Malentina
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Presidential Confederacy of Malentina | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 State seal
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Motto: Walaan, wakinee, nikeewolthu. ("Our waters, Our freedoms, until the end of time.") | |
Anthem: Kabun Kabi Hierlini (The Song of three Moons) | |
 Location of Malentina (green) in Crona (gray). | |
| Capital | Salcojina |
| Largest city | Hierkuun |
| Official languages | |
| National language | Ænglish |
| Regional languages | |
| Ethnic groups |
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| Religion |
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| Demonym(s) | Malentine |
| Government | Confederal presidential directorial republic |
| Siwasyan T'ukri Daniel Duke Pedro Čivok | |
| Colin Ross | |
| Churan Illiari Nicholas Miller David Čošescok | |
| Legislature | Trissembly |
| Senate | |
| Gathering of the West House of Commons Northern Assembly | |
| Establishment | |
| 756 | |
| 1692 | |
| 1790 | |
| 1899 | |
| 1933 | |
| 1987 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 68,375.69 km2 (26,400.00 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2026 estimate | 19,448,971 |
• Density | 284.44/km2 (736.7/sq mi) |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | $450 billion |
• Per capita | $23,121 |
| Currency | Malentine Pound (MTP) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +334 |
| Internet TLD | .mt |
Malentina (Maalit: Mááleen'ti; Qabóri: Mâlintunóc; Tiiu: Amtàà'uska), officially the Presidential Confederacy of Malentina (Maalit: Mááleen'ti Uqaalatikis Aptúúnala; Qabóri: Tascena'ató Kuscant Mâlintunóc; Tiiu: Poha'abíísdataabus Amtàà'uska), and formerly known as Pertoolua until 1987, is a country in southern Crona in the western parts of the North Songun sea. The nation is made up of as a set of three larger islands just of the coast of Istrenya. Beyond its closest neighbour Malentina also has maritime borders with Kelekona and Arcerion. While Malentina is connected to the rest of the world through the ocean, this is at great risk to the nations sovereignty as the nation is by far the weakest of those bordering the Songun Sea. Especially Arcerion and The Cape both hold immense influence thanks to the Warrington Strait and the Songun Straits forming natural chokepoints when exiting the Songun Sea.
Malentina was historically a notable North Songun civilization before their collapse. Although severely hurt by the collapse, Malentina came out of it in better shape than most others, in large part thanks to its relative security from Varshani Hunts. During the 18th century Malentina became a somewhat important colony for the Ænglish-descended settlers from Ardmore as they settled the mostly unsettled, or as some argue abandoned, island of Hileenkop. This would lead to numerous conflicts between the Ænglo-Ardmori settlers, the Maaleen and Tinuud natives, and the latter's North Songunese and Qabóri allies until the mid-19th Century, known as the Canoe Conflicts.
In the modern day, Malentina is a somewhat wealthy but still struggling nation in southern Crona. Their economy is mostly built around agricultural products, a mixture of cash crops like tobacco and sugar as well as fishing products like crustaceans and squid. They do suffer from some insurgency issues partially caused by a severely-lacking military which still tends to lead to minor international meddling, mainly by Arcerion but more recently also by Tierrador ever since 2002.
Most of the nation's struggles are rooted in the demographic conflict between the Ænglo-Ardmori and native populations. Ever since the genocides of the Starlit Revolution, Ænglish-speaking nations such as Arcerion and Alstin have held a particular investment in ensuring the local far-left Neomaalit Waakabii extremist cells are destroyed post-haste. Because of these foreign interests, it has been commonplace for the last three dacades for Malentine settlements to be the target for foreign airstrikes. In recent years, however, Malentina has seen a shift in their approach to local insurgencies. With military assets provided by Tierrador, and with the breakdown in relations with Arcerion since 2002, they have started cracking down on terrorist cells without foreign intervention, while at the same time distancing themselves from Arcerion as a result. These actions have to a long diplomatic incident period surrounding Malentina which has risked becoming a major flashpoint for a power struggle over who holds the most influence over Malentina.
Etymology
Malentina is a somewhat modern name taken from the term commonly used in Ænglish to refer to the indigenous tribes living on the islands that the nation now encompasses, that being Malentinu. This term developed from combining the names of the two most populous indigenous tribes on the islands, which are the Maaleens and the Tinuuds. The name was created by the indigenous tribes as a way for them to "reclaim" their home islands, which by the time of the name's formulation had been under the rule of Occidental colonists for many years, for themselves. There still exists a small minority within the Ænglo-Ardmori population who still use the former colonial name of Pertoolua from before 1933; ironically Pertoolua comes from the butcherization of the name used for the Cartadanian colony of Porto Lua.
Geography
The many islands that the make up the Malentine archipelago are dominated by the three main islands of Tikaandu, Hileenkopp and Wolviikipp, in order of size from biggest to smallest. These three islands have mostly quite similar features although Tikaandu features by far the most fresh water in any of the main islands, which has historically made it the center of the Malentine islands, a fact that was made more apparent during the latter years of the North Songun civilization and even in the years following its collapse on the mainland. One of the most notable features these islands have is that they are noted to be incredibly flat with highest elevations being limited to small hills which are cut by shallow valleys, save for several smaller regions in the northernmost and southernmost areas of the islands which are largely level with the sea. The islands were once one of the most ideal areas for plantation-based agriculture, but due to intensive over-farming and overall irresponsible decision-making during the pre-Starlit years these lands have largely lost their arability after many years of exploitation and environmental damage.
Climate
The climate throughout the archipelago is noted for its diversity, featuring many biomes ranging from mangrove swamps to forest-covered plateaus. However, due to the economic pressures which were brought upon during the colonial era and pre-Starlit years, the vast majority of the islands have had many of their natural features destroyed to make way for farmland and plantation fields with the sole remnants being small forests that dot the landscape as well as national parks. These acts of environmental damage have been responsible for an overall increase in highly destructive floods since the 1920s as well as the overall worsening of storms. It has only been since the mid-1990s when there has been a significant effort to reverse these damages which has been met with some success since then as some of the worst effects of the consequences brought upon by over a century of environmental damage have started to become somewhat more mild in recent years.
