Verse:Hmøøh/Suwáábyíq

Sjowaázh daZóol (soo-WAHZH dah-ZOOL; High Sjowaázh: /sˑtsʊwɑ̌ːʐ̊ tɑzûːl/ 'home of the Sjowaázh people'), often simply called Zóol (Eevo: Zwn) by foreigners, is an island country in Txapoalli. It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

The official language of Zóol is Sjowaázh. There is also one minority language, Yadox.

Sjowaázh daZóol is a developed country and is the fourth largest economy in Tricin by GDP.

The capital of Zóol is 'Onáp'aañ.

King: ???

Prime minister: ???

Geography

Should be big enough for dialects to thrive

Sjowaázh daZóol is an archipelago with three main islands.

History

Modernization

• Aristocracy starts to modernize Zóol in response to colonialists' demands but they hit popular opposition due to economic reasons
• Aristocracy retains control over govt, but in response to massive riots they throw the people a bone and slowly roll out parliamentary democracy

Pop culture

Modern Sjowaázh pop culture is dominated by comic books and animation. It grew out of the influence of Naquian theaterism, native theater and literature, and modern global pop culture. Due to the popularity of Sjowaázh pop culture across the globe, Sjowaázh varieties are commonly learned by Sjowaázhophile otakus.

The art style of Sjowaázh comics is partly based on the stylized costumes and makeup used in traditional Sjowaázh plays.

Famously, some of the pop culture produced is pornography, which has contributed to the stereotype of Sjowaázh people as outwardly polite and prudish but very wild behind closed doors.

Music

Main article: Verse:Hmøøh/Suwáábyíq/Music

Society

Class system

Sjowaázh class is mainly determined by one's family pedigree. Today, one's class is also determined by education level and the schools one went to. Sjowaázh politics, which tends center-right, is significantly influenced by the class system. An upper class Sjowaázh person will speak High Sjowaázh natively, while a middle class speaker will speak a weaker version of their local dialect.

Historically, the Sjowaázh aristocrats were quite powerful and held de facto power over the king - there was not an absolute monarchy. The modernization of Zóol was mostly led by the aristocrats (unlike in Japan where the shogunate was toppled), and the country was officially made into a parliamentary constitutional monarchy as an ostensibly democratic measure.

Politics

Zóol uses proportional representation.

Policy

Sjowaázh is nominally a social democracy. However, deep welfare cuts have plagued the country in recent years.

Zóol is quite nationalist and heavily restricts immigration.

Gay marriage is not recognized. Sjowaázh culture is more traditional on gender roles and LGBT people tend to not be accepted.

Parties

The three largest Sjowaázh political parties are the National Democratic Party, the Social Progressive Party, and the Worker's Party. Roughly speaking, they represent the upper class, the middle class and the working class.

Parliamentary representation

TODO: Sjowaázh names and abbreviations

• National Democratic Party (NDP; 43%): center-right, nationalist
• Workers' Party (WP; 32%): center-left, liberal, socdem
• Social Liberal Party (SLP; 9%): center-left, liberal
• National Enlightenment Party (NEP; 5%): traditionalist, ultra-nationalist
• Let Us Soar Party (LUSP; 3.3%): futurist, transhumanist
• Green Party (GP; .9%)

Religion

Traditional beliefs

[Sketch]

The Sjowaázh traditionally believed in a "spirit-complex". The "spirit-complex" links all spirits together; spirits leave it when a person is born, and his spirit reenters the spirit-complex when he dies.

This spirit-complex is held to be the source of morality. Since everyone is of the spirit-complex, morality involves both respect for the living and the dead.