Biotopia Culture

Language

The three official languages of Biotopia are; Biotopian, Celdonia and Biotopian Sign Language also known as Petchelk, Kheldelk and Petchamelk in the Biotopian language. The Celdonian alphabet has substituted the original Biotopian one because of its simplicity and versatility. Biotopian is spoken by 44,960,000 people as a first language and another 1,980,000 people as a second language. This number has increased with the growth of economic relations with the external world and the publication and distribution of Biotopian language books for use by mostly Celdonian native speakers.

Official; Biotopian, Celdonian, Biotopian Sign Language

Unofficial; Regional dialects, Dutch, Xikuangese

Literacy Vassan

(definition age 15 and over can read and write)

total population: 99.8%

Alphabet

Biotopian is written in the Celdonian alphabet after the Cyanic alphabet was dropped because of its complexity and difficulty in transcribing new elements of the Biotopian language. The letters C, F, Q, Y and Z/X are absent and substituted by the combinations of K, Ph, Wh, Vh and Zh respectively. The old alphabet was dropped from official use eight years after federation although the current Celdonian influenced model was in use beforehand. Biotopian is also used in all national publications and broadcasters but limited Celdonian language publications are available as well as sub-titling and dubbing into Celdonian. Biotopian sign language is based on the Biotopian alphabet not the Celdonian.

A B D E Ph G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V

Literature

All Biotopian classics have been converted into contemporary Biotopian and Celdonian. There are also numerous books which have been published both in Biotopian, Celdonian and even regional dialects. Bio-Celdonian fusions have been a periodic fad and produced an entire sub-genre. The written word plays an important part in Biotopian culture to the discrimination of other artistic expressions such as cinematography, theatre and painting.

Top Five Books in 2024

• The Compendium
• Yumakkattakaa
• Jell-Tratta-Mota
• Dark Wood
• Raise the Red Flag

Colloquialisms

Biotopia sponsors a rich vocabulary including numerous colloquialisms and proverbs. Some of these colloquialisms have roots in antiquity while other are more contemporary in nature.

Anarchist Akratev derogatory catch-all labelled in a generic manner against people perceived to be of the political liberal and left-wing extremes. (Fascism Phragren is the right-wing counterpart).

What the Beef Reph ven Sant an exclamation of confusion or frustration.

The revolutionary question Ven Ebretarkostau Jul based on the writings in the Autumn Pamphlet by J. K. Vegra where the full phrase is “we must ask ourselves that revolutionary question – why?” It is sometimes used less frequently as referring to a great unknown key to producing a coherent answer from incoherent clues.

Blame it on Hjadar Ra rept ja kor Hjadar a humorous catchphrase from the situational comedy Hjadar Gress (The Hjadar Family or Hjadar’s Family). Used in the context of attributing blame to the character of Hjadar for an accident for whom nobody is directly responsible or as a means to deflect censure.

People in green Pagrapha ed sutta the police.

Media

Television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet are all popular consumption outlets for Biotopian mass-media. Newspapers continue to be highly popular as they have traditionally been the most independent news source and three of the top five selling papers have been established for over 100 years. The government funds the Global Broadcasting Agency and Biotopian Broadcasting Commission which oversees the funding of operations to the subsidiary bodies of the BBC including its radio and internet services. Biotopia One and all government radio agencies are unable to accept funding for airing advertisements. There are numerous independent television and radio networks across Biotopia. Regular television broadcasts end daily from 11pm-5am and only run limited programs over the weekend.

Newspapers

Top Five National Newspapers in 2024

• The Republican
• The Biotopian
• Citizen!
• The Green Star
• National-Herald

Radio

Top Five National Stations in 2024

• 80.6FM National Biotopia Radio (NBR)
• 100.1FM World Radio Network (WRN)
• 94.1FM 2K Youth Station (2K)
• 72AM Biotopia National Network (BNN)
• 70.8AM Celdonian Radio International (CRI)

Television

Top Five National Broadcasters in 2024

• Biotopia One (B1)
• National News Network (NNN)
• Citizen Broadcasting Agency (CBA)
• Global Broadcasting Agency (GBA)
• Biotopian Television Syndicate (BTS)

Popular Culture

Neo-tranditonist art such as folk music, High Opera, and formal literature were all encouraged to the detriment of a contemporary pop-culture in music, pulp-literature and the film industry. Neo-traditionalism has branch into several sub-categories such as electric-folk, urban poetry, folk-jazz and the trans-traditionalist cinema movement. Neo-traditionalism is associated with the back-to-nature, slow-food and Zhoogreph movements. More contemporary cultural movements have also developed in particular relating to a diversification of the music scene and the growth of the cinema and television industry.

