Farinor

Farinor is a Member in the Confederated Peoples. It is located in the northern part of Dana. The name is a geographical term predating Indian settlement. Its origins are unknown.

Etymology

The name Farinor was a geographical term used by the Aboriginal Danaans to refer to the bulk of the area which is now the Principality of Farinor among the Aboriginal Danaans. The exact origins of the term are obscure. Some scholars have theorized that it comes from the name of a powerful chieftain who held sway in the area but many others dispute this, saying that it instead was a term referring to the mountains in the south of the principality. The word Farinor is not used for any purpose except to refer to the modern principality in whole or in part and it is impossible to determine its origin from the context of aboriginal languages.

History

Like the rest of the Danaan High Kingdom, Farinor's history can be divided into four basic periods: Aboriginal Danaan, between settlement and the Homecoming War, Fae and post-Shattering.

Farinor was originally home to a number of thriving Aboriginal Danaan cultures, many of which still retain their ancient identities to this day. Unfortunately, many others either died out or became absorbed into the larger population following settlement.

Settlers from India arrived in Farinor in 951. They brought with them their way of life and their various religious faiths. Settlement was relatively extensive and, for most of its history, Farinor has been the largest of the Danaan principalities. It has only in recent years been eclipsed in population, though not in geographical size, by Zeng. Unfortunately, Farinor was never a truly unified state and its many petty royal dynasties, usually fighting amongst themselves, were easily dominated by the High King of Dana.

Farinor was first unified after the Homecoming War. Farinor had become home to a large Fae population and had come to be ruled by a Fae queen, Elayne ni Fiona. Despite the bitterness created by the war, humans and Fae came to live together in relative harmony in Farinor and it became a land known for diversity and tolerance.

Following the Shattering, Farinor is once again a predominantly Hindu and predominantly Indian principality. The exodus of most of the Fae back to the Dreaming has weakened the society's diversity and has created some pressures towards greater homogenity. However, these pressures are kept in check by a developing tradition of liberal democracy and by Farinor's status as a Confederal Member, partaking in the liberal democratic ideals and institutions of the larger nation.

Government

Farinor is one of the largest Members in the Confederated Peoples. It is defined by its constitution as a constitutional monarchy, a liberal democracy and a social democracy. There is currently a strong movement for a constitutional amendment mandating complete separation of church and state and defining Farinor as a secular state. Farinor is a parliamentary democracy with a more or less Westminster-style system.

The Prince of Farinor is the official head of state. The First Minister, however, is the Head of Government and exercises almost all executive powers either directly or through his constitutional right to give binding advice to the prince. The First Minister is appointed by the prince on the recommendation of a party or coalition controlling the majority of seats in the lower house of Parliament.

The legislature of Farinor is a bicameral parliament consisting of a Senate and a House of the People. The Senate does not have a fixed size although it tends to have between 200 and 300 members. 100 Senators are directly elected, 100 hold their seat as a result of a peerage title or membership in the royal family and an indefinite number are appointed. Senators hold their office during good behavior. The House of the People consists of 502 members directly elected from single-member constituencies who hold their seats for fixed five year terms.

The political executive consists of the Cabinet under the leadership of the First Minister. All Cabinet ministers must be sitting members of one of the two houses of Parliament. The Cabinet is accountable to Parliament and most directly accountable to the House of the People which has the power to pass a motion of no confidence in the Government thus forcing the First Minister to resign.

Farinor has an independent judiciary dominated by a Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the Farinor court system although its decisions can, of course, be appealed to the Confederal courts. It also has a power of judicial review and is able to declare laws which violate Farinor's constitution null and void.

Administrative divisions

Farinor consists of 35 parishes. The establishment of parish government and the boundaries of the parishes are controlled by the Farinor Parliament although this is usually done with great deference to the wishes of the local inhabitants.

