Sierrans
 | This article needs to be updated. |
 Various Sierrans of different backgrounds and time periods | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
 Sierra 86,097,916 (total)81,484,232 (domestic) 5,200,000 (overseas) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Tondo | 3,058,887 |
 Brazoria | 1,483,218 |
 Superior | 673,221 |
 Astoria | 245,009 |
 Korea | 189,469 |
 South Vietnam | 167,261 |
 United Commonwealth | 132,918 |
 China | 96,000 |
 Germany | 14,000 |
 France | 12,000 |
 Netherlands | 10,000 |
.svg){kind=small} Hellas | 5,000 |
 Israel | 5,000 |
| Languages | |
| Primarily English, but also Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Han, Japanese, Serran, and others | |
| Religion | |
|
Christianity (mostly Protestantism and Catholicism) Various non-Christian religions (Judaism and Canaanism) Unaffiliated (atheism, agnosticism, irreligious) | |
Sierrans come from various backgrounds but are generally unified by a contemporary, popular culture that incorporated customs and ideologies from Protestant Western Europe and Confucian East Asia, a distinct "mainstream" culture from that of its other neighbors. These cultural ideas were the making of the cumulative decades of multicultural and multiethnic interaction that was began in the late 19th century. Today, Sierra has been described as a melting pot or salad bowl where the exchange and interaction between different cultures have flourished freely. Within the Kingdom, there are several, prominent regional subgroups, among them including Styxers, Channeliers, and Deseretians, each with their own variance of culture, customs, and politics.
Population[edit | edit source]
According to the 2010 Census, 86,097,916 people lived in Sierra. In an official 2016 estimate, the population increased by 4 million to 90,387,008. The majority of Sierrans have ancestral origins from Europe or Asia within three generations. Nearly 40% of Sierrans in 2010 are either first or second-generation immigrants, the majority of which hail from Asia or Latin America.
One of the fastest-growing nations among the developed world, mostly from immigrants arriving to the Kingdom legally or illegally, Sierra has a history that has consistently favored immigration. It is projected that by 2025, Sierra's population will have reached 100 million if current trends continue. However, there are signs of slowing immigration rates, primarily due to the increased cost of living in Sierra and newer legal policies. Within Sierra, interprovincial migration is common where citizens move from one area to another within the Kingdom. As of 2015, the fastest-growing region in Sierra is the Southwest Corridor (particularly the Inland Empire and Imperial) where there is affordable real estate and job opportunities.
Demographics[edit | edit source]
Citizenship[edit | edit source]
Generally, citizenship is obtained through birth (Jus soli) or by birth/adoption abroad when at least one biological or legal parent who was either born in Sierra or naturalized (Jus sanguinis). The jus soli condition does not automatically apply to children of foreign diplomats however where additional requirements are issued. In addition, citizenship can be renounced by both citizens of birth and naturalization. Dual citizenship is recognized in Sierra although prevents citizens of such status from obtaining certain political posts or offices (namely as Prime Minister). Nearly all citizens hold a National Identification Card and are registered with a family register, which the law requires. As such, ownership of the card has been synonymously associated with citizenship as only citizens may possess the card, and be featured on family registers. Despite this, some citizens do not have a card, and are known as "card holdouts", and face serious legal and financial difficulties as a result of this.
Naturalization is a necessary process for foreigners in obtaining Sierran citizenship. Under most circumstances, foreigners must first obtain permanent residency (colloquially referred to as the green card) and meet certain requirements prior to applying for citizenship. The majority of immigrants have obtained citizenship directly or indirectly from this legal process. In recent times, illegal immigration has increased where foreigners have bypassed naturalization laws and live within Sierran borders without permission or sanction.
