratoria proper.
The Western Atlantic on NSwiki - Main article: Western Atlantic
- Atlantic International Organisation: Courtland: |
Excalbia | 
Knootoss | 
Sovereign States | 
Upper Virginia | Lyeithen: | 
Aerion | 
Xirnium | Both: | 
Pantocratoria | 
The Resurgent Dream
- Unaligned Nations:
Abt | 
Amestria | 
Balthorvia | 
Brasland |
Iesus Christi | 
Leagran | 
New Leicestershire | 
Sabaristan | 
Snefaldia
- Disputed territories and dependencies:
Alekthos | 
Ambalieva | 
Finara | 
Free Virginia | 
Hipolis | 
Colombia | 
Knootian Gulf Islands | 
Saxmere
- Geographic subdivisions: Ambara, Vasconia, Epheron, Excalbian Isles, Pantocratorian Archipelago, Danaan Islands, Europe-Atlantic
- Atlantic International Organisation: Courtland: |
