Hemstein

Grand Duchy of Hemstein Groethertogdom Häömsjteinbeed (Hemsteiner) Capital: Wiemónjstein Population: 9.87 million Motto: Gewórtel entans Vrie (Rooted and yet Free) Anthem: G'r Andreaszank (The Andreas Song)

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Hemstein (Hemsteiner: Häömsjteinbeed /hɶ:mʃtɛ:ʲnbe:t/, Lentian: Haamstein, Kalmish: Höhmstein), officially the Grand Duchy of Hemstein, is a country in Uletha, located on the Kipperbaai. It is bordering Bärland to the north, and Atresia to the south. Its largest city and capital (Wiemónsjtein) along with the overall economic centre of gravity of the country, sit on the very tip of the Kipperbaai, near the southern border of the country. The population of approximately 10 million is centred in the flat west of the country, near the Kipperbaai. The hilly east of the country is much more sparsely populated, with stretching ranges of hills which become mountains near the eastern border.

Etymology

The name Häömsjteinbeed consists of three parts: Häöm, the plural of Haom, referring to the Naordhaom and Zuujhaom rivers, Sjtein, meaning castle, and Beed, meaning area. Thus, the name literally means area of the castles of the Haom rivers. This refers quite literally to the collection of castle cities (steins) near the estuary of the Haom rivers. While the -beed suffix is omitted in practically all exonyms, in Hemsteinian itself, the country is oft referred to as merely "G't Beed".

In Valonian and other Romantish languages, the country is referred to as Transnèvie, referring to the country's position across the river Neeve relative to Valony.

Administrative Divisions

Administrative divisions of Hemstein
First-level	12 kantónne among which 2 bezunjerrer gaegende
Second-level	gemeindes, stadsgemeindes, wiednèsgemeindes
Largest cities
• Wiemónsjtein • Sint-Jaansjtein • Elcherbörch • Sjraarsbrögk • Brènfort

Cantons

Hemstein is subdivided into 12 cantons. Cantons have their own governing body, known as the Algèmeine Kantónssamèkóms (General Canton Assembly), which is headed by a commissioner, known as the Gouverneur (Governor). The position of governor is bestowed by vote in the parliament, but the Canton Assembly's composition is determined by elections, which are held simultaneously with municipal elections.

Cantons of Hemstein

Flag	Canton Name	Capital City	Largest City	Area (km2)	Population (estimate)	Density (per km2)	Governor
	Brènfort	Brènfort		793.72			Lienèke Saormes (Travai)
	Graofeshier	Graofstek	Elcherbörch	6019.27			Tienke ven Helemweeg (Kón)
	Groetneeveslandj	Sjraarsbrögk		7069.80			Jäöf Wiernesse (LiBó)
	Häömesmónj	Drakèbiksjtein	Wiemónsjtein	1702.12			Fóns Koppers (DVH)
	Helmser Dörpe	Paesj	Blöjze	1257.27			Cas Èngelse (Kón)
	Hertogdom Ajjèmbörch	Ajjèmbörch		1080.65			Drika Mineur (KEP)
	Hoeëgerbrange	Sint-Antoniusvörke		12357.79			Peter Hennèsgaar (Kón)
	Liegsmónj en Helmberg	Oersem		9069.45			Vester ven Haatem (DVH)
	Lóchtessem	Blówsjtein		6075.44			Agaat d'n Rexent-Lietmans (Travai)
	Potlandj	Sint-Jaansjtein		4545.00			Tieske Hieëler (KEP)
	Wielstem	Wielstem		13928.80			Pauw Huppès (Kón)
	Wietemsdouw	Wietemtore		12768.32			Cas Eerlèng (Kón)

