BritishOccident
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Introduction
Atlas Occidentia is a series of maps and images that documents the great nation of Occidentia. Occidentia is a multiethnic foederal constitutional republic, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the East to the Rocky Mountains (Miistakistsi/Mestakichy) in the West. The northern border is defined by the 49th parallel north, the Nipigon River, The Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, the 45th parallel, the Laurentian divide, and finally by the 48th parallel until it meets the Chaleur Bay; the southern border by the Rio Bravo and the Bay of Mexico.
Climate
The nation has a diverse climate and ecology. In the Gulf of Maine Region, summers are mild, the winters snowy. The mid-Atlantic region has temperate weather, with hot humid summers and cold winters with some snow occurring. On the South and Gulf Coasts, summers are hot and humid, the winters mild. In the state of Trans-Pecos, summers are scorching and arid, with extreme day-night temperature variations, and winters brings with it frost and snow in the mountains - but the winter is brief. On the Great Lakes, summers are mild and humid, and the lakes, although they raise the local temperature in the winter, brings with it a phenomenon called the Lake Effect which creates extreme snowfall events. West of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River is the vast Occidentian Prairies, once called the "Great Occidentian Desert". However, unlike most of the Trans-Pecos, it is not a true desert, but a semiarid steppe conductive to the growth of wild grasses that sustained vast herds of buffalo for millennia. Summers in the Occidentian Prairies can be scorching, with a combination of cold mountain winds and hot gulf winds fueling some of the world's most extreme weather, with vast thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes. However, it is also the region most conductive to the growth of crops, making Occidentia a net food exporter.
Government
Occidentia is a foederal constitutional republic - the oldest extant today. However, historians generally group Occidentia into several 'Republics'. The current Fourth Republic was founded in 1921, as the result of the Second Occidentian Civil War. The Republic is governed by a Lord President, responsible to the Parliament of Occidentia. The Lord President may select ministers to fill their Government, and the Parliament's Rule of Procedure allow for the Lord President to be deposed by a majority of either the Cabinet or Parliament.
If the Parliament deposes the Lord President without selecting a new one, a writ of election is issued by the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission can also issue writs of election every four years in peacetime or at the recommendation of the Lord President.
The Parliament was formerly bicameral, with a House of Burgesses and a Senate. The House of Burgesses was simplified to simply "The House" in the beginning of the Third Republic, and the Senate was completely abolished in the Fourth Republic, and the singular body was renamed the "Parliament of Occidentia".
The Government has its seat in Marquette, an extraterritorial district. Marquette replaced the city of Seawark, first temporarily in 1863, and then permanently with the establishment of the Third Republic at the conclusion of the First Occidentian Civil War in 1866.
Occidentia is subdivided into provinces (although their names may vary), each with its own government. These governments fall into two general types - divided executives, where a separate executive is elected by the province at large - usually going by the name 'governor' with the exception of Trans-Pecos which uses the title 'viceroy'; and united executives where a President of Assembly (PA) is elected by the province's legislature by varying means.
Culture
Occidentia is a trilingual nation. Occidentia's constitution declares the country to "legislate in two common tongues, English and Occidentian French. An office shall be hereby ordained to translate all edicts of Parliament into a third common tongue, Spanish. Efforts shall be pursued by the Government and her provinces to preserve all local indigenous tongues from extinction by appropriate means."
The most widely spoken of all tongues in Occidentia, English, came as a result of the English, British, and Anglo-Dutch colonization of the Americas, spurred on by shipmaking, fishmongering, tobbaco, rice, and indigo trades. Although the English and Huguenot population were close at certain points in history, the English-speaking population benefitted first from a larger natural rate of growth, and then in the later 19th and early 20th century, significant European immigration as well as English-speaking citizens' successful push to settle the Occidentian Frontier.
French first became part of Occidentia as part of the Wabenaki Wars, in which the British Occident captured the province of Acadia as retaliation for their support of Wabenaki raiding parties. However, most French speakers are not found in Acadia, but in the north-center part of the country. This is due to French Huguenot settlement in the Great Lakes Region, formerly called the Pays d'en Haut - a vast region between the Mississippi and the Ohio River. Most French spoken in Occidentia follows the Huguenot pattern, which shares more features with Occitan than modern French. In addition to the French spoken in Acadia and in the Great Lakes, there is also the French spoken by Catholic settlements on the southern fringes of the Mississippi River.
The Spanish language first arrived in Occidentia when the nation purchased Florida from Spain, upon the condition their language would be protected 'in perpetuity'. Later, as Occidentia expanded west, they captured the Brazorian Republic from Mexico. The Brazorian Republic was split into two parts, the Province of Trans-Pecos and the Republic of Baiha. The Trans-Pecos legally protects Spanish alongside English to this day, while the Republic of Baiha abolished such protections in 1935, following protests by migrant farmers from Mexico.
In addition to these three major language groups, there were over a thousand native tongues in Occidentia, several hundred which are still extant. Despite facing genocide, cultural deprivation, and marginalization, the First Nations of Occidentia have preserved their culture and tongue for future generations. In addition, the provinces of Seneca and Mohawk, formed after a split in the Iroquoian confederacy, still possess a First Nations population of 34% and 42%, respectively and their languages enjoy considerable protections at the provincial level.
[Maps and images to follow, just an introduction to let people know what Occidentia is!]
