Estrie

Estrie, officially the Commonwealth of Estrie (Caliantene: Le Communauté d'Estrie) is a sovereign nation located in northeastern Larania, governed as a constitutional monarchy. Estrie is a coastal nation which is bordered to the north by the Northern Ocean, to the south by Nagansett and The Mistletoe Coast, to the east by Bagnallia, and to the west by the Bay of Nagansett, with a land area of LAND AREA, and a population of 14,211,988. The capital is the city of Épives, while the largest city is Ornesse, with other major cities being both Charlême and Mainoît.

Estrie was originally inhabited by the Abonaqian people between the 12,000s and 10,000s BCE, as they migrated into the region hunting for game such as deer and mammoths in northern Larania. The Abonaqian people lived largely in coastal communities in homes made from wood and thatch, likely surviving as subsistence farmers, trading with other Abonaqian peoples who lived throughout Larania's northeastern regions such as in Nagansett and the Mistletoe Coast. As Gelenian explorers established colonies in the region, the Caliantene King Jean III demanded that Caliane dispatch colonists to the region, and a company of 2000 colonists was dispatched in 1522. The original colonists established the town of Epives, and established the towns of Charlême and Ornesse in the years after between 1525 and 1540, and resettled thousands of native Laranians who were chased out of Gelenian speaking lands in the Mistletoe Coast and Nagansett to the south throughout the 1530s and 1540s. The colony began to export timber, maple, furs, and limited agricultural goods, and soon the promise of free land to people who served on commercial farms in the 1600s and 1700s led thousands to relocate to Estrie to work as indentured servants to companies and rich land owners for a period of 10 years, before being granted their own farmsteads. The country's position as the only Caliantene holding in the northeast of Larania led to the populace growing increasingly xenophobic, and when Gelenian speaking migrants migrated into the region in the mid 1700s, the government passed strict anti-gelenian laws which did not allow Gelenian speaking children to attend school or their parents hold public office. The nation faced mass industrialization in the 1800s, as factories used the nation's many rivers to produce goods for the empire, with Estrie becoming a major economic centre. The nation passed its first constitution and gained commonwealth status in the 1860s, and shortly thereafter fought in the Great War, sending thousands of troops to support Caliane. Afterwards, the nation gained autonomy, and reversed several of its discriminatory policies. The nation joined the Laranian Union, and became an active nation on the world stage, which it still is today.

Estrie is an industrialized, high income social market economy with high levels of economic and political freedoms established through legislation and constitutional law. The nation is party to numerous international agreements, including the Laranian Union, Laranian Defense Pact, and the Union of Nations. The country has active ties with other Laranian countries, and cooperates frequently with the Mistletoe Coast and Nagansett. Estrie has been ranked as one of the easiest countries to do business, though the country has a high income tax that funds a vast social safety net. According to UoN statistics, the country's citizens rank amongst some of the happiest in the world, and Estrie is considered one of the most prosperous countries, while being considered one of the least corrupt democracies on the planet.

Prehistory
Estrie was first inhabited by native Laranian peoples when the Abonoqians arrived in the region between the 12,000s and 10,000s BCE, according to archeological evidence. Like Abonaqians in other regions of Larania's northeast, the natives in Estrie settled along the coasts and rivers of the country, forming homes from wood and timber, and roofs from thatch. The vast Abonaqian culture stretched from Estrie's northern coasts down into Nagansett and the Mistletoe Coast. The Abonaqian people were known for their disperse nature, and the disunity between their culture was best expressed by the numerous clans and bands of people's that stretched down the northeastern region, but lacked any central unified government or code, often fighting with one another for land rights. The Abonaqians were known to grow goods such as squash, beans, and corn, and were excellent fishers, with their culture crafting canoes and other vessels for travelling the region's many rivers, as well as into the Nagansett Bay.

The Abonaqians were known for their near constant warfae with the Nagansett people to their south, in what is Nagansett today. The two cultures often clashed over hunting grounds and fishing rights, as well as over religious philosophy. According to archeological evidence, the Abonaqians had a complex system of religious rights and ceremonies, though the most central of this was the belief in the Mother in the Trees, a spiritual being they believed lived in every tree in their homeland, who watched over them in death and brought forth calm weather and sheltered them from the elements by providing them wood for housing, wood for boats, and even for decorations.

Colonization and Discovery
The first contact the Abonaqians had with the Avanorans came in 1503, when the Gelenian explorer Captain Phillip Cooke arrived in the region on an expedition funded by the Gelenian royal house. When he landed, he the Abonaqian people greeted him with agricultural goods, arrowheads, and canoes, though in his journals, Cooke described the region as cold, and described the lands to the south - controlled by the Nagansett people, as much more promising for colonization and trade.