Ethnic ancestry[edit | edit source]
According to the 2010 census, more than 40 different ethnic groups had at least 100,000 members living in Sierra. The largest self-reported ethnicity/ancestry is Mexican followed by German, Albish, Chinese, and Vietnamese. In recent years, the presence of newer ethnic groups have increased, particularly in the urban regions where ethnic enclaves and established communities are more likely to be formed within reach of economic resources and utilities.
| Ethnic origins/Ancestry | Percent of total population | Population | Area of largest proportion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexican | 16.3% | 12,125,928 | Sonora (84.7%) |
| German | 14.0% | 10,414,908 | San Joaquin (34.8%) |
| Albish | 11.9% | 8,852,671 | Shasta (49.7%) |
| Chinese | 9.8% | 7,290,435 | San Francisco (19.2%) |
| Vietnamese | 8.1% | 6,025,768 | Orange (17.5%) |
| Irish | 7.1% | 5,281,846 | Kings (26.8%) |
| African | 4.63% | 4,165,963 | Gold Coast (17.3%) |
| Korean | 4.31% | 3,347,649 | Gold Coast (10.0%) |
| Filipino | 4.47% | 3,325,331 | Orange (5.2%) |
| Japanese | 2.7% | 2,008,589 | Gold Coast (2.3%) |
| Han | 2.5% | 1,859,805 | Orange (6.2%) |
| Dutch | 2.38% | 1,770,534 | Santa Barbara (7.3%) |
| Indian | 2.29% | 1,703,581 | Santa Clara (2.1%) |
| Persian/Iranian | 1.3% | 967,098 | Gold Coast (1.1%) |
| Armenian | 1.23% | 915,024 | Gold Coast (16.1%) |
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| Parent | Black | Asian | Asian | White | White | Black | Amerindian | White | Asian | Amerindian | |||||||||
| 1st generation | cafuzo⚜ | asiático | hapa | criollo | mulato⚜ | zambo⚜ | mestizo | surtido | |||||||||||
| 2nd generation (with one white parent) | cimarrón⚜ | hapa | castizo | criollo | morisco⚜ | moreno⚜ | castizo⚜ | trillizo | |||||||||||
| 2nd generation (with one Amerindian parent) | negrito⚜ | surtido | chino⚜ | mestizo | chino⚜ | cambujo⚜ | cholo | surtido fino | |||||||||||
| 2nd generation (with one black parent) | oscurito⚜ | cafuzo⚜ | cimarrón⚜ | mulato⚜ | negro fino⚜ | prieto⚜ | cimarrón⚜ | negrito fino⚜ | |||||||||||
| 2nd generation (with one Asian parent) | negrito fino⚜ | mandarín | pardo fino | hapa | pardo fino | chino⚜ | cholo | surtido fino | |||||||||||
| ⚜ – Creole |
Immigration[edit | edit source]
Pre-20th century[edit | edit source]
The first immigration wave to Sierra were the Spaniard settlers commissioned by the Spanish throne to populate the Viceroyalty of New Spain in the 17th and 18th centuries. By 1800, approximately 5,000 Spanish-born families settled in Sierra (known as Las Californias then) with the purpose of cultivating the land, working alongside the Indian natives, and expand the power of the Church.
Following the independence of Mexico, more than 10,000 Mexican citizens lived in the land. These citizens became known as Californios and would prove instrumental in asserting autonomy and self-dependence that would inevitably lead to Sierra's creation.
Migration into Mexico's Californian colonies from Mexico remained constant throughout its possession of it. Few Mexicans from the southern mainland were willing to move to California and as such, the Mexican government relied heavily on foreigners from other countries to compensate this fact. The Mexican government allowed settlers from the United States to move into California provided they learned Spanish and converted to Roman Catholicism. Aware of the ambitions and economic interests of the Americans, the Mexican government cautiously monitored and controlled the number of American immigrants moving into California.
Eventually, the exponential growth of American citizens in California was met with fierce retaliatory actions by the Mexican governments including forced deportations. These actions paired with multiple other factors led way to the Bear Flag Revolt and the Mexican–American War, two key events securing the independence of California as a republic and then finally, the Kingdom of Sierra.
The number of American immigrants increased dramatically following the discovery of gold in 1849. News of wealthy prospectors and favorable reports of the land disseminated worldwide, reaching to regions including Asia and Europe. Following the signage of the Treaty of Guadelupe Hildago, people of American nationality, continued to move into California with the intention of staying as permanent residents and then citizens.
Within four years following the start of the Gold Rush, some 35,000 Chinese (most from southern China) and Japanese came, mostly to San Francisco City, to mine and send their fortunes back to their homes. Their presence was marked with racial suspicion and even outright hatred, occasionally surmounting to violence. After Sierra was formed, efforts to inhibit or deny the immigration of persons of Asian descent failed to receive legal sanction. The decision of the government to allow virtually unrestricted immigration for all people regardless of race contributed towards Sierra's changing demographics and eventually, its culture.
