Csorgyos

From Scandia

Kingdom of Csorgyos

Flags of Scandia
Parent	Haromszek ( CHzS )
Founding Date	18 November 1454
Government  • Type  • Chief Executive Officer	Corporate Oligarchy Jean-Bernard Galliaron
Adjective	Sorgy
Capital	Shlomentc
Administrative Divisions	counties (12)
Largest City	Shlomentc (508,000)
Area  • Total  • % water	km² ( sq mi) 31%
Population  • Total  • Growth Rate  • Density  • Rank in CHzS	4,959,300 0.26/1000 /km² (/sq mi) 18 / 25
GDP  • Total  • GDP/capita  • Growth Rate  • Rank in CHzS	HzSk HzSk 22,681 + .04% / 25
Time Zones	WNT (SMT -9)
Technology Codes  • scandianet TLD  • Trigraph  • Calling Code	.kc; .hz CSO +77

Csorgyos is one of the twenty-five constituent territorial republics of the Confederation of Haromszeki States.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Government 3 Economy 4 Geography 5 Military and Police

Origins

The Kingdom of Csorgyos is no such thing. It is the lake-side remnant of a 1300's - 1400's kingdom of the same name but twenty times the size. That versionof Csorgyos had all the usual trappings - a hereditary nobility led by a hundred-plus-year dynasty, a heritage of feudalism, neither constitution nor legislature.

The present version was the personal fief of King Mathieu IV. He had accepted some limitation of sovereignty when Csorgyos participated in the 1451-1454 Federal Republic. When that experiment in centralization split up, republican elements of his government and army manipulated the secession into a breakup of the Kingdom as well. King Mathieu owned most of the Csorgyos land along Lake Bajostat outright, so they chose not to contest that. Instead they formed the Democratic Republic of Vysocina out of the other 95% of the Kingdom.

Government

A Jecontieu family member still occupies Palace Bagu in Shlomentc, but Daniel II is the merest figurehead at the top of a corporation-run nation. Seven major conglomerates have been the defacto ruling body in Csorgyos for thirty years. King Daniel I was heavily in debt to the financial consortium InteretMax and chose to sell off his holdings rather than default on loans that were paying the wages of half his subjects.

The person listed as Chief Executive Officer of Csorgyos is coincidentally the same as the CEO of Bajostat Finance, successor to InteretMax.That company and six other major firms make all the decisions that matter in Csorgyos. Representatives are elected every two years from across the Kingdom -- to form an advisory council for the nation's board of directors.There is a national charter, like a constitution -- just principles, not law. Laws cover such matters as homicide, burglery, taxes -- relating to individuals. Anything touching upon business conduct is covered by company regulations, enforced by company police, ruled upon by the Arbiter-General's staff -- a corporate position.

[tech]

Such is the official state of affairs -- one big company operation with a thin veneer of monarchy. What the CEO and Scandia do not know is that King Daniel I was not left without resources. He and his son and their investment advisors have worked quietly but ruthlessly.Through proxies, trusts, and aliases the family owns 39% of Bajostat Finance and from 10% to 58% of the other "ruling" companies. Many nations are controlled by a power behind the throne. Csorgyos is ruled by a throne behind the powers.

The powers don't even suspect. Daniel II acts the dissolute playboy. He doesn't do the "secret identity conceals superhero" schtick that works well in the comics. But he does thrive on three hours of sleep a night. Excellent national and international communications and a backbone scandianet connection mean Palace Bagu is the nation's true hub, not Shomentc's SkanaTower district. [/tech]

Economy

Shlomentc used to boast one of Bajostat's only two steel mills. With no iron ore in Haromszek, these worked mostly recycled metal. Jazarkany's Rippon Steel across the lake still produces, but the Shlomen Works is history.

In its place are cleaner air and smaller industries: electrical-motor and electrical-appliance factories, wireworks (copper is plentiful in next-door Vysocina), and transformer works. Royal Arms has been an Aubordulac fixture for a century, producing its own small arms and licensed (we are told) Kanjiri weapon designs. The Vincy Smokeless Powder Company is one small part of the chemical combine OCTZ, one of Csorgyos' ruling corporations. The smelliest chemical plants are relegated to the district east of Aubordulac -- most such stinks are nuisance rather than health hazard.

Such light industry, along with related services, are the Csorgyos economy's central assets. Agriculture is chiefly oats, olives, tree-fruits, and Bajostat fisheries. Csorgyos is a net importer of foodstuffs.

Trade and commerce hinge upon lake shipping and canal traffic. The portion of the vital Vaardu Nokorsze Canal within Csorgyos brings in a lot of revenue. Electrique et Lumière Anguille, another of the ruling corporations, uses imported natural gas (from Zîrkæ) and coal (from Hatarvidek and Vysocina), and local rivers (eleven major hydroelectric plants) to generate more electricity than the Kingdom uses. Most of the surplus goes to Vysocina and Jeanissin.

Despite its independence from the main Csorgyos corporations, the Shlomentc Times-Post has been a respected institution for longer than anyone can remember. The newspaper's business section is considered critical daily fare for most business leaders in the region.

Geography

Except for a flat strip along Lake Bajostat where once the water level was many meters higher, Csorgyos is hilly. The rivers emptying into Bajostat don't drain enough territory to be really large but with the area's year-round precipitation their flow is regular. Dams put in place for flood control and hydroelectric production create sizeable reservoirs for recreation and for navigation much further upriver than the rivers' natural size would permit.

Winter average temperatures fluctuate a lot, but in colder winters there can be a ferocious lake-effect snow belt covering the entire Kingdom. Some years total snowfall in the capital is over seven meters. With waves of warmer weather to melt it, there's seldom over a meter and a half on the ground at once. Such snowfall explains why Csorgyos' only vehicle manufacturer builds snowmobiles.

Military and Police

Civil enforcement and military defense alike are 80% corporate militia, 20% civil militia, overseen by nominally "civilian" officers. Officers who are indirectly on company payrolls. Since some of those companies manufacture and trade military goods, the National Militia is well supplied. Civil unrest is rare, and is dealt with by overwhelming force. There might not be much unrest even without the severe military consequences -- for all its apparent draconian tendencies the Kingdom has open borders, and dissatisfied workers can just leave.