History
Pre History
With the help of a small amount of archaeological findings within on the islands it is believed that the cultural history of the indigenous Malentine peoples date back to around 1600 BC. Very little is known about this period, especially as the island's geology have made it very difficult to find any archeological artifacts, and interest in the prehistoric era of the islands have largely been suppressed by the Malentine government for fear of encouraging rebellious sentiment. The earliest instances of what is known about the early history of Malentina is connected to the era of the North Songun Civilization, whose largely well-preserved records first mention the islands and their indigenous peoples as early as the year 700 BC.
When traders from the North Songun Civilization first encountered the indigenous islanders they were noted for their excellent navigational skills, making use of well-crafted canoes, as well as fishing expertise. What likely drew the traders' attention the most, however, would be the vast amounts of wealth that was primarily displayed through an abundance of pearls. These pearls were among the first things that the North Songun traders would start buying for use in their trade networks, the pearls having first entered the North Songun capital of Maktalin as late as approximately 500 BC. The first urban settlements would soon be established on islands by the year 350 BC, slowly integrating the indigenous tribes into the larger North Songun Civilization. Many records would consider Malentina to first exist as a truly civilized entity around the period of the 5th to 3rd Centuries BC, although modern scholars have largely debated upon this subject with many claiming that Malentina would not be deemed a truly civilized entity until much later.
North Songun Civilization
Although these North Songunese settlements have started off as a group of smaller colonial city-states that were established primarily to facilitate trade and cooperation between the various indigenous insular tribes and the North Songunese traders, Malentina would eventually grow to be one of the most significant and wealthiest regions of the North Songun Civilization, which became much more apparent as the heart of the North Songunese lands was beginning to collapse. Malentine sources at that time have proven to be largely vital for modern scholars as they have described in great detail the events that have happened during the collapse, which is especially important as most of the other North Songunese lands would collapse to the point of having little to no scholars left to record these events.
For the period of time between the years 400 BC and 100 BC, the islands were mostly just trading posts at the edge of much greater lands on mainland Crona. The primary purpose behind these trading posts would prove to be exactly what would lead to Malentina transforming from a backwater on the edge of the North Songunese lands to one of the most well-developed regions within the North Songun Civilization; this in stark contrast to the small trade cities that were initially established. Cities that dot the western coast would serve as vital centers of trade between the great cities in the North Songunese heartlands and the various settlements to the south of the islands. This slow rise would quickly scale up exponentially in the 3rd and 4th Centuries as the expanses of land in what is now Tierrador began to develop into stable and lucrative places to trade with.
What is perhaps much more important than the vast amounts of wealth that have been flowing through the Malentine cities during this period of time was the cultural exchange, as elements of the North Songunese culture began to fuse with not just the indigenous insular culture but also with cultural aspects from the lands to the south of the islands. Although the cities were massively profitable, the indigenous tribes on the islands would still prove to be just as vital to the overall prosperity of their homelands, mostly thanks to their ability to gather certain valuable materials such as pearls, but most especially as warriors whom the cities would recruit for protection from neighboring cities mostly. From the growing mainland civilizations to the north and south, the islands would also learn a lot about proper administration and statecraft, allowing for the emergence of very effective forms of centralization. Such invaluable knowledge would bring forth a level great stability and prosperity to the cities that by the time of the 6th Century Malentina could no longer be considered to be a mere extension of a much greater civilization, but rather as the second-wealthiest region of the North Songun Civilization, with only the heartlands in what is now Kelekona and Arcerion being wealthier still, as the three largest city-states on the islands grew to great prominence in not just among the islands, but among the entirety of the North Songunese lands. Each of these cities controlled large amounts of territory along the western coast of the islands, with them spending many years competing over alliances with the various smaller settlements that were nearby.
This golden age would soon end, however, as the 11th Century brought forth an era of wars and devastation as conflicts emerged between the city-states and the tribal mercenaries who have rebelled over both payment and supposed snubs. The rebellious mercenaries were successful in conquering some of the North Songun cities on the islands, soon causing a division between the wealthy coastal North Songun city-states and the traditional natives further inland. This period of sectarian conflict would soon end by the late 1030s as relations between the North Songunese and the indigenous tribes would normalize once more with trade resuming relatively quickly. The period of time since the late 1030s has been known as the Malentine silver age, a time when the islands would experience another period of long-term prosperity which began with the formation of an alliance between the city-states by the year 1040. This alliance was a loosely-connected league of the seven most powerful cities on the islands, each representing the seven major cultural groups on the islands, which even included most of the indigenous tribes on the islands.
The Collapse
The silver age would soon come to an end since the late 13th Century with the rise and growth of the Varshani realm to the west of the heartland of the North Songun Civilization, much at the expense of the latter. It was during this time that trade across the seas would begin to slowly dwindle, and yet ironically not only would Malentina be relatively unaffected by what was largely the slow and painful death of what was once Crona's greatest civilization it would also become the center of the North Songun remnants as a result. Indeed, although much of the history of the North Songun Civilization have been lost thanks to the collapse, several highly important scholars and many other wealthy and influential individuals from the North Songun heartlands would flee the mainland for the safety of the islands, becoming the ancestors of Malentina's largely wealthy Kelekonese and Telekonese minority. By the end of the two-century long process towards the ruination of the North Songun Civilization, the former heartlands were largely in ruins and soon the Varshani would turn their sights towards the islands and began to conduct raids. However, due to the insular advantage and sheer distance from the Varshani heartlands, these raids were complete failures as the indigenous warrior tribes proved themselves to be an effective and formidable foe. At the same time, however, the indigenous islanders began to push towards militarization once more, soon becoming a far greater threat to the seven city-states than even the invaders.
Era of Isolation
The Varshani did not give up so easily though, they would continue to attempt further raids throughout the next hundred years, but once again they were failures for the most part. Due to their resilience and survival, the seven city-states saw themselves as the last of the North Songun Civilization. This view would soon evolve, with scholars arguing that it was at the behest of the wealthy refugees from the mainland, with the cities beginning to consider themselves to be the rightful successors to the entirety of the North Songun Civilization, and that it was their destiny to reclaim the former heartlands. The many refugees from the mainland, who would often refer to the islands as the qhispina ("haven"), would soon add to the growing problem that was emerging on the islands. Although the seven city-states have depicted themselves to be a united front, they were in truth nothing more than a loose collection of alliances and not a centralized power. This led to there being an immense imperative to try and centralize the city-states alongside an immense imperative to militarize through the use of the warrior tribes even though those same warriors were finding themselves to be once again outsiders in their own homeland, especially as many new people arrived to the islands and causing further social unrest. This would soon reach a tipping point in the early 17th Century with an event that has since been given the name the "Crisis of the Twelve", or as one famous scholar at the time would name it in some of his final writings, the "Fall of the Haven".
