Culture of Callidia

The People of Callidia are a peaceful, enlightened, liberal and artistic lot. Like the people, the original Callidia culture is indigenous and most prominently represented by the Callidian language, and has been developing since long before Callidia ever became a unified nation-state.

Into the twenty-first century, many Callidians have been willing to incorporate many other cultural styles from even further abroad, such as Asia and Africa. More than just for tourism, Callidian youth in particular have been increasing their contact with peoples from the outside by travelling abroad to both work and study.

As Callidia is a geographically large and ethnically diverse country, there are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. The majority of Callidians value multiculturalism, indeed some see modern Callidian culture as being inherently multicultural.

Sports

Sport is considered a national pastime in Callidia and many Callidians regularly visit different sporting events. Callidia's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and foorball (summer). Hockey is a national pastime, and is by far the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is also the most popular sport Callidians play. Callidia's largest metropolitan areas – such as Caille, Hagia, Belleville, Rothwell, Carson, Nethar, and Edgerthon - have franchises in the Callidian Hockey League (CHL). Ice Hockey plays a large role in Callidia's national identity. The Callidian national ice hockey team, The Skyhawks, is considered one of the best in the world. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include football and snowboarding. The Callidian Football League (CFL) is the nation's second most popular professional sports league.

Snowboarding, golf, baseball, skiing, volleyball, and basketball are also widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.

Cuisine

The food is generally simple, fresh and healthy. Fish, meat, berries and ground vegetables are typical ingredients whereas spices are not common due to their unavailability in the early days. In years passed, Callidian food often varied from region to region, most notably between the west and east. In coastal and lakeside villages, fish was one main feature of cooking, whereas in the eastern and also northern regions, vegetables and reindeer were more common. Breakfast may be quite substantial, and many nutritionists consider breakfast a very important meal, since it provides vital nourishment and energy for starting the day.

Modern Callidian cuisine combines country fare and haute cuisine with contemporary continental cooking style. Nowadays, spices are a prominent ingredient in many modern Callidian recipes, having been adopted from the east and west in recent centuries.

Rural living patterns

The population of rural areas has been declining over time as more and more people migrate to cities for work and entertainment. The great exodus from the farms came in the 1940s; in recent years fewer than 2% of the population lives on farms (though others live in the countryside and commute to work). Electricity and telephone, and cable and Internet services are available to all but the most remote regions. As in the cities, children attend comprehensive school up to 15-16 years of age and also upper secondary school, and only help with farming during the summer months or after school.

Suburban living patterns

About half of Callidians now live in what is known as the suburbs. The suburban nuclear family has been identified as part of the "Callidian national identity": a married couple with children owning a house in the suburbs.

One of the biggest differences in suburban living is the housing occupied by the families. The suburbs are filled with single-family homes separated from retail districts and industrial areas. The Suburbs usually have a local school and a medical center. However, many Callidian suburbs are incorporating these districts on smaller scales, attracting more people to these communities.

Urban living patterns

Aside from housing, which may include more apartments and semi-attached homes than in the suburbs or small towns, the major difference from suburban living is the density and diversity of many different subcultures, as well as retail and manufacturing buildings mixed with housing. Like Suburban people, urban residents are also likely to travel by mass transit, and children are as likely to walk or bicycle rather than being driven by their parents.

Media and Communications

Callidia is one of the most advanced information societies in the world. There are 1400 newspapers; 1520 popular magazines, 4 100 professional magazines and 187 commercial radio stations, of which seven are nation-wide channels; five national public service radio channels in Callidian, and three in English; a radio network in the Latin language, 8 digital radio channels; nine national television channels, of which two public service and seven commercial channels; fifteen digital public service television channels and 13 commercial; 21 feature films each year; 40 000 book titles annually and 73 million records sold each year. All that is available for a population of 24 million. Newspapers are privately owned and reflect a range of political views.

Callidian law gives every citizen the right to publish printed material, and guarantees the right of reply. Callidians spend the most time in the world reading newspapers. The most read newspaper in Callidia is the Caille Telegraph.

The media group Ophelia Oy behind Caille Telegraph also publishes tabloid Liberty News and commerce-oriented Business News. It also owns the Number Four and Channel 9 television channels. The other major publisher Aerius Media has over 140 newspapers, including Morning Daily, Evening Daily and Business Daily.

Callidia's National Broadcasting Company CNBC is an independent state owned company. It has six television channels and 17 radio channels. CNBC is funded through a voluntary television fee and private television broadcasting license fees.

The people of Callidia are well prepared to use high technology and information services. The number of cellular phone subscribers as well as the number of Internet connections per capita in Callidia are among the highest in the world. According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Callidian mobile phone penetration exceeded 50% of the population as far back as August 1998 – first in the world – and by December 1998 the number of cell phone subscriptions outnumbered fixed-line phone connections. By the end of 2005 there were 104% cellular phone subscribers of the population.

Another fast-growing sector is the use of the Internet. The Callidians are not only connected; they are heavy users of Internet services. All Callidian schools and public libraries have for years been connected to the Internet.