Chitimachanc (The Kalmar Union)

The Kingdom of Chitimachanc, Chitimachanc, is a medium sized constitutional monarchy on the south coast of Leifia. It is bordered by Ishakane to the west and Chahtaland to the north. The population is around 1.6 million and the capital is Yagenichito.

The Head of State is Queen Chawashun.

The official language is Chitimacha.

The currency is the Chitimacha Akad (CMA).

History
One of the longest-standing attested tribal nations, the Chitimacha have inhabited the region around the Mississippi Delta for at least 6,000 years, protected from neighbours by the swamps and rivers of the area and trading crops for stone with the tribes to the north.

As internal trade in Leifia began to blossom with the Norse and Aniyunwiyans in the north and along the coast the Chitimacha soon found their homeland perfect for capturing trade. Their knowledge of the river and its shifting sandbanks made them perfect pilots for ships ploughing the river mouth whilst portages such as at Yagenichito would turn small villages into big cities. This begat a painful period of civil war where the four or so chiefdoms were amalgamated into a single kingdom under Yagenichito's leadership. Álengiamark was especially eager to secure them as firm allies for trade and would provide them the basis for creating a medieval army. Chitimacha crossbowmen, tattooed and intimidating, would be much sought-after mercenaries in the centuries before the First Mexic-Leifian War. Vast tonnes of stone were brought down the Mississippi to build formidable forts to control the river and its sea approaches.

As trade boomed its neighbours increased the pressure on it and the increased contact with the rest of Leifia and indeed Tawantinland and Europe meant the big cities were susceptible to disease. The Black Death raged repeatedly in the cities from the original outbreak in the 1350s continuing until the final confirmed case in 1710 whilst smallpox and measles hurt the rural populations. This left the state in precarious circumstances and when Mexica began to raid into the Mississippi delta too the Chitimacha increasingly relied on the armies of southeast Leifia to defend them, paying handsomely for the effort.

During the First Mexic-Leifian War most of Chitimachanc was overrun with fierce fighting continuing around Yagenichito and Wabachito as the Mexic attempted to force a bridgehead across the Mississippi. The Mexic navy, entering the Delta in the summer of 1622 was destroyed by its Vinlandic equivalent but it would a further three years before a Portuguese army could be landed on the Delta to permanently drive the Mexic off Chitimacha land. After the war the devastated land, still ruled by kings, effectively handed its sovereignty to Mvskokia whose dynamic rulers created stability and peace across much of southern Leifia. While the cities slowly recovered from the war with new canals and forts springing up the population also rebounded.

Free from direct attack the economy recovered and weaned itself off total reliance on the ports with agriculture, especially rice, sugercane and citrus fruits being grown and exported. Trade along the Mississippi soon dominated by cotton exportation was severely disrupted by the breakup of the Mvskokian realm during the Cotton Wars. In 1909 both Aragon and France landed in an attempt to create a free trade port though Kalmar would involve itself militarily there too. Following Mvskokia's peace with Chahtaland in 1911 the whole of Chitimachanc became a Chahtan subject, a situation its nobles rejected outright. Allied to Svealand it would fight for liberation which it finally achieved in 1917.

Its politics post-independence has been a long struggle to dismantle the considerably strict class system improving the lot of the rural poor as well as manage the ever-shifting Mississippi river. Yagenichito, with its cascading canal and bridge system running in parallel lines from the River down to the Okwata Bay, is considered one of the finest and most beautiful cities in Leifia as well as having the Mexic Gulf's largest port.

Government
Following its re-establishment as an independent state Chitimachanc was given a constitution and based on European models, specifically Svealand which had occupied Yagenichito for several years and Aragon which had helped restore the organs of state and backed the currency after independence. The bicameral Pantch is elected every five years by almost universal suffrage. Having a long history of being a matrilineal society Chitimachanc was one of the first Leifian nations to allow votes for women.

The current Head of State is Queen Chawashun. Her Prime Minister is Houm Piakimin.