Despite this news reaching Caliane, the monarch of the time, King Jean III, ordered Caliantene explorers to chart an accurate map of the area, and his advisors urged the explorers to make contact and establish relations with the native peoples of the area. Caliantene explorer Tassin Féret mapped out the region's coastline, rivers, and the mountain range which entered it. The king then ordered a colonization effort of the region to begin, and in 1521, a company of 2000 colonists were granted land rights along the Tianne River to establish a city in the King's name, with the colonists arriving in the region in 1522. The original colonists established the town of Epives, and soon they were joined by another 1000 Abonaqians, who helped the colonists establish crops, and traded goods in exchange for weapons and Avanoran tools. Nagansett peoples from the south, being pushed into Estrie by the ongoing War of Burning Trees, migrated into Estrie beginning in the late 1520s, and soon found the region to be their new home. Many flocked to the new settlement of Epives, while many Abonaqians did not trust the Nagansett due to years of warfare and strife. The Treaty of Three Rocks was agreed to in 1531, and with this agreement, several new towns were built to accomodate the new influx of peoples, as long as they agreed to the provision of a Caliantene military fort being placed in their towns and villages at the request of the royal government.

The region was formally organized into a colony by King Jean IV in 1534, and was named the Estrie colony. Françoys Malet was officially appointed the Royal Governor of the colony by the King in 1535, and it would be under his administration that the city of Epives grew, with Malet himself drawing up the plans for the city's historical centre. It was Malet's goal to establish the city of Epives as a vital shipping port on the Nagansett Bay. Under his administration, an additional 10,000 people would be dispatched by the king to the colony to work on the city's construction throughout the 1540s and 1550s, and for this reason Malet is often credited with being the father of Estrie, and the founder of Epives.

With the arrival of so many people in the colony, the city expanded, placing down customs buildings, meeting houses, cobblestone streets, and drafting an official Colonial Charter for it's governance. Malet appointed a Colonial Assembly to oversee projects and pass general legislation in the colony, as well as providing a forum for citizens to voice complaints. It was also under Malet that the colony formally recognized the natives of the region as royal subjects, extending to the native people's limited rights akin to those bestowed upon Caliantene colonists under the Colonial Charter and law.

Colonial Period
Throughout the late 1500s, the population of the colony continued to grow. New families were moving to the region, and as such new businesses were as well. The Colonial Assembly drafted a law in 1581 which allowed any male Caliantene subject the right to own land or a home in Estrie, provided he worked for a period of no less than 10 years on a farm or other economical project in the colony uninterrupted, and remained out of criminal violation. This law, called the Indentured Servitude Act, was the backbone of Estrie's growth, and under it for the next two centuries, millions of people would make their way to the colony under its provisions.

Soon, the region became known for its exports of lucrative beaver and other furs and skins, cash crops, timber, and fish. The city of Epives itself became a vital economic centre in the colonial world, with many colonists placing their wealth in banks in the city, turning it into a hub of finance in the northeast to rival Mistletoe Coast.

Geography
Estrie is located in northeastern Larania, and comprises nearly LAND AREA square kilometeres. It is bordered to the north by the Northern Ocean, to the south and east by Bagnallia and Nagansett, and to the east by the Nagansett Bay.

The Nautukett Mountains stretch across western Estrie from north to south, trailing off into rolling forested hills in the north, and going southwards into Bagnallia and Nagansett. The nation's central regions are filled with valleys and rolling hills where much of the country's agricultural production takes place, such as in the Cevier Valley, where the nation's maple syrup production is held, as well as much of the country's dairy farms..

The nation's climate is a northern one, with the nation experiencing long, snowy winters, while experiencing rainy and mild summers, which result in temperatures as high as 26 degrees celsius. Estrie is home to harsh blizzard like conditions which blow into the nation from the Nagansett Bay, and can drop nearly 2.4 feet of snow. The nation's largest and most important river is the Guelle River, which stretches from the country's mountainous southeastern region and moves northwards, emptying into the Northern Ocean. The river is known for being extremely rocky and fast, and is not navigable for large ships. Despite this, the river does provide plenty of water for hydroelectric dams and irrigation to be used, which has made Estrie one of the highest producers of electricity in the northeastern region of Larania.



Economy
The country's main industries include Aerospace, Finance, Information technology, Optics and photonics, Biotechnology, Tourism, Agriculture, Forestry, and Mining.