New Harren

Kingdom of the Confederation of New Harren
Flag Arms of New Harren
Motto:  Heaven's Light Our Guide
Anthem:  My Crona, Heaven Sent
Location of New Harren (green) in northern Crona (gray). Other dependencies of Urcea and NSTA members are depicted in light green.
Capital and largest city	Port St. Charles
Religion	Catholic Church
Demonym(s)	New Harrenic
Government	Benefactor confederacy
• King	Riordan I
• Governor-General	Martin de Daphan
Legislature	Grand Council
Formation
• Colony declared	1858
• War of the Northern Confederation	2008
• Crona Organic Act	2010
• Statutory Charter	2024
Population
• 2026 census	23,175,477
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$526,335,031,543
• Per capita	$22,710.86
HDI (2026)	0.860 very high
Currency	Taler (₮)
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.urc.nh

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 real union 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 Netansett. 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 constitution, 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 marine mild winter 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 subarctic climate 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 conifer 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.

• 
  The northern highlands are largely coniferous with low flora diversity; despite their northerly location, they remain relatively pleasant during the summer months.
• 
  Port St. Charles and other Levantine cities like it dot the southeastern coast of the country and form its first major population center.
• 
  To the west, the "native belt" areas of the western border make up the second population center of the country. Many of its indigenous peoples have begun to organize their settlements along Levantine lines, as seen here with Kuysuma, MX.

History

Prior to the 19th century

Main article: Northern Confederation

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.

Colonial establishment

Wellville and Environs (1880) is a well-known idyllic depiction of Urcean colonial towns in New Harren in its first decades.

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.

21st century

The Rectory of New Harren began the new millennium stable, relatively prosperous, and with favorable relations with most of its neighbors in Cusinaut. It served as a primary trade hub through which Urcean and Levantine goods entered Cusinaut, increasingly becoming one of the primary economic hubs of the area. The territory remained partly militarized due to increasing instability within the Northern Confederation as well as negative relations with the neighboring Tepetlcali people. Various raids against parts of New Harren in 2002 and 2003 led to reprisals by the Royal and Imperial Army, damaging the Tepetlcali military and economic apparatus. Nevertheless, efforts were made to maintain a diplomatic posture until 2006, when severe fighting between the Tepetlcali and Mixcala people within the Confederation broke out. The Urcean government seized the opportunity to stabilize New Harren's northern border, forging an alliance with the Mixcala and beginning what would become the War of the Northern Confederation. The war saw Urcea and its local allies destroy the Tepetlcali as a political entity and also reorient several other neighboring tribal groups. The war also led to the Algosh coup, transforming the unstable Northern Confederation into the outwardly hostile Algoquona, dominated by ethnically Algosh people.

During the War of the Northern Confederation, New Harren became a critical staging ground for Urcean military forces, which saw the dramatic militarization of its northern border as well as an explosion of maritime and air transportation activity. Troops, supplies, and other wartime materiel were ferried into New Harren, particularly through Port St. Charles, greatly expanding the local economy. During this period, the Urcean diplomat Martin de Daphan used New Harren as a diplomatic hub of potential allies within the Northern Confederation.

Organization

In the wake of the War of the Northern Confederation, Urcea's position in Cusinaut saw it in direct control of the Rectory of New Harren, allied with the Mixcalan state, sharing a condominium over the former Tepetlcali lands, and with various treaties and agreements with several former members of the Northern Confederation. These agreements varied in type from legitimized military occupation to mutually agreed upon dependency. Prior to the war, a new confederation aligned with Urcea was envisioned, but the idea of incorporating the Rectory into a new confederated Kingdom structure was discussed among members of the Concilium Purpaidá as early as October of 2009 while the war was ongoing. The idea was proposed to Urcea's new allies and dependents in secret negotiations beginning in December of that year, and it was agreed the formation of a benefactor confederacy with Urcea as a strong hand might prevent the new confederation from collapsing as the old one had.

