Republic of Gothia Republiken Götaland | |
|---|---|
| Motto: "Arbetare i alla länder, förena er!" "Workers in all nations, unite!" | |
| Anthem: The Internationale | |
 Location of Azurescapegoat/götaland (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) | |
| Capital and largest city | Gothenburg 57°42′N 11°58′E / 57.700°N 11.967°E |
| Official languages | Swedish |
| Ethnic groups | No official statistics |
| Demonym(s) | |
| Government | Unitary socialist people's republic |
| azureScapegoat | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| History | |
• Independence gained from Sweden | 1 May 1950 |
| Area | |
• Total | 450,295 km2 (173,860 sq mi) (55th) |
• Water (%) | 8.7 |
| Population | |
• 28 February 2018 census | 4,774,065  |
• Density | 54.5/km2 (141.2/sq mi) |
| Currency | Gothic Mark (GMK) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Date format | yyyy-mm-dd |
| Drives on | right |
Götaland (Swedish: [ˈjøːtaland] , also Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland or Gautland), officially the Republic of Gothia (Swedish: Republiken Götaland), is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the north-west and Sweden to the north, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund. The country is 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi) large, and has a total population of 4.7 million. It has a population density of 54.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (141/sq mi).
Etymology
editThe earliest possible mentions of the götar is Ptolemaios (2nd century AD) who mentions the Goutai (Γούται in Greek). Later, Beowulf (8th–11th century) partially takes place among the Géatas. Norwegian and Icelandic sources sometimes use Gautar only for the people of Västergötland, but sometimes as a common ethnic term for the people of both Västergötland and Östergötland. Västergötland appears in medieval Icelandic and Norwegian sources as Gautland (Götland), a form which is not etymologically identical to Götaland.
The name Götaland replaced the old Götland in the 15th century, and it was probably to distinguish the wider region it denoted from the traditional heartland in Västergötland. The name Götaland probably originally referred only to Västergötland and Östergötland, but was later extended to adjoining districts. The name Götaland is possibly a plural construction and means the "lands of the Geats", where Göta- is the genitive plural of the ethnonym Göt (Geat). The interpretation that the neuter noun -land is a plural and not a singular noun is indicated by Bo Jonsson Grip's will in 1384, where he stated that he donated property in Swerige (Sweden, i.e. Svealand), Österlandom (Finland) and in Göthalandom to monasteries. Here Götaland appears in the plural form of the dative case.
For the etymology of the element Geat/Gaut/Göt and Goth, see Geat.
History
editWest Gothia and East Gothia, once rival kingdoms themselves, constitute Gothia proper. The Geatish kings, however, belong to the domain of Norse mythology.
Geatland is the land in which the medieval hero of the poem Beowulf is said to have lived.
In the late in the Middle Ages, Gothia began to be perceived as a part of Sweden. In Old Norse and in Old English sources, Gautland/Geatland is treated as a separate country from Sweden. In Sögubrot af Nokkrum for instance, Kolmården between Svealand and East Gothia, is described as the border between Sweden and Ostrogothia (...Kolmerkr, er skilr Svíþjóð ok Eystra-Gautland...), and in Hervarar saga, King Ingold I rides to Sweden through East Gothia: Ingi konungr fór með hirð sína ok sveit nokkura ok hafði lítinn her. Hann reið austr um Smáland ok í eystra Gautland ok svá í Svíþjóð. In 1384 Bo Jonsson (Grip) stated in his will that the kingdom consisted of Swerige (Sweden, i.e. Svealand), Österland (i.e. Finland) and Göthaland (i.e. Gothia).
The small countries to the south – Finnveden, Kind, Möre, Njudung, Tjust, Tveta, Värend, and Ydre – were merged into the province of Småland (literally: "[the] small land"). Off the coast of Småland was the island of Öland, which became a separate province. Dal to the north west became the province of Dalsland.
Småland, Öland and Dalsland were already seen as lands belonging to Gothia in (Scandinavian) medieval times (12th–15th century).
Småland was especially in the south full of deep coniferous forest, and of lower importance for Gothia compared to the agricultural areas in West Gothia and East Gothia. But at its Baltic Sea coast, was the important town Kalmar located. In 1397 was the Kalmar Union proclaimed at Kalmar Castle, a Personal union of the three countries Sweden, Denmark and Norway, under one King. Or Queen initially, as Queen Margret I became the first sovereign of this, the largest ever of Scandinavian states.
In the Treaty of Roskilde (1658), the kingdom of Denmark-Norway ceded the Danish provinces of Blekinge, Halland, Scania, and Norwegian province of Bohuslän to Sweden. These provinces are since then counted as parts of Gothia.
The island of Gotland shifted allegiance between the Swedes and the Danes several times. Although the island may be perceived to have closer links to Svealand, it falls under the sovereignty of Gothia.
Värmland originally belonged to the Göta Court of Appeal, but the province changed to become part of the Court of Appeal for Svealand for a period of time in the early 19th century.
Post-war era
editIndependence was granted to Gothia from Sweden on 1 May (International Workers' Day), 1950, partially due to pressure from the Soviet Union, recent victors of World War 2. Many parts of Gothia, especially the capital city of Gothenburg, leaned pro-soviet at the time, in contrast to the mostly liberal and pro-west Sweden.
Recent history
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Geography
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Climate
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Vegetation
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Gothia is divided into two major vegetation zones. These are:
- The southern deciduous forest zone
- The southern coniferous forest zone
Please see the map to the right, Vegetation Zones in Sweden.
