Geographical Brief
Hŕromszék on a map is a neat
pie slice from the west edge of Niveria. Our geography is in many ways a neat
slice from the middle of the Niverian range. We have neither the icy extremes
of the north nor the steamy environs of the south. The Cisteuvian Ocean's maritime
climate moderates Hŕromszék's environment far inland, affecting even the high
mountains of the eastern ranges. Thanks to the moist air from the ocean, our
land receives plenty of water - desert is another environment we're happy
to miss out on. The coastal currents bring chilly North Cisteuvian waters
almost into our harbors, but still, the effect of our long coastline is to
keep temperatures from getting out of hand.
Our coast has a bit of low-lying plains, particularly at the major river mouths,
but in general rises in hilly lumps and rough scarps to a high central plain. That plain is home
the bulk of our food production, and to our capital city Cerbesti, on the banks of
the Jakobreika close by Lake Bajostat. While nothing like the size of Lake Niveria
to the north, Bajostat is large enough to supply a noticable lake effect snow
pattern to its east and south in winter. Its place part-way down the length
of the Jakobreika means there's plenty of flow even in hard winters to not
ice over. The Jakobreika remains navigable to above Csorkó year-round, with its
depth maintained sufficient for ocean-going transport as far up as Somoszenes.
Dams on all three of the major rivers of Hŕromszék have tamed their former
rapids -- intermittent drops of a hundred meters or more over a few dozen
kilometers of length used to interrupt river voyages with frequent portages
or diversion canals. Now those sudden drops fill chains of reservoirs, and
drive the generators to fulfill a fifth of our electrical needs.
The ranges of mountains to our east have defined our border with adjacent peoples
for milennnia. Their passes are high, but not impenetrable - we have road
and railroad commerce with all our transmontaine neighbors. Those transportation
links are subject to interruption in the very worst snow conditions, but
generally operate year-round. A side effect of these border ranges' height
is to strip much of the moisture from the prevailing west-to-east Niverian air flow.
The resulting rain fills our rivers and waters our crops. It also leaves
northern Albanaudh a bit dry in winters, and Sapmi dry in summers. Western
Reichstadt doesn't have quite as serious a dryness problem, since during
part of the year airflow across Lake Niveria picks up plenty of replacement water.
It rains a lot in our eastern quarter. There's clear periods; enough to drive
a thriving tourist industry.
While populous, our land is by no means teeming. We have stretches of wilderness;
forest, mountain, and hill. National parks and wildlands keep some of the land
pristine, while other back country is being exploited for raw materials and
living space. Hŕromszék's densest population lies in an arc along the lower Jakobreika
and Villemreika, and around the western edge of Lake Bajostat. The southwest
is our industrial heartland. Cities all along the coast thrive on trade, but
considering the amount of shipping that moves all the way to the heartland on
our mighty rivers, one cannot say trade is centered anywhere. Deep-rock mining
tunnels the eastern mountains, while a mixture of open and deep mining follows
the deposits of coal and minerals across the hills in our west.
We posess virtually no petroleum reserves. This leaves us at once
dependant and resourceful -- we do supply a large part of our energy needs
otherwise than by burning oil. We also have almost no exploitable
iron ore. What we do have awaits a year when it becomes economic to pull it
up from two kilometers or more down, beneath the north edges of our central
plain. So we import our steel, which has turned out to be a blessing. Instead of
building up a massive trade deficit, Hŕromszék has elected to become scrapyard for the
nations, taking in what other folks no longer want, and making from it what we
need. Recycling, reusing, and wringing every last bit of use from what we do
have has become part of our national character. What we do need, we can afford
to buy from outland sources - we have more than enough precious metals for
our own needs, and our peoples' labor is another considerable form of wealth.
Bauxite we do have in plenty, as well as copper, tin, and zinc, and plentiful
forests, so what others might build from steel, Hŕromszék may well build from
aluminum, or brass, or wood.
Another plenty we enjoy is helium, neon, and other noble gases. We have built
this into Scandia's strongest lighter-than-air vehicle production base, and Scandia's
brightest lights; at home and for export.
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