During the American Civil War, thousands of black freedman from the North as well as ex-slaves and fugitives from the South arrived to Sierra to avoid the persecution and racist sentiment expressed in the warring States. With slavery banned in Sierra, African American immigrants found refuge in urban cities such as Porciúncula and Oakland. Discrimination was common and at times, interracial conflict erupted, usually over economic and social reasons. The Ku Klux Klan, which formed in the United States following the Civil War, made its way to Sierra and would buttress the white nationalist counter-movement that flourished in the early 20th century. Although legally, black immigrants who became citizens were treated equally, in reality, prejudice and racist attitudes prevailed much into the 20th century, forcing blacks to live in ethnic enclaves. Many of these enclaves caused "white flight", creating ghettos, communities which continue to exist in the present-day.
20th century[edit | edit source]
In the early 20th century, Sierra saw continued immigration from the United States and Asia. Following the 1921 Mexican Revolution, thousands of Mexican refugees fled the fascist regime to Sierra for safety and economic opportunities. This marked the first major immigration wave from Latin America to the area since Sierra's foundation. As much 150,000 Mexicans fled to Sierra within a year of the revolution, placing significant housing and managerial burden on local governments, particularly in the South. Most of the Mexicans would settle in either San Diego or Porciúncula where they form the largest ethnicity in such communities to the present day.
Other major immigration waves that occurred simultaneously with Latin America and Asia came from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The Armenians, fleeing from persecution by the Ottomans, arrived in Sierra and settled primarily in Porciúncula and neighboring cities. By the 1950s, Sierra had the largest Armenian population outside Armenia itself. As of 2015, the city of Glendale is home to the world's largest community of Armenians aside from the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
When the Great Depression initially hit, immigration growth slowed down for the first time in Sierran history. With fewer job opportunities and increased cost of living, would-be immigrants were less likely to move to Sierra in light of these conditions. Immigration increased, mostly from the United States, in the early 1930s following the Dust Bowl. Thousands of displaced farmers from the American states of Oklahoma and Arkansas arrived to Sierra in hopes of better job opportunities. Colloquially known as the "Okies" (which became a derogatory term), these farmers often worked for menial wages and were discriminated against by native-born Sierrans. Treated poorly, their plight was described in Sierran author John Steinbeck's masterpiece story, The Grapes of Wrath.
In 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, tens of thousands of Koreans fled the peninsula to Sierra and more continued under the repressive leadership of Syngman Rhee. With the exception of the Vietnam War, immigration rates stabilized between 1945 to 1990 with an average of 54,000 immigrants annually. The primary sources of immigration began to become dominated by Latin American countries, especially the fascist neighbor, Mexico, where the brutal regime of the Veracruz family left millions of Mexicans in impoverished, conflict-ridden conditions. Prior to the Mexican government's decision to prop up a walled fence along its border with Sierra and the United States in 1964, as much as 750,000 Mexican refugees made their way into Sierra between 1945 and 1964.
Contemporary[edit | edit source]
Immigration rates remained steady until the start of the new century, marked with increased immigration from Latin America and the Middle East. Noticeable changes in the demographic trends from preexisting, established immigration links came from Asia.
In the 20th century, immigrants from China, North and South Vietnam, Korea, India, and Lan Na were war refugees, low-income families, and industrial workers. In the 2000s forward, more common immigrants came from wealthier families in the upper middle class seeking more opportunity in Sierra for their children. The number of international students attending Sierran higher education institutions from Asia also rose over 1000% from the 1980s to 2010, reflecting the evolving relationship between Sierra and Asia. The traditional, low-income families that continued to move into Sierra gravitated towards people from countries in Southeast Asia such as Laos and Cambodia.
Culture[edit | edit source]
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| Culture of Sierra |
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Modern Sierran values and customs are generally a mixture of Anglo-Saxon Protestant and Sinospheric neo-Confucian tradition. Strong work ethic, humility, interdependent balance between individualism and collectivism (selfless individualism), emphasis on the family, and hospitality are all traits of Sierran ethics. Sierra's history as a multicultural nation led to the absorption of various international views. During the 19th and early 20th century, as immigrants from Asia assimilated with the predominantly white population, many adopted English names, converted to Christianity, and learned Western etiquette. At the same time, interest in Confucian ethics and Orientalism overall within the white community allowed a mutual exchange of ideas and values. The Progressive era helped advance allowing a new culture to arise and works such as Mark Culler's Comparison of Western and Oriental Thought encouraged Sierrans to integrate new ideas and customs from each other. As acceptance of differences grew, modern Sierran culture cemented toward the end of World War II and the Protestant-Confucian model became a national standard.