Cinema

Cinema has moved from a formulaic approach in narrative structure and story telling to a more diverse and aesthetic model of fictionalised drama and entertainment. Movie going is an increasingly popular past time with movie theatres existing in all cities and towns of reasonable size. With the spread of television many made-for-television movies are made each year. Some of the most acclaimed of these have been historical dramas and popular fiction based on the transition of famous traditional and contemporary novels into film. A large portion of films (and television material) are imported from Celdonia and other Celdonian language nations. There is also a thriving interest in foreign-language films from non-human nations.

Cuisine

There is a broad diversity of provincial cuisine featuring seasonal variations and local specialties. For example in the north-east and south fish is an important dietary feature, in the west fresh produce and meats like poultry are predominant while cereals and preserves are the central ingredients to foods from the central and eastern interior. These dietary preferences are reflected in the differences even between the same franchises from region to region. In most major towns there specialty markets providing out-of-area goods including some specialised beverages such as beer, spirits and fruit drinks only produced locally. Some popular foods and beverages are “Seaspray”, “Autumn Beer’, vegara sandwiches, candlestick cheese, peppermint-crunch and ghand salad.

Ghand Salad

• 100g flaked tuna
• 100g flaked sedas
• half a nyatta cabbage
• around 20 sliced olives
• handful of spretta grass
• 8 boiled and diced potatoes
• mix and dress with creamy Auttenburgh sauce

Rising Moon

• 10ml of Hjell Curacao
• 1 measure soft brandy
• 1.5 measures Krost Dairy
• mix and drink as a shot

Tourism

International tourism is an underdeveloped sector of the Biotopian economy although it is a popular domestic activity. Shreptaggottaherves or “house for the holiday” are a common destination for many Biotopians during the summer and winter breaks. These houses have different connotations depending on where one is from. For example most people in the north may talk about staying at a Kravashrepgottaherve meaning rental accommodation typically small apartments near the southern coastline. A person from St. Kordaam however will be thinking of a detached cottage in the Nebrad district. Most international accommodation is situated in the major cities with access to a port or airport but cities intersecting the national road and rail network offer reasonable accommodation

The majority of Biotopians are both fluent and literate in Celdonian and present themselves in a friendly and co-operative manner to foreign visitors. Sites of natural beauty are major attractions to Biotopian drawing families, campers and hikers. The urban holiday is also popular with some people visiting major commercial centres like St. Kordaam to make special purchases but most come to see the cultural and historical landmarks. Most Biotopians take advantage of the low-coast shipping and train fares to visit beyond their local region. The growth of tourism is reflected by the increasing number arrivals at the major transport hubs of the nation.

Religion

Biotopia is dominated by two major religions; the Universal Cathedral and Mother Church which are both indigenous belief systems and are adhered to by around a third of the population each. The third largest indigenous religion is Gnangara which applies to only 6.5% of the total population. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism are the largest mainstream non-indigenous religions respectively. 16% of the population identify themselves as atheists.

Religion in the Republic

Religion as a rule is excluded from political debate. It is considered indecent to enquire about a person’s religious beliefs publicly. There are anti-bias laws that prohibit the depiction of an individual’s religious belief in the workplaces and in the civil service. Interestingly religion still plays an important cultural role being the platform for most public holidays and it was the paleosocial grandeur of religious practices that has inspired the more flamboyant and melodramatic expression of some public holidays such as Harvest Festival and the Winter Solstice. To define the relationship between religion and the republic it would be that religious observance is a highly private affair but religion is reflected as a secularised cultural practice in the public sphere of the republic.

Religion through History

The unusual quality of Biotopian religion is the decentralised nature that it took leaving local customs and animistic practices to remained incorporated to a more general religious theology. The Universal Cathedral and Mother Church both stem from this ancient tradition while Gnangara is unique it that it is the only indigenous monotheistic religion. The Mother Church in its current form was formed during the Imperial Era although it has roots stretching back to at least the Commonwealth Era. The Universal Cathedral split from the Mother Church in the early Republican Era but endorse practices traced back to the Mid Commonwealth Era.

Religious Legacy

religion played a consolidating role in establishing a common language and facilitating both trade and political control across the nation. Perhaps the most striking religious icon is the Langrebdorst a basalt monolith surrounded by a circular compound on the Endor Peninsula. Not all religious icons are initially so imposing, there are hundreds of antiquarian manuscripts written in the Commonwealth dialect relating to matters from poetry to harvest results. The most enduring legacy must be the influence left politically, socially and linguistically on the peoples of Biotopia. Although the Biotopian script has changed there are many ancient derivations drawn from the great age of learning that accompanied the consolidation of religious practice.

