The Western Provinces
What are the Western Provinces?
The Western Provinces, or the "Six Provinces" as they are also known, are --- in no particular order besides alphabetical --- Avon, Bohemia, Eden, Mercia, Victoria and Wessex. They are the top level political divisions of human civilization on Calmarendi and contain almost the entirety of human settlement on the planet. They occupy the western end of a much larger Northern Continent, taking up only about a quarter of the total land area of that continent.
Although provincial boundaries are, for the most part, precisely defined, on the ground there is scant evidence of them. Maybe an ill maintained welcome sign by the side of the road, a painted telegraph pole by the side of the railway but, otherwise, no fences, no gates, no border patrols. All may freely travel between the Provinces and settle where they will, unhindered by such petty restraints. Only the northern border of Eden is undefined other than by the line beyond which it is too cold to go any further.
World Population
In Total
The total human population of Calmarendi has been stable at around 200 million since the dawn of history. If one subscribes to the idea that in the beginning humanity occupied only the lands of south-central Eden, then one must assume that there were far fewer people about then than there are now. Quite when and why the population stopped growing is uncertain.
By Province
No one knows any exact population numbers; too few care sufficiently to make carrying out any kind of census at all worthwhile. The accepted rule of thumb is that Eden and Victoria each have a population of around 50 million, Eden having, it is believed, a long-term average slightly higher than Victoria. The remaining half of humanity is scattered through the provinces (in assumed order of long-term average population, smallest first) of Mercia, Avon, Bohemia and Wessex.
At any given time a tiny fraction of the population will be living in colonies and settlements outwith the boundaries of the Western Provinces (mainly in the northern coastal regions of the Southern Continent) and but few of those have nowhere in the Six Provinces that they call home.
Fluctuations
Although the population is stable, that is, there are no identifiable trends to suggest any long-term increases or decreases, either at world or provincial level, there are significant fluctuations. Some are cyclical in nature (such as the winter migrations) while others appear to be totally random; some are zero-sum (migrations or other fluctuations, by province, which cancel each other out) while others reinforce to create global fluctuations.
Actual Population Figures
Details of actual population numbers and how they are calculated can be found under Calmarendian Population.
Beyond the Edges of the Map
North
Beyond the northern edge of the map are the northern polar regions: even at the height of summer, the polar regions are nothing but bleak, perilous ice fields.
East
To the east is the realm of the unicorns, that being the main bulk of Calmarendi's Northern Continent, which stretches from the permanently frozen north to the equatorial deserts where an isthmus connects it to the Southern Continent.
South
To the south, unsurprisingly, lies the Southern Continent. Some human settlements exist on its northern coasts, mainly agricultural. Whilst, for some, these settlements might be a welcome respite from the cruel winters of the Provinces, the Southern Settlements are unbearably hot in summer and the wildlife none too welcoming at any time.
West
To the west is the main ocean wherein lie two large islands --- rather more Australia sized than Isle of Wight --- and beyond them, nothing until you get back to the eastern coast of the Northern Continent. The island depicted at the eastern edge of the published map is not one of these mid-oceanic lands, just one of the islands of the Wessaxian Archipelago.
Where are the Eastern Provinces?
That this grouping of states is called the "Western" Provinces might, not unreasonably, lead one to suppose that there are more provinces elsewhere in the world but this is not the case. The name merely reflects the fact that the Western Provinces lie in the westernmost reaches the one major land mass that most people know anything about.
Provincial Two Letter Codes
Shorthand identification codes are sometimes used for the six provinces instead of their full names. These consist of a two letter abbreviation formed of the first and last letters of the name of the province with, by convention, the first letter in upper case, the last in lower case. For example, Va is the code for Victoria. They are often seen as a suffix to the names of towns and cities, identifying which province they are in, for example: Blear Bridge, Va.
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