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Ognian Confederation
Ушијенкн Огана
Огнийская Конфедерация

Timeline: Great White South

OTL equivalent: Peter I Island and portions of the Chilean Antarctic Territory, Marie Byrd Land, and the Ross Dependency.
Flag of Ognia
Flag of Ognia
Location of Ognia
Location of Ognia
Capital Quaoar
Largest city Lazarevsk
Language Ognian and Russian
Religion
  main
 
Eastern Orthodoxy
  others Catholicism, Shamanism
Demonym Ognian
Government Federal chiefdom and presidential republic
  Legislature Grand Council
Established November 22, 1972
Currency Dollar (OGD)
Internet TLD .og
Organizations AF, UN

Ognia (Ognian: Огнарўн, Ognarwn; Russian: Огния, Ogniya), officially known as the Ognian Confederation (Ушијенкн Огана, Ushijenkn Ogana; Огнийская Конфедерация, Ogniyskaya Konfyedyeratsiya); is a sovereign state located in Western Antarctica. The confederation comprises the majority of the Western Antarctic Archipelago and most of the Ellsworth Peninsula. Unlike the rest of Antarctica, Ognia is the only nation to consist of a native majority population.

Ognia is considered the successor state to the Chiefdom of Krannkush, which existed until early 1900s (being a protectorate of the Russian Empire throughout much of the 1800s). the western portions of the nation was gripped in a civil war throughout much of the early 1900s, with reunification only happening in the 1940s. Unlike the west, the eastern regions were administered separately within the Russian Empire. This region eventually gained independence as the communist Alexandrian People's Republic. Following the end of communist rule, Alexandria broke out into civil war, pitted between the Creole majority and the European minority. A democratic government was finalized in the early 1970s, which also led to popular support for unification of its neighbor. The Ognian Confederation came into existence in 1972.

The government of Ognia is unique in comparison with other nations, in which the government is a self described "republican chiefdom." Constitutionally, this means that a Paramount Chief is selected and acts primarily as a figurehead, while a President is elected by the people. Some political analysts have compared this to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has a similar leader-president divide.

Etymology[]

The origin of the term "og" is highly uncertain. Most believe it is derived from the naming origin of the Ognaru people of Antarctica, where the first to colonize the western Antarctic islands. Ognaru is thought to have derived from a proto-Yaghanic word meaning the "land of the endless night."

Another possible origin proposed is that it came out of a joke by the Russians, in which they named the native and defiant tribes of Russian Antarctica after the Russian word for fire (ogon'), which was also a joke in comparison with the Spaniards, who named their natives of similar origin after the Spanish word for fire (fuego).

History[]

Bellinghausen2

Bellingshausen making contact in 1820.

Selknam cazando

Ognian hunters.

Native settlements[]

Kingdom of K'athar[]

The Kingdom of K'athar was one of the greatest empires to exist in the southern hemisphere. Between about 900 until 1903, the Kingdom stretched from the south pole up to southern South America.

Russian colonialism[]

Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen would make first contact with the Ogs of the Kingdom of K'athar in 1820. Russian influences in the region would soon expand. Many wars would be fought between the Kingdom and Russia up until 1900. By 1900, Russia controlled most of the continent on the Pacific coast. In March 1903, the Kingdom collapsed.

Confederation[]

Og flag

The flag used by the Og movement, was also used as the unofficial flag of the Confederation.

During the 1960s, the "Og movement" and the ideas of an Ognian reunification grew in popularity was the major topic of regional politics in the early 1970s. By 1972, the only three Ognian nations, Gumar, K'athar, and Medquar, agreed to form a political union between each other. Known as the Ognian Confederation, it was created to be a loose confederation, not a true nation. All three states had their own leaders, currencies, political views, and foreign relations.

The political and ideals of the Ognian Confederation would greatly change in March 1975, when the People's Republic of Aleksandria broke out into civil war between pro-Bellinsgauzenians and native Ognians. Despite neither of the Ognian nations or Bellinsgauzenia getting involved in the war, support would soon shift over to the Ognian front. Within a month, the pro-Bellinsgauzenians were forced off the island, and the new nation of I'kranar was established. Within a few months, it would become a state of the Ognian Confederation.

