Forum:Territory application/UL14e - Герзанрайшь (Gerzanreich)

Forums → Territory application → Territory application/UL14e - Герзанрайшь (Gerzanreich)

Please fill in the information below to make a territory request.

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

UL14e - Герзанрайшь (Gerzanreich)

	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)

https://imgur.com/a/fOVJqjB - Geography.

The country is mountainous to the South, in continuity of the geography of neighboring countries. The central-eastern region is mostly made of plains, on which agriculture thrives, although there are some swamps, causing regular floodings during Spring and Autumn. In the western part of the country, the landscape is very beautiful, made of relatively low hills (250 to 400 meters high) and a rich, diverse forest. The recent industrialization of the region endangers this landscape - in the Northwest, most forests are already gone and replaced by heavy industries or coal mines. Finally, the far North is made of relatively well preserved forests, it is a much colder region than the rest of the country, which explain the low density of inhabitants.

https://imgur.com/a/PH2hEk4 - Hydrography

The country is crossed by one main river, the source of which is the Klaren lake in the southern mountains. Canals are being built in the Western part of the country, in the same process of artificialization of the landscape.

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

https://imgur.com/a/mO6lGE0 - Towns and population (from green: low population to dark red: high population/capital city)

The mountainous, rural south contrasts with the industrialized plains of the North, a contrast that gave birth to many stereotypes and clichés, or even discrimination between the Northern and Southern inhabitants.

The Government has ignored for a long time the poverty issue in the South, but recently has been investing billions of Geldmarks (GGD – Гелдмарк) to promote tourism there. Despite these efforts, the tourism industry didn’t manage to save the local economy and many southerners have migrated to the center and the northwestern parts of the country, creating Neugrods (нöйгроц, literally New Towns). These new towns are pockets of poverty. Powerful industrial groups saw an opportunity and started relocating their factories in this area.

In the far north of the country, the fishing industry brings prosperity to the coastal towns. In the central-eastern part of the country, agriculture is the main source of income.

The capital city, located at the center of the country is extremely developped with modern transportation methods, unlike the rest of the country where cars are a strict necessity. Transport by rail is developing, but limited to the capital and industrialized regions. The biggest cities are all located along a major waterway, or around the southern Lake.

Inspiration will be taken from Kaliningrad (for the central areas), Lesser Poland (for the south), Rostock (for the coastline), and Frankfurt (for the capital).

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

The Gerzanic language is fabricated upon Germanic sonorities and grammar, and uses the cyrillic alphabet.

Historically, the country used to be extremely closed and hostile towards most nations, and built many bases that are still running today. The far northeastern part of the country is referred to the Special Military Zone (Шпезиаль Арме Регион) and holds most of the military powers. In recent history, the country has opened for tourism and is more willing to be included in regional exchanges, especially with southern partners (Suria).

As previously stated, this country is heavily divided and two different cultures survive : on the one hand, a large majority wants to face the future and open the country towards technology, on the other hand a minority prefers the comfort of the old ways of life – especially in the south and on the coastline.

This is the reason why there are very few universities and higher education infrastructure in these regions.

	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
	The {{coord}} template can optionally be used to link to the OGF map - it results in a nice formatted link. Or you can paste in a URL.

Nouveau-Privat, Sainte-Agnès [1] - My first mapping instances on this project, with low ambition - just a little colonial village. (French Colonial Style, rural)

Midson, Wheredon, Bursbrook and Trevor [2] - Getting a little more ambitious on this medium-sized town and its surrounding villages. (US Style both urban and rural)

MD01 Test [3] - Mostly having fun with more geographical elements, more towns. I've started this very recently and am still working on it. (EU Style both urban and rural)

You will notice my love for details, I like to imagine my little town and how inhabitants get their needs fulfilled, in addition to getting inspiration from OSM directly.

	Username & date
	Sign and date the application by typing four tildes like this: ~~~~

LunaU (talk) 17:30, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

	Discussion
	Discussion for clarification & decision

Hello, as a person mildly active in the area with low seniority, I'd like to put my two cents in, across a few points:

• I really like the existing mapping, however the towns cited often aren't particularly strong on a larger structure, and in some instances areas tend to lose scale (example). Additionally, I apologise if I was inaccurate, you didn't seem to use JOSM angle snapping, which can be found by pressing A with the way tool, and you can snap to other ways by right click.
• Could you elaborate more on the conlang please? This is mostly for personal curiosity, however I'd also mention that the orthography somehow strikes me as unrefined. I don't know why, but it's likely the usage of ль and ай, which make it feel more like a transliteration into Russian than a different language.
• Also, given the relatively distant location of this Germanic language to other Germanic languages on OGF, it might make sense to provide an explanation of how it ended up where it is.
• In your application, you did not mention the total population, while I am unsure how important it is to OGF Admin to have a number, the amount you give is often compared to an expected value to gauge the skill of your evaluation.
• You also did not mention the climatic effects of such a northern location, which is comparable to the Baltics at warmest, and likely is more resemblant of southern Kamchatka or Labrador^∈⊾.
• Finally, you did not make references to real world locations, which typically allow the reader of the application to gain an accurate idea of what your country is supposed to look like, and I believe it is also an indicator of application quality. (Edit: mistake MKH1020 (talk) 15:27, 3 January 2023 (UTC))

Do note that this is my own opinion as a mere someone in the area, and I cannot ensure the accuracy of my advice. I hope this helps you in your journey to construct a successful and well mapped OGF country. MKH1020 (talk) 14:43, 3 January 2023 (UTC)

>> These are constructive criticism points that I'll definitely take into account in my mapping and future applications.Thank you! LunaU (talk) 10:03, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Hello, LunaU. I've put some thoughts on your application:

• The mapping you've provided is good and has plenty of potential, albeit, I'd like to see more examples of European (particularly North European) styled mapping before making a decision. The American-styled mapping is pretty decent as well, but not suited for the territory you are requesting.
• Although it is noted on the overview map that German is welcome in this territory, I'd severely limit its usage and focus on a Slavic-based language, if possible.
• This territory is located far more north than the areas you've noted to be using as inspiration. If I may suggest any areas to focus on, I'd put the north Baltic, Finland, Estonia, Barents sea region, etc. Also note, because of that, the agriculture would be more limited than what you'd like, sadly.

With that, UL14e is a very large territory, and since you've mentioned you focus on details more, could I suggest requesting a smaller territory? Overall, your mapping has plenty of potential nevertheless. I will leave the application open to hear your thoughts.