Introduction

BEGINNING WITH THE CORE

Complicated as it is when pertaining to the countries of Terra, we can do worse than a nice simple concept with which to wet our feet. Such footing will be steadier as we wade into the complications. The Core of Terra happens to be a remarkably good starting point. It is no isolated concept; to know it is to know the modern Terran's perception of regional differences, cultural borders, political games, economic relations, and other such clashes in international communications.

At present, people prefer to use the word "Core" to refer to the central land belt of Terra. As a term, it often shows up alongside the names of a handful of nations; but it has always been difficult to give an exact, clear-cut account of where this "Core" starts and ends. When someone said "the Core" in my childhood, they spoke of Victoria, Gaul, Leithanien, Iberia, and Laterano. At present time, Gaul has perished, Iberia's glory has faded, and the plucky upstart Ursus is now part of what many consider the Core instead. On the other side, Kazimierz is as mighty a nation all the while, and certainly lies closer geographically than Ursus to the center of Terra; many wars have flared between the two, with both sides

claiming and ceding their share of victories, yet Kazimierz clearly does not stand as a Core nation in the general sense. Or take another angle: Yan has consistently been among the strongest and most important nations on this great land, but by all accounts has shown no inclination the way Ursus has to "march for the Core", so to speak. It may be that her long-standing policy of focusing on internal affairs instead of invading other nations has led to a disinterest in the Core.

The conclusion, then, is that compared to the rather vague explanation of "Terra's center", "the extent of influence exerted by some of Terra's mightiest nations" is much more appropriate for what the Core means in a daily context. To put it another way, the term doesn't represent a pure geographical subdivision, but a more politically driven concept, in tune with the overall fluxes of power among governing entities. At the time of writing, the "Core" specifically refers to the range of power exerted by the nations of Victoria, Leithanien, Ursus, Laterano, and Iberia.

THE MANY NATIONS OF TERRA

In comparison to the Core, nailing down a "nation" is undoubtedly much harder; Terra abounds with states and governments, leaving no surprise that different countries and regions might use that same word in subtly varied ways. To the residents of Victoria, the "nation" is a specific people and a set of reachable cities; to a Columbian, that which symbolizes the "nation" is in a sempiternal state of change; for those under the rule of several regimes in the Bolívarian region, the suggestion that the "nation" is a byword for public order could easily earn baffled stares.

Actually, you'll easily find abstract notions colliding and hence muddying one another anywhere. Lands such as Ursus and Minos have traditions of embodying their nations in human form, and endowing those forms with their own personalities. Here, however, I will strictly discuss and analyze each nation from a political and institutional perspective. In light of this, I ask my readers focus particularly on the main facts in the following chapters; one's attention must not be distracted by the details.

Accounts of the major nations of Terra will be given in this chapter. As is personal taste, I have refrained from unifying formats across each nation's profile; it is my belief readers will have a better "feel" for Terra's cultural diversity this way. All contents within this chapter serve as reference only, provided for the reader's perusal.