Municipalities

Hemstein's cantons are each subdivided into gemeindes (municipalities). Most municipalities are considered normaler gemeindes (normal municipalities), which have a single mayor and a single municipal council. A few cities form a stadsgemeinde (city municipality), which is subdivided into any number of óngergemeindes (submunicipalities) - each of which has its own mayor and municipal council. Each city municipality also has a council, which consists of the combined members of each submunicipal council. In addition to these two kinds, five wiednèsgemeindes (rural area municipalities) still exist in Wietemsdouw and Wielstem cantons. These municipalities were created to service the large rural areas in the east of the country. Unlike the city municipalities, these have only a single municipal council, but do appoint deputy mayors for each of their subdivisions; often per village. This form of municipality has been written into obsolescence by law as early as 1980, meaning the existing rural municipalities would be subdivided and no new rural municipalities would be formed, but five still exist in Wietemsdouw and Wielstem cantons. As of 2026, each of these municipalities are in the process of being administratively subdivided into separate normal municipalities.

Electorates

In addition to the municipalities, the country is also subdivided into electoraote (electorates). Electorates consist of individual normal municipalities and submunicipalities, or groupings thereof. Curiously, electorate borders can cross canton boundaries; and in rare instances can even be discongruous. Each electorate has an amount of seats in parliament associated with it which corresponds to its population; those individual municipalities and submunicipalities which do not by themselves have a high enough population to account for at least 75% of a single seat (assuming a turn-out of 100%) are grouped with their neighbours until they form a full seat's worth. The map of electorates is determined once every 10 years by census, but will not change as municipal borders and population counts shift.

Government

Government of Hemstein
Parliamentary monarchy
Capital	Wiemónsjtein
Head of state
• Grand Duke	Andreas V
• Prime Minister	Sjeng Martsen
Legislature
• Upper house	Hoes ven Dipputees (House of Deputies)
Judiciary	Öpperste Landsrechsraod (Upper National Justicial Council)
Major political parties
Kón   NGP   DVH   PSW   KEP   SV81   NVHP   AVP   Travai   LiBó   WenP
International organizations
AN, HU

Monarchy

Hemstein is a unicameral parliamentary monarchy. Although formally classified as a grand duchy, the crown family is still regarded no less royal than that of other monarchies in Uletha. The current reigning dynasty is ven Gröntsale, and the current reigning monarch is Andreas V. The royal residency is located in the modern castle "Hertoogs Reeësjtein", in Wiemónsjtein.

List of monarchs

• Andreas I (1777 - 1820)
• Andreas II (1820 - 1835)
• Servatius I (1835 - 1844)
• Wienand I (1844 - 1892)
• Wienand II (1892 - 1913)
• Wienand III (1913 - 1916)
• Andreas III (1916 - 1957)
• Servatius II (1957 - 1979)
• Andreas IV (1979 - 2023)
• Andreas V (2023 - present)

National Elections

The constitution of Hemstein describes the maximum length of a term for any sitting government as 5 years; meaning that ordinarily, national elections are held every 5 years, or whenever the sitting government is resolved by the Grand Duke, which normally only happens on request by the Prime Minister. When this occurs, the Nasjonaol'r Kezèngraod (National Election Council) will determine a date for new elections. Hemstein's elections use the electorates described above, each of which is assigned a number of seats in parliament proportional to its population.

In the national elections, political parties in Hemstein are members of blocs. While three blocs, known as the "Green", "Blue" and "Orange" blocs, contain every single political party that has won any electorates in the past 50 years, any political party is allowed to request the Kezèngraod to oversee the formation of a new bloc. Whichever bloc receives the most votes in any electorate wins its allocated seats. Once all electorates are granted to any one bloc, each bloc divides the seats it has gained amongst its member parties proportionally to the percentage of votes that party has garnered across the entire election; meaning even a single vote for a Green bloc party in an overwhelmingly Blue bloc electorate is of importance to the final result.

Once the seats are subdivided, the largest party of the largest bloc is considered to have won the election. If this bloc has gained an overall majority, it's common for this bloc to form a government outright. In some cases, this can be done with the omission of a minor party, too. In other cases, a cross-bloc government is often formed. Rarely, a minority government might form, which does not reach the 200 seat majority in parliament.

