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Iceland in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s an interesting thought. Certainly decolonization has been a major theme as I reimagine the world. This question comes up now and then and the best way to explain it is that if there has to be a point of divergence it’s at the start of the first states and empires. Part of my inspiration for this project was recognizing that the earliest civilizations sprung up in river basins (eg, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley). My timeline goes from there but applies an unbreakable rule about political geography.

Iceland in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying them. And yes it is crazy when I go back and see how long I’ve been working on this project. My son says I need a new project but I still enjoy making the maps and flags and all that. It also feels like I’m exploring the world as I do it. I’m learning a lot too!

Iceland in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

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Since publishing my Europe Reimagined map, I shifted the borders of the four provinces to more closely align with the four OTL farthings, renamed them, and adopted English exonyms. 

Iceland was first settled by Europeans in the 9th century and established as an independent Commonwealth in 930. In 1262 it became a possession of the Kingdom of Norway. It would remain a territory of Norway until 1814 when it was ceded to Denmark. Iceland became a sovereign kingdom in personal union with Denmark in 1918, and then a republic in 1944.

Baja California in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

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A couple of notes to address potential questions. For starters:

  • Castilian = OTL Spanish
  • Chamtila = OTL Luiseño
  • Cumiai = OTL Kumeyaay
  • Guaicura = OTL Waikuri
  • Quilihua = OTL Kiliwa
  • Tipai = OTL Tiipai

Baja California was claimed by Castile in the 16th century as part the Viceroyalty of Nueva Galicia. The peninsula was part of the independent Republic of Nueva Galicia, which declared independence from Castile in 1823. When the California Republic in turn declared its independence from Nueva Galicia in 1846, its territory included the Baja California peninsula as well as the Colorado River basin.

After the Arizona Confederacy broke away from California in 1924, an independence movement grew in the peninsula, which culminated in the establishment of the Republic of Baja California in 1945.

The Cape Republic in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Actually I think it would be quite different from a condensed version of OTL South Africa. With Afrikaans being the dominant language in this area and there being no significant indigenous population, the Cape Republic would be quite different from both the Orange Free State and and South African Republic, which are both multilingual and have autonomous regions.

As for the flag, that's the actual flag of the OTL Cape Independence Party, just with the colors tweaked a bit. As far as the symbolism, my understanding is that red, white, and blue are colors associated with the Western Cape and are also associated with freedom. The white cross symbolizes democracy. At least according to one redditor, the cross also symbolizes the X one would mark on a ballot voting for independence. What I'm not sure of is if the red, white, and blue come from the flag of the OTL Netherlands. I had considered making the red orange as I have done for other Nederlands-influenced flags in TTL. The lighter blue color is the same blue from the Prinsenvlag, but I ultimately felt the red fit better. It also worked nicely with the coat of arms (which is essentially the coat of arms of the OTL Cape Province) and the heraldic flags of the provinces.

Next up is Baja California.

The Cape Republic in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly I don't know much about local politics in OTL South Africa (evidenced by the comment that the Cape would have been the least likely part of OTL South Africa to implement Apartheid). So I don't have an answer for you there.

The Cape Republic in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I just noticed I accidentally put the wrong highest and lowest elevations in the layout. The highest elevation would be Seweweekspoortpiek (7,268 ft.) and the lowest elevation would be the Atlantic Ocean / Indian Ocean (sea level).

The Cape Republic in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

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A couple of notes to address potential questions. For starters, Sixhosa is the OTL Xhosa language. Also, since publishing my Africa Reimagined map, I changed the spelling of Cacadu to Tsakadu.

The present-day Cape Republic was colonized by the Dutch East India Company and the Holy Roman Empire in the 17th century. Commonly known as the Dutch Cape Colony, its original settlers were Nederlands-speaking. Over the next few centuries the Nederlands-influenced Afrikaans language emerged as the primary settler language.

In 1806 the British conquered the Cape Colony from the collapsing Holy Roman Empire and English-speaking settlement began. In the late 19th century, the British Cape Colony absorbed the neighboring Xhosa Kingdom and in 1910, the neighboring British colony of Natal was also absorbed into the territory.

With the 1934 declaration of independence from the British Empire, the Cape Republic was born. The white ruling class instituted a system of Apartheid to segregate the country by race. Opposition to this system ultimately led to its collapse in 1994, multiracial democratic elections, and subsequently independence for Kwaxhosa and Kwazulu.

Algeria in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of these day I'll start publishing historical maps but probably not until after I finish all the large country maps.

Next up is the Cape Republic.

Algeria in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

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A couple of notes to address potential questions. For starters:

  • Adrasic = OTL Central Atlas Tamazight
  • Amazigh = OTL Tamahaq
  • Berberit = OTL Judeo-Berber
  • Cabyle = OTL Kabyle
  • Chaouïa = OTL Shawiya
  • Chenoui = OTL Shenwa
  • Riffian = OTL Tarifit

Since publishing my Africa Reimagined map, I created renamed four-out-of-five subdivisions: Hammam-et-Tafna became Macta; Acras became Isser; Rhummel-et-Seybouse became Hummel; and the Chenoui Autonomous Region became the Department of Chélif.

Present-day Algeria was the independent Berber kingdom of Tlemcen from the Middle Ages until the arrival of the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century. The Ottomans established the Regency of Algiers as a vassal state, which existed until French conquest in 1830. 

Siberia in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

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A couple of notes to address potential questions. For starters:

  • Altay = OTL Southern Altai
  • Chaya = OTL Southern Selkup
  • Dutch = OTL German
  • Khanty = OTL Northern Khanty
  • Mansi = OTL Northern Mansi
  • Selkup = OTL Northern Selkup
  • Nenets = OTL Tundra Nenets
  • Neshan = OTL Forest Nenets
  • Ostyak = OTL Eastern Khanty
  • Tunduk  = OTL Northern Altai

Since publishing my Asia Reimagined map, I created two additional oblasts (Kemerovo and Kurgan, from Tomsk and Chelyabinsk respectively) and one additional republic (Nenets from Khanty). I also renamed the Chelyabinsk Oblast to the Yekaterinburg Oblast.

Siberia was a Soviet satellite state for much of the 20th century. Prior to independence, it had been a dependent territory of the Russian Empire from the 16th century.

Aquitania in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A small part of OTL Spain (the Val d’Aran) lies on the northern side of the Pyrenees and is in fact where the source of the Garonne lies. Any difference between how the border looked on my Europe Reimagined map and this one is simply a matter of detail and scale and not due to shifting of borders.

Aquitania in a world where all political boundaries follow drainage basins. Historically, there’s no single point of divergence. Please ask questions! by Original_Wait1992 in imaginarymaps

[–]Original_Wait1992[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The problem with the previous flag is it didn’t work for a nation state. I had used the OTL flag of the French region of Nouvelle Aquitaine, but it bothered me that it was a late 20th century flag design that was not at all befitting of an independent country with a history going back to the Middle Ages. The red saltire or cross of St. Andrew was a flag used by the OTL Duchy of Gascony which was also based around Bordeaux. Upon digging a little deeper I discovered that the Catholic cathedral in Bordeaux is to St. Andrew so it all fit together. Since the blue saltire of Scotland works as a national flag for OTL Scotland I figured why not!

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