top of page

REGIONS

Altera is made up of three landmasses separated by great oceans. Each can be divided into continents, and furthermore, regions.

Select a region.

EUROPEA

NORTHWEST BOREALEA
Europea_Icon.jpg

EUROPEA

Europea_Icon.jpg

ASEA

SOUTHWEST BOREALEA
Asea_Icon.png

ASEA

View
Asea_Icon.png

SIBEREA

NORTH BOREALEA
Siberea_Icon.jpg

SIBEREA

View
Siberea_Icon.jpg

SERICA

EAST BOREALEA
Serica_Icon.png

SERICA

View
Serica_Icon.png

INDEA

SOUTH BOREALEA
Indea_Icon.png

INDEA

View
Indea_Icon.png

POLYNESEA

EAST GANDRASEA
Polynesea_Icon.png

POLYNESEA

View
Polynesea_Icon.png

SUMATREA

WEST GANDRASEA
Sumatrea_Icon.png

SUMATREA

View
Sumatrea_Icon.png

TAMIREA

SOUTH GANDRASEA
Tamirea_Icon.png

TAMIREA

View
Tamirea_Icon.png

LIBYA

NORTH AFRICA
Libya_Icon.png

LIBYA

View
Libya_Icon.png

ERYTHREA

EAST AFRICA
Erythrea_Icon.png

ERYTHREA

View
Erythrea_Icon.png

GUINEA

WEST AFRICA
Guinea_Icon.png

GUINEA

View
Guinea_Icon.png

AZANEA

SOUTH AFRICA
Azanea_Icon.png

AZANEA

View
Azanea_Icon.png

CETECEA

NORTHEAST ANTARCTICA
Cetecea_Icon.png

CETECEA

View
Cetecea_Icon.png

MALVINEA

NORTHWEST ANTARCTICA
Malvinea_Icon.png

MALVINEA

View
Malvinea_Icon.png

PLATINEA

SOUTH CRUCEA
Platinea_Icon.png

PLATINEA

View
Platinea_Icon.png

MERIDEA

NORTH CRUCEA
Meridea_Icon.png

MERIDEA

View
Meridea_Icon.png

COLUMBEA

SOUTH SEPTENTREA
Columbea_Icon.png

COLUMBEA

View
Columbea_Icon.png

HANUNEA

EAST SEPTENTREA
Hanunea_Icon.png

HANUNEA

View
Hanunea_Icon.png

THULEA

NORTH SEPTENTREA
Thulea_Icon.png

THULEA

View
Thulea_Icon.png

HESPEREA

WEST SEPTENTREA
Hesperea_Icon.png

HESPEREA

THE

PAINTED

EARTH

View
Hesperea_Icon.png
Regions_Selection.png
Europea_Icon.png

Northwest Borealea

Asea_Icon.png

Southwest Borealea​​

Libya_Icon.png

North Africa

Erythrea_Icon.png

East Africa

Indea_Icon.png

South Borealea

Siberea_Icon.png

North Borealea

Serica_Icon.png

East Borealea

Sumatrea_Icon.png

West Gandrasea

Tamirea_Icon.png

South Gandrasea

Polynesea_Icon.png

East Gandrasea

Cetecea_Icon.png

Northeast Antarctica

Malvinea_Icon.png

Northwest Antarctica

Platinea_Icon.png

South Crucea

Meridea_Icon.png

North Cruea

Columbea_Icon.png

South Septentrea

Thulea_Icon.png

North Septentrea

Hanunea_Icon.png

East Septentrea

Hesperea_Icon.png

West Septentrea

Erythrea_Zoom.jpg

ERYTHREA

EAST AFRICA

The lands of Erythrea are ancient and likely the home of humans as a species. The Nile and Red Sea run down most of the region's length, and for centuries have acted as key conduits and choke points for trade and conquest. The Horn of Erythrea is also thought to be a major nexus point in the history of human migration, being one of the places where humans first began to trek into the rest of Ecumina from the warm plains of Africa. 

Often on the margins of major periods of conquests in nearby lands, some of the world's oldest religious sects survive and thrive in the harder to penetrate deserts, highlands, and marshlands of the region, and the region is divided quite evenly by the three major Abrahamic faiths. Despite having numerous indigenous spices and being the origin of coffee, local rulers often closed their ports and prevent full integration with the Emporic Rim trade networks.

MAP PLATES

avatarcompass.png

ON TOPONYMS

Ethnocentrism has always dogged geographers. Atlas Altera is written in English for those of the Anglosphere, who have generally inherited neighbouring European traditions. Here, countries and regions are rendered as if it is the tradition most familiar and accepted in practical usage by native English-speakers in Altera. Thus, the political map of Altera is rendered with exonyms, and the atlas draws deep from situated knowledges while simultaneously attempting to push the boundaries of those knowledges.

Thanks for subscribing!

TYPES OF EXONYMS

The names of earth’s landmasses, continents, regions, and toponyms in Libya, Asea, and Erythrea were normalized by Venetian cartographers, who readily brought west maps of the south and east via their contact with the Grecians in Constantinople, a critical nexus point for trafficking things and knowledges across Borealea and Africa until the Age of Discovery. Toponyms of western continental Europea, generally corresponding to historically European Catholic areas, are derived from the naming conventions of the Dieppe school, which was influential until becoming eclipsed by the mapmakers of Antwerp. The Antwerp School made places of the Arctic and Norway known to the rest of Europea. Thus, the -ny, -land, and -ia suffixes generally correspond to these three schools of cartography influential to the English tradition.

The Dieppe School also began to incorporate the less systemic toponyms of the Spanish and Portuguese, which came out of early conquests in Septentrea and Crucea, most of which broke from the practice of naming places after native inhabitants but instead came from the Doctrine of Discovery. The Antwerp School fully normalized the practice of transliterating foreign toponyms through the lens of the regional hegemons in places where there was closer power parity between Europeans and natives, especially in Indea, Serica, and in the parts of Septentrea and Crucea that retained autonomy. The transliterations made in this time preserve the local pronunciations in the 18th and 19th centuries and may now be quite distant to the modern endonyms.

Podcasts - Marginalia - Etymologies

Support

Access bonus materials on Patreon

Erythrea Anchor
bottom of page