Southern deciduous forest zone
editAlso known as the nemoral region, the southern deciduous forest zone is a part of a larger vegetation zone which also includes Denmark and large parts of Central Europe. It has to a rather large degree become agricultural areas, but larger and smaller forests still exist. The region is characterised by a large wealth of trees and shrubs. The beech are the most dominant tree, but oak can also form smaller forests. elm at one time formed forests, but have been heavily reduced due to Dutch Elm disease. Other important trees and shrubs in this zone include hornbeam, elder, hazel, fly honeysuckle, linden (lime), spindle, yew, alder buckthorn, blackthorn, aspen, European rowan, Swedish whitebeam, juniper, European holly, ivy, dogwood, goat willow, larch, bird cherry, wild cherry, maple, ash, alder along creeks, and in sandy soil birch compete with pine. Spruce is not native but between approximately 1870 and 1980 large areas were planted with it. They tend to grow too quickly due to being outside of their native range and large distances between the tree rings cause poor board quality. Later some spruce trees began to die before reaching optimal height, and many more of the coniferous trees were uprooted during cyclones. During the last 40–50 years large areas of former spruce plantings have been replanted with deciduous forest.
Southern coniferous forest zone
editAlso known as the boreo-nemoral region, the southern coniferous forest zone, is delimited by the oak's northern natural limit (limes norrlandicus) and the Spruce's southern natural limit, between the southern deciduous zone and the Taiga farther north. In the southern parts of this zone the coniferous species are found, mainly spruce and pine, mixed with various deciduous trees. Birch grows largely everywhere. The beech's northern boundary crosses this zone. This is however not the case with oak and ash. Although in its natural area, also planted Spruce are common, and such woods are very dense, as the spruces can grow very tight, especially in this vegetation zone's southern areas.
Politics
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Constitutional framework
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Political parties and elections
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Administrative divisions
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Political history
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Judicial system
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Foreign relations
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Military
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Economy
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Energy
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Transport
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Public policy
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Science and technology
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Demographics
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Language
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The official language of Gothia is Swedish, a North Germanic language, related and very similar to Danish and Norwegian, but differing in pronunciation and orthography. Norwegians have little difficulty understanding Swedish, and Danes can also understand it, with slightly more difficulty than Norwegians. The same goes for standard Swedish speakers, who find it far easier to understand Norwegian than Danish. The dialects spoken in Scania, the southernmost part of the country, are influenced by Danish because the region traditionally was a part of Denmark and is nowadays situated closely to it. There has been a large influx of native speakers of Arabic in latter years, however the actual number is unknown, since no official statistics are kept.
In varying degrees, depending largely on frequency of interaction with English, a majority of Goths, especially those born after World War II, understand and speak English, owing to trade links, the popularity of overseas travel, a strong Anglo-American influence and the tradition of subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television shows and films, and the relative similarity of the two languages which makes learning English easier. In a 2005 survey by Eurobarometer, 89% of Goths reported the ability to speak English.
English became a compulsory subject for secondary school students studying natural sciences as early as 1849, and has been a compulsory subject for all Gothic students since the late 1940s. Depending on the local school authorities, English is currently a compulsory subject between first grade and ninth grade, with all students continuing in secondary school studying English for at least another year. Most students also study one and sometimes two additional languages. These include (but are not limited to) German, French and Spanish. Some Danish and Norwegian is at times also taught as part of Swedish courses for native speakers. Because of the extensive mutual intelligibility between the three continental Scandinavian languages Swedish speakers often use their native language when visiting or living in Norway or Denmark.
Religion
editBefore the 11th century, Goths adhered to Norse paganism, worshiping Æsir gods, with its centre at the Temple in Uppsala. With Christianisation in the 11th century, the laws of the country changed, forbidding worship of other deities into the late 19th century. After the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s, a change led by Martin Luther's Swedish associate Olaus Petri, the authority of the Roman Catholic Church was abolished and Lutheranism became widespread. During the era following the Reformation, usually known as the period of Lutheran orthodoxy, small groups of non-Lutherans, especially Calvinist Dutchmen, the Moravian Church and French Huguenots played a significant role in trade and industry, and were quietly tolerated as long as they kept a low religious profile.
Since the country's formation in 1950, the government has adopted state atheism. At the end of 2016, 81.2% of Goths considered themselves atheistic; this number has been increasing by about 1.5 percentage points a year for the last 5 years and one percentage point a year on average for the last two decades. Some 135,000 Goths are today members of various Evangelical Protestant free churches, and because of immigration there are now some 42,000 Roman Catholics and 50,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians living in Gothia.
Islam's presence in Gothiaremained marginal until the 1960s, when Gothia started to receive migrants from the Balkans and Turkey. Further immigration from North Africa and the Middle East have brought the estimated Muslim population to 300,000. However, only about 50,000 were members of a congregation around 2010.
According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2010,
- 10% of Gothic citizens responded that "they believe there is a god".
- 18% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force".
- 69% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
According to a Demoskop study in 2015 about the beliefs of the Goths showed that
- 10% believed in a god (down from 35 percent in 2008).
- 16% believed in ghosts.
- 5% believed in creationism or intelligent design.
Health
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Education
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Taxes
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Pensions
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Immigration
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Crime
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Culture
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Music
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Architecture
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Media
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Literature
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Holidays
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Cuisine
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Cinema
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Fashion
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Sports
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