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Forums → Territory application → Territory application/UL03l - República Platina

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

UL03l^∈⊾ - República Platina (Platinan Republic)

	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)

Masterplan de mapeo general para la República Platina (UL03l^∈⊾)

• Climate. The Platinan Republic is characterized for being tropical as a result of its geographical location near the Equator, presenting numerous variations depending on the altitude, temperature, humidity, winds and rainfall. Each climatic region mantains an average temperature throughout the year, only presenting variables determined by precipitation during the rainy season.
• Topography and landscape. The Platinan Republic is located in the center of the Liberan Island, a region of West Uletha. The most mountainous areas are in the northwest, with minor mountain ranges throughout the territory in the northeast, southwest and the border with UL03t. There is a large valley in the center, with three sizeable lakes covering the landscape. The capital is located in the valley, south of the largest lake.

Please review the masterplan for general mapping if you want further information about our proposal.

• The star stands for "capital city", the golden dots stand for "largest cities" and red dots for "minor cities".

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

The Platinan Republic is a multicultural country, with numerous immigrants living in organized communities of the largest cities. Even though the entirety of the Platinan Republic was conquered by Castellán, there are important communities of Francophone natives in the insular region and pre-Castellanese settlers (inspired by Mayans and natives from Panama and Costa Rica, as some nearby countries have native American influence in the naming system and dialect) in the northern regions of both coasts.

Unlike most of Latin American countries, the Platinan Republic is expected to have a developed and high-income economy. The manufacturing sector (heavy industry and materials), mining and oil extraction are the predominant economic activities of the country, with a developing market of financial and technology services. There is a heavy agriculture and fishing industry in the northwestern coast and the insular region, with a significant light industry taking place in the industrial areas of the country.

Most of the map is expected to be filled with grassland and other landuses that can be used if needed, as suggested by the masterplan. The highest mountains in the northeast are expected to have some glaciars (trying to continue the mapping style of the neighbouring country, Alvorán) and the largest island in the south is expected to have an unactive volcano in it. The Platinan Republic is expected to have a more organized city layout style, as it developed differently compared to Latin American nations, with the city center and historic areas having organized grids and senseful curves if needed by the topography, similar to what is seen in Canadian cities like Ottawa, Montréal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Some large cities, primarily those who date back to the early colonial period, include a Spanish colonial layout similar to what is seen in Panama (Ciudad de Panamá, Colón, David, Santiago de Veraguas), Costa Rica (San José, Cartago), Mexico City and Santiago de Chile, for example.

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

Latin America has one of the most enriching, diverse and multiethnic cultures in our real world. There are countries who have assimilated their native ancestry (like Mexico, Peru and Bolivia), others who mostly have European ancestry (like Argentina and Uruguay), and others whose cultures and population evolved with constant migrations from numerous countries throughout the world (like Panama). Even though they face numerous economic, political and social issues, their cultures trascended the cultural borders of Latin America and have conquered Northern America, Europe and other regions throughout the world.

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We want to honor our Latin American heritage and cultural involvement by developing a new project, inspired by the best of our cultural region. The Platinan Republic was conquered by Castellán, in a timespan somewhat earlier than that of Latin America (as it is in the same continent than the conqueror), evolving culturally and socially throughout centuries of colonial domination. They reached independence by the late 18th century, and developed economically in a significatively higher rate than the RW-region it is inspired on, somehow similar to Eastern Europe and some British colonies. It is currently a developed nation, who attracted numerous immigrants due to its development rate and economic activity, and has a high standard of living; its culture and multiethnic society, with numerous holidays, accomodations and museums to honor its cultural legacy.

	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.