Qabóri settlement
To further exacerbate the social and cultural troubles that were already plaguing the islands was the arrival of migrants from the south. Although they had come to the islands not as refugees but rather people looking for a new life outside of their homeland, the emergence of yet another foreign group on the islands made the indigenous Malentine tribes feel more and more isolated. These newcomers were the Qabóri people, who hail from the Qabóri Woqalate, which was at the time of the first arrival of the Qabóri people onto the islands on its way towards becoming southern Crona's great indigenous civilization in opposition to the growing northern power of Varshan. The apprehensive reaction the indigenous tribes had towards the newcomers were made worse when they felt that the Qabóri were being treated better by the North Songun elites of the city-states. Indeed, the nascent Qabóri population of the islands had ideas of their own, that being that the islands should be greatly centralized under the rule of a powerful monarch known as a Woqali, the Qabóri term used to refer to monarchs, specifically a lesser Woqali under the suzerainty of the Qabóri Woqalate. The Qabóri had hypothesized that this would ensure that the islands would serve as a buffer state against the growing threat of Varshan. This stood in direct opposition to what the North Songun elites had wanted, which was to reclaim the former North Songunese heartlands by directly confronting the Varshani forces. It is from this rivalry between the recently-arrived Qabóri and the North Songunese that the two main political factions amongst the Cronan Malentine elites would emerge, those being the Qabóri Woqalists and the North Songunese Qhapaqists.
Crisis of the Twelve
The "Crisis of the Twelve" began with a series of smaller revolts and notorious major cultural clashes, which culminated in the creation of the Great Council in the mid-1610s. The Great Council would bring forth all of the issues that were currently plaguing the league in hopes of coming up with solutions which would necessitate large-scale reforms that were to be decided upon by the ruling class. However, despite these goals, the Great Council would prove to be a great failure as there was a large series of errors and miscommunications that would slowly lead to the islands' descent into chaos and the eventually escalation towards indiscriminate violence between the different groups. Throughout the next few years, various revolts with lots of bloodshed, costly civil wars, and sectarian tribal conflicts would break out. These conflicts were largely caused by the swift separation of the traditional indigenous tribes which included the warrior tribes, who were once prized as the finest mercenaries on the islands, fighting against their former bosses in the quickly collapsing cities. It was also during this time that the Varshani raids would start to become successful after centuries of failures, and the absolute devastation caused by the raid would further crush any hope for the northern cities to ever recover.
Ironically, the raids would inspire the tribes, leading them to unite into a new confederacy which would once more prove to be a formidable foe against the Varshani raids, with the raids soon ending permanently around the year 1690. The final result that came thanks to the Crisis of the Twelve was that it ultimate spelled the final end to the once-great North Songun Civilization as the descendants of the refugees who have fled the former heartlands began to dwindle to the point that they were deemed to be largely irrelevant to the indigenous peoples on the islands. The cities that once held the honor of being the first point of contact between the indigenous tribes to the great mainland civilizations that surrounded them were reduced to ruins, with only two of the seven cities managing to survive in a somewhat functional state. It has been estimated that at least two-thirds of the islands' population died out within a span of less than a century. It was also around this time that the islands would first come into contact with the Occident through new settlers arriving on the eastern coast. These new people were from Cartadania, and had first encountered the islands in 1689, and arrived on what was now the nearly-deserted east coast which was considered to be the backwater of the islands even during the golden and silver ages of Malentina.
Sails and Oars
Had the Cartadanian sailors arrived just a century early, or even on the northern or western coasts, they would have been met with great hostility from amongst the indigenous tribes and the remaining foreign peoples from the rest of Crona, but because they had arrived at a time when the islands had just began to recover from nearly a century of ruination and on what was the backwater of the islands even during their best years the sailors were only met with small indigenous tribes that inhabited the east coast; tribes that were initially suspicious of the recently-arrived Cartadanians, but were eventually convinced to work with them. These small tribes have had very little documentation pertaining to their history, and their exact origin stories have been left a mystery even to this day. This missing piece of history would not matter much in the slightest if not for the fact that at least 35% of the modern indigenous citizenry of Malentina tracing their ancestry to these tribes, with approximately half of them being either Ardmistizo or Costizo.
Throughout the latter decade of the 17th Century, Cartadanian settlers would be among the first Occidental inhabitants of the islands, building the first settlement of Salcojina, which initially served as a trading post, but would one day become the capital of modern Malentina. While there is a historical consensus that the indigenous tribes were initially somewhat hostile towards the Occidental settlers at first, the story based around the historical claims that it was a very gregarious expedition leader that convinced them to quickly build a strong and lucrative trading relationship with the Occidental settlers has been somewhat disputed. In Malentina, the more accepted historical claim that has been held by both scholars and citizens was that it was in fact three indigenous translators, who were permitted to visit the lands of Levantia and Sarpedon, who convinced the various indigenous tribes of the vast wealth they may be able to amass through working with the colonial settlers. Regardless of the veracity of the claims, the agreements that were made between the first Cartadanian settlers and the indigenous tribes of the east coast would lead to the emergence of friendly relations that would last for over a hundred years.
During the first half of the 18th Century, Cartadanian explorers would continue with mapping out the islands. The eastern tribes had relayed one grave warning to the explorers who heeded it and thus avoided making landing parties lest they wound up triggering the hostilities of other indigenous tribes. One of these expeditions would eventually come across a series of vast ruins of what looked to be a once-great city. The explorer in charge of this particular expedition was drawn towards the possibility of amassing a vast fortune of his own to the point that he considered ignoring the warning that the tribes gave him, and was convinced by his men to conduct a survey on the ruins. However, as they scouted the coast for a decent enough area to make camp, they soon discovered that not only were they not the first to have had that very idea, they saw the burnt remains of another ship and the smoldering ruins of a camp which would prove to be a convincing reminder that the warnings that the eastern tribes had given them were not to be taken lightly if they wanted to live.