Atlas Occidentia is a series of maps and images that documents the great nation of Occidentia. Occidentia is a multiethnic foederal constitutional republic, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the East to the Rocky Mountains (Miistakistsi/Mestakichy) in the West. The northern border is defined by the 49th parallel north, the Nipigon River, The Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, the 45th parallel, the Laurentian divide, and finally by the 48th parallel until it meets the Chaleur Bay; the southern border by the Rio Bravo and the Bay of Mexico.
Climate
The nation has a diverse climate and ecology. In the Gulf of Maine Region, summers are mild, the winters snowy. The mid-Atlantic region has temperate weather, with hot humid summers and cold winters with some snow occurring. On the South and Gulf Coasts, summers are hot and humid, the winters mild. In the state of Trans-Pecos, summers are scorching and arid, with extreme day-night temperature variations, and winters brings with it frost and snow in the mountains - but the winter is brief. On the Great Lakes, summers are mild and humid, and the lakes, although they raise the local temperature in the winter, brings with it a phenomenon called the Lake Effect which creates extreme snowfall events. West of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River is the vast Occidentian Prairies, once called the "Great Occidentian Desert". However, unlike most of the Trans-Pecos, it is not a true desert, but a semiarid steppe conductive to the growth of wild grasses that sustained vast herds of buffalo for millennia. Summers in the Occidentian Prairies can be scorching, with a combination of cold mountain winds and hot gulf winds fueling some of the world's most extreme weather, with vast thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes. However, it is also the region most conductive to the growth of crops, making Occidentia a net food exporter.
Government
Occidentia is a foederal constitutional republic - the oldest extant today. However, historians generally group Occidentia into several 'Republics'. The current Fourth Republic was founded in 1921, as the result of the Second Occidentian Civil War. The Republic is governed by a Lord President, responsible to the Parliament of Occidentia. The Lord President may select ministers to fill their Government, and the Parliament's Rule of Procedure allow for the Lord President to be deposed by a majority of either the Cabinet or Parliament.
If the Parliament deposes the Lord President without selecting a new one, a writ of election is issued by the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission can also issue writs of election every four years in peacetime or at the recommendation of the Lord President.
The Parliament was formerly bicameral, with a House of Burgesses and a Senate. The House of Burgesses was simplified to simply "The House" in the beginning of the Third Republic, and the Senate was completely abolished in the Fourth Republic, and the singular body was renamed the "Parliament of Occidentia".
The Government has its seat in Marquette, an extraterritorial district. Marquette replaced the city of Seawark, first temporarily in 1863, and then permanently with the establishment of the Third Republic at the conclusion of the First Occidentian Civil War in 1866.
Occidentia is subdivided into provinces (although their names may vary), each with its own government. These governments fall into two general types - divided executives, where a separate executive is elected by the province at large - usually going by the name 'governor' with the exception of Trans-Pecos which uses the title 'viceroy'; and united executives where a President of Assembly (PA) is elected by the province's legislature by varying means.
Culture
Occidentia is a trilingual nation. Occidentia's constitution declares the country to "legislate in two common tongues, English and Occidentian French. An office shall be hereby ordained to translate all edicts of Parliament into a third common tongue, Spanish. Efforts shall be pursued by the Government and her provinces to preserve all local indigenous tongues from extinction by appropriate means."
The most widely spoken of all tongues in Occidentia, English, came as a result of the English, British, and Anglo-Dutch colonization of the Americas, spurred on by shipmaking, fishmongering, tobbaco, rice, and indigo trades. Although the English and Huguenot population were close at certain points in history, the English-speaking population benefitted first from a larger natural rate of growth, and then in the later 19th and early 20th century, significant European immigration as well as English-speaking citizens' successful push to settle the Occidentian Frontier.
French first became part of Occidentia as part of the Wabenaki Wars, in which the British Occident captured the province of Acadia as retaliation for their support of Wabenaki raiding parties. However, most French speakers are not found in Acadia, but in the north-center part of the country. This is due to French Huguenot settlement in the Great Lakes Region, formerly called the Pays d'en Haut - a vast region between the Mississippi and the Ohio River. Most French spoken in Occidentia follows the Huguenot pattern, which shares more features with Occitan than modern French. In addition to the French spoken in Acadia and in the Great Lakes, there is also the French spoken by Catholic settlements on the southern fringes of the Mississippi River.
The Spanish language first arrived in Occidentia when the nation purchased Florida from Spain, upon the condition their language would be protected 'in perpetuity'. Later, as Occidentia expanded west, they captured the Brazorian Republic from Mexico. The Brazorian Republic was split into two parts, the Province of Trans-Pecos and the Republic of Baiha. The Trans-Pecos legally protects Spanish alongside English to this day, while the Republic of Baiha abolished such protections in 1935, following protests by migrant farmers from Mexico.
In addition to these three major language groups, there were over a thousand native tongues in Occidentia, several hundred which are still extant. Despite facing genocide, cultural deprivation, and marginalization, the First Nations of Occidentia have preserved their culture and tongue for future generations. In addition, the provinces of Seneca and Mohawk, formed after a split in the Iroquoian confederacy, still possess a First Nations population of 34% and 42%, respectively and their languages enjoy considerable protections at the provincial level.
[Maps and images to follow, just an introduction to let people know what Occidentia is!]