Past mapping of Mapping Expert:

• Vondréaux, Déserts (currently AR058) - https://opengeofiction.net/#map=16/-23.7089/112.0071&layers=B
• Worthington, Trinity Island (currently Hyde) - https://opengeofiction.net/#map=15/-42.3203/161.2182&layers=B
• Khenu, Ta Seti - https://opengeofiction.net/#map=15/27.1811/29.3827&layers=B
• [Developing] Capital city, Ta Seti - https://opengeofiction.net/#map=15/26.7278/29.0340&layers=B
• Magium, Imperium - https://arhet.rent-a-planet.com/#map=15/-21.5905/-12.8707&layers=1
• Hertogswilt, Lentië - https://opengeofiction.net/#map=15/56.7473/44.6035&layers=B
• Among other collaborative and individual projects

Past mapping of Imperator:

• Natural and general city layout of Ta Seti - https://opengeofiction.net/#map=7/25.835/27.697&layers=B
• Natural layout of Alvorán - https://opengeofiction.net/#map=7/13.304/57.997&layers=B
• Natural, administrative and general city layout of Imperium - https://arhet.rent-a-planet.com/#map=5/-25.562/-16.128&layers=1
• Among other collaborative and individual projects

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

Mapping Expert (talk) 04:30, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Imperator (talk) 20:01, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

	Discussion
	Discussion for clarification & decision

• Thank you for the application. I just got back from having to handle some family matters, so Bixelkoven and I will start discussing as soon as we can connect. I just wanted to let you know that we weren't ignoring the application. Cheers. — Alessa _(talk) 14:48, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
  • No problem, hope everything's fine! We'll review the application regularly if you need to discuss any detail about it. Mapping Expert (talk) 20:42, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

• Hello, Imperator/Mapping Expert, apologies for the wait. The plan overall looks good. Not sure about the city layouts influenced by the Canadian cities you've listed, that type of cities is mostly found in Archanta, but that's not a major issue. I'd replace covering most of the nation with grassland with forests, as it should follow the region's landscape of thick forests. Everything else looks pretty good to me and convincing. I'll still refrain from deciding on the outcome, as I'd like to discuss it further with Alessa. ⸺ Bixelkoven (talk) (West Uletha Admin) 13:42, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Hello! I mentioned some Canadian cities as examples of city layout because I saw them as more natural in terms of following the traditional Spanish layout that is seen in Panama City, Panama (for example); however, I could not provide a RW-example as most Latin American cities evolved irregularly from their city centers, but I'm expecting that our cities will be more organized in terms of city layout. Hope to hear updates from you and admin Alessa! Mapping Expert (talk) 18:01, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Concerning the grassland and/or forest, this is mostly a continuation of what is planned in Alvorán, the area around Toledano is meant to be a sparsely populated Savanna, not a forest area. Imperator (talk) 18:08, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

• Hello. I finally have a moment to post a reply. Here are some provisional thoughts that I have about the area and the application that need to be discussed.
  1. The application is not for just UL03l, it is for four territories in all. Some of the islands may be annexed in, like UL03m, but the entire archipelago is a nonstarter.
  2. What would you plan to do with the existing mapping in the area?
  3. The application mentions the different cultural structures of Latin America—something far more diverse than could be reflected in a single territory like this. Are you going for an integrated culture, a primarily Ulethan one, a suppressed native culture with extensive underpinning? Also, which cultural influences of Latin America are you going to use most prominently? Many of these probably already exist in southern Tarephia.
  4. Related to the previous one, the timeline history of the place needs to be cleared up. The Canary Islands were already being settled and having missions sent in the first decade or two of the 1300s, and these islands are not on a popular trade routes at the time. The straits at Kalkara are busy from antiquity as a route around southwestern Uletha. UL03 is a known large entity with people. The later this goes, the more costly it is going to be for Castellan to conquer and suppress a culture not too technologically distant from regional neighbors: human cost, cultural toll, materiel and finances, etc. Notwithstanding the Lycene area has quite early colonization, this territory either should have been conquered by no later than 1300–1325 in my mind, unless the Castellanese wrapped around the large island and took it later at huge expense and difficulty. Date of colonization has huge ramifications culturally. Proximity and cultural connection means integration into core Castellan over time; independence in mid-1800s would be a Castellanese civil war. This doesn't even account for language drift or places like nearby Xataera.
  5. I do not like the use of Canadian cities as a model for settlement. The origins and means of settlement are vastly different and from very different time periods. Planned cities can be fun and easy to map, but these types of cities were based on mass platting and land speculation in a post-Enlightenment world. Even the Bastides and some Reconquista cities were either restoring Roman grids or were not rigid in their layout compared to much later anglophone North America. The type implied above isn't common until after the mid-1500s (and even then is rare). This doesn't even factor terrain considerations in Canadian cities.
  6. Lastly, the stated land use and climate seems off. Glaciers may not be appropriate in your mountains, simply because of the necessary height that is needed and how that impacts all areas of the region. Yes, I'm aware of glaciers in tropical and equatorial regions; the mountain heights are my concern. Please consider Costa Rica more as a model. Sure, there could be some agricultural grasslands, but the lack of tropical forests—whether rain forests, cloud forests, or similar—is missing (e.g. La Amistad). Alvoran is scarcely mapped at this point, and I would not base much off this project.