Soon after, the Og movement broke out all over western Antarctica, causing the ruling nations in the region to reconsider their position with the natives. In 1978, the United States allowed an Ognian referendum to be held in the Republic of Palmeria, which a majority vote to join Ognia. The United Kingdom was preparing to have similar referendums to be held in their western Antarctic territories, which seemed to be a sure win. On April 7, 1979, the leaders of the [then] six Ognian states met in the city of Quaoar. The six would officially adopt a unifying constitution for a new nation. The United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Norway were the first to recognize the new nation.

War with Argentina[]

Main article: Warrahar War

In the early 1980s, all of the Ognian nations had federated together; but there was still a great deal of former K'atharan land which was not under the Republic's sovereignty - Tierra del Fuego, which was divided between Argentina and Chile; and the Scotia Sea islands, which were governed by the United Kingdom, and also claimed by Argentina. In mid-1981, following a local referendum, the Scotia Sea islands were peacefully transferred to Ognia by the British Government.

However, the Argentine government (which was, at this time, a Military Junta) did not relinquish its claim to the islands when they passed under Ognian control. As they were now defended by the small, fledgling Ognian Military, rather than the immensely powerful British Military, Argentina seized its chance to invade them. In April 1982, Argentina launched an invasion of the Falkland Islands; and then proceeded to mount similar attacks on South Georgia and the other Argentine-claimed islands in the region.

For almost two weeks, the Ognian military held out against the Argentinians, with varying degrees of success on each island. After this, a few companies of British Royal Marines were deployed to aid the Ognian Army; as many of the local civilians still held British Citizenship.

After another week of assaults and counter-assaults, the Ognian forces received news that a group of pro-Ognian activists in Tierra del Fuego (where Ognians were the main ethnic group) had begun rebelling against the Argentine government. The Scotia Sea Task Force (SSTF; the joint Ognian–British military presence in the area) diverted a large portion of its troops to assist the rebels in Tierra del Fuego.

By early May, the SSTF had secured all of the Scotia islands, returned them to Ognian control, and established a few small British military bases on several islands, for defense. Tierra del Fuego was also under occupation by SSTF forces (which the Fuegians almost unanimously supported); but the SSTF didn't have enough power over the area to fully transfer it to Ognia.

States[]

Main: States of Ognia

Ognia is divided into nine states. Each of the states were once sovereign nations between 1922 until reunification beginning in 1972.

Demographics[]

Race and Ethnicity[]

Main articles: AIPs in Ognia, Russian Ognian, Caucasian Ognian, Hispanic Ognian

Language[]

See also: Languages of Antarctica

Ognia has four official languages: Ognian, the country's most common language; as well as English, Russian, and Spanish, reflecting the languages of Ognia's ethnic minorities.

Norwegian is co-official on Peter I Island, a single municipality of the state of Ikranar. The island is a former Norwegian colony, and has a high proportion of Norwegian-speaking citizens.

Religion[]

While officially a secular nation, Ognians generally practice Ognian Shamanism, Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Ognian Shamanism denies the existence of a supreme being or beings and instead focuses on shaman-like characters who possess supernatural capabilities (e.g. can control weather) and insights about what awaits humans after they die. There have been 29 accepted shamans, with the unknown 30th shaman whose coming heralds the end of the world.

Some have calculated that this "final shaman" is scheduled to reveal himself on or around the 2012 Winter Equinox, in line with other 2012 "Doomsday" predictions; but these claims have been widely discredited, especially by members of the Shamanist faith.

As the Russians slowly conquered the Kingdom of K'athar, the Russian Orthodox Church sent missionaries to spread Christianity among the Ognian people. Even after Russian rule ended, the Orthodox Christianity remained strong among the Ognians. In 1920, Ognian bishops broke from the Russian Orthodox Church and formed the Ognian Orthodox Church, to avoid criticism of being puppets of the Russians. The Ognian Orthdox Chuch is located in Daingeloog.

Roman Catholic missionaries from Chile and Argentina preached among the Kingdom K’athar prior to the Russian conquest of the nation. The Salesians of Don Bosco ministered to indigenous peoples interred on Dawson Island in order for Europeans to mine the local gold. As knowledge of Antarctica became widespread, various Salesian preachers visited the native kingdoms establishing Catholic communities that still exist today.

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