Zandarijn

Zandarijn

Official language	Dutch, Craitish
Capital	Hamstadt
Government	Monarchy with Parliamentary Democracy

Zandarijn was a dominion of Craitland located in southern Cibola.

History

Geographical history

Prior to being claimed by Craitland, the land now known as Zandarijn was claimed by multiple nations. Following the discovery of the continent of Cibola, which featured on claimsmap version 6.7.7 for the first time in 2004, the land remained unclaimed until version 6.8.2 later in the year, when it was brought in its entirety under the control of Germania. The Germanic claims lasted until 2005, when the nation was removed on version 7.0.0.

After a prolonged period of being unclaimed, the land fell under the governance of Monovia in May 2006 on version 8.0.1. As its time under Monovia saw no labelled settlements near the land, it remained unchanged until April 2007's version 10.5.0a before being unclaimed once more on version 10.6.0. Following just over month's time, the initial Craitish claim on Zandarijn occurred in May 2007 and the land was first recorded as such with version 11.0.0a.

Since being claimed by Craitland, the Zandt land has seen only one change to its borders. Having been consistent from its establishment up until version 14.3.6 in January 2011, the following month's version 14.4.0 recorded a reduction in the southern portion of the territory, retreating from the south coast of Cibola and depopulating the city of Volksburg, which totalled a loss of approximately one-quarter of the original Zandt lands. However, since this reduction, no further amendments to the territory's borders have been made.

The former-Zandt land to the south of the current territory is now claimed by Natopia as part of its Principality of Whales.

Following the Sack of Hamstadt and subsequent evacuation of the territory as part of the Craitish government's "Great Consolidation" policy, Zandarijn was dissolved from Craitish control.

Zandt history

The history of the Zandts is traceable to the failed United States of Amoria in April 2007. Amoria was established as a federal nation formed through the combination of separate states with varying cultural influences. Zandarijn's foundation within Amoria was as a Dutch-Batavian-influenced state. However, the nation was short-lived, and was disbanded before it could successfully claim the land on Tapfer that it had earmarked.

After the demise of Amoria, Zandarijn aligned itself with Craitland through a mutual leader in Craitman, which saw its relocation to south-east Cibola culminate with a successful expansion claim the following month.

Culture

Due to its influence base from its initial, yet short, spell under Amoria, Zandarijn is explicitly influenced by the culture of the Dutch; expressed on Micras primarily by Batavia throughout recent history. Unlike other territories of Craitland, Zandarijn has remained notably monocultural, with little Craitish influence on its population or governance occurring.

Craitish Zandarijn has arguably seen more cultural influence from the former inhabitants of its land. A small German-speaking community, an assumed remnant from Germania, established in the subsequently-unclaimed city of Volksburg in June 2007, is the only notable minority activity in the territory's history. The northern Zandt city of Oudorp has a notable Ludwiggian population that has been trading in the city since June 2020 when Sankt Ludwigshafen began to border Zandarijn.