Soigá

Soigá is an island country in Western Europe, off some 272 km of the coast of Galicia, to the West. It has a population of around 1,86 million people, and a surface area of around 25 226,5 km^2. Soigá has an intriguing history, and an unique culture in Europe. They are regarded as an economically progressive country.

Etymology
In the Firrobatist religion, it is stated that when the Firrobatists (the original name of the Soigan people according to the Firrobatists) crossed the sea, to flee from the Híetorians, a people influenced by Sídar (later more about the religion), they saw a massive land raised from the sea, in the direction of the Star of Birth. In the Firrobatist mythology, this was done by Omró, the world dreamer, to save the Firrobatists, who are according to the myth the chosen people. To raise in Modern Olfkin (the language of Soigans) means hasykar. This could have very well be something similar sounding as soigar or something like that thousands of years ago. The suffix -á (and removing the root suffix, here -ar) changes the meaning of the word to a passive noun. Thus, hasyká means (the) raised one.

The Soigans themselves actually refer to their country as Zoigá. The reason the spelling is different stems from the different spelling before 1937, when Olfkin went under a big new spelling process. Other countries still used Soigá as name and so the name Soigá stayed in the English language.

Soigá is also called Olfland or Olfenland sometimes, but this is not common in English. Soiga (without the accute accent) is also a common English name for Soigá.

The native language of Soigá is called Olfkin in English, but this is again a misspelling. This stems from the year 1641, when Jan Pieterszoon, a Dutch explorer, wrote about the language. He translated the language name as "Olfkins", probably because he misheard the name. This again stuck to all kind of various languages, like English. The native name for the language is Holfín. The -ín suffix has the archaic meaning of "being related/pertaining to", while the stem Holf traces back to the proto-Olfkin word for "we" (inclusive). Thus, Holfín has the (archaic) meaning of It which is related/pertaining to us.

Politics
Since 1935 Soigá has been a democracy. Before that, Soigá had always been under a leader like a king.

Soigá is known to be a progressive country. It has many social laws. Especially when it is coming to economy. Soigá has inherited a lot of the Firrobatist culture, which views that humans can only live together.

Soigá is a parlementary democracy, and so, has a parlement and premier. The premier of the country is Warden Benúdae, who was the party candidate of the leading Partitos Por Kwalíkó mís Demográdó, or shortened PPKD (the social democrats) in the national elections of 2014.

The Soigans
Soigá has only been inhabited since the year ~1000 BC. Only then artifacts and other human presence can be found on the island. The group of people that settled in Soigá are called the Soigans. This ethnic group is very interesting. Scholars think a proto Soigan culture was created around the years 7000-6000 BC, in what is now Marocco and north western Algeria. Deteriorating climate and arrival of new peoples made the proto Soigans leave their homes and cross the Strait of Gibraltar. The Soigans arrived in Iberia, where they stayed for millenia, but around the year 1000 BC they made the passage to Soigá. Why exactly they did that will remain a mistery, but the myth says that the Soigans were followed by the Híetorians who were an evil tribe, influenced by Sídar (Zídarí in modern Olfkin), who wanted to kill the Soigans. The Soigans made the passage from what is now Galicia, the area were the Soigans had probably stayed the most during their time in Iberia.

There is not much known about the Soigans before the Romans came in 110 BC. We do know however, that they had a clan system, and were very tribal. Even though modern scholars view the Soigans as one ethnicity, the Soigans were divided in atleast three tribes (better seen as clan federations): the Merdivozians, the Inkians and the Gao (also spelled Gaodii sometimes, or Gaodians). The Merdivozians had the south, the Inkians the north and centre, and the Gao the east. These three tribes were further divided in clans, or dervulú. The clan leaders elected a new leader of the tribe, each time the previous leader died or resigned. It appeared the Inkians and Merdivozians were one tribe, but split off. Each clan had colourful symbols, unique portrayals. Clan men would tattoo themselves, and were sworn to protect their clan village, or land.

