Upper Elwynn
| Upper Elwynnese Republic | |||
| |||
| Motto: Elwynn prevails! | |||
| Anthem: | |||
| |||
| Map versions | The Congressional Counties are shown in purple | ||
| Capital | Araxion | ||
| Largest city | Fieldburg | ||
| Official language(s) | Elw, Babkhi, Istvanistani | ||
| Official religion(s) | |||
| Demonym | North Elwynnese | ||
| - Adjective | North Elwynnese | ||
| Government | Autonomous Republic | ||
| - Archon | Adam al-Osman | ||
| - Legislature | Chamber of Guilds and Corporations | ||
| Establishment | 1672 (AN) | ||
| Area | |||
| Population | 16,341,949 (1697 cenus) | ||
| Currency | Benacian Sovereign · Elwynnese mark | ||
| Calendar | |||
| Time zone(s) | CMT-8 (except Raikoth, which is CMT-6) | ||
| Mains electricity | |||
| Driving side | |||
| Track gauge | |||
| National website | |||
| National forum | |||
| National animal | White Stag, Hangover Owl | ||
| National food | Desert Berries | ||
| National drink | Tea | ||
| National tree | |||
| Abbreviation | CCE | ||
- Northern Elwynn directs here; see also the Northern Commonwealth
The Upper Elwynnese Republic, until 1685 known as the Congressional Counties of the Elwynnese Republic, also known as the Congressional Counties, Congressional Elwynn, Congress Elwynn, and, sometimes, also Northern Elwynn, or, simply, The North, is the northern autonomous republic of Elwynn. The traditional counties referred to in the name of the autonomous republic are Agnesia, Araxion, Cape Farewell, Eliria, Fieldburg Iserdia, and Leng. The borders between the counties are not determined by law and are largely regional identities with some overlap.
History from 1672 AN to 1692 AN
Unlike its neighbours, the Alalehzamini Autonomous Republic and the Northern Commonwealth, the Congressional Counties do not have a flag or symbols of their own, choosing instead to use Elwynn's. As implied by their name, the Congressional Counties are governed by a Congress elected by the people. The Congress functions in a parliamentarian sense, with an executive government answering to the Congress.
Before 1675, the Congressional Counties also encompassed the Northern Commonwealth. Due to the ideological differences between these two parts of Northern Elwynn, the Northern Commonwealth split. Two years later, however, the Northern Commonwealth was returned to the Congressional Counties. But in 1682, Asantelian and Wintergleam were transferred to SCAR, and in 1684, the Amokolian Republic was established, taking the counties of Automatica, Vattnaland and Mishalan with it.
Congress Elwynn was imbued with a fundamentally liberal and secular character, which was accordingly deeply ingrained in the culture and politics of the Elw majority . The refusal of the "Ayreonist" north to accept that the doctrine of multiculturalism, pursued over generations, had allowed the descendants of the Babkhi settlers of Alalehzamin to become the majority community in Elwynn (especially after the Auspicious Occasion) set the country on an inexorable path towards schism. The enfranchisement of the descendants of foreign migrants who adhered to fundamentally different moral and sectarian values had permanently shifted the electoral balance in favour of conservatism and Nationalist Humanism parties. The disparity in the rate of natural increase between the indigenous Elw and the incoming Babkhi, especially after the Froyalanish population had been removed from the mix, had seen the Ayreonist parties weaken over time, a trend that predated independence in 1672 AN and obliged the liberal elite to embrace a policy of cooperation with the Verionist Union, thereby becoming entangled in the separatist aspirations of the Northern Commonwealth's heirs and fatally compromised in the eyes of the southerners.