Although the western tribes would remain hostile towards the Occidental settlers, several new settlements would soon be established on the island of Hileenkopp, known by the settlers as A Ilha Achou, or the Found Island. All but one of these new settlements were established by Cartadanian settlers, with the sole exception being a single Coscivian settlement on the island's northern tip, the Coscivian settlers would name the islands Sáfach. These new settlements would bring great wealth and power to the eastern indigenous tribes, who soon unified into a single confederation to protect themselves from the hostile acts of the tribes in the west. By the year 1750, a particularly notable demographic shift would begin to occur at that time, with the arrival of new settlers who were neither Cartadanian, mainland Cronan, nor even Coscivian. These new settlers came from Ardmore, with all these newcomers being Protestants who professed to the Ænglican faith; they were the beginnings of the islands' sizeable Ænglo-Ardmori community.
Growth of Porto Lua
Previously a small Cartadanian trading post, the town of Porto Lua soon became the center of the islands' development after the discovery of gold in the hills surrounding the town. This would soon push the already notable Occidental migration to the islands into a state of overdrive, with the most common ethnicity amongst the newcomers being Ardmoris of Ænglish ancestry who wished to leave Levantia in favor of a life away from any possible hint of persecution and to make lots of money while at it. As a result of this massive influx of Ænglo-Ardmoris, the town had grown from just over two thousand people in 1750 to more than fifty thousand people by the end of 1777, soon turning Porto Lua from a small Cartadanian trading outpost to one of the largest cities on the islands, and the largest city with an Ænglo-Ardmori majority as well.
Throughout the 1780s and 1790s, Ardmore began to develop an interest in establishing colonies in Crona. Although the gold rush had started to wear off after the initial frenzy, the Ardmori crown nonetheless paid a significantly princely sum to Cartadania as well as the various trading companies that had a stake on the islands on account of them being the true owners of the new settlements. Although the sum is still presently undisclosed, and suspected to be lost to time thanks to the onset of the Ardmori Civil War in the late 1920s and early 1930s, it was apparently more than enough for Cartadania and the trading companies to hand over colonial ownership of the islands and the colonial settlements to Ardmore in perpetuity as per the articles of the 1790 Treaty of Porto Lua.
Ardmori Pertoolua
Unlike the Cartadanians, whom the natives have grown to trust through cordial meetings and good trading policies, the newcomers from Ardmore were nowhere near as trustworthy, nor were they as willing to work towards earning the natives' trust. Indeed, the purchase of the colony which was finalized in 1790 would prove to be an inciting factor in many of the initial conflicts and eventual war between the natives and the Ardmori settlers. Skirmishes, battles, and raids were very common throughout the first several decades of the Ardmori colonial period. Much like their fellow colonists on the mainland in what is now Arcerion, the Ardmori colonists on the islands were proving to be a very effective fighting force against the indigenous tribes, and soon those same tribes would forge an alliance with the remaining North Songunese people on the islands as well as the Qabóri settlers in the south, thus forming a new confederacy to fight back against the new settlers. The indigenous tribes were ultimately able to remain as a united front against the Ardmori settlers on the islands which ensured that although they would eventually lose by the end of the major skirmishes in 1850 they would not be easily defeated nor would they be massively depopulated in vast contrast the natives in Arcerion. The massively successful Varshani raids during the 17th Century proved to have taught a valuable lesson that the indigenous tribes had never forgotten, and this lesson helped so greatly during the skirmishes of the early Ardmori colonial period that the tribes' overall determination and tenacity during this seventy-year-long period has become a focal point for many modern indigenous legends in Malentina.
By 1850, the skirmishes have largely died down as both the confederacy and the Ardmori settlers have entered into a truce, but this truce did nothing to stop the feelings of uneasiness that have emerged since the formal end of sectarian hostilities. Instances of sectarian violence would continue to occur nonetheless, especially as Ardmori settlements would keep encroaching upon indigenous lands. To further secure their rule, and to ensure a loyal Cronan elite for the colonies, the Pertooluan colonial administration would enter into a series of negotiations with both the remaining North Songunese people and the Qabóri settlers wherein they would be allowed to serve as the local aristocracy for the colony while in return they would be required to pay a tribute to the colonial government for a flat rate. These series of negotiations, known to the Malentine natives as the "Treachery Papers", would be seen by the indigenous tribes as a monstrous betrayal, prompting them to sever any and all ties with their former allies. This would also begin a series of small, incessant skirmishes. Although these skirmishes were relatively tiny in comparison to the conflicts which have plagued the colony for decades, they were costly enough to be deemed a great burden to the Ardmori government, soon spurring the kingdom into granting Pertoolua some levels of self-governance, with these efforts leading to the passage of the Pertoolua Act in 1899 which made the colony into a self-governing realm within the Ardmori crown in a development similar to the path towards self-governance in the colony of Arcerion.
20th Century
Self-governance would prove to be largely ineffective in not only its attempt at stopping the sectarian violence, there was also another major issue that the Ardmori government just could not ignore. Although the settlers from Ardmore were initially Protestants who have professed to the Ænglican faith and even though Ardmore has historically been relatively tolerant of Protestantism, the 19th Century saw a huge change in religious direction as the kingdom began to pursue making the Catholic Church the state religion, with programs set up to covert as much of the Protestant colonists in Crona into Catholics as possible, having already successfully converted the remaining Ænglicans in Ardmore proper beforehand. While the colonists in Arcerion have largely acquiesced to this initiative in hopes of remaining in the crown's favor, this was seen as a immensely unlawful to the colonists in Pertoolua. Upon the first arrival of new Catholic bishops from Arcerion to replace the Ænglican ministers, the colony rose up in revolt shortly afterward, with the bishops fleeing back to Arcerion shortly thereafter. This incident was seen as a national embarrassment to Ardmore which led to the kingdom entering into a very tense series of negotiations. These discussions were mostly filled with intense squabbles between both the colonial administration and the Ardmori government as most of the concessions that Ardmore was willing to make were seen as not good enough in the eyes of the colonial government; by the time these negotiations began, the colony had no interest in remaining as a self-governing realm within the Ardmori crown. Eventually, Pertoolua was granted full independence, if only because the Ardmori government really did not want to remain as sovereign over an increasingly-defiant Protestant-majority land.