The Greeks mentioned that there was an island beyond the "edge", which was often synonymous of Iberia, called Krokósmou (portmanteau of ἄκρον κόσμου, or extreme of the world). According to Greek myths, one could only go to Soigá with flying dolphins, who could stand the extreme weather and boundaries of the "edge". Strabo did not inlcude Soigá in his work of Geographika, probably because he thought Soigá was simply a myth. There is an ongoing debate whether or not Krokósmou is actually Soigá, and not just a myth and that the Old Greeks simply did not know about the real existence of Soigá.

The myths and sagas of the Soigans were only written down in the Merdivozian Era and in the Medieval Ages, and although they are mythical in nature, scholars try to extrapolate historical context from the myths. For example, in the epos of Gegaelarín, which writes about a hero named Gegaelarox. According to the myth, a huge flood happened, which drawned many people, and Gegaelarox challenged Refáréx, God of the Seas, who according to the myth was posessed by Sídar. Gegaelarox defeated him and killed him, and then Gegaelarox took the job of keeping the seas steady. Scholars have found evidence of a flood, for example inscriptions of a giant flood and eroded stones in low areas where it is unexplainable (instead of having a flood) how they would be eroded relatively short time ago.

First contact with the Romans
In 110 BC, an expedition led by the rich Roman landlord Aulus Vespius discovered Soigá. Vespius was an influential Roman landlord who was very interested in the world. He paid scholars to find the radius of the world, make maps of Northern Africa, Middle East and Northern Europe, and write about all kinds of cultures. Some say a storm drove the expedition to Soigá when travelling through the Soigan Sea (the sea between Soigá and Spain). The expedition came on the land what would now be Deverná (South Eastern Soigá). The written story was written by someone named Marco, although historians generally do not view this person as directly important and that this person probably was an average Roman that could write and therefore was used for the expedition.

Marco wrote that Soigá appeared as a "Green great forest dooming up alone in the lone sea." The expedition was four ships, each having goods and men. A few soldiers with them to protect from any unexpectable attack. The first mission was to seek contact, as Marco writes. The Romans quickly meeted the Merdivozians, who had, according to Marco, colourful drawn symbols on their plate armour. The Merdivozians gave the men food, and allowed them to do their job, namely making a map of the island and describing the culture. However, northern Soigá could not be visited, as that wasn't under the control of the Merdivozians. Marco also wrote about the language, which he described as "A weird strange language unlike sophisticated languages like Greek and Latin, and more like the Iberian languages but yet in a strange way much different." Because of this passage historians in the 19th century thought Olfkin could be related to paleo Hispanic languages, but modern historians disagree with this, although they agree that those languages have influenced Olfkin. On a sidenote though, there is a theory that Etruscan and Olfkin are related to each other. Some words in Latin that have Etruscan background, are also found in Olfkin. Some historians argue that these words in Olfkin are too different from their Latin counterparts to be borrowed from Latin, as well as a few of these words being mentioned in texts of the Firrobatistic religion written in the first millenium, which would make it weird to change the original word with a new borrowed word. However, there are a few different things with Etruscan compared to Olfkin, like Etruscan is nominative-accusative, and Olfkin absolutive and ergative. We can not do more than speculate.

The Romans left a trade post, named Viridisolis, or Green Sun, on which they traded with the mainland. Soiga is rich in gold, amber and several other goods, and the Romans really liked to have these goods. The Merdivozians used this to trade for weapons and armour, and because of this beneficial relationship with the two people, the Merdivozians could dominate the whole island.

The Merdivozian Era
A letter found within a Roman barrack in Galicia states that the Soigan trade post was disbanded in the year 56 BC. They probably left because the trade wasn't profitable enough. You have to know that Rome is thousands of kilometers away from Soigá. Even though it was a relatively short period, the Romans introduced writing and "civilized" ways of living. The Merdivozians had the power, and Mertak the First (ruled from 54 to 23 BC) called himself the first king of "Merdivozia". Fun little sidenote: in modern day Olfkin, mertak means king. The Merdivozian Era is the era in Soiga that started when King Mertak ascending the throne to the 112 AD, when the Romans came back. This gives the Merdivozian Era a time span of 166 years.

