Sanain Republic
|
Sanain Republic  Sanain Hervesi (Sanain) |
Loading map... |
Sãikyel, officially the Sanain Republic (Sanain: Sanain Hervesi) is a small country in southeastern Uletha. It is bordered by Blönland to the west, Izaland to the south, the Federal Republic of Wendmark-Đenkuku to the east, Eshein to the northeast, and the Darcodian Sea to the north. As of 2023, the population of Sãikyel was just over 11 million residents, with 30.5% of the population (about 3.4 million residents) living in its capital city, Nevensad. Sãikyel is divided geographically into a flat coastal area in the north, rolling grasslands in the densely-populated center of the country, and the alpine Vesa Mountains to the south, which form part of the central East Ulethan mountain massif. The Arvina, Sãikyel's central grassland region, is home to its largest cities and economic hubs, including Nevensad, Hanbide, and Hunuda.
Sãikyel is a unitary parliamentary republic made up of 9 provinces, with its seat of government in Nevensad. Although the vast majority of the country is ethnically Sanain, the country includes significant Izaki, Bloenish, and Ingerish ethnic minorities, as well as expatriate communities from Uletha and all around the world. Nonetheless, Sanain citizens share a strong sense of national identity and pride, a sentiment rooted in centuries of economic and political cooperation between the principalities and city-states that existed along the south Darcodian Sea.
Sãikyel has a highly developed and diverse economy, renowned as a global hub for banking, finance, and professional services. It is home to the Big Seven banks, some of the largest and most influential financial institutions in the world. In addition to its finance sector, Sãikyel's economy thrives on tourism, agriculture, and precision engineering, with the country being a leader in the production of high-end mechanical instruments and advanced machinery.
Etymology
The current demonym of the country, sanain, is supposedly descended from a combination of the Old Sanain words *soa and *nûjneg (modern standard Sanain sãya and nayunek), together meaning "old farmer", or "original farmer". As of yet, very few links have been made connecting these terms logically, save for the presence of agriculture as a vital source of wealth throughout the history of Sãikyel. As for the name of the country itself, most probably deriving from OS *soa + *gyel ("old mountain", compare modern sãya + keyel, speculations have been made by many top Sanain linguists that this term refers to the Urosedkeyelet hilly region in the south of the country.
History
Early history
There is evidence of continuous inhabitation of the area around the southwest of modern Sãikyel, overlapping with the province of Sayageyel and extending up as far as Navasy, starting in the late 5th century AD. There is attestation during this time of four closely related tribes inhabiting the area: the Fel, Ni, Huna, and Varva (or Warwa). It is commonly accepted among Sanain anthropologists that these tribes settled in the low areas of the Sanain steppe and built permanent homes there. By the mid 6th century, however, these tribes had migrated further north, most probably along the course of the Niva and Oburb rivers, reaching the coast of the Darcodian Sea around 580-590 AD. Varvezyek (found in inscriptions as Warweθek or Warwazek) was founded in 593.
Around this time, the Huna peoples spread eastwards, toward modern Hunuda along the Central Highlands of the Sanain steppe. They eventually reached the Nakisara mountain range, the boundary of the Ohan river watershed, to the east of Sãikyel's border with Supernia. Though some Huna villages remained around Vãikili in the traditional Huna homeland, interbreeding and tribal fights led to the greatest concentration of Huna ancestry today to be in the far east of the country.
Similarly, the Fel peoples left their residences in the southwestern region to migrate along the course of the Fel and Niva upwards towards Meigen and the present-day province of Burban in the northwest. Most of the hydronyms in the west of Sãikyel descend from the Fel dialect of Old Sanain, and Lake Felo and the Fel river both take their names from the tribe.
Modern history
Starting from the middle of the 19th century, the area today known as Sãikyel was divided into three independent states: The Principality of Sãikyel, the Principality of Nevensad, and the Kindgom of Hunuda. With much of the population and army might concentrated there, the Principality of Sãikyel was both the largest and the most powerful, and it was the only state with direct access to the coast.
The states were almost constantly in tension with each other, with border lands being constantly invaded and reclaimed. The decision of the Kingdom of Hunuda to invade the Principality of Nevensad in 1923 began an armed conflict between the two countries, into which the Principality of Sãikyel was introduced after the attack on the city of Hanbibi by Hunudan troops in 1926. Within a year of its involvement, the armed conflict escalated into a full-on war between the three small countries, with over 1 and a half million civilians and military troops dead by its end, which at the time was almost one-fifth of the population of the area. The end of the war came about with the Treaty of Sãikyel City in 1935, which passed most of the blame onto the Kingdom of Hunuda. While forced to sign the treaty, which contained provisions of demilitarization and eventual unification, the ten signatories from the belligerent states were unhappy with the treaty, and later campaigned extensively against it.
