Umia

Umia (Tilennan: ; : Oumes ) is a in Central Tilenno, located in the region of Gantes. With a population of more than 1.5 million in 2018, it is the 13th most populous city-state within the federation. It is home to the 8th largest metropolitan area, which is called Umia as well. It is mainly situated on the northern shore of the Gantian lake. The city-state also includes multiple small islands of which Mocha is the biggest. The region is sometimes referred to as the State of Rust. It borders Ashae in the east, Tilae Kos in the west and Lougera in the north. Across the lake lies the Laudes which is connected by bridge to Saunes.

The name of the city-state comes from the city of Umia, the largest metropolitan area in the city-state and 8th largest overall, which itself derived its name from the Tilennan word for crossroad (umela), referring to the fact that Umia was a crossroad between East and West Gantes. Other notable municipalities in Umia are Nanto, Saunes and Umera-per-Ganto, which all border the Umesan bay in contrast to Umia City which lies further inland.

Umia is known for being the birthplace of the famous philosopher Taumàsae of Umia, who laid the foundations of the Lonàkae religion, the main religion of the Federation. It used to be one of the earliest regions to industrialise, but as manufacturing is disappearing out of the region, lots of factories are left abandoned. Some notable sites within the city-state are the House of Taumàsae, the Taeres Tower, Xoure Temple, Museum of Lonàkae, Umesan Rise peak and Nanto Fair. The region also offers many great cultural events like concerts, art installations and festivals. The Umesan celebration of Hirae Uo, or Balance festival, is the most famous within the federation and many people flock to the region for this day.

History

 * see also: History of Tilenno



Ancient History
Umia was founded around 1600 BCE in the Umes river valley along one of the major trade routes between Perto and Teruko, allegedly by Risa Davèra. While being an important resting place on a trade route, Umia itself never had much of a foreign policy, mostly siding with whatever power was dominant at the time. This neutral stance and high flow of trade and goods made it so Umia could develop very skilled artists, sculptors, writers and. It is therefor not a surprise most Tilennan philosophers liked to hang around Umia. The most famous one to ever come out of the region is undoubtable Taumàsae of Umia, born around 1400 BCE, who laid the foundations of the Lonàkae religion, which is still the majority religion of the federation.

Modern History
Umia was one of the first region to industrialise, causing the city to significantly grow in population and wealth. It however also caused massive income divides which led to multiple large protests in the 18th and 19th century. In 1873 the city of Umia was hit with a massive fire than devoured the city and left many homeless. Due to poor response from the Pures to help out the region anti-royalist sentiments started to grow within the state. Umia was one of the few Gantian states that fought on the side of the Liberalists during the Civil War, even though they were quickly defeated. To this day Umia remains one of the more left-leaning regions of Tilenno with a large portion of the population voting either liberalist or environmentalist. Umia was a city heavily focussed on manufacturing, but due to rising costs of living and labour in Gantes a a whole, factories are leaving creating a joblessness epidemic and lots of vacant industrial space.

Geography


Geographically Umia is split into two regions. The hilly riverscapes of the north and the coast of the Umesan bay in the south. The north is centered around the Umes river on which also the city of Umia lies, it is considered the life vein of the city-state. The rest of the north is characterised by soft hills and valleys with sprawling farms. The highest point of Umia, the Umesan Rise at 466 meters, can be found in the western part of the state.

The southern part surrounds the Umesan bay. The two largest municipalities Nanto and Saunes occupy the eastern and western peninsula of Umia respectively, giving Umia its iconic fanglike shape. Between the two peninsulas lies the island of Àmera, the biggest on in the state. A bridge crossing between the two peninsulas exist and goes over Àmera and tunnels towards Saunes, levaing the bay open for ships. There is also a tunnel connecting Nanto with the island of Ashae and another bridge between Saunes and Laudes.

The rest of the bay is dotted with samller islands, most of which are uninhabited and serve as nature reserves. As the bay is relatively calm it is a popular spot for initiations in watersports. Boating from small island to island is quite popular as well as having pic nics on uninhabitable islands, to the discontent of the government because they leave a lot of trash behind, which is hard to clean up.

Population
Umia has significantly increased in population over the past century. There were 2 major drops in population from around the time of the Civil War and the Osorra-Tilenno War.

State
The current lord following the 2018 General Elections is Ciro Maerese from the liberal party Glaechedé. His terms end in 2024. The leader of the City-State Council is Runes Raetero from LTS. The City-State council consists of 30 representatives of which 20 come from the municipality of Umia alone. Nanto is the only other municipality to send more than one representative with their 2 seats. The 8 other municipalities all send one representative.

Federal
In the Federal Elections of 2018 the liberal and Tilennan centric party Glaechedé won the city-state of Umia with 26% of the votes, securing 3 seats in the chamber of representatives. The runner-up was the environmentalist party of LTS with 2 seats, followed by FDL and GLL, both with 1 seat. Umia City had the highest percentage of votes for LTS, which is not as popular in other regions of the state, who almost religiously vote for GXD.

The two senators from Umia belong to GXD and are Xàreises Miniores and Abero Koristae.

Life
Life in Umia is quite hard as the cost of living is quite high, but pay isn't great. The entire region has a bit of deteriorated look and a generally neglected vibe. Umia likes to promote itself as a very sophisticated and artistic region, connecting itself which its rich cultural past. As the city-state pumps quite a bit of money in upcoming artists, Umia is a great place to study and practice an artistic career in. Lately Umia has brought forth some pretty popular rap artists like SireM.

Umia also suffers under gang violence and vandalism of state property. It has however created a pretty vibrant graffiti artist scene in the city.

Cuisine
The regional dish of Umia is Saelades, a sort of stuffed squid wrap, often mistaken for salad on the menu by foreign tourists.

Sports
Swimming is the most popular sport in Umia, but is closely followed by rowing and. The state volleyball team is called the Umian Flames and the state soccer team is called the Umesan Silk Strikers.

Landmarks and Sites
Popular landmarks and sites of the Umia city-state include:


 * House of Taumàsae
 * Xoure Temple
 * Umesan Rise
 * Taeres Tower
 * Museum of Lonàkae
 * Nanto Fair

Municipalities
Umia consists of 10 municipalities of which Umia City is the largest at more than 1 million inhabitants, about 75% of the total population. It is followed by Nanto at 176 thousand and Saunes at 75 thousand. Umera-per-Ganto is the only other municipality with over 50 thousand inhabitants. All other municipalities are smaller.

Umia City
The city of Umia is the 8th largest municipality of Tilenno population wise. In the past it used to be an important manufacturing and industrial city although more and more factories are getting closed each year, leaving a lot of the population jobless. The city is currently trying to differentiate its economy to cope with this issue.

Nanto
Nanto is the second biggest city of the state and is probably closer to the city of Ashae than it is to Umia, mainly due to the direct rail and road connection that was established when the tunnel between them opened. Nanto is often seen as the place rich people from Ashae come to live to flee the busy island.

Saunes
Saunes is the third largest municipality, but is still quite small at only 75 thousand people in te wider area. It is a quite charming city, although still cemented in its conservative roots. Saunes is a great place to visit if you want a traditional Gantian experience, but not a good place to start a political discussion.