National identity[edit | edit source]
The cultural question "Americani vel non Americani?" commonly used to describe the issues of Sierran national identity and pride. The question has also been applied to Sierra's relationship with its other North American neighbors, Brazoria, Rainier, and Wabash. Introduced by Sierran sociologist Chris Sorensen in 1963, it is a response to whether or not Sierran culture and its people are unique in their own right or merely an extension of the American culture. Many elements developed in Sierra including Hollywood, car culture, fast food culture, and other inventions have often been perceived or construed as "American" rather than Sierran. With a history of Sierra attempting to resist American influence, this effort to retain a sense of distinct identity has prevailed in contemporary times. In 2014, a survey involving 3,000 participants revealed 79% of Sierrans saw themselves as "Sierrans" although 58% of these said they also saw themselves as Americans (in the continental sense) as well.
Language[edit | edit source]
A multilingual nation, about 57,281,994 (77% of the population) Sierrans speak primarily English at home. Considered the lingua franca, English nonetheless shares official status alongside the eight next commonly spoken languages: Spanish, Chinese (primarily the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects), Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Han, Japanese, and Serran. Over 97% Sierrans speak any of these official languages as their primary language (with the exception of Serran which is included as an official language but is commonly used as an auxiliary language as opposed to a home language). 23% or 17,110,206 Sierrans named a language other than English as the primary language used to converse at home. About 5 million children enrolled in the Sierran public education system are enrolled in an English learning program.
Other languages that have received official status are at the provincial or territorial level. In the province of Apache, Navajo is recognized; in the Gold Coast, Arabic, Armenian, and Persian is recognized; in Hawaii, Hawaiian is recognized; in the Sierran Samoa, the Samoan language is recognized; and in Rapa Nui, Pascuan is recognized.
Other languages spoken extensively include German, French, Punjabi, Hindi, Hmong, and Bengali.
Religion[edit | edit source]
Officially a secular nation, the separation of church and state doctrine is incorporated into the Constitution. Nonetheless, Sierra is considered one of the most religious countries in the world, especially when compared to other developed nations. Christianity is the most practiced religion with 82% of Sierrans followers of any Christian denomination. The Protestant branch of Christianity is the largest with its members constituting 63% of the population. The largest Protestant denominations include the Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, Evangelicals, and the Lutherans. Roman Catholicism claims 15% of the population while the Easter Orthodox Church claims 3% of the Sierran Christian body. The remaining 1% of Christians include Nontrinitarian groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation.
Buddhism constitutes 2% of the Sierran population and is the second-largest religion. The next 2% of non-Christian faiths include Judaism (0.4%), Islam (0.3%), and Hinduism (0.2%). There also exists a diverse number of religious communities of minute populations: Sikh, Jain, Shinto, Baha'i, Wiccan, deist, or New Age. 12% of Sierrans are unaffiliated and is growing among younger demographics.
While religiosity has declined in contemporary years (a common phenomenon among the Western developed nations), in 2014, 87% of Sierrans reported that they still believed in a god or a "higher force". Church attendance (comprising any number of faiths and defined as at least once a month) has declined, this trend starting from the 1970s with the current attendance rate standing at 47%. When taking weekly attendance into account, this figure is even lower at only 31%. Historically, religion, particularly Protestantism, played an immense role in politics, culture, and law. Modern Sierran culture stems heavily from the concepts derived from the Holy Bible, Judeo-Christian values, and the Protestant work ethic. Many movements and reforms in the 19th and 20th century including temperance, education reform, labor rights, and prison reform were led by Christian individuals and groups.
Overseas Sierrans[edit | edit source]
According to the 2010 census, approximately 3.2 million Sierran citizens live abroad in another country as permanent residents, expatriates, foreign exchange students, diplomats, or deployed servicemen. The figures include people of Sierran origin or former citizenship who renounced it upon naturalization in another country or other means. The largest community of overseas Sierrans live in the United States (1.1 million), followed by Canada (427,000), and Britain (245,000).
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