Novistrana
Рэспубліка ИФVISТЯАИА Республика ИФVISТЯАИА Republic of Novistrana | |
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Flag
National emblem
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| Motto: none | |
| Anthem: Мы, беларусы (Novistranian) My, Novisfeza (transliteration) We Novistranians | |
| Location of Novistrana (orange) in Europe (white) – [Legend] | |
| Capital and largest city | Berezina |
| Official languages | Novistranian, Russian |
| Government | Presidential republic |
| Vasily Karasov | |
| Boris Kuznetsov | |
| Independence from the Soviet Union | |
• Declared | December 25 1991 |
• Established | December 25 1991 |
• Completed | December 25 1991 |
• Water (%) | negligible (183 km²)1 |
| Population | |
• 2006 estimate | 12,293,011 (N/A) |
• 1999 census | 10,045,237 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate |
• Total | $39.13 billion (N/A) |
• Per capita | N/A (N/A) |
| Gini (2002) | 29.7 low inequality |
| HDI (2004) |  0.794Error: Invalid HDI value (N/A) |
| Currency | rouble (NTR) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Calling code | 826 |
| Internet TLD | .by |
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![Location of Novistrana (orange) in Europe (white) – [Legend]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload?wpDestFile=Europe_location_NTA.png){kind=link}
Novistrana ([Новострания] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), "New Country") is a fictional Soviet breakaway state featured in the computer game Republic: The Revolution. It has been created with groundbreaking graphic detail, and is highly reminiscent of other recently post-Soviet countries in the design of its buildings and the naming of its streets and suburbs.
Novistrana has three playable cities: Ekaterine, Pugachev and Berezina, although other cities, such as Pallasovka, are mentioned in the game, or otherwise play significant roles without being visited by the player. Ekaterine is a small town, Pugachev is a major city and Berezina is the Novistranan capital.
Novistrana is ruled by Vasily Karasov, a former KGB officer. His draconian rule makes use of torture, oppression and corruption, and as a result his country is rife with disruption and poverty. Within the game, it is made abundantly clear that Karasov has no interest in leadership, and only maintains himself in power for the benefits of the position. He gambles with the nation's treasury and hosts lavish balls and feasts for his political allies across the nation, in order to insulate them from worsening conditions. The country is sliding deeper into chaos and poverty, with the ex-KGB Secret Police terrorising dissidents who oppose Karasov. Political dissent is tolerated, barely, but political parties are not to be formed outside of the Government's own Party, and all political leaders, dissidents, and thinkers are required to join the Party, or go through Party channels to seek policy change.
The United Nations has noted potential human rights abuses in Novistrana, but none of these investigations has been followed up, due to a combination of factors such as Novistrana's relatively small population and geopolitical unimportance and its relative geographic isolation in a mountainous former Russian province. It is also implied that Karasov bribes or blackmails human rights investigators.
Language and Location
The official language of Novistrana is Novistranan, a fictional language which is sort of a cross between all the Soviet tongues. However, the "language" as spoken in-game is merely garbled sounds spoken with a Russian accent, although some apparently Russian- or Ukrainian-influenced phrases can be picked up if one listens carefully. The country has its own news agency, airline, and flag. Although the precise location of Novistrana is never given, there are several clues as to where it could be situated. The alphabet used throughout the country is clearly derived from Cyrillic (although it must be noted that it is a composite, rather than an actual alphabet), which suggests the country is unlikely to be located near the Baltic Sea. The heavy use of very unusual Cyrillic characters suggests a south-easterly location (comparable with Georgia or Azerbaijan), though it is possibly due to Novistrana's long history as an isolated sub-Russian region or vassal. The population is entirely White European, with a relatively high prevalence of blonde hair and Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish names that would seem to indicate Slavic rather than Caucasian ethnicity. Although politically Novistrana is perhaps comparable to Belarus, the cultural evidence in the game suggests a Trans-Caucasian republic, bordering Georgia. This is supported by the presence of a restaurant in south Ekaterine, which is labelled as 'serving the cuisine of neighbouring Georgia'. There are other such hints and references which give credence to possible locations, such as a popular Ekaterine restaurant named "Napoleon's Folly", which is stated to be housed in a historic building where Russian troops held off the French army at a critical bottleneck until supply routes could be reopened and reinforcements arrive, thus helping to slow or prevent the continued Napoleonic advance into Imperial Russia. The Churches and Priests in Novistrana are Eastern Orthodox, ruling out the possibility of Novistrana being a Central Asian Muslim country. There seems to be very little religious, ethnic and cultural diversity otherwise, reinforcing the idea that Novistrana is, indeed, very small, and probably highly isolated. It can be clearly observed that it exists in a mountainous region, as mountain ranges dominate the horizon in nearly all directions. A curious custom to shake hands with the left hand seems to predominate among Novistranans.
The model of APC seen in the capital, a BTN-84 suggest, which according to the game information is a modification of a Soviet APC, suggest Ukraine, as Ukraine has modified the BTR-90 and called it the BTR-94 and the T-80 which it renamed the T-84.
Political ideologies and Factions
Novistrana has a relatively simple public ideology system in-game, where the ideologies of Novistranans are generally influenced by their class or career. The force ideology is most common among the Novistranan working classes. They live on industrial estates, marked by crowded terraced housing, high-rise apartment buildings, factories, warehouses and basic shops. These areas in particular suffer from poverty and crime. Force factions using crime, violence, intimidation and union action are most able to gain support in force districts. High profile military officers, union officials, policemen and criminals often live in these areas and will join force factions.
Meanwhile, the influence ideology is most popular among the middle classes. Middle class influence areas typically have fairly large houses, student apartment blocks and good shops. Influence factions using protest, campaigning and public addresses are more able to gain support in these areas. Politicians, student activists and priests working for influence factions often live in these areas.
Finally, the upper classes generally carry wealth ideology. They live in beautiful rich areas, marked by large mansions, luxury apartment blocks, open green parks and luxury shops. Government ministries are also often found in wealth areas. In these areas, wealth factions using campaigning, business details and media propaganda are most able to gain support. Businessmen, journalists and celebrities working for wealth factions are often found in these areas.
There are a variety of factions seeking power in Novistrana, with several in each city. The player's own faction must compete with the other factions. These include:
- Union of Socialist Workers: A corrupt criminal organisation run by Ekaterine police officers, disguised as a worker's union (force ideology)
- Konstantino Cartel: A national business cartel seeking to equalise living standards between East and West in the 1990s, run by Alexei Konstantino (wealth ideology)
- Democracy Now Party: A popular pro-democracy party in Ekaterine, which is destroyed in Alpha squad raids early on, run by Robert Tarasov (influence ideology)
- Church of Novistrana: regional incarnation of the Eastern Orthodox Church, conservative and family-values oriented, though wielding significant power for obvious reasons (influence ideology)
- Red Mafiya: Ruthless Novistranan Russian Mafia branch in Pugachev (force ideology)
- Organised Anarchy: student anarchist movement in Pugachev and Berezina (influence ideology)
- New Peace Party: Breakaway faction from player's party in Pugachev (varying ideology)
- The President: President Vasily Karasov's faction in Berezina. Powerful and ruthless (wealth/force ideologies)
- Alexashenko's Army: corrupt, rogue military faction in Berezina, run by General Alexashenko (force ideology)