Political Parties

These are the political parties currently in the House of Deputies. The cross-bloc coalition consists of Kónservatieve, the DVH and PSW.

Hoes ven Dipputees as of 2025

Party	Bloc	Full party name	Full party name (Ingrish)	Seats in parliament
Kón	O	Ge Kónservatieve	The Conservatives	113*
NGP	G	Nasjonaole Greune Pertie	National Green Party	101
PSW	O	Pertie ven Soevrèniteit en Waorbörgèng	Party of Sovereignty and Security	53*
DVH	B	Democraties'r Vaan ven Häömsjteinbeed	Democratic Flag of Hemstein	41*
KEP	B	Kristèlekke Eindrachtègheids Pertie	Christian Unity Party	23
SV81	G	g't Sociaelisties Verbóndj 1981	The Socialist Alliance 1981	18
NVHP	O	Nasjonaole Vriehied ónger dès Hoeëgse Pertie	Party of National Freedom under Heaven	18
Travai	G	Pertie ven Travai	Party of Labour	14
AVP	G	Algèmeiner Veuroetgankspertie	General Progress Party	8
LiBó	B	Libbèraol'r Bónd	Liberal Alliance	7
WenP	B	Sprekesj veur Wètte en Prinsiepe	Speakers for Laws and Principles	5

Geography

Hemstein is located in a temperate region of West Uletha, bordered to the south largely by the river Neeve, and to the east and north-east by ranges of hills which form in the Helmer Range in the far east, reaching elevations of up to 3000 metres, which is the highest point in the country. The climate is temperate, becoming colder further inland.

The country can be broadly divided into two geographic regions. The western half consists mostly of the drainage basins of the North Hem and the South Hem or Neeve, two rivers which share an estuary in the south of Hemstein's coastline. This low-lying, fertile area near the coast is the heartland of Hemstein, containing most of its population, agricultural land, and major infrastructure. Further north-west, the River Brange flows through a mostly flat plateau towards its own estuary on the coast, near Elcherbörch.

East of this lowland core, the terrain becomes increasingly hilly and rugged, forming the drainage basin of the Haom rivers, eventually turning into the Helmer Range along the eastern frontier. This region is less densely populated and more sparsely developed, with an economy historically centred on mining, forestry, tourism, and animal husbandry rather than agriculture.

Demographics

Language

The official national language of Hemstein is Hemsteiner, a language that is similar to the Lentian language, with influences from Kalmish. The language is standardized, and is in use throughout the entire country. In addition to the Hemsteiner language, Kalmish and Lentian are also spoken commonly. Formally, neither is an official language, although Lentian in particular has been gaining ground as a common language, in particular in the regions south of the Zuujhaom river. In 2017, the government mandated each major placename should carry an official Lentian translation.

Mother tongue

Language	2021 census	2011 census	2001 census
Hemsteiner	62.4%	71.3%	74.3%
Lentian	17.3%	14.0%	11.4%
Kalmish	5.5%	5.4%	6.1%
Valonian	4.6%	5.1%	3.5%
Surian	1.0%	0.1%	-
Ingrean	0.4%	0.6%	0.4%
Other	5.8%	3.5%	4.3%

Valónies Registair

Historically, Valonian nobles ruled over the majority of the most populated regions of the country. As a result, within Hemsteiner now exist a large amount of Valonian loanwords, which are collectively referred to as Valónies Registair (Valonian register). Often, these words have another, native counterpart, and are therefore regarded as "posh", or bourgeois. Most often, these loanwords are adapted to Hemsteiner spelling, rather than directly loaned from Valonian. Examples include:

• amour vs wermde (affection)
• besonje vs gezóks (business)
• charlètan vs nèpper (imposter)
• entrèppoo vs pakhoes (warehouse)
• ordinater vs kómpjoeter (computer)
• toezjoer vs altied (forever)