King Mertak wished that Soigá became more like Rome and Greece, and he builded a lot of Roman like buildings. People where sent to Rome, Athens and Alexandria. The world was opened to Soigá. Mertak died in the year 23 BC, and he was followed by King Pytos. King Pytos pulled Soigá in a different direction. He wanted Soigá to become it's own sophisticated culture, just like the Romans differed from the Greeks. He ordered the epos of Firrobatism to be written down. These stories had always been oral, but now, they were written down. They were written down in Latin script, but in the Olfkin language. Obviously, the Olfkin language then differed a lot from Modern Olfkin, and scholars generally call Olfkin then Ancient Olfkin.

King Pytos died in the year 3 AD, on the relatively old age of 71 years.



The Roman Empire


The Romans stayed in Soigá till 384 AD. In that year, the Romans had basically abandoned all their leaderships over the island. Stone streets, big buildings, arenas, theaters, etc. were build. Statues of Governors, generals and Emperors can be found. The cities of nowadays Vidigas (Vindicas) and Tásaní (Tasanium) were Roman settled cities. The province was a wealthy one, and it was called Aurealis, after the gold that was plenty of it in Soigá. Much of the gold in Rome is gold from Soigá. Although some traders, government officials and soldiers stayed in Soigá, the province still remained largely inhabited by the natives. Nevertheless, it is estimated that half of all Soigans have atleast one ancestor that was Roman. The Roman religion, and Christianity in the later phase of the Empire, never really got off in Soigá. Around 10% of all the words in Olfkin have a Latin background, mainly words related to government, military, religion etc. Many Roman coins in Soigá were still used even after the Romans left. That was the legacy of the Romans in Soigá.

Suevian Rule and War
During the fall of the Roman Empire, the Great Migration happened. Several Germanic tribes fled from the Huns that came from Asia. The Suevians went into Spain. They conquered large parts of western Spain. An expedition to Soigá was made. After fierce clashes with the local tribes and Merdivozians, the Suevians could control Soigá. The Suevian king Olferic made himself King of Soigá in the year 431 AD. This angered the Suevian King Hermeric, who was King of Gallaecia. King Hermeric sended a large convoy, of around 20,000 men, to Soigá. Olferic, who didn't posses such a large army, quickly turned to the local population. In change for more autonomy and say in the Suevian Kingdom of Soigá, many Soigans were attracted to joining Olferic's faction. Quickly, Olferic had an army rivaling that of Hermeric, consisting mainly of Soigan clan men, with a strong "elite" of Germanic soldiers.

King Hermeric's army embanked on the shores of what is now Korisefé, or south east Mišömerá (which is in the south of Soigá). Plundering and looting, his army captured the city Véríjaex. It was utterly demolished and put to the ground by his army. The local clans of the Tresilanii and Feiulii (giving their Latin names), Merdivozian clans, armed their clan men and attacked Hermeric in what is now known as the Battle near Véríjaex. Because a large part of Hermeric's army was still looting, a significantly less part of his army was able to repent the attack. The clans, under the clan leader Bertöx, made a swift attack using pefetetikú, a typical Soigan missile launcher (a modification of a normal sling, made to throw armor piercing disks). The Germanic soldiers of Hermeric, who wore heavy armor, could not prepare themselves. Many casualties were inflicted on their side. However, the clans, when making a run for it after the suprise attack, were chased by cavalry. Because the clan men knew the terrain perfectly, they split up and went to forests, where horses could not follow them.

