Southern District

The Southern District (Hurmu Norse: Syndra omraaðeð) is the southern-most district of Hurmu, located immediately south of the Lake District on the continent of Lyrica. It is not a traditional district of Hurmu (such as Lontinien or the Lake District), but was established in 1690 AN to house persons of Storish descent who were unwilling or incapable of conform to the Hurmu nationality law. In the Southern District, such people, known informally as "Southerners", have considerable autonomy over their own affairs. For an interim period, the Southern District was governed under martial law, in order to stamp out all rebellious groups in the area and bring about peace, order and good government there.

In recognition of the Southern District's unique character, it is outside Hurmu's customs area (i.e. it has its own customs area), and has its own visa regulation regime. Border and customs controls exist along the roads, railways, and airports into the Southern District. Special travel documents are issued to the residents of the Southern District who have not become citizens of Hurmu.

In the aftermath of the Great Vanic Revolt, the Special Administrative Action in the Southern District {1711 AN – 1713 AN) saw a policy of normalisation applied within the Southern District, as a prelude to its reopening.

Geography

A verdant landscape of terraced hills, the Southern District is dominated by three parallel river valleys whose northward flowing waters helped to shape the Lake District enjoyed by the majority of the Hurmudan population today. The landscape is dominated by forestry and tea-growing plantations, both instances accounting for a third each of the available land area. Of the remainder, approximately a fifth is reserved for a network of well-watered paradise gardens established under the supervision of Roya al-Osman, the Minister for the Southern District from 1713 AN onwards. These heavily landscaped sites are designated environmental sanctuaries that remain closed to the general public owing to the delicate environmental sensitivities of the sites. In spite of this, the paradise gardens are said to be both expansive and of an unrivalled beauty.

Government & politics

Rulers of the Southern District

Portrait	Name	Title	Rule	Tenure	Birth	Death	Notes
	Ty Zim	Minister for the Southern District	1690–1708	18 AN years
	Jamshid-e Osman	Minister for Local Government & the Southern District	1708–1713	5 AN years	1661 AN
	Roya al-Osman	Minister for Local Government & the Southern District	1713–		1686 AN

Security

The territorial defence and security of the Southern District was initially provided by deployed formations of the Union Defence Force (UDF), provided by Elluenuueq as part of the Allied Reconstruction Mission in Hurmu for the Raspur Pact. Owing to the deep historical ties between Elluenuueq and Hurmu, as well as the natural desire of the Elw to see the process that began with the Auspicious Occasion and which now continued with the Pacification of Lyrica reach its ultimate conclusion, the UDF force deployed into this region had a strong sense of having a historical mission to fulfil. The UDF Garrison was subsequently interned during the Second Elwynnese Civil War.

The Hurmu Constabulary maintained the 3^rd Demi-Regiment of its regular establishment within the district, operating a number of County & Parish Patrol Circuits with the support of the 2^nd Division of the Special Auxiliary Constabulary.

The HPC Southern District Hub was operated by the Air Department of the Hurmu Peace Corps.

Customs area

Unlike the rest of Hurmu, the Southern District is not part of the Hurmu Customs Area, and, accordingly, the Xäiville Convention and Hurmu's free-trade treaties do not apply to it. As such, the district has its own rules on importation, exportation, visa, and residence rules. Residency in the Southern District did not qualify for naturalisation or registration as a Hurmu citizenship. The status of persons under the separate regime of the Southern District was regularised during the decade of normalisation overseen by Jamshid-e Osman and Roya al-Osman in the period 1708 AN – 1717 AN].

Transport

The Southern District has been well served by its dedicated rail network, connected to the main Hurmu services at Kaupang. The number of separate railheads maintained by the railways in the Southern District is perhaps greater than might be expected, considering the size of the district, but can be readily explained by the level to which each separate forestry camp and tea plantation, and their attached barracks, have been connected to the overall network. Whilst the majority of these sites experienced temporary closures during the period of Special Administrative Action in the Southern District, the rail services are expected to facilitate their rapid reopening with the normalisation of the district in 1717 AN – 1718 AN.

Furthermore, the expansion of the Apollonian Express to Lyrica in 1717 AN, with the central mainline proceeding through the Southern District, from Kaupang to Cayenne in North Lyrica, is expected to greatly enhance the economic prospects of the Southern District/