The newly reorganized state was formed by the Crona Organic Act of 2010, an act of the Concilium Daoni which formally divested Urcea of its Rectory territory and recognized its independence as a new de Weluta-ruled realm. The incorporation of the constituent parts was alluded to by the Organic Act, but not formally accomplished until a treaty could be reached with each constituent part, a process which was completed by November of 2010. The Organic Act, the treaties, and the Conciliar Proclamation would form the basis of an unwritten constitution for the Kingdom until 2024. In December of 2010, Riordan VIII traveled to Port St. Charles and was crowned King of New Harren by the Archbishop on 4 December 2010. After his coronation, he held a council with the leaders of the various constituent parts in the traditional style of the Northern Confederation, signifying his commitment to their traditional rights and autonomy. In the council, the King then issued the "Conciliar Proclamation", a document providing for the basic administrative and legislative governance of the confederation. The Proclamation had been negotiated beforehand, and all of the principal leaders accepted the Proclamation on behalf of their constituency. After the council, the local leaders offered obeisance to the King in the traditional Occidental manner before the King and leaders departed. Martin de Daphan, who was well known to the local leaders and who had been instrumental in forming the alliances which preceded in the Kingdom, was appointed Governor-General, de facto chief executive of the new Kingdom.

Expansion

The Final War of the Deluge brought war to the Kingdom for a second time in two decades. In November 2020, Algoquona launched a surprise invasion of the Kingdom with its sights set on the former city of Tepetlcali. In the ensuing Tepetlcali campaign, much of the Algosh invasion force was destroyed, precipitating a larger conflict between the Occident and Zurgite Varshan that would consume world affairs for the next four years. These years saw a reduced focus on the Cusinaut theater of the conflict, and New Harren became subject to intermittent raiding by Algosh forces for the initial phase of the conflict.

2021 saw the formation of an official army for the Kingdom, replacing its complete reliance on Urcean arms. The newly established Royal and Confederate Army was comprised of militias of the constituent elements of the Kingdom as well as local and foreign volunteers. The Army in its initial configuration was effectively a nationalization of the organized defense forces of the constituent elements. The massive redeployment of Urcean forces to combat Varshan created an emergency during which the constituent tribes and dominions agreed to form this force, allowing the war allies additional flexibility in fighting Algoquona and effectively giving New Harren a free hand to conduct its own defense.

In December 2021, the Royal and Confederate Army began its invasion of Algoquona. The operation was intended to remove Algosh military presence from the immediate borders of the Kingdom and to additionally liberate four tribal peoples in the vicinity known as the "four neighbors". The Four Neighbors Campaign was successfully concluded in May 2022 with their declaration of independence from Algoquona, establishing the Nysdra Provisional Republic. The Republic was imagined as a provisional entity until the final political arrangement of Cusinaut was arranged. Almost immediately, however, calls from within the Kingdom and the new Republic were for unification. Domestic support for unification was very high among all the indigenous dominions. Most calls for unity emphasized the historic ties between the four neighbors and the existing members of the Kingdom dating back to the Northern Confederation. Many prominent indigenous political voices argued that a larger Cusinaut Confederation without the Algosh (but with the Urceans) would not only be viable but would be stable and prosperous. Political debates internal to the Republic would continue between 2022 and 2024, with the Republic finally voting in August 2024 to dissolve itself and to unify with New Harren effective 1 January 2025. On that date, the Kingdom expanded by almost a third, and additional territories were added to it from Algoquona in the Electorsbourg peace.

Constitutional era

The Kingdom and Confederation of New Harren operated without a constitution between its establishment in 2010 and 2024. In its place, the Kingdom operated on a statutory patchwork. The Rectory of New Harren continued to function as a normal civil rectory of Urcea, retaining nominal Urcean sovereignty within the Confederal framework. The various indigenous dominions and free administrations each operated with their individualized agreements with Urcea under the legal framework of nominal obeisance to the King of New Harren, and additional territories such as the military frontier were held by the Royal and Imperial Army of Urcea on behalf of the person of the King. This arrangement had been beneficial in establishing a confederation and fostering trust with local leaders, but over the course of its existence the downsides of a clear governing system began to show. The various agreements between the dominions and the King began to be viewed as inequitable or unequal, and the significant concessions made to the Mixcala in particular - Urcea's first ally among the former Northern Confederation members - were seen by the other dominions as unjust. Additionally, the lack of a legal central governing apparatus caused significant administrative problems during the Final War of the Deluge, as logistical and military effort were hampered by the absence of clear legal authority. The establishment of the Royal and Confederate Army in 2021, laid the groundwork for a streamlined, if not centralized, confederate system which treated its members as equals and functioned as a clear subordination of privileges to the Confederation.