The ultimate result of the Treaty of Sãikyel City was the retreat and conglomeration of all of the countries' armies, the establishment of an interim government, and the approval for unification of the lands in the Sãikyel area. From the Treaty was created the Republic of Sãikyel, as well as a new Constitution and a legal code. Since the War of 1923-1935, the country has been in no further armed conflicts, and retains a stance of peace and cooperation with surrounding territories. However, the country has a network of allies in the region, which could drag it into future wars.
Economy
Banking
Sãikyel has limited natural resources within its boundaries, leading to over 20% of its economy to be based off of banking. Seven of its giant banks, colloquially known as the "Big Seven" have a combined market capitalization of almost USD350 billion. The largest bank in the country, and one of the largest in the continent, SãiBank, employs about 1% of the entire Sanain workforce.
Banks have been an integral part of the Sanain economy since the nineteenth century, when the oldest of the Big Seven, the Nevensad and Tomogeyel Financial Cooperative (or NATOFCO), was established in Nevensad in 1875. Since then, its banks have expanded to service most of southern Uletha. The Sãikyel and Uletha Republic Bank was founded to aid in this endeavor.
One of the reasons that the country is banking-centered is that the government imposes few regulations on finance and business in the country; this was part of an initiative by the government to open up the Sanain market after the Sanain War, when the economy was practically ruined. Since then, banks have been established almost every decaded up to 2000.
Culture
Membership in the UAC
Sãikyel has been a member of the Ulethan Alliance for Culture since 2009, when it was nominated to become a member.
Currency
The currency of Sãikyel is the pia (Ꝑ), with an exchange rate of USD1.072 per pia. It is further divided into satmakat (singular: satmak), each of which is 1/100 of a pia. However, only 1, 5, 10, and 50 satmak coins are minted.
Infrastructure and transportation
Roads
The national route system of Sãikyel is called the N-system (N-syistema) and spans the entire country. All roads that connect cities have numbers that are multiples of 5.
Air travel
The flag carrier of Sãikyel is Air Sanain, which is a member of Geolliance. Air Sanain is only 50% government-owned, and is based out of Sãikyel International Airport, the largest airport in the country.
Politics and Government
The government of Sãikyel (Sanain Andalagalt) is a unitary parliamentary democracy based in the Government Quarter region of Nevensad, its capital. The current Prime Minister, elected in the 2016 Parliamentary Elections, is Erven Ogudek of the United Social Democrats (OSD), serving under President Tomasy Maikanagisek.
National Assembly
The legislature of the country, the National Assembly (Ervai Uśtatalt) is divided into a lower chamber, the House of the People (Narudai Stad) and the House of the States, Hervesiervati Stad. The House of the People has 281 deputies, while the House of the States has 90.
Political administration
Sãikyel is divided into nine provinces (hervesiervat), which evolved historically from the various free states and principalities existing in Eastern Uletha from the Middle Ages up to Sanain unification in the 20th century. Seven provinces are further divided into 71 municipalities (ibidinat), while the provinces of Nevensad and Hanbide are regarded as "province-level cities" (hervesiervasegi sadat) and are instead administered unitarily as metropolitan regions in their own right.
Ibidinat are of three types: metropolitan (metropolitãni), urban (sadmuz), and special (ussãmi). The 11 metropolitan municipalities consist in general of the non-province-level city areas of Sãikyel's largest urban agglomerations, namely Nevensad-Gau-Vãikili, Hanbide-Varnyaksad, and Nãuy-Dessad. The 10 special municipalities are all located in Sayavari and Hunuda provinces, and contain semi-rural, rural, and wilderness areas. The remaining 50 municipalities are classed as urban.
| Administrative Level |
Native Name | Description | Number | Representation in Parliament | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sãikyel | 2 | Vara | The country | 1 | Constitutes |
| Provinces | 4 | Hervesiervat | Major subdivisions of the country | 9 | Delegates apportioned per municipality count, 10 in the House of States |
| Provincial-level cities | 4 | Hervesiervasadat | City-states | 3 | 10 in the House of States, proportional to population |
| Cities | 6 | Sadat | Urban collections of municipalities | 10 | Represented by municipalities |
| Municipalities | 8 | Avyaktat | Subdivisions of provinces | 50 | Make up provincial delegate count |
| Boroughs | 8 | Saddistriktet (in Sãikyel City), ãibeset | Divisions of provincial-level cities, or of municipalities within cities | Varies by city | Representation only in city legislature |
| Kaldet (rural or urban) | 9 | Kaldat | Village or town | Hundreds | Municipalities |
| Autonomous urbanizations | 9 | Avtonomiurbanizãltat | Villages within provincial-level cities | Roughly 10-20 per provincial-level city | Represented by boroughs in city legislature |
| Neighborhoods | 9 | Taigat | Subdivisions of city boroughs | Varies by city | Represented by boroughs in city legislature |