Although Pertoolua has finally obtained its independence after essentially rising up in revolt against the Catholicization effort that was implemented by the Ardmori crown, the new country would find itself falling under the powerful influence of more powerful nations in Levantia; the Pertooluan government was more or less unchanged from the previous colonial administration. The Ænglo-Ardmori citizens still remained in control of the government, and the North Songunese and Qabóri citizens still served as the local Cronan aristocracy though with new privileges that were granted in the first Pertooluan constitution such as conditional suffrage and limited representation which were not granted to the indigenous insular peoples. Instead, the indigenous Malentines were mostly disregarded at best and at worst were forced out of their traditional homelands to make way for new settlements to facilitate a migration boom that was happening to Pertoolua at this time. Various Malentine liberation groups would also emerge, with many of them being the first Neomaalit Wakabiist groups as well; initially a modernized branch of Wakabiism, it quickly became a vehicle for indigenous Malentine nationalism with elements of revolutionary socialism being integrated into the faith. Many of these groups were the main instigators for various small-scale skirmishes for the next three decades, with the largest of these skirmishes prior to 1933 being the Hierkuun Rebellion in 1925 which was brutally suppressed by the armed forces, leading to casualties in the thousands.
In 1933, the nation's largest indigenous nationalist group, the United Maali-Tinud Liberation Army, would mount the largest indigenous rebellion in the nation's history. Known as the Starlit Revolution due to the timing of these attacks happening during moonless nights, the largely-outnumbered rebels were able to score key victories against the Pertooluan government and their local Cronan aristocrats, and would soon establish the Malentine Council Republic, a indigenous nationalist and revolutionary socialist state. The revolution was very successful in overthrowing Pertoolua by mid-1933, but soon the new socialist government would squander its popularity. The new indigenous government began to enact a series of new laws that were designed to specifically target against the Ardmori population and especially former plantation owners and Pertooluan government officials that have failed to flee to Arcerion where a government-in-exile was established. Just over seventy percent of the Ardmori population were either wiped out or have fled to Arcerion in a matter of months by the time the latter country had initiated a swift intervention campaign against the revolutionary government. By the time the Malentine Council Republic fell to Arcer forces in late 1933, the islands were so devastated both demographically and economically by the botched policies of the former socialist government that they were to be placed under an international mandate with Arcer and Cartadanian supervision.
International occupation would last for just over five decades, facilitating much-needed programs designed to aid in the economic and demographic recovery of the island. Most of the Ardmori refugees from the islands would not return, however, and so much of the local administration would have to be delegated to the North Songunese and Qabóri residents of the islands alongside the remaining Ardmori residents. In 1987, after a successful referendum vote in 1985, the Conference of the New Confederation would be established to draft a treaty which would serve as the basis for a new constitution. Among the provisions that were set up, there was a strict and harsh limit implemented on their military capacity, essentially forbidding the islands from establishing domestic bases on their own soil. This provision also gave Arcerion permission to enforce a full demilitarization of the islands if need be. Other provisions included establishing the form of government that the islands should be ruled under, that being a directorial republic under a confederate government consisting of three republics, each with their own presidents and internal governments that are independent from the other two confederated republics. To appease the indigenous islanders, the new country was to be named Malentina, a slight variation of Malentinu which itself is the portmanteau of the ænglicization of the names of the islands' two largest indigenous groups, those being the Maaleens and the Tinuuds. All provisions as laid out in the Treaty of the New Confederation have served as the basis for the new constitution that was drafted just a month after the ratification of the treaty.
Modern
The first decade or so of Malentine independence since the ratification of the treaty was filled with a sense of distrust towards the Arcer government due to a perception that Arcerion has been rather keen on asserting its influence onto the islands. Arguing that Arcerion has acted in violation of Malentina's sovereignty, and because it felt that they would be better suited at handling the minor indigenous nationalist insurgencies which have emerged in opposition to the treaty, the confederate government began a policy of mild rearmament in 2002 which was soon met with a forced demilitarization order from Arcerion. Malentina refused these orders and continued to build up its military, which in turn led to the Arcer government claiming that the Malentine government is acting in violation of the treaty. Since then, the two countries have had a soured relationship since then that has nearly led to a state of war in 2006 that was only stopped through mediation from the League of Nations which led to some slight modifications to the treaty allowing for a limited rearmament of the Malentine armed forces in return for an internationally-enforced nonaggression pact between Malentina and Arcerion. Since this incident, the Malentine government has opted to pursue closer ties with its neighbors Tierrador, the Cape, Kelekona, and Alstin as well as non-Cronan nations such as Daxia and even Occidental nations such as Cartadania, Caphiria, Ardmore, and Vithinja.
Government
The government of Malentina is primarily inspired by the confederal system of Arcerion despite how it appears to be at first glance. Indeed, although many of the highest offices differ greatly from Arcerion's system, it retains many similarities in its functionality. The government of Malentina has four main components, those being the Senate, the Trissembly (contains the three subnational legislatures), the subnational cabinets for the country's three main components, and the national cabinet for the country in its entirety. Another very notable difference is the fact that the Malentine system functions as a presidential republic as well as the fact that Malentina is a directorial republic and thus has no one-person head of state.
Because the Malentine government in its current state has only really existed since 1987, as well as the tension between the largely poor indigenous groups and the largely wealthy foreign groups, with many mixed-race peoples being within the latter group, the government currently suffers from a lack of popular legitimacy in the eyes of approximately two-thirds of its populace. The actions of previous governments have also soured Malentina's relations with many Occidental nations, which it has only recently began attempts at repairing these relations since the late 2000s; Malentina has instead resorted to closer ties with its fellow Cronan nations such as Kelekona and Tierrador as well as non-Levantine powers such as Daxia and Caphiria.
Executive
According to the Malentine constitution, which itself is in compliance with the 1987 Treaty of the New Confederation, Malentina is required to separate its executive branch into three separate institutions, all of which function somewhat differently from one another. The directorial presidency is commonly referred to pejoratively by the indigenous Maaleens and Tiuuds as the "Treaty Triad", though officially it is referred to as the "Presidency". Each member of the Presidency makes up the head of state and government for each of their respective confederated republics, effectively meaning that Malentina has three presidents. Each president is obligated to bring with them a number of cabinet members to assist them in serving the roles of external affairs as needed for the Presidency as a whole. Executive actions for the confederacy at large, such as determining highly important trade agreements, are required to be carried out through the use of a simple majority compromise system of voting wherein each confederated republic receives one vote and is to vote either for or against the proposed executive action.
