Appendix II

The description of the Free State of Rottum

Relief and boundaries of the Free State of Rottum. The eastern boundary is the river Ems; the southern boundary is the Zwartewater and Vecht rivers. To the west and north, Rottum borders the IJsselmeer and the North Sea.

Country and people

The territory

The territory of the Free State of Rottum is part of the Northwest European Plain. It is therefore a completely flat country, only in the east there is a low ridge, the Hondsrug, a remnant from the last Ice Age. Inland, besides sandy soil, there are also peat areas. Along the coast the soil consists of sea clay. The mainland is so low-lying that it has to be protected from the flood by dikes. Some parts of the country lie below sea level and were poldered in earlier times.

The northern coastline is formed by a series of artificial islands, or rather embankments, built in the open sea. For the most part, these are not real islands, but floating dykes anchored to the bottom by cables. They form the so-called 'breeding fields'; each 'field' is a diked stretch of water in which fish are bred. In the floating fields, the fish are protected from escaping (and from predators) by tightly woven nets that hang in the water like giant bags. By the way, the main function of the fields is not to breed fish, but to generate energy, especially electricity, by channelling tidal flows. Closer to the coast are six islands; apart from Rottum, from east to west these are Schiermonnikoog, Ameland, Terschelling, Vlieland and Texel. Between these islands and the mainland lies a peculiar sea area, which largely falls dry at low tide. Banks and mud flats form, intersected by gullies. At low tide, accompanied by an experienced guide, one can walk from the mainland to some of the islands, v.v. This sea is called the , it is the domain of seals and water birds.

In the west, there is a large inland lake (once an inland sea, but already separated from the open sea by a dyke in the Predisturbance period). Here, too, there is a large polder area, the Zuidwest Polder. On the other side of the lake lies the Development Land Holland, bordering on Disturbed Area. Southwards lie the Cleansing Fields of Rijnmond and Flanders; land areas that suffered greatly during the Great Disturbance, but that are now being reclaimed for civilisation, metre by metre. The north of Holland is already fully habitable again, in the southern part the first colonies have been established.

In the south, the border with the neighbouring Free State of Rossum is formed by a number of waters; from west to east these are: the Zwartewater, the river Vecht and the Eems-Vecht canal. Important border towns with the Free State of Rossum are Dalfsen, Hardenberg and Noordhorn. The latter lies half on the territory of Rottum, half on that of Rossum and is an important market place, where products from both Free States are displayed, stacked and traded.

Finally, in the east, the border river Ems flows, separating Rottum from the Free State of Jade. The most important border towns are located here in Jade: Leer, Papenburg, Meppen and Lingen. These towns share industrial estates with the towns of Hungry Wolf, Erica and - further afield - Rossum.

Population

The Free State of Rottum currently has about 16,800,000 inhabitants. About two-thirds of these live in the three big cities: Rottum, Hungry Wolf and Erica. These mega-cities arose from the large refugee camps set up after the Great Disturbance in the vicinity of villages of that name (opposite the islands and lies the spot Rottum on the mainland; the town developed there later expanded into the sea). Most historical towns on the mainland have either shrunk in size since the Disturbance or been swallowed up by neighbouring metropolises. The latter happened to, for example, former places such as Winschoten or Emmen, which now exist as city districts (Buurtschappen) of respectively Hungry Wolf and Erica. Historic cities such as and Leeuwarden now have 62,000 and 33,000 inhabitants respectively, less than half the size they used to. The towns in the urban landscape between Rottum and Hongerige Wolf, on the other hand, as well as the university town of Franeker, have grown since the Disturbance. The latter is with 63,000 inhabitants, next to the urban hub Winsum, the largest town in Westergoo. Another important exception is Urk in the south-western polder: with around 800,000 inhabitants it is the only medium-sized city.

These historical towns, as well as the villages in the countryside, are for the most part inhabited by descendants of the original population: Frisians and Saxons, who together make up about two million people, only about 12.5% of the population. This makes them the fourth largest population group in the Free State of Rottum. The largest minority (28% = about 4.5 million inhabitants) are the British. Some of them crossed the Channel after the Disturbance and after many wanderings arrived in these parts: this group mainly lives in Hungry Wolf. Another part crossed the North Sea by boat and landed in various places along the coast. They ended up in the town of Rottum. The remaining minority (24 %, almost 4 million) are of French origin. They come predominantly from north-western France and the former Paris and are characterised by great cultural cohesion and an attachment to the old French language. Almost all of this group lives in Erica and its immediate surroundings. The third largest minority (22.5%, just over three and a half million) comes from the former and Belgium. They live in Rottum and Hungry Wolf, but they have also, more than the other minorities, mixed with the original population. Historically, this was obvious, as the area of today's Rottum before the Disturbance was part of the former kingdom of the Netherlands. After the Frisians and the Saxons, the Germans form a considerable minority of 8% (almost one and a half million). Most of them come from the former Rhine area and now live in Erica and (especially) Hungry Wolf. Of the small minorities, it is mainly the Mediterranean ones who are substantial (Turks, Greeks, Italians, North Africans, Spaniards, etc.), followed by South Americans (i.e. Surinamese and Antilleans), Indonesians, Indians (i.e. from London), West Africans (i.e. from Paris), Komidians (from Northern Russia), Icelanders and inhabitants of the other states of the Hanseatic League.