As the Final War of the Deluge entered 2023 and 2024, the domestic political issues and international logistical problems in the Kingdom led the Urcean government and Apostolic King of Urcea to reconsider the existing arrangement. The King, with the government's assistance, convened a series of conferences of legal scholars in Urceopolis between November 2023 and January 2024. The scholars also included indigenous legal experts and representatives of the various dominions. With a draft of a new constitution issued, an unofficial consultative period took place over the next several months, including both the public in New Harren as well as the official dominion representatives in lobbying efforts. No vote was required to enact the new constitution; instead, each Dominion needed to agree to abrogate its original agreement with the Crown and consent to a new constitution. This process was completed by July of 2024. The new uniform constitution, called the Statutory Charter, was issued by the King, replacing the individual agreements and Urcean statutes governing the territory, including and especially the Crona Organic Act of 2010. Critically, the new Charter officially unified New Harren as a single sovereign entity and established a small central administrative apparatus. In the broader history of New Harren, the new Charter inaugurated the Constitutional Era in the Kingdom's history and had the practical effect of beginning a distinct political culture within the Kingdom while accelerating the development of a distinct Nysdrine identity.

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.

Territorial realignment

The addition of significant territory to New Harren, the end of its primary rival Algoquona, and the influx of refugees from Varshan precipitated the need for major changes in New Harren. Most of the new territory had been added to the military frontier, a region created by the Treaty of Narasseta that was no longer needed. Additionally, the joint administration of Weluta-New Mixcala, the former Tepetlcali homeland, had run into significant issues and was generally deemed a failure. Further, the missionaries responsible for the administration of the Unnuaq Mission State sought to be relieved of their political duties, and the existence of it as a distinct state was no longer needed without the threat of Algosh intervention. These factors led to significant political reforms being implemented in New Harren in 2032.

Government

The Kingdom's government is based in the Confederate Palace in downtown Port St. Charles.

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. Accordingly, the Kingdom of the Confederation of New Harren is largely characterized by its confederate nature. 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. The Charter also replaced the Crona Organic Act of 2010, an act of the Urcean Concilium Daoni which provided for New Harren's indpendence, and the Conciliar Proclamation, an act of King Riordan I providing for the administration of the state.

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 is responsible for signing legislation sent to him by the Grand Council into law. Accordingly, the Governor-General has full veto power, but the Statutory Charter of 2024 provides specific areas under which the Governor-General may withhold his signature from legislation: 1. The legislation adversely affects one particular constituent unit without their express consent (by means of a home rule notice); 2. The legislation runs contrary to the Statutory Charter of 2024 or of some other organic law of the state; 3. The legislation pertains to foreign policy and runs contrary to the goals and policies of the Kingdom and its relationship to Urcea, and; 4. The legislation is antithetical to the preservation of the union. Observers and critics have noted that the fourth grounds for an executive veto are overly broad and do not conform to the "limited veto spirit" of the Statutory Charter. Nonetheless, no legislation submitted to the Governor-General has been vetoed in the entire history of the Kingdom.

Administration

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.

There are six primary departments within the central government of the confederation. The Ministry of State handles external diplomacy, including relations with Urcea and the other NSTA members. The Ministry of Internal Affairs manages a broad portfolio of issue, including internal security and policing, managing the small number of national parks, and oversees internal improvements (such as roads and bridges) in the Rectory of New Harren itself. The Ministry of Realm Relations is a ministry fully staffed to manage relations between the constituent parts of New Harren as well as the national government's political relations with the various indigenous constituent parts of the Kingdom. Practically speaking, the Ministry also serves as primary intermediary between Urcea and the indigenous governments within the Kingdom. Realm Relations also serves as functional clearinghouse for the other ministries in their dealings with the constituencies. The Ministry of Trade and Travel regulates, as the name might suggest, trade and travel regulations within the Kingdom. It is responsible for helping the constituent states draft and enforce laws which ensure open economic lines between the constituent states. The Ministry of Agriculture works to assist the constituent states, and their citizens, to adopt and maintain modern agricultural production methods. This ministry offers technical assistance and best practices to the constituent governments and farmers as part of a national initiative to make New Harren a major breadbasket of the Nysdra. The newest Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, is responsible for overseeing the Royal and Confederate Army and providing for its administrative needs. The Ministry of Defense also coordinates with the indigenous constituent states for the provision of manpower and any other type of army necessity that would require local authorization under the Statutory Charter.

