Prevalia
Confederation of Prevalia | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Emblem
| |
Anthem: "Brothers of Prevalia" | |
| Capital and largest city | Evras |
| Official languages | Ænglish, |
| Recognised regional languages | Nahean, Covine, Rhean, Nyamene, Oscenian, Gaelic, Celtic Acanyan, Saksa |
| Government | Confederal parliamentary union |
| Teresa Senecia | |
| Valentino Amitrano | |
| Legislature | Congress of Prevalia |
| Senate | |
| Assembly | |
| Formation | |
| May 12, 1949 | |
| September 7, 1992 | |
| Area | |
• | 168,080 km2 (64,900 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2022 census | 73,248,995 |
• Density | 436/km2 (1,129.2/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2022 estimate |
• Per capita | ₤37,853 |
| HDI | 0.879 very high |
| Currency | Prevalian Latera (₤) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +97 |
| Internet TLD | .pr |
Prevalia, or the Confederation of Prevalia is a confederal union located in northern Levantia, bordering natural features such as the Western Sea, Eastern Sea, and most prominently the Vandarch and bordering the Prevalian Alps to the south. The most definitive feature and namesake of the region is the Prevalis, a large sea in the eastern region of the confederation. Formed out of nine member nations and three city-states, Prevalia has often been called a country with twelve nations. Called Ultmar by much of the world, the region is known for its isolated position surrounded by mountains and large bodies of water. This has meant that foreign invasion in the past was unlikely, and as a result most conflicts throughout its history were internal. Despite being a region of great diversity, it is now a single unified political identity, preventing future internal conflicts despite ethnic, cultural, lingusitic, and religious differences.
The earliest known settlement in Prevalia was located in Meras, Acanya, along the Prevalis. There an extensive cave system once existed, its people eventually spreading out into the entire region. It is believed that these were the Gaelic and Nahean peoples that first inhabited Prevalia. These tribes existed in a period long known as the First Shattering, which lasted for nearly three thousand years. Petty kingdoms interspersed within wild forests and mountains largely co-existed until the Nyamenes arrived around 427 as Great Levantia collapsed to outside pressure, including from some inhabitants of Prevalia. The Abduction of the Nyamenes from Levantia was a trumantic event, women and children from the borderlands of the southern empire kidnapped by the Naheans and Gaels who inhabited the south. Over time, however, these women gained political power and in time settled a coastal plain along the Prevalis, founding the Kingdom of the Nyamenes. They brought with them Catholicism, as well as Levantine culture, including music, art, and language. They founded Evras in 453 as their capital, and over the following five centuries converted much of the region to Christianity.
Lycus the Great in 977 founded the Nyamene Empire and began to expand his country across Prevalia. Conquering the Gaels in the east and the Saksa to the north and west, as well as the Rheans to the south who were cousins of the original Nyamenes. The Ænglish refugees who had arrived in Evras several decades earlier settled north, in exchange for their fealty to the Nyamenes, and founded Taralba by intermarrying with the Saksa. In the 1020s, Lycus died after completing his conquest of the eastern regions of Dorea and Lorea, named for his daughters, and subjugating most of Ereglas. The Nyamenes conquered west in the 1070s after the Oscens invaded the remaining Saksa, establishing Oscenia. The only true resistance came from Nahe, which saw decades ahead of time the threat of the Nyamenes and united to combat the threat. Recognizing that fighting a protacted war against the Naheans was impossible, the Nyamenes transformed Nahe into a series of client states. Around this time the name Ultmar fell out of use for the region, as many felt it was a southern name for the northern region. Instead, the Nyamenes called the region at large Prevalia, after the eponymous inland sea. The Pax Evras began with the final conquests of the 1070s, and lasted until the 1230s, when after over a century of peace, the Nyamenes grew complacent and began to lose power. Although their empire never truly fell, they were slowly pushed back into their homeland, and by the 1440s, held no territory outside of that territory. This began the Second Shattering, a period where the Nyamene Empire split into dozens of petty kingdoms, duchies, baronies, principalities, and republics.
Over the next two centuries, the Second Shattering sparked countless wars, especially at the start of the Protestant Reformation that divided the region, especially Nahe. The Wars of Faith in the 1500s and 1600s are estimated to have cost millions of lives. Near the end of this period, nine distinct nations coalesced, the most powerful being Oscenia, Taralba, and Nahe, who periodically waged wars over territorial disputes. Around this time the first proposals emerged to unify Prevalia under one political body. The Concert of Novato in 1637 was one such attempt, arguing that each nation in the region should sent a representative to that city to avoid future wars. In 1789, the Oscenian Empire was founded, and over the next three decades conquered much of Prevalia. The eastern nations, unified by Taralba, resisted the Oscenian conquest, and eventually in the 1820s Oscenia lost almost all territory it had gained. Although countless minor wars were fought in Prevalia, the Barwell Accords of 1849 kept the peace for over half a century. The Great War for Prevalia began in 1914, but unlike the rest of the global conflict, it took the form of smaller regional wars. The Irkumas War between Nahe and Oscenia kickstarted a regional war, ending with Nahe losing its eastern territories and the Oscenian Revolution seeing the establishment of the Oscenian Democratic Republic. The Oscenian War from 1942 to 1945 saw Nahe, as well as Nyamene and Rhea, launched a war against Oscenia to reclaim lost territories and to assert dominance over Prevalia. Ultimately, all three were defeated. The war cost millions of lives, and on May 12, 1949, eight separate entities led by Taralba and Nyamene in the east formed the Confederation of Prevalia, Nahe joining several months later.
