Urcean people

The Urcean people are a nation and ethnic group native to Urcea. The Urcean identity is of early medieval origin. Their ethnonym is derived from peoples living close to the Urce River in antiquity, referred to in Lebhan as Urciona.

The Urceans largely descend from two main historical population groups – the earlier Latinic people of Adonerum and the native Gaelic people who inhabited Levantia prior to the Latinic conquest. While the Great Levantia period largely saw a degree of segregation between the politically empowered Latinic population as compared to the geographically and politically marginalized Gaelic people, there was nonetheless a degree of admixture and integration. By the time of the fall of Great Levantia, integration of the two cultures began in earnest in the Urce River valley, and by the time of St. Julius I, the residents of Urceopolis and the Urce River valley were in the throes of hybridization, beginning a truly unique, Urcean culture.

Besides the "core" Urcean ethnicity, sometimes called "valley Urceans" in relation to their origin in the greater Urce River valley region known as the Valley, other ethnic groups are sometimes considered to be part of the wider Urcean identity. Most prominent among these are the Caenish people of Canaery and the southern tip of Levantia.

Identity
Despite global classifications of Urceans consistently placing them as among Latinic peoples, and relations between Urcea and Caphiria and other states on Sarpedon are characterized by their cultural kinship, Urceans consider themselves neither Latinic or Gaelic but rather the descendants of both groups. While the concept of Urceanity derives from the cultural traditions of the country as well as the ethnic admixture of Gaels and Latins, immigrants have been known to be able to integrate into Urcean culture.

A vast majority of Urceans are divided into what are known as the Estates of Urcea, kinship-and-identity groups that bind families together. Deriving from the early voting tribes of Great Levantia and the socio-political client-patron relationships within them, the Estates have 25 distinct "Latinic" Estates and 25 distinct "Gaelic" Estates, with the latter being integrated during the latter Great Levantia period as part of the process of what sociologists call Urceanization. Distinctly, Urceans do not see themselves as the same Latin peoples who forged and lived within Great Levantia, instead claiming heritage both from Great Levantia and the Gaelic peoples that it conquered, seeing themselves as the direct descendants of neither but instead the product of both. In this way, Urceans view themselves as the "consummation of the whole history of Levantia" in the words of Kiravian scholar P. G. W. Gelema.

Historic Urceanization
"Historic" Urceanization refers to a process which occurred beginning approximately in the 3rd century and ending in the 9th century that saw groups of Latinic people and Gaelic people living in Southern Levantia begin to form a single, albeit broad, cultural continuum that could be identified today as "Urcean." Much, though not all of this process, was accompanied by frequent intermarriage among these peoples, especially in the midst of and following the collapse of Great Levantia; accordingly, it refers to periods of deviation from Levantine identity.

Most historians agree that a separate "Urcean" identity probably originated as a subculture of individuals living along the Urce River around the 3rd or 4th century. These people could best be described almost as "suburban" in temperament and their relation to Urceopolis, the center of the continent-spanning empire. While the Urceopolitans themselves retained a proud and distinct Latinic heritage, and indeed exemplified what it meant to be Levantine, the residents of neighboring towns, cities, and farms during the high and late imperial period began to take on cultural signifiers that were divergent from those of the city, despite having been the "core" of Levantine identity and society since the Adonerii had settled Levantia a millennia prior. Regular interaction with Gaelic people as well as a shared political worldview likely drove the establishment of this "River Region Subculture," although many historians also now believe that these people were predominantly Catholic long before the overall conversion of Great Levantia later in its history.

Late Urceanization
"Late" Urceanization refers to any continuation of the process of the growth and adaptation of Urcean identity by groups of people at any time following the 9th century. Subjects of late Urceanization tend to be groups living in Urcea's geographic periphery and ones incorporated into the country following the Golden Bull of 1098. Accordingly, these groups tend to have entirely different historical origins than the "valley Urceans" and also retain a partially separate identity. These groups - primarily the Caens, Gassavelians, and Garán peoples - nonetheless view themselves as Urcean under varying models of dual identity.

Dual identity
Dual identity is a sociological phenomenon prevalent among the groups of people who were subject to "late" Urceanization. People in these groups tend to view themselves as Urcean, both in terms of nationality as well as ethnicity, in addition to their core held ethnic view of themselves as a distinct people. While the relationship between Urcean nationality and these groups is fairly straight forward due to its long political control over their homelands, scholars and cultural observers have long been interested in what sense these groups consider themselves ethnically Urcean. The primary justification behind dual identity theory among its adherents is that, even if history separated the development of specific cultural mores and identity between the residents of the Valley and residents of the periphery, the original "ingredients" of these cultural groups are all the same. By way of example, this theory holds that a Gassavelian and a "valley Urcean" share ultimately the same origin point in ancient Gaelic peoples, even if the Gassavelians were later primarily influenced by people from Audonia while Valley residents were influenced by settlers from Adonerum.

Limitations
Efforts by the Government of Urcea as well as cultural exchanges as part of the Levantine Union have largely failed to include people adhering to Derian identity - particularly those of Urcean nationality living in Transionia - within dual identity structure. Scholars have posited that the relative recentness of Transionia's incorporation, combined with severe ethnic tensions in and around Dericania since 1800, have made efforts at identity integration difficult.

Efforts intended to accelerate the incorporation of Ænglish people within the Urcean identity following the incorporation of Ænglasmarch only met limited success, in part due to the persistent existence of the Ænglish people outside of Urcea in what would become Anglei as well as a lasting legacy on the culture of Hollona and Diorisia. Accordingly, residents of Ænglasmarch are divided among those who have retained their identity and those who have partly integrated into Urcean identity, a group known as Angleans. The Ænglish-Anglean difference is a major cultural and political dividing line in Ænglasmarch.

Language
Urcea has three officially recognized languages, Julian Ænglish,, and Lebhan, of which only Julian Ænglish is spoken on a regular basis by a vast majority of the population, used in business, personal, and official contexts. Abroad, Urceans speak Julian Ænglish, and their presence has made it an important language of diplomacy and business in Crona and especially in the Nysdra Sea Treaty Association states.

Religion
Being a member of the Catholic Church - practicing or otherwise - is considered to be a vital part of Urcean identity, so much so that and other faith Urcean nationals have assumed a completely different ethnic identity over the past five centuries known as Cisionian people. Cisionians assumed their identity not only from Urcean external views but from internal identity realization based on centuries of cultural isolation. Accordingly, Catholicism and elements of it permeate every part of the culture of Urceans, ranging from pop culture references of, to popular legends of , to the legal and cultural structuring of the week around Sunday, the day when many Urceans attend.

Culture
The Urcean culture is an Occidental culture with some recent influences of Cronan culture and society. Urceans have many of their own unique social and cultural characteristics, such as, , , , and. Most of these traditions and mores developed from the bend of Gaelic and Latin people, incorporating earlier cultural traditions while iterating and creating new ones throughout history. Religion and politics both heavily influence Urcean culture and worldviews, with belief in Organicism and strong adherence to the Catholic Church reflected in nearly every social institution. Urceans are largely viewed abroad as strongly politically and socially, though this view is thought by most scholars to be a generalization, with a wide array of viewpoints and geographical expressions of those views present throughout Urcean society.