Elections for each of the presidents differ between each of the three confederated republics. Although each presidential election takes place every seven years, each confederated republic has their own institution for the purpose of carrying out these elections. The northern republic makes use of the two-round system where multiple presidential candidates compete in the first round, and only the top two presidential candidates in the first round compete in the second round assuming that no candidate has been able to attain a simple majority in the first round; this system arguably ensures that a candidate is guaranteed to win a majority. The eastern republic makes use of an electoral college system where the president is elected by the House of Commons based on a direct advisory vote; all members of the House of Commons are not legally obligated to vote based on the wishes of their constituents, however, and may vote for any presidential candidate as they wish. The western republic makes use of the instant-runoff voting system, a form of preferential voting that eliminates the candidates with the fewest votes until one candidate has a simple majority of votes. Traditionally, no president stays after serving a single term, but there exists no legal mechanism to enforce this.
Each of the confederated republics' internal governments have their own domestic departments which handles the internal affairs of each republic separately. While each of these internal cabinets have their own differences in offices and even functions, they all still share many similiarities thanks to the influence of the Arcer political system.
Legislature
The Malentine legislature is split between the Senate, serving as the collective upper house for the three republics, and the Trissembly which itself consists of the legislatures of the three confederated republics; the Gathering of the West for the western republic, the House of Commons for the eastern republic, and the Northern Assembly for the northern republic. Each of the three confederated legislatures work separately and independent from one another in domestic legislation for each of the confederated republics, but they may meet up together to form the Trissembly which is when they work together to handle legislation on the national level; the Trissembly serves as the lower house counterpart to the Senate, and is formed once every spring and once every fall for a span of one month for each session.
The Senate consists of highly important and powerful citizens who hail from either the old aristocracy, the so-called "Starlit families" in reference to these political dynasties having emerged during the Starlit era, and noted academics and businessmen. Although the Senate was originally intended by the Treaty to be a largely ceremonial legislative house with great limitations to their power and ability to propose and pass new laws and resolutions, their association with the political elite of Malentine society has allowed for it to steadily grow influence over time through the manipulation of the Presidency and the use of corruption. Although the Constitution stipulates that laws proposed by the Senate should be debated upon by the Trissembly in order to be passed, it has become a common trend for many of these proposals to by duly approved without prior discussion or debate. Indeed, proposals that have been drafted by the Trissembly have largely been rejected by the Senate in recent decades, which is in stark contrast to the early years of the confederacy when proposals drafted by the Trissembly were largely approved without further issue.
The member legislatures of the Trissembly consist purely of elected positions, itself through a proportional voting system, and each of them have their own number of seats and domestic responsibilities. However, because there is no set equilibrium for the amount of seats for each of the member legislatures of the Trissembly thanks to the Treaty explicitly stating the amount of seats each of them should get, there is an immense power imbalance within the Trissembly as all three members must have equal voting power, thus leading to the scenario where the western and northern legislatures each technically hold more power than the eastern legislature does even though the latter has more seats than either the western or northern legislatures. This in turn has led to many issues arising over the perception of a seemingly clear bias in legislative decisions and the counting of votes. This problem is further exacerbated by the length of terms within each of the member legislatures of the Trissembly; the House of Commons holds an election every two years, the Gathering of the West holds an election every five years, and the Northern Assembly holds an election every seven years. The variation in legislative term lengths has increased the chances of there being a confederated president whose legislature is controlled by an opposing party, with the northern president most likely to have a legislature that is not as likely to be held by an opposing party.
Local governance
As part of the provisions and articles that have been established in the treaty, the Malentine state is required to have a high level decentralization which was applied all the way down to the level of local government. Malentine municipal governments are, as a result, noted for holding a great deal of local power, although this has since became a major burden to the Malentine government as well as the governments of the confederated republics as the exact amount of authority that has been granted to the municipal governments has given them the ability to act as quasi-independent entities within quasi-independent entities. This has effectively created a lot of complications within the Malentine system and has even facilitated the spread of severe corruption in many of these localities as the ability of any of the higher levels of government to effectively enforce corruption measures has been rendered largely ineffective for the most part.
Political parties and factions
The confederate nature of the Malentine government as well as the overall power of the socio-political elites in the Senate has nurtured a sort of multi-party system on the national level while at the same time this has been tempered by a quasi-two-party system within the Senate. What this means is that within the member legislatures of the Trissembly there exists a wide array of political parties ranging from indigenous ultranationalist conservatives to elitist one-nation conservatives, and from sincere liberal reformists to indigenous nationalist revolutionary socialists along the lines of the ideology expressed in the Starlit Revolution. For all intents and purposes, however, the one-nation conservative parties have largely ruled as the nation's dominant parties since the early 2000s after the Arcerion incident in 2002.
In the Senate, although all members are ostensibly independent there exists two major factions and a third minor faction that remains relatively influential. The three factions are the Woqalists, the Qhapaqists, and the Confederates. The Woqalists and the Qhapaqists are the two major senatorial factions, and both largely agree on establishing a Malentine monarchy; what kind of monarchy that the two factions want, however, contrast greatly. The Woqalist faction calls for the centralization of the Malentine state along Tierradorian lines with a powerful hereditary monarch known as the Woqali as well as a unicameral legislature elected through direct, popular elections that is headed by a separately-elected and independent head of government that is appointed by the Woqali. The Woqalists argue that this form of government would be ideal in ensuring the fair representation of all demographics. The Qhapaqist factions, on the other hand, calls for a more mild form of centralization along the principles of federalism; this new state would be ruled by a Qhapaq who would be elected by members of his own family, making it a semi-hereditary form of elective monarchy, and will be assisted by a tricameral legislature where the Qhapaq heads a one-man upper house, the aristocracy would comprise the membership of a middle house, and directly-elected politicians would comprise the membership of a lower house, effectively a rationalization and modernization of the North Songun form of government. The Confederate faction mostly consists of senators who do not support either the Woqalist or the Qhapaqist factions, instead preferring the status quo confederacy.
