New Harren

The Kingdom of the Confederation of New Harren is a country in Cusinaut. Levantine colonization of the area of modern New Harren began in the 1850s, beginning the introduction of populations of Urcean people to Cusinaut. The Rectory of New Harren, the resulting colony, grew throughout the 19th and 20th century. In the 21st century, the Rectory was joined together with several local polities during the War of the Northern Confederation to create the Kingdom, which unified the local allied polities and Rectories together into a single, new benefactor confederacy.

The country, which is under a with Urcea, is one of the largest Occidental countries in the Nysdra Sea region. Historians and observers have noted that it is the most readily identifiable home of the Nysdrine people, a cultural and ethnic group which incorporates both Levantine and Cronan heritages. New Harren is viewed as the cultural crossroads between the Occident and Cusinaut. Economically and culturally, New Harren is significantly influential on Urcea and its allies. Since the Final War of the Deluge and construction of the so-called "NSTA-sphere", New Harren is taking on the characteristics of a cosmopolitan global hub, becoming the political and economic center of the Nysdrine world.

It is adjacent to several NSTA members as well as Cao, Porfiria, and Iriquona. The Kingdom was greatly expanded following the Final War of the Deluge, with the four constituent peoples of the Nysdra Provisional Republic voting to join in late 2024.

The Kingdom is a member of the Nysdra Sea Treaty Association.

Etymology
New Harren is named for Harren, one of two core constituent parts of Urcea. The realm takes its name from the original Urcean Rectory of New Harren, now one of the Kingdom's constituent parts.

The Kingdom's long name, the "Kingdom of the Confederation of New Harren", is of relatively unusual construction for national names in the Occident. The Statutory Charter of 2024, the nation's, provides that the "Confederation of New Harren" is the "cultural" and "geographical" name for the country, with "Kingdom" describing its form of government. In common parlance, both "the realm" and "the confederation" are used to refer to the country.

Geography
New Harren sits along the southeastern and eastern coast of Cusinaut, a large peninsular region in Crona, and is predominantly Nysdra Sea facing. It is one of the most habitable parts of the Nysdra basin and also sits not far from New Veltorina on the other side of the Nysdra and Northern Approaches. There are two main centers of human habitation within New Harren. The southeastern coast of the country, within the Rectory of New Harren, is heavily settled and urbanized, with new development radiating out from the coast. The second center is the so-called "native belt", a string of cities and heavily urbanized areas which largely run across the country's western border in the country's "middle" running north to south.

Climate
Much of the country's coastal regions, especially in the southern two thirds of the country, are temperate and suitable for large scale human habitation. The area which encompassed New Harren between the War of the Northern Confederation and the Final War of the Deluge exhibit a climate. This part of New Harren has year-round cloud cover due to the presence of warm sea currents and western sea breezes. This area receives significant precipitation. The northern third of the country, roughly approximate to the territory of the former Nysdra Provisional Republic has a with long, cold winters. As a whole, the country has significant vegetation cover, although the diversity of such coverage decreases in the subarctic region to trees.

Topography
Much of New Harren is flat, with gentle rolling hills lowering out towards the Nysdra Sea where low elevation land has significant human habitation. The country is bordered to the west by highlands which separate it from Porfíria. The pre-Final War of the Deluge northern border of the country was a riverine system which separated it from the highlands that extend throughout much of central Cusinaut, but following the annexation of the Nysdra Provisional Republic, the northern third of the country is largely comprised of these highlands.

Prior to the 19th century
The territory now encompassing New Harren was initially part of a larger entity in Western Crona known as the Northern Confederation. Established in the 17th century, the Northern Confederation aimed to solve long-standing disputes between a myriad of local tribes via Confederate arbitration. It was held that forming such a Confederation would help all members resist the incoming Levantine traders, who had already extracted trade interests and established treaty ports in Crona, particularly in Quetzenkel. The Confederation was comprised of six "great tribes" along with many smaller tribes and Cronite city-states; the Mixcala, the Cheektowaga, the Tepetlcali, the Tonawandis, the Algoquona, and the Schoharie. The Mixcala and Tepetlcali in particular frequently required Confederate intervention to prevent war.