Landmarks

Political

Illujanket Road sometimes called Embassy Parade is a famous road in the capital city Zhaire because it is where most foreign embassies are located. Illujanket Road runs between the Forghestok and Agrebodt districts, intersecting the Plaza of White Pines near the northern shore line and boxing in the waterfront business area from the historical interior of the city. The embassies number from 150 through to 450 with addresses traditionally appointed according to diplomatic sentiment of the issuing government. The tradition is not a strict one and is constrained b the availability of properties but in general it hold that embassies in the Agrebodt District are considered unfriendly states and those in Forghestok belong to allies and friendly-states. Ironically those in Agrebodt are furthermost from Parliament.

For example the Celdonian embassy is located at number 450 in the Agrebodt District and is considered a close ally of the people and government of Biotopia. In contrast the embassy of Knootoss is addressed at 150 on the Forghestok side of the divide because when the Knootian embassy was allocated the relationship was very distant and cold between the two states. Aside from the political intrigue of changing embassy addresses according to the nature of government Illujanket Road is very popular amongst tourists who enjoy the variety of architectural styles, conducting embassy-spotting patrols and dining in the numerous cafes and bars that house informal diplomatic negations and shift the balance of power between meals.

Cultural

Saint Kordaam is an important historical and cultural city in Biotopia. While Zhaire may be the political centre of the nation St Kordaam is definitely the cultural hub. In part this is supported by the cosmopolitan nature of the maritime harbour city and the strength of its financial institutions as a means to fund artistic creativity and experimentation. The National Opera and Performing Arts Academy refuse to give up their grandiose Imperial head quarters and take residence in the ultra-modern facility located on the shores of the capital. The city attracts an estimated 2,000,000 visitors to its cultural and exhibition centres every year.

This is supported by the diversity of artistic avenues ranging from dishevelled grottos for late-night jazz and book stores squeezed into back-alleys to the extravagant Imperial Exhibition Hall which houses over 16,000 individual display items. The inner-city is well known for its quiet tree-lined avenues and standard five-story white marble apartments which lived in contrast to the seedy and sometime dangerous neighbourhoods adjoining the harbour known collectively as The Canals. A program of urban renewal has transformed these scruffy communities into a vibrant and integrated district better incorporating the harbour into the city and making use of the canals and waterfront.

Technological

The Saint Ghort Integrated Municipality Centre (I.M.C) popularly known as the silver city or the beehive is an unmistakable feature on the otherwise homogenous landscape of the eastern interior. Located in the heartland of the Red Arid-lands the IMC is a tribute to pioneering architecture and social experiment. Inspired by the mega-arcology of SeOCC and Orgybot the IMC is a more feasible indigenous attempt at arcological engineering and design. The purpose of the IMC was to build an ultra-modern metropolis in the heartland of a harsh and difficult environment in an environmentally and socially sustainable way.

The success of the project has been mixed; the city has the most efficient water management system in the nation as well as a high standard of public transport quality and it supports the third highest settlement density. It has however failed to deal comprehensively with long-term ecological self-containment, urban air pollution and resource depletion. Saint Ghort is the only major urban settlement not to be supplied by Wikipedia:fossil fuels:fossil fuels and hydroelectricity, instead it sources power from solar power, geothermal power and aeropower. The project however remains an inspiration to town-planers and sociologists alike.

Natural

The Great Amanzee is the largest river in country by volume and only second in size to the Ogattophee running on the eastern side of the White Range. The Great Amanzee is the literally the economic and cultural lifeblood of the nation and the axis of antiquarian Biotopian civilisation. Unlike most major tributaries, especially those that support major population centres and used in economic transport the Great Amanzee is comparatively less polluted and healthier. The water is even safe enough to bathe in as it exits into The Ghand. Starting in the Red and White ranges (sometimes called the pink watershed) the Great Amanzee passes through a broad spectrum of ecologies and touches some of the most important cities and agricultural districts.

It has been a key objective of successive government to restore the vitality of the Great Amanzee. Sections of shoreline and floodplain environments have been converted into pre-development ecosystems along the entire breadth of the river and its tributaries. The Great Amanzee is navigational for over a thousand kilometres. The Great Amanzee drains water from over a third of the contiguous provinces of Biotopia and is a potent environmental, economic, social and cultural icon that has carved the landscape for thousands of years.