I envision this nation as a sort of South Africa/Moçambique/Zimbabwe hybrid, a “savage” land settled by (mostly) Ingerish-speaking colonists 100 or so years ago. Land holds vast mineral wealth, but was not effectively exploited until the last 50 years when technology made extraction easier.
Government is classic Plunderocracy. Tribal government (patterned loosely on Malawi’s Tribal Authority system) exists as a puppet in concert with repressive colonial government - coastal settlements are primarily colonial and reap the benefits of lucrative trade in minerals, while the mostly native population inland exists in poverty and slowly burns with decades of injustice and accumulating anger. A powderkeg, really.
Native language will borrow liberally from Lingala, Bamwe and Chichewa. Most bigger inland settlements will have both a native and colonial name.
Climate will fit what has already been mapped and what is adjacent: drier inland, resembling Somalia’s thorn forests - wetter and jungled on the coast - with belts of food producing areas as well. And of course sprawling mines all over the central part of the country (see graphic).
I envision that relations with Arataran will be favorable, but other nearby countries will undoubtedly have issues with the horrible human rights situation here, and things might be a bit strained.
What is mapped already has a LOT of references to England and the US, I’m not sure if I have to stick with that or if it’s permitted to change the names that are there. Accordingly, I don’t have a name picked yet - I was thinking New Victoria if I have to keep Port Victoria as the capital. Otherwise, I’m leaning toward an Ingerish-ized version of the Chichewa word “Nkhalango” which translates to “jungle fortress”: so something like “Enkalang”.
Also… might be more interesting to have some other non-Ingerish colonial influence as well. Get some Praia and Plage names in there! So many possibilities!
Discussion
Comment from Greg_Rose on 1 September 2020 at 05:38
Oh. And they drive on the left. Just because.
Comment from Lithium-Ion on 1 September 2020 at 17:32
Looks like a good plan! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Comment from niels20020 on 2 September 2020 at 08:34
Hey, your plan sounds very good and interesting! If you’re looking for non-Ingerish colonial influence and basing a part of the country on South Africa, you are definitely welcome to include Lentia in your colonial past. Lentia is basically the OGF version of the Netherlands, so if you want to use that, go ahead :)
Comment from Greg_Rose on 2 September 2020 at 18:43
@niels20020 Fantastic! I will definitely do that - am thinking of 4 different coastal zones from North to South: Portugeuse -> Dutch -> French -> English. As if there were a consolidation of all 4 areas into the whole of the nation in the past. I don’t know Dutch very well, so I may need to come to you for pointers. :)
Comment from niels20020 on 2 September 2020 at 19:45
Sounds great! If you need help with names, just hit me up! :)