Culture
The overall culture of Malentina is a complicated web of various intertwined tribes who have inhabited the islands before the arrival of the North Songunese from the north, the Qabóri from the south, the Cartadanian and Coscivian colonists who made up the first colonial settlements on the islands, the Ænglo-Ardmori settlers who have had the greatest socio-political impact on the islands, and the Mestizo populations who have emerged during both the first and second colonial periods. Although the indigenous groups, alongside the Mestizo groups, have largely integrated and syncretized with one another, the Ænglo-Ardmori, North Songunese, and Qabóri elites on the islands have attempted to distance themselves culturally save for some token claiming of various aspects of indigenous cultures when trying to make themselves more appealing to the rest of the populace; otherwise the elites have worked hard to maintain the old traditions of their respective originating cultures, though even amongst the elites there exists some cultural syncretism with younger generations even holding mixed ancestry from the three ruling cultures.
One of the greatest aspects of indigenous Malentine culture, itself being a tradition that dates back to the pre-North Songun era, is a focus on nighttime activities. Indeed, almost all culturally and religiously significant indigenous holidays in Malentina are typically celebrated from dusk until dawn. The impetus on leisurely activities happening after dark goes even further, however, as there exists a sleeping schedule which, as one of the few indigenous cultural aspects to be universally adopted by all demographics, divides sleep into two events, those being a longer nightly sleep, and a shorter daily nap. Most Malentine businesses allot time for a two-hour-long in-house naptime for all employees starting at noon; during these times all businesses close down before re-opening once naptime ends. The next time Malentines sleep according to regular daily schedules is after dusk for a period of six hours, with the last meal of the day happening just before then. The practice of busineses allotting time for a midday nap has been compared to the Pelaxian tradition of a siesta which occurs at a very similar time in the afternoon albeit with employees going home to nap rather than napping at their workplaces.
Cuisine
Malentine cuisine is largely dependent upon the exact demographic thanks to the extreme divide between the impoverished natives, the somewhat prosperous Mestizos, and the wealthy socio-political elites. For most indigenous groups, the most common types of food consumed is a mixture of large variations of fish, crustaceans, large insects, and lamb. For the elites, the types of food that are typically associated with them are often meals that derive various elements from each of the three elite cultures; this has often led to instances wherein cornmeal "grits", which is a Qabóri cereal, are often served with bacon made from turkey meat, which is a colonial Ardmori delicacy, and "crab juice", a popular North Songunese beverage flavorant. The Mestizos, being born into a cultural crossroads, tend to have a sort of fusion cuisine between the foods eaten by the indigenous groups and foods eaten by the elites. The sole two commonalities between all three groups is the ubiquity of corn cooked in a variety of ways which is often served as a dinnertime side dish, and the usage of a number of local spices which is said to bring out the flavor in many Malentine meals.
Education
The Malentine education system since independence in 1987 is largely based upon the Arcer education system which itself is based upon the standard Occidental K-12 school progression system. All schools are organized and administered by the governments of their home confederated republics, with the national government being ultimately in charge of regulating the school system through its Confederate Department of Education. However, there exists no mandates nor sweeping pieces of legislation that are designed to standardize the school curriculum nationwide, thus leading to each of the confederated republics having determined their own curriculums, with situations arising whenever a family from one confederation republic moves into another confederated republic only to discover that the schools in their new home may very well be teaching dissections in primary school and not in secondary school like in their confederated republic of origin. Incidents like these have spurred the formation of an educational reform movement which currently call for a nationwide standardization of the school curriculum.
Demographics
The demographics of Malentina is noted for having a large amount of diversity in the religious, cultural, and political spheres. This has led to many situations wherein there exists a great power imbalance between the average citizenry who are largely indigenous to Malentina and the political elites who are largely foreign to Malentina whether they be Occidental or Cronan. It is only through the support of radical elements which ensure a fiercely loyal armed forces that the ruling classes of Malentina has been able to keep the indigenous Maaleens and Tinuuds from rising up in revolt against them.
Ethnic Demographics
Self-reported ethnic origin in the Confederacy (2024)
There are currently five main ethnic groups in Malentina, each of whom with differing ethnic origins that happen to have a few similarities in some cases. The largest ethnic group is the indigenous Maaleen people, with the indigenous Tinuud people coming close as the second-largest ethnic group in the country. Overall, the Maaleens and Tinnuds make up 67.5% of the population, and yet they are among the poorest and least socio-politically influential people in the country. The Ardmistizo people, people of primarily mixed indigenous and Ardmori ancestry, make up the third-largest ethnic group in the country, and are closely related to the Costizo people, who make up the smallest denominated ethnic group in the country. The names of these two ethnic groups are respectively the portmanteau of Ardmori and Mestizo, and Coscivian and Mestizo; Mestizo, meaning "mixed person" in Pelaxian, is a word that originates in Vallos and was used to describe the descendants of mixed race Vallosi-Pelaxian couples who lived in the interior areas of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas; Mestizo is also used to collectively refer to the Ardmistzo and Costizo populations, and is also used in official census documents which state that they currently make up 16.4% of the population.
The fourth-largest ethnic group in Malentina, making up 8.9% of the population and yet is supposedly one of the more powerful ethnic groups due to their greater amounts of wealth on average, are the Ænglo-Ardmori people; the descendants of Ænglish Protestant refugees who have fled to Ardmore from mainland Levantia due to Ardmore's relatively tolerant attitude towards Protestants. They are also closely related to the Arco people of Arcerion and have historically played a huge role in Ardmori, Arcer, and Cronan history as a whole. The smallest ethnic group are small groupings of indigenous people and Occidentals who are not of a significant enough population to be given their own category; they are mostly Kelekonese, Telekonese, Qabóri, and non-mixed Coscivians and Cartadanians. The Kelekonese and Telekonese people in Malentina are usually either the descendants of North Songunese people who have moved to the archipelago during the height of the North Songun civilization or the descendants of refugees who have fled Kelekona in the late 1970s, and the Qabóri people are the descendants of settlers from the Qabóri Woqalate (now Tierrador); all three groups are, much like the Ænglo-Ardmori people, wealthier on average compared to the indigenous Maaleen and Tinuud populace.