• A'court
• Abjayoni
• Acala
• Arthas
• Atapattu
• Atlantica
• Bharat
• Binduhrada
• Caityaka
• Corrina
• Dadhinadi
• Ekanga
• Fiona
• Ffoulkes
• Futteh
• Gabgahrday
• Gan
• Hansakuta
• Hindus
• Iksusamudra
• Jaipur
• Kosta
• Leon
• Mumbai
• Naagesh
• Oceanus
• Pelannus
• Queen Elayne
• Raipur
• Salt Coast
• Silvera
• Sindhu
• Southern Lights
• Timonville
• Vihara

Geography

Farinor constitutes a majority of the landmass of Dana. It is separated from the rest of the island by the Bythysian Mountains in the south and west and it borders the Atlantic Ocean in the north and east. Large sections of the principality are located in the Bythysian Mountains. The rest of the principality primarily consists of a great fertile plain. The east does contain a stretch of desert and the coasts are generally hilly. A number of major rivers run from the mountains down through the fertile plain and into the sea, including the Ceylymnica River, the largest river in the principality and one of the largest in the Confederated Peoples. The climate ranged from tropical in the north to temperate in the south.

Flora and fauna

Farinor possesses substantial biodiversity. Its forests range from tropical rainforests to coniferous forests to moist deciduous forests. Farinor is home to many species of trees, some of the most common being sal, teak, neem, babul and pipal fig. Notable animal species include the griffon, the Farinor tiger, the Farinor leaf monkey, the Badesha's toad, the Atlantic lion, the white-rumped vulture as well as a wide variety of other animal species. In recent decades, wildlife populations in Farinor have been in grave danger with many being threatened with extinction. However, a movement is now underway to reverse this trend and over 500 different wildlife sanctuaries have been established in the last few years as well as over a dozen biosphere reserves.

Economy

Farinor has largely taken a social democratic approach to economics, featuring a strongly regulated private sector and a large public sector. This approach is limited somewhat by the Confederal government's economic regulation powers and guaranties of individual rights, which have been interpretted to prevent some of the more radical policies attempted by the Farinor Parliament and also by the liberalizing approach of the current government, which has privatized a number of previously public industries and cut down on economic regulation. These changes have been subject to intense political debate.

Farinor's economy has grown rapidly in the last several years but it continues to have the highest poverty rate in the Confederated Peoples. Income equality is relatively low but has been rising recently. However, the real wages of the lowest paid workers are also rising steadily.

Farinor has a diverse economy invested in such industries as rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes, automobiles, cement, chemicals, consumer electronics, food processing, machinery, mining, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, steel, transportation equipment and textiles. Book-publishing and information technology, two of the major industries in the Confederated Peoples, are strongly represented in this Member. However, the third major industry, beef-based agriculture, is less prevalent because of local religious and cultural sensitivites.

Demographics

Farinor has the second largest population in the Confederated Peoples, just after Zeng. The largest concentration of people is in Bharat, the capital and largest city. Only 41% of the population can be classified as urban.

Two major languages are spoken in Farinor: English and Hindi. 91% of the population speaks English but only 42% speak it as their first language. 81% speak Hindi, including 53% who speak it as their first language. Other languages are rare and are generally spoken in small pockets of recent immigrants or recent transplants from other Members.

Farinor's overall literacy rate of 91% is considered low for the Conderated Peoples. However, more troubling to politicians is the gender differential in literacy. Only 82% of Farinor's adult female population is literate. In Bharat itself, however, 99.1% of the population, including 96% of women, are literate.

81% of the population self-identifies as Hindu. The next largest religious group is Muslims who make up 12% of the population. Christians make up another 5% with the remaining 2% being divided primarily between Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews and Bahá'ís.

Culture

Farinor's culture is very synchronistic, containing elements from the culture of the first Indian settlers, Aboriginal Danaans, the Fae, the diverse cultural traditions of the nation and from international developments in South Asian culture. Music and literature are similarly diverse and/or syncretic and include styles from all of these cultural traditions. Popular sports include field hockey, cricket, kabaddi, kho-kho, gilli-danda and (oddly enough given the climate) figure skating. Diwali, Holi, Onam, Sankranti, Gudi Padwa, Durgapuja, Dussehra, Christmas, Vaisakhi, the Prince's birthday, the High King's birthday, New Year's, Labour Day, Remembrance Day and Thanksgiving are official holidays.