Aedanicad and restoration
In the 1850s, King Aedanicus VIII sought to acquire land in Crona to boost Urcea's prestige and, additionally, in order to find territory to settle veterans of the Third Caroline War. After much searching, the tribe of Schoharie, the southernmost tribe in the Northern Confederation, agreed to sell its marshy southern coastal region to Urcea for four million talers in 1857. King Aedanicus declared the territory the colony of New Harren in 1858, and the new settlers arrived to find a difficult, swampy environment, which was only cleared through expensive application of new industrial technologies. Port St. Charles was established by the settlers in 1858, and by 1868 most of the bogs had been drained, allowing for arable land. Urcean colonists flooded into the country in the 1870s in light of constant overcrowding in Urcea, and by 1880 it was clear that the small territory was no longer sufficient to hold the growing population. Urcea declared war on the Schoharie in 1881 in the hopes that overwhelming Occidental power would prevent the Confederation from intervening, but it became clear that the gambit had failed as huge warbands and armies from the Confederation appeared on New Harren's frontiers. Using the power of its advanced Royal Navy and bolt-action rifles, Urcea quickly seized coastal fishing areas, transforming the war into a war of attrition. Growing expenses lead to the war ending in 1883; Urcea was ceded some territory from the Schoharie but the effort was largely considered a failure due to the inability to win a decisive victory. The war had claimed the lives of thousands of natives, and the Schoharie living in the ceded territory fled northward, settling in the lands of the Tepetlcali and Algoquona. Many of the Schoharie living in its remaining territory also began to migrate northwards, as many believed it would only be a matter of time until the Urceans returned.

King Aedanicus VIII did intend to try again, but died in 1889, and the colony was considered one of the King's vanity projects. New Harren was the sole overseas possession of Urcea to recognize the immediate succession of King Patrick III during the period of the Red Interregnum. Following the Crown Regency and Red Interregnum, Patrick III sought to restore Urcea's reputation abroad and to test Urcea's rebuilt military might. New Harren had again reached its comfortable population limit, and the King intended to prove that it was not merely his father's side project - Urcea was here to stay. To that end, he deployed several of Urcea's rebuild Royal Navy ships to shell the Schoharie coast before a formal declaration of war came In August of 1908, after which time the Royal Army expeditionary force came to occupy Schoharie by the end of September, though they found it mostly depopulated. This time, the very well-armed Urcean expeditionary force defeated the Confederation in several major battles, advancing as far inland as the city of Tepetlcali in November of 1909 before malaria and supply issues forced the Urceans to turn back. The Confederate troops - armed mostly with muzzle loading rifles purchased from Audonian nations in the late 1860s - were overwhelmed by Urcean fire, but the sheer number of troops made a total victory over the Confederation difficult and it was determined that an advance past Schoharie would be impossible given the resolve of the Confederation. The Treaty of Electorsbourg ended the war in 1910; Urcea annexed Schoharie but agreed to recognize the Confederation's extant borders, and the Confederation agreed to open fair trade relations with Urcea. The Schoharie War was the last formal conflict fought between Urceans and Cronites in the 20th century, and Urcea formed strong trade relations with its Confederation neighbor, the tribe of the Mixcala. Though there was peace, numerous Urcean and other Levantine settlers filibustering into Confederate lands; these efforts were all defeated, sometimes with Urcean assistance.

Refugee settlements
The end of the Final War of the Deluge brought many disparate ethnic groups and former slaves in Varshan under Urcean political control, and many of these groups sought new lives elsewhere. After significant deliberation and negotiation with the Mixcala, the Condominium of Weluta-New Mixcala was opened to settlers from eastern Crona and Varshan, largely supplanting intended Levantine colonial settlement there.

Government
New Harren, as a benefactor confederacy, consists of several indigenous polities, tribes, cities, and the primarily Occidental Rectory of New Harren under the loose executive presidency of the Apostolic King of Urcea and his Governor-General in his stead, who the King directly nominates and submits for the approval of the Concilium Daoni of Urcea. The Kingdom functioned without a constitution until the conclusion of the Final War of the Deluge. Riordan I in his capacity as King, in consultation with the constituent parts of the Kingdom, issued the Statutory Charter of 2024. The Charter replaced a series of individual treaty relationships between the Crown and constituent nations with a constitutional structure wherein the constituents retained a large amount of rights and autonomy. Accordingly, the Kingdom of the Confederation of New Harren is largely characterized by its confederate nature.

The Kingdom has a small central government apparatus, responsible for regulating relations between the constituent parts of the Kingdom as well as providing for the basic functions of a small welfare state. Much of the domestic policy decisions reserved to the constituent level of governance, though the Kingdom's legislature has broad discretion to keep local laws and statutes similar by providing for legal baselines for conduct and the regulation of economic activity. Under the King and Governor-General is the Grand Council of the Kingdom of New Harren, the Kingdom's legislature.

Much of the government's activity is done under the purview of representatives of the Government of Urcea.

Executive
The King, and consequently the Governor-General, has total control over the Kingdom's foreign policy, but relatively limited influence in the domestic affairs of the constituent parts of the Kingdoms save for the New Harren Rectory, where the Crown exercises direct control.

The Governor-General's government in Port St. Charles has a number of executive agencies which have limited and specific legal authority; they are largely responsible for the provision of a basic administrative state in New Harren.

