Seratof

Seratof (Seratofian: Sératofas Theitjëmäšljó, IPA: [ˈseːraˌtɔfas θei̯tʲəˈmæʃlʲoː], Seraheltian: Republica Seratofa, IPA: [reˈpʊblika seraˈtɔfa], Veniman: Republik Sjaratova, IPA: [ʁɛpyˈblɪç ˈʃɐrɐtʊfɐ]) is a sovereign nation located in central Artemia. It borders Eranor in the west, Gardarike to the north, and Svenskt to the northeast. It covers a modest area of 220,925 square kilometers, which span multiple climate zones. Currently, Seratof is inhabited by more than 27.6 million people, and is split between three major ethnic groups. The capital city, Azxara, is also the largest city in Seratof, and is also the center for business and culture. Other cities in Seratof include Gjavašina, Thožafars, Klimtburg, and Varga.

Seratof is a, with great powers delegated to the constituent regions. Generally speaking, Seratof could be divided into four regions: Seratof Country, Venimanland, Heltia, and Sobruza. Sobruza is an island located south of the mainland, and is granted the most power out of all the sub regions. Additionally, the island of Sobruza is granted its own constitution as well as president within the scope of Seratof.

Three major ethnic groups inhabit Seratof: the Seratofian-speaking Seratofian community, mainly located in Seratofia, the Heltic-speakiing Seratofian Heltic in Heltia. and the Veniman-speaking Venimans, mainly located in Venimanland. The Seratofian Heltic community comprises the majority of the population in Seratof, with over 55% of people identifying as such in the last census. Second are the native Seratofians, clocking in at 31% of the population. The Veniman community mainly inhabits the northern portion of the country close to Svenskt and Gadarike. They comprise about 14% of the total population.

The Seratofian economy mainly comprises of automobile manufacture and butter making manufacturing wise, as well as banking and financing services for the service sector. Manufacture is more dominant in the Heltia and northern Seratof Country, especially in the more rural central Seratofian plains. The overall economic output of the country as measured in international dollars was around $822.89 billion dollars PPP wise, which puts Seratof as a medium power in the region. Smaller contributions to Seratof's economy mainly come from the mining sector, which has stagnated over the past years, and the growing tourism industry.

Prehistory
The southern Artemian warm winds, providing warmth and fertility to the soil, has always been a major driving factor in the settlement of early humans within the Seratofian lands. Numerous fossil records found in caves inside Seratof Country have indicated that the area was very heavily populated since neolithic times, supported by the bountiful findings of stone structures such as megaliths, dolmens, and tombs near the grave dig sites. These ancient humans who lived in Seratof were assumed to be of a different kind than modern Seratofians, as their DNA strands do not correspond to the typical modern Seratofian.

Earliest evidence of human settlement in Seratof has been dated to be from 80,000 BCE, when early humans were predicted to settle the area in general. Stone tools shaped as axes, knives, and hacks have been found near Azxara. However, the peoples that inhabited the region around Azxara today are not related with any of the three ethnic groups of Seratof today, signaling further waves of migrations from other parts of Artemia. An elaborate pottery culture could be inferred from the findings near Azxara with a various assortment of pots, jugs and other water containers being unearthed in the late 19th century.

Farming had arrived in Seratof by the early 3rd millennium BCE and is evident by the founding of several ancient semi-permanent settlements along the Eršja and Arte rivers complete with several structures, mainly houses and storage facilities.

Antiquity
It is widely believed that the original inhabitants of the Seratofian peninsula were related to other groups in the region, bearing similar DNA strands upon further research with other ethnicities found elsewhere. These ancient Seratofians coalesced first into small farming towns and later on cities with coherent governments and authority, with the first texts and inscriptions being the Kljurgjin inscriptions dated back to the 3rd century BCE dictating the division of land within the city of Gora. Several other cities were also unearthed in the decades leading up to the fall of Seratof Country, meaning that the general area of Seratof today had been fertile ever since the ancient periods.

The Lykoraens, who inhabit what is present day Thalaky, also settled in the southern portions of Seratof Country bringing with them the Lykoraen language as well as Lykoraen ideas, cultures, and thoughts. These early Lykoraen city-states flourished as trade hubs, boasting magnificent ports and architecture, some of which are still preserved until this day.

Ethnic Seratofian peoples are thought to have entered present-day Seratof by the 8th century AD after escaping persecution in East Artemia by the XXX. The original homeland of the Seratofians being in modern-day Rovsnovska is considered by many Seratofian to be the ancestral homeland of the Seratofians, although more recent analysis has concluded that the exact location of the original Seratofians is hard to pinpoint down to a single area with trade shifting the Seratofians around the general eastern Artemian region for centuries.

The mass migration of Seratofians into central Artemia brought massive changes to the original inhabitants of the Seratofian peninsula. Initially, the two people groups existed peacefully but were slowly dwindling in both population and power due to a variety of reasons, mainly being that the Seratofians outcompeted them in both population growth and trade. The Lykoraens suffered the same fate, getting more sidelined with the arrival of Seratofians. The last Lykoraen settlement in Seratof, Adamopolis, was abandoned by its residents after a siege by the neighboring ethnically Seratofian chiefdom sieged the city in hopes of controlling their ports.

Medieval Seratof
With the Seratofians now being the majority of the population in the Seratofian peninsula, ethnically Seratofian kingdoms began to rise by the early 5th century, initially as a loose confederation between city-states and small chiefdoms. The overall structure within this period is a group of leaders congregating once in a while to coordinate the political and economic lifestyle and future of the constituent states, forming an early form of Seratofian confederation within the area. Although such, the bulk of the Seratofian populace still lived under nominally independent states be it in the form of city-states, chiefdoms, or early duchies.

In around 850 CE, the Duchy of Žablja was established with what is present-day Azxara (Šatráp) being made the capital of the duchy. The duchy gained political power by merging several small city-states, chiefdoms and petty duchies into a single unitary monarchial system of government with the treaty of Lizmar. The duchy would eventually grow its borders, expanding its influence outside of its core realms and project economic dominance over the Seratofian peninsula over lesser kingdoms and states. Overall, the Duchy of Žablja is regarded by many Seratofians and experts alike as the first proto-Seratofian state which encompassed massive portions of the Seratofian peninsula with only small pockets of independent states and kingdoms left.

Demographics
==Economy