Tjorl

Tjorl (pronounced ; Solrød: Tschuren, pronounced ), officially the Federal Republic of Tjorl, is a federal democratic republic located in northern Oatland. It's territory is bound on the north by Laufeyssen, on the south and west by the Tjorlish Sea, and on the east by unclaimed territory. Tjorl covers 632,214 squared kilometers and has has an estimated population of 43 million living within its 18 states. Tjorl's capital and largest city is Kjol.

Tjorl's modern territory has been documented to be inhabited by modern humanity since 10,530 BC. Various seafaring and mining city-states were established in classical antiquity. In the late-8th to the early-11th centuries, a militaristic kingdom named Krigerhalle sacked most coastal settlements, soon taking control of most of what is now Tjorlish coastline. However, it gradually collapsed in the mid-11th century, losing most of their control on major coastal cities After the Krigerhallian collapse, the Kingdom of Kjolkyst was established, with its capital in Kjol.

At the start of the 17th century, the inland kingdoms were conquered and unified under the banner of Kjolkyst. After unification, the Kingdom of Tjorl was set up, under the reign of the House of Auer. The royal family was then overthrown three decades later, after which a federal republic called the Republic of Tjorl was established. Various cities later saw rapid urbanization and modernization in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Solrød people maintain a definite amount of self-determination and autonomy in specialized cantons called Innlandsamfunn. As a highly-developed nation, Tjorl maintains a welfare model with universal health care and a social security system. It also offers tuition-free tertiary education. Currently, Tjorl is a member of the World Assembly and the political union of Oatland. It is also the de facto headquarters of the Oatland Regional Cartographical Administration (ORCA).

Etymology
The word Tjorl originates from the Solrød word tiyorl ('lake'). During the late-11th to the mid-17th centuries, the term was used to refer to the inland settlements. The term gradually came to refer to all the kingdoms located on modern Tjorlish territory, most notably the Kingdom of Kjolkyst. After the kingdoms were unified in 1630, the Tjorlish founding fathers adopted the word as the nation's name. The Solrød term Tschuren derives from the Old Solrød words tszo ('snowy') and ran ('peak'), referring to the Herman-Hansen mountain range located on Tjorl's northern border.

History
Tjorl has been found to be inhabited by modern humans for at least 12,530 years. The first known inhabitants were members of the Seyðissandur culture. It is theorized to be a nomadic hunting-based society primarily hunting fish, birds, and deer. The oldest tools found in modern-day Tjorl are tools made of various materials found near the southwest coast dating from at least 10,180 BC, such as wooden arrow shafts and flint tools. Later inhabitants include the Kópadalur people and the Solrød people, which were agriculture-based settlers. By the time of emergence of small city-states in the 7th century, most of what is now inland Tjorl was mostly settled by the Solrød and various other native groups such as the Tjarnavogur, Šiaulžai, and Viitakola.

Bronze Age
Around the 3rd millennium BC, new settlers in southern and eastern Tjorl introduced the concept of agriculture to the different people groups in Tjorl. This spurred the use and trade of bronze around much of modern-day Tjorl. The earliest known evidence of the emergence of bronze as a material commonly used in Tjorlish culture was a bronze plough found in southern Haugen, dating to around 3100 BC. While bronze was commonly used in various tools, it was also used in many valuables, such as elaboratly-decorated weapons, owned by powerful local chieftains. Bronze was also used for religious artifacts; the oldest of which is a necklace found in Talmiera depicting Thor's hammer Mjolnir. The metal was also used in various jewelry and depictions of Tjorlish culture at the time, such as livestock, fish, boats, local fauna, and trees.