Legislative

The Plenary Chamber of the Grand Council.

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 six 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 twelve constituencies gather and vote on large confederation-wide economic plans to be implemented within each of the constituent units. The Grand Council also adopts annual budgets for the agencies, for the Governor-General, for itself, and for any special agengies, task forces, or institutions created by the Council. Despite having the power of the purse, the Grand Council has extremely limited oversight of the Governor-General or the executive agencies, but is responsible for their chartering legislation. Legislative leaders generally do not hold powers akin to a head of government; their roles are more akin to legislative leaders within Presidential systems, ensuring the sound organization of their particular party caucus and passage of legislation but otherwise having a limited say in the daily administration of the state. Despite not being a parliamentary system, members of the Grand Council are seated on opposing benches. The sitting majority sits on the left-hand side of the chamber. As the chamber is made of benches, there are no assigned seating, but seniormost members and legislative leaders typically sit towards the front. Members usually, but not always, sit next to their fellow constituency representatives.

Confederated units

Main article: Constituent states of New Harren

A map of the constituent states of New Harren. The Province of Borealia is not shown.

As a confederation, the constituent parts of New Harren are its key political, social, and administrative unit. There are twelve constituent parts of the Kingdom, and each has a fully-fledged internal government and public administration. The constituencies are largely self-governing within the framework of the Statutory Charter of 2024. The only limitations on autonomy are several legal and economic baselines set forth by acts of the Kingdom's Grand Council and within the Statutory Charter, as well as an extremely limited set of regulations enacted by the central government. These baselines are intended to serve as frameworks to maintain basic legal compatibility between the constituencies, ensure standardized weights, measures, and other economic factors, and to ensure a basic level of democratic institutions. While those creating the Charter envisioned eleven divergent forms of governance, since its institution the constituencies have largely adopted uniform codes and systems of government, with scholars categorizing them into three similar types: "Occidental", those governments occupied by Occidental settlers and their descendants and modeled after Occidental governments; "National", a basic system of hierarchy for the indigineous peoples of the Confederation only somewhat patterned after Occidental governments, and; "Subconfederate", a type of government used by constituencies which themselves are culturally and geographically disparate, being held together only to represent their common interest as small minorities.

The "Occidental" form of government is only employed by the Rectory of New Harren. It has been the basic form of government for the Rectory for more than a century, with only minor changes to the role of the Governor-General in its affairs. The Rectory is governed by an elected executive, called the "Deputy" (originally the Deputy Rector, then Deputy Governor-General) with a bicameral legislature comprised of the Senate and Deliberative Assembly. This form of government is directly based on the Urcean province.

The "National" form of government, with some variation, was adopted by all indigenous constituencies between 2024 and 2029 (not including the Federated Tribes and Federated Cities). These governments usually feature an ethnarch as "Chief" or "President" of the constituency leading a National Council, usually made up of respected elders elected by geographic area. All "Chiefs" or "Presidents" are elected by the National Councils. Most "National" governments do not include set terms of office; National Councilors mostly (with the exception of Mixcala) serve until death or recall election, and Chiefs and Presidents mostly (with the exception of Cheektowaga) serve until death or removed by a no confidence motion of the National Council. In most cases, the Chief or President serves in a quasi-monarchical fashion, individually holding sovereignty on behalf of the nation and having a wide berth of executive, legislative, and judicial authority. Consequently, most day-to-day decisionmaking is made by the Chief or President on behalf of the nation, though in some cases the National Councils may share in individual policy areas or have a veto right over individual policy decisions made by the Chief or President.

The "Subconfederate" form of government is used by the Free Cities and Free Tribes areas. These are geographic areas which include, respectively, several independent city-states and several independent semi-migratory or migratory tribal peoples. This Subconfederate form of government guarantees the perpetual autonomy of the entities within it from one another. This form of governance features a bottom-up approach to administration; they are governed by officers known as a Legate who are elected by the mayors or chiefs, respectively, of the two free areas. In both areas, Legates serve a two year term, and are mostly responsible for protecting the autonomy and traditional land rights of the subconfederal members. The Legates keep the peace, mediate conflicts between the members, and serve as the visible representative of the free areas to the confederal government and vice versa, often working with the national ministries to provide volunteers for the Royal and Confederate Army. Almost always, the men chosen as Legates are of foreign origin so as to be an impartial overseer, as electing a local Legate would create an imbalance of power in favor of one city or tribe. This means that most Legates have been Urceans, though one Quetzen was also chosen to serve a single term in the late 2020s.