The Confederation of Prevalia was originally founded as an anti-communist military alliance to prevent Oscenia from expanding its reach in the region. In addition to that, the Bank of Prevalia was formed, and the Prevalian Latera was created as a regional currency, while free travel between member states was established, as well as free trade. The Charter of Prevalia ensured that all member nations must recognize basic civil rights and human rights, while also guaranteeing the autonomy of each member to establish their own laws. The 1950s and 1960s in particular saw Prevalia's government assert itself in military affairs, with one part of the charter creating a singular chain of command for all the armed forces of the member states at times of war. Despite the military and trade responsibilities, Prevalia itself had no foreign policy, allowing each member to determine that for themselves. This arrangement allowed for economic prosperity during this period as the devastated region underwent a period of economic growth. The Nahe Miracle was one such event, while the Nyamenes reasserted their cultural power as the head of the alliance. Over time, however, the central government in Evras grew more powerful with each passing year. Those born after the establishment of Prevalia began to identify as Prevalians as much as their home nation, and within fifty years, many saw Prevalia as the primary political entity, and the national governments as secondary. This was reinforced in the 1970s when the Oscenia Cold War began to cool down and the military aspect of the alliance was no longer as important. However, the biggest change occurred in 1991, when the Oscenian Democratic Republic collapsed. Replaced by a free and democratic government, in September 1992, the Republic of Oscenia entered the Confederation of Prevalia. The Oscenia Amendments significantly altered the Charter of Prevalia, granting more powers to the central government in Evras and away from the national governments. This sparked multiple crises, but as public support grew for centralized power, most governments accepted the inevitable. Prevalia was now active diplomatically, and the 1990s, 2000s, and later the 2010s after a brief economic crisis, the country saw continued economic growth.
Etymology
Although most people around the world know this region as Prevalia, it has gone by many names throughout its history. Originally called Ultmar around the world, it is the old Levantine name for regions in the north beyond the reach of their empire. Translating from the Ecclesiastical Latin term Ultramurus, or "beyond the wall" the term reflects the southern view of Prevalia and the regions surrounding it as an untamed wilderness filled with wild and uncivilized peoples. Althought most of the international community now calls Prevalia by its proper name, some still call it Ultmar out of habit. The name Prevalia originates from Latin, and originated in the 200s by Pellio Remigius, a Levantine explorer who traveled north to map much of Ultmar. Names such as Taralba, Rhea, Ereglas, and even Nahe originated from his first map of the region. He also named the Prevalis, the large sea in the center of Ultmar, based on the Latin term Praevalitana, or "the region before the valley" as many valleys spread out from that inland sea. In the south, Prevalia was first used around the 300s when Remigius' maps were first published, and was at first the name for the country surrounding the Prevalis. Only when the Nyamenes were brought to Ultmar in the 400s was the name popularly used, and as the Nyamene Empire grew in the 1000s and 1100s, the term Prevalia began to encompass more territory. Most still called the region Ultmar, but the Nyamenes united all those not in their original kingdom as Prevalians.
The first reference to Prevalia being used to encompass all of its modern-day territories was in 1309, when Olbrecht of Vorsenke, a monk at the Susskloster in that same city, published his Tabula Orbis, an attempt to map the known world. In it, he labeled everything from the Nahean Alps in the west to the Isthmus of Lycus in the east as Praevalitana, and in a republished edition in 1320, shortened the name to Prevalis. Three years later, Gaeta the Last, Emperor of the Nyamenes, proclaimed that the name Ultmar shall no longer be used, and instead all references to the region shall be through the name Prevalia. Although the Nyamene Empire fell shortly after his proclamation, the name remained in place. When the Second Shattering began not long after, most maps published in each of the kingdoms showed the region named Prevalia, often with Ultmar in parenthesis or not appearing at all. Despite this, most maps in Levantia still called the region Ultmar until the 1600s, when many in the south derisively used the term Prevalia to reference the Protestant Reformation. Only the events of the Great War saw the name Prevalia spread internationally, when news of the wars being fought spread through international media. Then, in 1949, when the Confederation of Prevalia was promulgated, most people around the world now referred to the region by its proper name. Although many older people still use the term Ultmar, which encompasses a wider area geographically, it is a name that has fallen out of use in exchange for Prevalia.