  — Alessa _(talk) 23:44, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

  • Hello admin Alessa, thank you for reviewing our application. Sure, I'll give you information about the six thoughts you presented above:
    1. Yes, the masterplan (our long-term vision for República Platina) includes the entire archipielago to the southwest of UL03l. However, we're aware that claiming four territories at the same time is fairly impractical, as there's a reason for having them separated in the first place. Therefore, this application is primarily for the mentioned territory (UL03l), but we're completely open to the possibility of just annexing UL03m (if you're willing to giving it to us in the first place) as part of this application and leaving the remaining territories of the masterplan as a long-term idea once we've developed the main territory(ies).
    2. We're aware that there's preexisting mapping in UL03l, primarily in the western coast of the territory. As we already have a vision for the city layout (part of it will be explained in section 5), we plan to move the preexisting mapping to an undeveloped area of the territory while we're detailing the layout of the main cities and may use some of it, if needed or convenient for our plan. Most of it is (probably, I'm not completely sure) inspired by North American mapping, so most of it may by unuseful for a Latin America-inspired country, but we'll try to re-use it. There's also the possibility of offering the mapping for users who are willing to "adopt" it, a practice that is common for the FSA project (of which I served as member for about 2 years).
    3. I presented the different cultural structures of Latin America as a guide to what is our inspiration to develop the República Platina. Our main vision is to have an integrated culture which is primarily based on Spanish colonial cities, with stronger Spanish (Ulethan) cultural assimilation as it is very likely that colonizers have a deeper connection with the territory due to its location, nearer to Castellán than other previous colonies. Platinans are proud of their Castellanese heritage, as they have a deeper connection with the previous colonizer, and may not have assimilated the native cultures that are present in their territory (as there are some countries in the southern portion of the Liberan Island that include Central American cultural syncretism, expressed through city naming) as much as others would. We're also considering this location as it is nearer to Castellán and as it is a neighbour of the Alvorán community (the main territory and smaller territories owned by its contributors, which we know well as we joined the project some time ago).
    4. We know that the República Platina have a deeper connection with Castellán than what would have existed with the American Spanish colonies. We're completely open to adopt the timeline that you're proposing for the colonization period, sometime in the early 1300s, but I'm aware that we need to further discuss the independence timeline with the whole Castellanese community (both in Castellán and the nearby colonies); however, we've no problem with adapting our timeline with that of the region for historical coherence.
    5. I'm withdrawing the idea of basing our territory into Canadian cities. Instead, we might also use Southern Spain cities for inspiration (including Málaga, Sevilla, Cádiz, Cartagena and Alicante). We'll be adopting a more historically-appropriate city layout for the territory's historic cities, but the relatively modern capital city in the country's center would be more organized in terms of city layout than other cities.
    6. Related to the landuse and climate thoughts: we'll include more tropical forests throughout the territory in order to adapt our plan to its climate reality. Additionally, we expect that the maximum altitudes for the territory would be similar to those of Costa Rica and even Panama, so it's very likely that we would not even be using glaciers in our mapping. We'll use the topography of the southern portion of North America (Costa Rica, Panama) for inspiration in terms of high-altitude mapping, and will map Alvorán's territory, as official contributors of the collaborative project, to improve its mapping detail and adapting it to your suggestions (and our general plan, modified following this ongoing discussion).
    7. If you need further discussion, we'll try to answer it as soon as possible! Mapping Expert (talk) 01:15, 31 January 2024 (UTC)