In 2032, the addition of Borealia and Canisteo inaugurated the fourth basic type of government, "Provincial", which operates along the same functional lines as the Occidental-style unit - a chief executive with bicameral legislature - but for areas with an indigenous majority. This type of government was created for both units who were largely creations of New Harren rather than pre-existing political entities, and accordingly did not correspond to any one national identity group.

Politics

New Harren is a multiparty democracy and enjoys robust public debate on most issues. It scores relatively highly according to most global metrics for the hallmarks of a free society. Much of the political culture of the country took form following the issuance of the country's constitution, the Statutory Charter of 2024.

New Harren's political parties are organized as coalition groupings, with nation-wide political party organizations operating in Port St. Charles (as well as directly within the Rectory of New Harren) with associated groups functioning within each constituent unit. All three major parties have affiliate organizations in each constituent unit, making for relatively well organized political parties despite the disparate nature of governance in New Harren.

The three political parties are:

• The Movement for the Confederation (M4C), which supports the Statutory Charter of 2024 and is generally viewed to adhere to a status quo view of the confederation as it is. The Movement does support using the authority of the limited Confederation government to improve economic development and customs cohesion between the various constituent units. The Movement is the most popular of the three political parties and counts many constituent native leaders among its members.
• The Constitutional Union Party (CUP), which advocates for a more centralized constitution, a system of one man, one vote representation within the national government rather than equal delegations from each of the constituencies, and reforms which would make the country more like Urcea. The Constitutional Unionists are considered the most "pro-Occidental" party and are also strong supporters of House de Weluta. It is the second largest party and is the party most popular among direct Occidental descendants and those living within the Rectory of New Harren, although it also has strong minority support among the Mixcalan people.
• The Independence League (IL), which calls for the dissolution of the Confederation into its constituent parts. The Independence League has two main factions, the majority "conservatives" who are moderately pro-Urcea in outlook and believe that, once independent, the eleven states would have to rely on Urcea for economic and military support due to their relatively small size. The "conservatives" envision a continued benefactor relationship similar to the status enjoyed by some NSTA states. The minority "radicals" meanwhile view themselves as "anti-colonial" in outlook and envision total independence for the constituent states, free of the influence of Urcea specifically and the Occident generally.

Law enforcement and crime

Matters related to criminal justice and law enforcement are typically left up to the individual constituent states, with over one three hundred different police departments spread out across the Kingdom. It is estimated that every large municipality in New Harren has its own police force, while each constituency also has a national police force. However, in the wake of the Final War of the Deluge, New Harren's own small federal police have grown more powerful. The Royal Constabulary was established by the Grand Council of the Kingdom of New Harren in 2025 with the ability to do its work in every constituent state, albeit with negotiated conditions. Regional headquarters were set up in the capitals and major cities of the constituent states by 2027, while the organization expanded to nearly 5,000 by 2032. In addition to enforcing laws passed by the Grand Council, the primary duties of the Royal Constabulary include cracking down on the drug trade, policing the major ports and canals of the Kingdom, and investigating international terrorism.

Fourteen prisons exist across New Harren, spread evenly throughout the constituent states. Operated under the Office of Corrections within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Royal prison system employs nearly 30,000 officers to guard and police these institutions. Individuals who enter these prisons have been convicted of confederal crimes, including drug trafficking, terrorism, as well as crimes that cross the borders of member states. The death penalty was banned by the initial establishment of the realm, and instead, prisons serve as the site of individuals who were sentenced to life in prison. There is a prison population of 5,000 across the Kingdom's prisons. The average sentence is ten years for non-violent offenders, while it is twenty-five years for violent offenders.

