Delepasians

Delepasians

Location of Rumahoki, from which the Delepasians hail from
Total population
c. 45.6-52.4 million
Regions with significant populations
Rumahoki	32,234,368 (2032 estimate)
Pelaxia	X
Almadaria	X
Cartadania	X
Caphiria	X
Burgundie	X
Urcea	X
Alstin	X
Ceylonia	X
Puertego	X
Languages
First language Rumahokian Pelaxian Second or third language Almadarian Pelaxian Blairian Ænglish Burgoignesc Caphirc Latin Cartadanian Julian Ænglish Puertegan Pelaxian
Religion
Mostly Catholic (see Catholicism in Rumahoki; religious minorities including Collegiate, Merchantile Reform, atheists, agnostics and others exist
Related ethnic groups
Almadarians Cartadanians Latins Mestizos Pelaxians Puertegans Vallosi

The Delepasians (Pelaxian: Delepasiaco) are a Vallosi ethnic group descended from predominantly Pelaxian settlers first arriving at the Bahía de Los Rumas with Albalitorian Captain Mauricio José Delepas in 1497. Until 1994, they were the only group allowed to take part in Rumahoki's politics. Delepasians make up approximately 61.6% of the total Rumahokian population, based upon the number of Rumahokians who self-identified as Delepasians in the Rumahokian National Census of 2028. Rumahokian Pelaxian, Rumahoki's most widely spoken home language, evolved as the mother tongue of Delepasians. It originated in the Pelaxian vernacular, incorporating words brought from the Adonerii and the now-extinct indigenous Vallosi.

The arrival of Delepas at Bahía de Los Rumas in 1497 opened a gateway of free access to Vallos from Pelaxia; however, it also necessitated the founding and safeguarding of the Pelaxian colonies from not only indigenous resistance, but also from foreign navies from Kiravia and Burgundie with the latter leading to a series of clashes lasting from the early 16th Century until 1665. As the colonies grew and prospered, some of the colonists, both notable and common, have began to practice intermarriage with both the remaining indigenous Vallosi and the Latins. Despite their diverse nationalities, these three groups have intermingled, using Pelaxian as the common language and adopting similar attitudes towards politics. The attributes they eventually shared served as a basis for the evolution of an Delepasian identity and consciousness separate from the wider Pelaxian culture.

Delepasian exceptionalism has taken the form of political parties and secret societies in the 19th and 20th Centuries as the colonies declared their independence from Pelaxia in the former century and consolidated their identity in the latter century. In 1938, Rosarian prime minister Fernando Pascual established the Estado Social regime to promote Delepasian interests and to further foster the Delepasian identity amongst the other Delepasian countries while adding in some strong Catholic overtones. In Navidadia, the ruling Navidadian Justice Party had set up the Navidadian System in 1943 which enforced a harsh policy of racial segregation against the Loa people in the southwest. Both of these systems were extended nation-wide after the establishment of the Delepasian Commonwealth in 1976. The Navidadian System and the Estado Social were both forcibly put to an end by the Velvet Revolution in 1994 following decades of domestic unrest that resulted in Rumahoki's first free and democratic elections held under a universal franchise.