Forum:Territory application/UL07e - Mardoumakhstan

Forums → Territory application → Territory application/UL07e - Mardoumakhstan

	Territory ID and proposed name
	The Territory ID (from OpenGeofiction:Territories, e.g. AR123a) and proposed name of the country

UL07e - Mardoumakhstan

	Physical geography
	An overview of climate, topography and landscape of the country. It is advised to also create a sketch, you can add a link to this (hosted on imgur or similar)

The physical geography of the place is mostly already laid out, by me, from the account TristanD, which I created in order to fake activity in the newly created Mediterranean region as moderator of West Uletha.

The climate would range between subtropical in the coastal region (Shelaqstan) to cold desert climates in central/central-northern regions.

	Human geography
	A brief description of the territory demographics, economic development, land occupation, infrastructure and mapping style

The territory is rather sparsely populated, with permanent settlements mostly situated around the capital Aqsha'ar in the north, along the eastern border, as well as along the coastlines. Outside of these areas, the territory is mostly inhabited by nomadic Mardoumakh/ other Turquan peoples (see sketch here)

	History & culture
	A brief description of the intended culture and language

• In ancient times, the coastal areas of Mardoumakhstan has been settled by proto-Shelakh peoples
• I've imagined before Mardoumakhstan to be the point of origin of Turquan peoples, however I'm not sure what the current consensus is
• Mardoumakhstan means "land of ice people" in Old Persian. Many toponyms are/ will be based on Old Persian, which denotes ancient Persian (Aryan?) presence throughout what I named in my West Uletha sector map "Turquan Uletha"
• Nowadays Mardoumakhstan is a multicultural, multilingual state, with the official language overall being Mardoumakh. Regional official languages are Shelaq and Armashlian
• I imagine Mardoumakh people to be remnants of Turquan tribes which were historically settling the area that is now the southern edges of the Surian Confederation. Their presence is still today visible in Chara Republic (Chara/ former Haroun in particular), Antharia, Navenna, and Mardoumakhstan in particular, through specific defensive and religious buildings, see Chara, Chara Rep. (which I plan to further develop eventually); Borrodin, Antharia or Zsispora, Navenna. What exactly the Turquan religion is I'd want to keep vague on purpose
• Mardoumakh people are the biggest ethnic group in Mardoumakhstan. Their language Mardoumakh is loosely based on Kazakh, containing elements Romanish and Shelaq, using an adapted version of the North Romanish alphabet as script - This shows the strong ties between the non-Surian independent Mardoumakh state and Antharia (the North Romanish alphabet has replaced Mardoumakh Cyrillic (Syrillangan?) script at some point, which itself replaced the ancient Mardoumakh script once Suria took control over the region)
• I imagine the history between Mardoumakhstan and Suria to be quite similar to Kazakhstan and Russia, with the twist that Mardoumakhstan was the only way for Suria to access the Mediterranean Sea. During Surian occupations, the nomadic Mardoumakh peoples (as well as other Turquan peoples living in the region) were only partially settled in urban areas, bigger cities such as Aqsha'ar still nowadays being mostly bilingual, both Mardoumakh and Surian. Still to this day about half of the Mardoumakh population lives nomadically, particularly in central Mardoumakhstan
• The second biggest ethnic group in Mardoumakhstan is the Shelakh peoples, living along the Mardoumakh coastline. Unlike Navennan Shelaq peoples, Mardoumakh Shelaq peoples still officially use the ancient Shelaq alphabet. Shelaq is very very very loosely based on Etruscan glossaries found online (which usually are contradicting each other, even), using the Phoenician script. There are many cultural, but not linguistical, ties between Mardoumakh peoples and Shelaq peoples, however Shelaq peoples tend to be historically less nomadic
• The third largest ethnic group is the Armashlian peoples, present in the autonomous Armashlian region. Armashlians speak native Armashlian (Aromanian) and Surian. Armashlians arrived in the area in waves of various forced displacement processes within the Surian Confederation, stemming from Iviron and Chara Republic
• Other ethnic groups include Plevian (or another Romance language present near the Plevian border), possibly other Turquan peoples, a minority of UL07d-ish speakers (as of now Hebrew). See language map here.

	Past mapping
	To support your request provide links to areas of OGF mapping which showcase your mapping skill. Mapping relevant to the requested theme & geography is especially useful
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Antharia, Mardoumakhstan

	Username & date
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Stjur (talk) 23:24, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

	Discussion
	Discussion for clarification & decision