Culture

Main article: Nysdrine people

New Harren has a diverse culture made up of dozens of different ethnic groups and two primary heritages; Levantine and Cronan. Due to its nature as an originally colonial nation, New Harren contains people of both of these descents, with the Levantine heritage residents tracing their origin to Urcean people. Urcean-descendant residents of the country comprise a slim majority of the residents of the nation, and accordingly Urcean culture is the dominant cultural and social system of people living in New Harren, not just those of Urcean descent. Among residents of New Harren, an increasing number refer to themselves as Nysdrine people, an emergent cultural and ethnic group that predates the establishment of the confederation in 2010. Nysdrines view themselves as having some degree of Levantine cultural influence (or Levantine ethnicity) while having a distinctly Cronan personal origin. Nysdrine identity ranges greatly from indigineous people who practice Catholicism to Levantine-descent individuals who were born in Crona.

Cultural integration of Occidental and Cronan heritages is one of the central social and political concerns of life in New Harren. The more overt integration, and efforts towards integration, occur against the backdrop of the emergent Nysdrine people. Integration within a New Harren context specifically means the combination of Urcean influences with those of the ten constituent peoples and their culture. In the decades since the establishment of the confederation, cultural exchange began occurring almost immediately within the realm's large cities. Young, unemployed native peoples from the constituent states began large scale migrations to New Harren's southeastern coastal cities beginning around 2013. Though native peoples had always been present in this region, the arrival of young people from the constituent states began the process of "integration" in a confederated New Harren context in earnest.

Policymakers in New Harren have made a conscious effort to try and speed up the pace of cultural exchange, a process which can normally take hundreds of years. Several cultural exchanges, new universities, and other institutions have been created by the government of New Harren to attempt to create a new, blended culture. These efforts almost always occur within the same set of "guard rails," namely that the exchange must take place within the Levantine-settled territories of the country first and radiate out. The state describes that "the context in which a culture can be formed...must not be the same one in which ones are destroyed." Significant efforts are being made to ensure that the formation of new shared traditions does not lead to cultural genocide for the constituent peoples of the country. As part of cultural preservation efforts, the realm's government have begun construction of large museums in each of the constituent parts of the country to ensure that constituent cultures - ranging from everyday life to ancient traditions - are preserved.

The interplay between Levantine and Cronan cultures is one of the defining aspects of New Harren's culture, and lays the foundation for many of its major social products, ranging from cuisine to fashion to sports.

Fashion

The fashion industry is New Harren's most well known economic sector and cultural ephemeron, with clothing produced in Port St. Charles's fashion shops becoming famous worldwide by the mid-2010s. The Port St. Charles fashion scene has quickly become one of the world's most prestigious centers of fashion, with "the PSC look" or "the PSC style" becoming rapidly emulated abroad. Port St. Charles fashion melds Occidental clothing form factor with colors, styles, and production methods developed among the peoples of Cusinaut to produce colors and patterns considered highly unusual to Occidental customers. New Harren has become closely associated with fashion in the popular Occidental imagination since the mid-2010s.

Fashion inspired by methods of New Harren's indigienous people are popular in Occidental circles.

The first fashion houses and associated clothing manufacturers in New Harren were formed in the 1970s, not with an eye to any particular style but out of economic necessity. Importing clothing from Urcea was relatively expensive while raw materials were readily available within the Rectory for the production of clothes. The earliest local fashion emulated popular Occidental styles. During the 1970s and 80s, indigenous seamstresses would move to Port St. Charles looking for work in this field. While most simply adapted Occidental methods, some of these indigenous women began to introduce their own flare to the work, and by the late 1980s a visibly distinct Port St. Charles style began to emerge. These styles began to reach exposure in the Urcean market in the early 2000s. From there, they began to see the attention of Sarpedonic high society by the late 2000s. By 2015, "PSC style" was entrenched as a global phenomenon.

Clothing made in New Harren is subject to export controls due to the Nysdra Sea Treaty, and accordingly most brands have to export directly to Urcea before they are available for purchase abroad. Most of the major fashion houses hold a shared ownership interest in a Urceopolis-based brand called "Treasures of the Nysdra", quickly identifiable by its "rising sun" symbol, which functions as the international retailer for most Port St. Charles fashion houses. Many economists believe that the relative scarcity and cost resulting from the export controls have kept Port St. Charles brands relatively hard to come by, maintaining brand novelty and prestige. The export controls also mean that populations of the other Nysdra Sea Treaty Association nations have ready access to the Port St. Charles style. As a result, many global fashion analysts have consistently referred to the people of Quetzenkel as "best dressed" every year since 2021.

Sports

Outdoor lacrosse is the most popular sport in New Harren.