Legislative
The Grand Council of the Kingdom of New Harren serves as the primary legislative body for the realm. It is comprised of three representatives from each of the constituent parts of the Kingdom elected every five years, on the same cycle as elections in Urcea. The Grand Council's thirty three members have a relatively limited mandate of governance due to the expansive rights reserved for the Kingdom's constituent parts, but it does have a major role in terms of regulating trade between the constituent units and the Kingdom's external trade policy. In practice, the Council serves primarily as an economic planning body, where the eleven constituencies gather and vote on large confederation-wide economic plans to be implemented within each of the constituent units. The Grand Council has extremely limited oversight of the Governor-General or the executive agencies.

Confederated units
The eleven constituent parts of the Kingdom of New Harren are:


 * The Rectory of New Harren
 * The Tribal Dominion of Mixcala
 * The Tribal Dominion of Cheektowaga
 * The Tribal Dominion of Tonawandis
 * The Condominium of Weluta-New Mixcala
 * The Free Cities
 * The Free Tribes
 * The Tribal Dominion of Honeoye
 * The Tribal Dominion of Gowandis
 * The Tribal Dominion of Canandaigua
 * The Tribal Dominion of Saranac

Linguistic Demographics
Due to the presence of Levantine-descendants throughout the country the majority language of New Harren is Julian Ænglish, which is not only spoken as a first language by a majority of residents but is also used as a by the constituent nationalities of the Kingdom, both in communication with Levantine-descendants and with eachother. Accordingly, Julian Ænglish is spoken on a daily basis by the vast majority of residents of the realm, but it is the first language of only a small majority of residents, almost all of whom are Levantine-descendant or ethnic Nysdrines.

Scholars believe hundreds of languages are spoken as a first language within New Harren. Each of the seven primary constituent groups of the Kingdom speak their own language, and many of them have sizable minority dialects or no official language at all. Among the Free Cities and Tribes, dozens of languages are spoken. Within the Condominium of Weluta-New Mixcala, the native Tepetlcali language is still widely spoken, but many settlers from across Cusinaut and even some from occupied Varshan have greatly increased the number of languages being spoken. Even within the Rectory of New Harren, many Occidental immigrants retain their language in addition to Julian Ænglish, making the Kingdom as a whole one of the most linguistically diverse countries on earth.

Religious Demographics
Urcean and Nysdrine people comprise the large majority population of the Kingdom of New Harren, and consequently, the Catholic faith is the predominant religion in New Harren. The majority of non-Catholics live in territories acquired during the War of the Northern Confederation. The Dominions of Mixcala and Tonawandis, prior to incorporation within the Kingdom, each had large Catholic minorities in their coastal regions, adding to the overall number of Catholics within the teritory. Arzalism is banned within the Kingdom; approximately 2.5% of the overall population of the Kingdom on its foundation, all native people, were Arzalists; the majority of these individuals are now M'acunists, though a minority became Catholic following the banning of the Arzalist practice.

Economy
New Harren's economy is considered "moderately strong" by most global metrics especially considering the relative poverty of other nations and territories in northern Crona. Much of its economy is centered around the extraction of uranium and other fissile materials discovered during the War of the Northern Confederation, but the heavy presence of the Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea within the country also serves as a major boost to the economy. As of 2017, the Kingdom had a GDP of $453,042,192,195, bringing its GDP per capita to $22,401.

Much of New Harren's economy is centered on its capital city of Port St. Charles, which is emerging as one of the major financial and diplomatic hubs of northern Crona in the aftermath of the Final War of the Deluge.

For most of New Harren's existence, its economy has been dependent on the presence of the Royal Navy within the country. The Royal Navy's Nysdra Squadron has been based in the territory since 1927, and the squadron slowly transformed from a coastal defense force to the Royal Navy's largest formation. With this transformation, an economic transformation occurred throughout the coastal region of New Harren, with major infrastructure built to provide for the Navy, both including basic ship mooring stations as well as advanced construction and repair systems. The modern New Harren service sector economy was largely built around the Navy's presence, although it has since emerged as a free-standing economic sector. New Harren is widely acknowledged to have some of the best port infrastructure in northern Crona, and besides the Navy, the country generally and Port St. Charles in particular have become well-worn locations for commercial shipping routes. Accordingly, maritime commercial affairs make up a large part of the country's economy.

Although Port St. Charles's fashion scene makes up a relatively small part of the Kingdom's economy, it nonetheless is its most famous economic product.

Military
Prior to the Final War of the Deluge, New Harren had no distinct military and was under the protection of the Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea. During the conflict, policy changes in the Government of Urcea lead to a focus on having local defenses. Since the War, New Harren has maintained the Royal and Confederate Army, which is the primary land forces of the Kingdom. New Harren is a member of the Nysdra Sea Guard (NSG), the naval force for several of NSTA's members. New Harren is the largest contributor of manpower, materiel, and budget funding of the NSG, and the NSG serves as New Harren's primary naval force. Besides air contingents of the Royal and Confederate Army, Urcea's Royal Air Force still provides the primary air defense for the Kingdom.