Hermeric's army, still large enough to battle any force, except maybe Olferic's army, went rampaging and plundering through the Soigan land. Large parts of Southern Soigá where in the hands of Hermeric, but then the confrontation happened between the two large armies: that of Hermeric and that of Olferic. Modern archeologists are pretty sure the battle happened at the bank of the western   

Moorish Rule


Geography
Soigá is a country in South Western Europe. It is about 25 226,5 square kilometers in size. This makes Soigá around the size of the island Sardinia or Sicily, or around the size of the Former Yugoslavic Republic of Macedonia, or around the size of the US state of Vermont.

It has a hilly landscape, with the rugged Merkádorblis area in the northwestern part of the country. The Ópádisíkai is the highest point in Soigá, with 2 106 meters. The river Mímai is the longest river in Soigá, with 131,2 km. The largest lake is the Birboipílai, with 17,8 square km.

Soigá, like said, is generally hilly. Soigá is also known to be quite forested. Almost half of the island is forested!



Cities
In the image you can see the 10,000+ citizen cities in Soigá (there are 30 of them):

Growth
Soigá has, according to the latest census in 2016, 1,859,378 citizens. This is an increase of 2.9% from the latest census in 2011, which means the average growth the last years annually is around 0.57%. The total fertility rate is 1.6, which is below 2.1, the TFR needed to have natural growth. However, the last years the growth rate has been gone up, indicating the TFR is on the rise again. The first census in 1895 gave a population of 659 thousand people. This means the average annual growth rate is 0.9% between the years 1895-2016. However, the growth rate curve is more of a "up and down" curve. Soigá grew the fastest in the fourties and fifties, at one point even with a growth of 1.9%. In the eighties and nineties, the growth rate went down quickly. In the year 1948, Soigá got its one millionth inhabitant, and expected is that in 2035 or around that year, Soigá will count two million citizens.

Ethnicity
Soigá is a rather homogene country, but it does have a variety of ethnicities. The largest ethnicity is without a suprise the Soigans, with around 95.0%. You are regarded a Soigan in the census if you have atleast one parent, or two grandparents, born in Soigá and if you identify primarily with the Soigan language, culture and ethnicity. Eastern European countries are following, with 1.2% (mainly from Poland, Bulgaria and Romania). Spain and Portugal have combined around 1.1%. Around 0.5% of the country says they identify primarily as a Maruiqi, of whom you can find in the history section more information. 2.2% of the country has a different ethnicity or nationality, or hasn't given (or doesn't want to give) one.

Religion
Soigá has always been divided in religion. Religion plays a strong role in creating the identity of a region. The Catholics are mainly everywhere, but most notably in the South. The Protestants mainly have the regions Ertúmóper and Tópesmai. The Firrobatists are strong in the rural areas of Inkíá, but also to a lesser extent in Čonmíá and Höngewí. The percentage of people divided per religion is given in this pie chart:

Language
Most Soigans speak Olfkin, around 96% speaks it as first language. Olfkin is a language like no other, an isolated language, like Basque. Just like Basque it is not a nominative-accusative language, but an ergative-absolutive language. It is a primarily SOV language, and verbs and nouns are are heavily inflected.

However, there are many dialects, some even not mutually intelligeble with each other. For example, the dialect spoken by the Firrobatists in upper central Soigá is sometimes also referred to as Archaic Olfkin, due to the many old grammar rules and others that have been lost by other dialects. The main dialects are as followed: Devernese, Southern, Milatese, Western, Eastern, Firrobatistic and Northern. Devernese is considered the "prestige" dialect.  

The classification of Olfkin remains tricky. For a long while scholars thought Olfkin was a language related to Basque, or paleo Hispanic languages, like Iberian and Lusitanian. However, modern scholars reject this theory, as there are too many profound differences between the grammar. However, some words do have the same word root, probably because of the long time the two cultures have remained together. Many scholars also reject theories that say Olfkin is related to the Afro-Asiatic family, or specifically the Berber languages. Instead, scholars group Olfkin in its own language family, with the name [TBD].