Lacrosse is the most popular sport in New Harren, both among descendants of Occidentals as well as the native population. Many historians and scholars believe the modern form of the game originated in what is today New Harren. The game is played at all levels of society, ranging from pickup games to leagues organized by academic institutions and, most prominently, at the professional level at the Northern Crona Lacrosse Association (NCLA), which includes fourteen teams from New Harren and Porfiria. The NCLA is the most popular professional sports league in New Harren by far, drawing the most television views as well as most tickets sold. The league is considered one of the world's premier Lacrosse leagues due to the cultural history of the sport among the native peoples of Cusinaut, leading to great aptitude for the sport among New Harren's constituent peoples. Lacrosse stadiums were one of the earliest large infrastructure projects in the history of New Harren, with nine stadiums of a capacity greater than 35,000 built throughout the country between 2012 and 2019.

A depicition of traditional lacrosse players in New Harren, ca. 1860.

New Harren and Porfiria are closely aligned in professional sports, not only with respect to their membership in the NCLA but also with a professional soccer league called the Cusinaut Football Associated League (CFAL), which includes sixteen teams from both countries. The CFAL is the second most popular professional sports league in New Harren, and soccer is popular throughout the country.

War impact

Cultural observers have noted a significant transformation in the culture and society of New Harren since the Final War of the Deluge. Many of the nation's most prominent political leaders served in the Royal and Confederate Army in some capacity, and their military service appears to have left significant changes on how New Harren's people view themselves. The changes are not only unitive - the shared service appears to have bonded the people of the country closer together - but many social and cultural institutions have taken on a decidedly military character. The nation has been increasingly adapting the imagery of the Order of the North Star, an honorary order associated with military service to the Nysdra Sea Treaty Association, within its government symbols. The decision is in part due to the strong association of many Royal and Confederate Army veterans with new national pride for the state. In 2025, the motto of the order, "Heaven's Light Our Guide", was adopted as the Kingdom's motto. The ribbon of the order, and the medal, appear in the Kingdom's arms. In 2027, a famous marching song of the Royal and Confederate Army, "My Crona, Heaven Sent" was adapted as the national anthem of the Kingdom. Many retail products in the realm have taken on a martial character. Several large veterans groups have been established since 2024, and these groups are some of the first large scale cross-cultural social groups in the history of the realm. Some observers have referred to the "new" culture of New Harren as a "republic of veterans".

Symbols

The motif of the rising sun is prominently used throughout both New Harrenic government and society, representing the "dawning" of the country as a new and distinct nation.

Demographics

As of 2026, the population of New Harren was 23,175,477. A majority of residents of New Harren describe themselves as Nysdrine people, or by having both Levantine and Cronan heritage. Generally speaking, New Harren is an extremely diverse country, including not only Levantines and Nysdrines but dozens or hundreds of major and minor indigenous ethnic groups spread throughout the country's indigenous constituent units.

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 lingua franca 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

Religious affiliations in New Harren (2016)

  Catholicism (72.1%)

  M'acunism (21.4%)

  Other Christian (2.1%)

  Other (4.4%)

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. Orthodox 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; the GDP per capita declined somewhat with the incorporation of the former Nysdra Provisional Republic to $20,884, but the GDP increased overall.

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. The city is largely the center of the nation's transportation infrastructure, and also houses a major international airport which sees the most traffic of any city on the Nysdra. New Harren has relatively limited surface transportation infrastructure, largely limited to major road and rail networks within the Rectory of New Harren itself. The Rectory's existing network connects with an ad hoc system of paved roads throughout the remaining constituent parts of the realm, and rail transportation into the interior is functionally non-existent. The Grand Council negotiated and finally enacted the Surface Transportation Reform Act of 2023 following serious allied logistical problems in the Final War of the Deluge caused by the nation's lack of a major transportation system. The STRA allocates funding for the creation of a unified highway and railway system throughout the country, which has been under construction since 2025. Accordingly, construction services make up a large part of New Harren's economy as of 2029. Economists anticipate, once completed, the unified highway and railway system will generate billions of dollars of economic activity within New Harren and will play an important role in unifying the realm's economy.

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.

In 2032, New Harren created the Royal New Harren Air Force (RNHAF) out of the small State Air Forces of the Unnuaq Mission State as well as air contingents of the Royal and Confederate Army. Urcea's Royal Air Force still provides the primary air defense for the Kingdom.