Haixiao

The Federal Democratic Republic of Haixiao (Hǎixiào Liánbāng Mínguó) or simply Haixiao is a country located in East Artopa, situated in the far eastern region of the continent. It consists of twenty-one states and two federal territories. It is the 15th largest country in the world with a total area of around 1,892,352 square kilometers and hosts three of East Artopa's largest cities. It borders the states of Surovia to the north and Ke-Atsung to the east. The national capital is Tongnan, situated in the Lixuo Delta, and its twin city, Baochang, is the largest city in the country.

Etymology
Haixiao is a Hainese translation from the name the Prisnites gave the area when they conquered it, literally translating to "land of typhoons." The terrain was particularly treacherous to invading armies during peak typhoon season, although the locals seemed to handle the terrain particularly well in their defense of the area, leading the Prisnites to call the Hainese "people of the typhoons." The term Haixiao originally only applied to the area now known as the Hainese Heartland, encompassing the Lixuo Delta area and surrounding coastal regions. The name was later used in this capacity when the Kingdom of Haixiao was formed towards end of the decay of the Prisnite Union and has persisted to the present day. Similarly, Hainese is now collectively used to refer to all peoples living in Haixiao, with distinctions made for the various ethnicities in Haixiao, even though the Liuyu Hainese are closest to the ancient Hainese in relation to culture, origin and language.

Prehistory
The Hainese civilization is considered one of the oldest in the world, descending from hunter-gatherer tribes who migrated to and settled down in the area of the Hainese Heartland.

Tongnan City-state and the Prisnite Union
The Hainese living around the Lixuo Delta area eventually congregated into the Tongnan City-state around 1500 BT. Tongnan became the center of civilization in the near area, serving as a large trade hub for various surrounding villages and neighboring city-states. The spice trade was particularly lucrative for Tongnan, owing to its lush and fertile lands that became perfect soil for growing spices and herbs. Relations between Tongnan and the nearest other city-state, Baochang, were particularly warm. They were known as the "twin cities" because of their distance and prolific trade relationship. The city possessed a primitive form of democracy whereby its leaders were elected through a popular vote by the merchant and tradesman class.

Tongnan was conquered by the Prisnite Union in 1200 BT, with neighboring towns and city-states subsequently turning to the Prisnite banner. Shaantism was adopted in the city along with various other Prisnite policies such as a universal currency, Prisnite calendar, and the caste system. Democracy in Tognan was done away with shortly after Tognan joined the Prisnite Union. It was believed that nobody besides the Darmark, religious leaders, were pure enough to be qualified to vote, thus centering the Tognan democratic system around the clergy and ending popular rule.

Migration by modern day Xidi Hainese religious leaders, soldiers, and merchants from the western parts of the Prisnite Union into the city made it so that the native Hainese Darmark became fewer and fewer, eventually being mostly pushed out of government.

Kingdom of Haixiao
Tongnan was one of the last states to exit the dying Prisnite Union, declaring the Kingdom of Haixiao at around 560 BT following a popular uprising by the Liuyu Hainese that forced a compromise with the Xidi Hainese Darmark. A Liuyu Hainese king would be proclaimed out of the few remaining Liuyu Hainese Darmark, King Guang, with the Xidi Darmark class serving as advisors and ministers. The Kingdom of Haixiao would encompass most of the Hainese Heartland, absorbing cities such as Baochang into its borders. Under Gaung, Haixiao would rapidly expand through conquest and diplomacy of nearby regions until it was a notable kingdom in the region. Guang also instituted many policies to encourage expansion of the Hainese spice trade along with diversifying into other luxury goods such as silk, with his successors following suit, so that by the time of the Sincheon Dynasty's rise Haixiao escaped the wars of the east unscathed because they were regarded as such as valuable trade partner.

When the Sincheon Dynasty collapsed, many in the western parts of the dyansty fled to Haixiao. This caused a large flood of Liuyu Hainese into the kingdom, who were then sent westward to settle largely Xidi Hainese dominated lands. This resulted in Xidi Hainese influence weakening. In the following years, major reforms on language and culture were instituted. A standardized version of Liuyu dialect Hainese was chosen to be the official language of the country. Towns and cities in the west were officially renamed to their Liuyu dialect names, with Liuyu culture being forced upon the Xidi Hainese. Tensions reached a boiling point when cities important to Shaantism, which had Xidi dialect names, were renamed to Liuyu dialect names. This caused a large uprising in the west by Xidi Hainese Shaantists.

Geography
The twenty-one states and two federal island territories of Haixiao occupy a combined total area of around 1,892,352 square kilometers. Haixiao is bisected by the Baiming Mountains, which runs from the west of the country to the east. South of the Baiming Mountains the climate is mostly temperate giving way to rainforests and tropical wet climates towards the coast. The majority of arable land in Haixiao is concentrated here. The Lixuo Delta area is especially important to the nation as it is a primary component of the Hainese Heartland and is the most populous region in the nation. North of the Baiming Mountains, moist air from the coast is prevented from moving northward, creating a massive cold desert. Haixiao borders two lakes, the Fujin Lakes to the east and Lake Zuanshi to the west, in addition to four rivers running through various parts of the country.