Linguistic Demographics
There exists four main linguistic groups in Malentina, which are primarily based upon ethnic origins, but they may also be described in terms of the environment that a given demographic has been raised in; for example, a Maaleen family raised in a primarily Ænglo-Ardmori neighborhood is more likely to pick up Ænglish than a Tinuud family raised in a primarily Costizo neighborhood. The main linguistic groups are as follows:
- People of mixed-race origins, those being the Ardmistizos and Costizos, are the most likely group to be multilingual; mixed-race people typically speak an indigenous language, such as Maalit or Tiiu, and an Occidental language such as Ænglish and Cartadanian; the Conscivian language, although not classified as an Occidental language due to Kiravia's largely longtime insular isolation, is often grouped in with Ænglish and Cartadanian for the sake of simplicity;
- People of largely Occidental origins, such as the sizeable Ænglo-Ardmori minority and the smaller groupings of both Cartadanians and Coscivians (again, Coscivians are generally not classified as Occidental; they are grouped in with the other two ethnic groups for simplicity's sake); these three groups often speak their own languages, though Ænglish has been picked up as a sort of a nationwide lingua franca due to its sheer prevalence;
- People of Maaleen origins primarily speak Maalit, an indigenous tongue found in Malentina;
- People of Tinuud origins primarily speak Tiiu, another indigenous tongue found in Malentina;
- Although these languages have not been given their own category due to the low amounts of them in Malentina, the North Songunese tongues of Kelekonese and Telekonese are spoken amongst the Kelekonese and Telekonese minority in Malentina;
- Similarly, there exists those who speak the Qabóri language as their primary tongue; although not an official linguistic group, this minority is noted to have enough political influence to make Qabóri an official language in Malentina.
Religious Demographics
Self-reported religious identity in the Confederacy (2025)
Most of Malentina follows some variation of the Arcer-originated denomination of the Ænglican Church. Although the largest plurality of adherents of Ænglicanism follows its traditional episcopal branch, more than half of all Ænglican followers are part of smaller divergent branches, with only one of which, the Ænglo-Samuelites, being even close to being comparable to the mainline branch albeit with some elements considered to be liberal. Most of the other branches within Malentina range from attempted reformations of the Ænglican faith to largely congregationalist and evangelical branches; the most extreme of these evangelical branches is known as the Fellowship of Timothy, often derisively referred to as "snake-handlers" due to their propensity to handle live venomous snakes as part of their observed rites.
Other than adherents to Ænglican-based denominations, the nation is mostly split between various indigenous belief systems. These beliefs have developed mostly separately from the religions found on mainland Crona due to the isolated insular livelihood of these indigenous tribes. The collective name for these beliefs is Waakbiism and it describes a group of beliefs and ideas that are exclusively found on the Malentine islands, although it still shares many similarities to other animist concepts found in the coastal regions within the Malentine Sea. Wakabiism is split into three main groupings, although even smaller outliers do exists despite many of them slowly becoming extinct due to proximity to either an Ænglican-based denomination or a mainline Wakabiist group. That aside, all variants of Wakabiism focus on the concepts of animism as well as a few ideas in particular. These ideas include ancestral deification, the display of gratitude and reverence for both the natural elements, such as plants and animals when they are being harvested as well as the people responsible for harvesting them, and even the study and use of the phases of the moon and the positioning of the stars for use in spiritual guidance, the tracking of time and significant religious holidays, and the astrological implications for the perceived destinies of newborn children.
The largest of the main Wakabii branches is the Neomaalit branch, a reformed branch that is focused on the implementation of nationalistic and socialist ideas into existing religious concepts to formulate a sort of syncretic ideology. Many of these ideas can range from largely conservative policies such as the equity of the nation's citizenry and a form of protectionism that heavily taxes and regulates international entities working within the nation to more radical and revolutionary ideas such as the liberation of Malentina from its Ænglo-Qabóri-Songunese elite ruling class and the complete transition towards a socialist planned economy. Although the Treaty has stipulated that joining the socialist radicals within Neomaalit Wakabiism is considered a treasonous act against the Confederacy, this stipulation has largely remained unenforced and political parties that support the ideas espoused by this radical left-wing form of Neomaalit Wakabiism have not only been able to openly and actively campaign without consequence, they have also managed to win representatives within the member legislatures of the Trissembly.
The other two main branches of Wakabiism are Tinastii Wakabiism and Maalit Wakabiism, which both hold beliefs and ideas that are nowhere near as concise as the beliefs and ideas held by Neomaalit Wakabiism. These two smaller forms of Wakabiism have largely shied away from active involvement in politics and instead have opted to focus on providing adherents with philosophical guidelines to live a righteous and good life instead of making use of strict religious dogma. The most common element found within all other branches of Wakabiism regardless of size and popularity is the strong rejection of the Neomaalit branch of Wakabiism, with many non-Neomaalit adherents of Wakabiism accusing Neomaalits of being nothing more than a group of desecrating heretics who actively corrupt the faith to lure in those among the faithful who do not suspect a thing on their journey to the true path of faith.
The final two groups are those who profess a form of irreligiosity, who presently make up just less than a quarter of the top 1% of Malentine society. Irreligiosity used to make up a larger portion within Malentine demographics until the victors of the Starlit Revolution began to persecute them greatly, thus forcing many to flee the country and never return even after the revolution was swiftly put down by foreign intervention from Arcerion.
Economy
Malentina as a whole is mainly an agricultural economy with exports focused on sugar, liquor and tobacco. This agricultural sector has moved back and forth between producing enough food for the nation to be self-sustaining.
The nation also maintains a steady mining sector, mainly focused on cheap metals like nickle and zinc. The islands used to produce a good amount of paper products in the 19th and 20th centuries but a combination of deforestation and preservation efforts have almost wiped this sector out completely.
The islands also happen to be a great place to catch large amounts of high value crustaceans as well as other fishing products to a lesser extent.
While the nation still largely relies on hydrocarbons for energy generation thanks to its very flat geography improved further by the reduction in forested areas the islands are perfect for wind-power turbines. At this point they have successfully implemented enough turbines to make up 17% of their electrical output, with plans laid to double this by the end of 2040.
Military
The Malentinan military is a shadow of its former self. A nation who ones heavily focused on their ability to project naval power and punch enough above their weight to actually have the ability to contest other nations in their region now only maintains a pretty basic land military force with a complete lack of military tradition and suspected of large-scale corruption.
The only military institution that may deter external invaders is the Lunar Revolutionary Guard, a reservist force built on the old guerilla tactics used by the islands natives since pre-colonial times. They remained the greatest obstacle for international intervening forces, especially League forces from beyond Crona. during the White Death War. By using the islands heavy vegetation as well as tunneling systems as cover, while utilizing a mixture of traps, night-time ambushes and raids on logistics to make the war a living hell for the occupying forces.