Forum:Territory application/TA253 - Raqar

Forums → Territory application → Territory application/TA253 - Raqar

Please fill in the information below to make a territory request.

	Territory ID and proposed name
	The Territory ID (from OpenGeofiction:Territories, e.g. AR123a) and proposed name of the country

TA253 - Raqar^∈^⊾

	Physical geography
	An overview of climate, topography and landscape of the country. It is advised to also create a sketch, you can add a link to this (hosted on imgur or similar)

The country is mostly covered in sandy desert and savannah, and almost all settlements are by rivers or lakes. It is mostly flat, but will have a mountain range at its northern border and along the lake in the south.

Sketch: https://imgur.com/a/A8k3R6g

The star is the national capital. Yellow dots are provincial capitals, white dots are regular cities.

Green is wetland, forests, and arable land. Yellow-orange is savannah, brown is mountains/hills, and tan is sandy desert. Vibrant purple lines are province borders, pale purple lines are international borders.

	Human geography
	A brief description of the territory demographics, economic development, land occupation, infrastructure and mapping style

Almost all of the people live by the lake in the south. The country's main industries are oil and mining. The mapping style is based off of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The quality of life is rather low, and the average income is also low. Wealthy people tend to live very close to or right next to water.

	History & culture
	A brief description of the intended culture and language

The country's official languages are the conlangs Soholo Raqar and Suyu Bankay. Soholo Raqar is spoken in the south, and Suyu Bankay is spoken in the north. The two languages are quite similair to each other. Their culture values water and camels. They are known for their fancy handwoven rugs and quilts, and their nomads in the central areas of the country.

The people of Raqar have lived peacefully by the southern rivers for over 2,000 years. Their main religion supports pacifism, and due to being very religious, the country is not very militaristic. The capital, whose name is currently undecided, is surrounded by a large sandstone wall which was built in 1468 to protect the city from invaders. The city continued to expand outside the wall, where most of the city currently is.

	Past mapping
	To support your request provide links to areas of OGF mapping which showcase your mapping skill. Mapping relevant to the requested theme & geography is especially useful
	The {{coord}} template can optionally be used to link to the OGF map - it results in a nice formatted link. Or you can paste in a URL.

Urban/suburban: 12.85978, -111.59308

	Username & date
	Sign and date the application by typing four tildes like this: ~~~~

Zir0e (talk) 01:40, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

	Discussion
	Discussion for clarification & decision

If this request gets accepted, I would like to cancel my request for AN331. Zir0e (talk) 01:40, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi User:Zir0e, and thank you for your application.

As you may see here, TA253 is located closer to the Equator than Saudi Arabia or Qatar are, the great Tarephian lakes are inspired by Central Africa's lakes. Given how inland the territory is, I suppose it would be more like South Sudan or Uganda, especially for its southern tip (for some reason TA253 is missing the additional this territory has a tropical climate while all the surrounding ones have it). That being said, I suppose you may have a mountain range, or some kind of horst/Tilted block faulting edge along the lake - up to you if it's 50, 100 or 200km inland - that would create a rather clear separation with a desert north as large as you meant it, potentially due to a rain shadow. The humid lacustrine climate/vegetation would quickly deteriorate into a savanna and then a desert (rock and/or sand desert is, as well, up to you). TA253 is reasonably large, about the size of Senegal or South Dakota, enabling enough room for the kind of different biomes you seem to consider.
In terms of mapping style, if the standard of living is rather low, I'm unsure Saudi Arabia or Qatar would be the right sources of inspiration. Could you please provide a sketch for the territory, so we can understand better your vision? Thanks,
--Aiki (talk) 00:34, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Mapping based off of Uganda could work, I could try to make some example mapping in that style. I agree that there should be a mountain range along the southern lake. Also, I have added a sketch. Zir0e (talk) 17:42, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you, the plan seems solid, TA253 is yours. When you have new owners in the vicinity, please do collaborate with them to create some consistency across the borders. At this stage, please refrain from naming the large lake. Due to its size and the amount of territories it borders, it seems more appropriate for its naming to be a community matter, at global, Tarephian or regional level, likely introduced via a forum post.

Happy mapping, --Aiki (talk) 23:51, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

	Territory application approved
	Aiki (talk) 23:51, 13 October 2024 (UTC)
	As you develop your territory, be sure to keep it realistic. Here are some resources you may find useful for starting out: Help:Portal, Help:Making realistic countries, Help:Making realistic cities and OpenGeofiction:Site policies

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