Sydona: Difference between revisions

| '''Official languages''' || Austral Coscivian<br>[[Khunyer language|Khunyer]]<br>Thrakoslavonic

The first recognisible modern ethnic group to settle in the Sydonas were the Pregoshans, an independent {{wp|Indo-European|Japhetic}} offshoot people, related to today's Pelians. Pregoshans of the Sydonas were among the first Japhetic-speaking communities other than Istroyans to begin adopting Christianity, and according to tradition the Christian presence in the islands dates back to the Apostolic Age, albeit with a limited geographic and demographic footprint in comparison to more northerly and easterly areas of coastal Sarpedon. The Pregoshans would subsequently be conquered and absorbed by invading Khunyer people fromt the Sarpedonian mainland, who would themselves gradually adopt Christianity by cultural transfusion both from above (through continental elite networks) and from below (from intermixture and cultural contact with the conquered Pregoshan subalterns). Slavic peoples would subsequently enter the archipelago's ethnic mélange by sea from the northwest, with the ancestors of the Thrakoslavs colonising the western shores of the archipelago and establishing fortified enclaves in other areas of the islands.

Communal identity is a major element of the Sydonan political landscape, but not the main predictive variable of voter behaviour. With the exception of the Democratic Union Party, which appeals exclusively to Thrakoslavs, the major Sydonan parties all portray themselves as multi-ethnic and draw varying levels of support from the principal demographic sectors. The UFP dominates the Overseas Coscivian vote and generally performs well among Austral Coscivians and the Khunyer upper and middle classes, but has weaker support from Thrakoslavs. The Social Compact Party most often earns a plurality of the Khunyer vote and is the favoured party among rural Christians of all ethnicities and much of the lower-middle class.

Sydona has a rich and diverse culture, blending the dominant mores of [[Coscivian civilisation]] with Khunyer, Slavic, Istroyan, and Audonian influences. Although a thoroughly multiëthnic and multilingual country, Sydona's overarching socio-political institutions and cross-community mainstream culture have been primarily shaped by [[Coscivian civilisation|Coscivian culture]] for the past several centuries, and as such, under the successive [[Elamite Order|Elamite]], Kiravian colonial, and [[Kiravian Union|Kirosocialist]] regimes, much of the non-Coscivian population of Sydona has become substantially Coscivised in many respects, especially in urban areas. However, since the end of Kirosocialism, a more pluralistic political and media environment has made space for stronger assertions of non-Coscivian, even non-Kiravian identities among these peoples.

*'''[[Khunyer people|Khunyer]]''' - Orenstian ethnic group speaking the [[Khunyer language]]. Khunyer are the largest individual ethnic group in Sydona and are in plurality across southern and eastern Yerduran and much of the Lesser Sydonas.

**'''Austral Coscivians''' or '''Deep South Coscivians''' - Social amalgamation of Coscivised Khunyer and long-settled multigenerational Coscivian-Kiravian colonists.

Austral Coscivian, an offshoot of [[Maritime Coscivian]] superimposed over a [[Khunyer language|Khunyer]] substrate, is the most widely spoken language in Sydona, by 35% of the population as their native tongue and an additional ~25-35% as a second language. The other two major languages of Sydona are Thrakoslavic (a Slavonic language) and [[Khunyer language]] (an Orenstian language). All three languages have official status