Novosevensk

Novosevensk is a small hamlet on Philosopher's Island, Seven. A large number of the inhabitants are of Russian descent.

The name Novosevensk means literally New Seven Town - a similar name is Novosibirsk, meaning New Siberia Town.

Novosevensk is a rather quiet region of Lovia, which has become seen in recent years as an undesirable place in which to live. However, the new chairman Semyon Breyev is attempting to revitalise the area.

Geography
The hamlet is located on the shores of the Bay of Estonia, after an Estonian immigrant who patriotically named it after his homeland. As can be seen from the picture, the island is in a tropical location, and is partially surrounded by the Abraham Park which covers around a quarter of the island. Building is not permitted in the Park, which is reserved for nature projects. The King Lucas Botanical Institute has a research station based near the hamlet.

The area on which the hamlet is built is fairly flat, unlike the rest of the island, which tends to be hilly; behind the hamlet are steep slopes rising to the Hill of Confucius. A small stream, the Rekachka, flows down off the hill and though the hamlet.

Climate
Novosevensk enjoys a subtropical/Mediterranean climate, which is however modified by the seas which surround the island.

History
The hamlet was founded in 1880 by Russian Lovian Nikolai P. Sharapov. He did not fit well into Lovian society and refused to swear allegience to Arthur I. After becoming senile in 1901 at the age of 74, he declared himself the first Tsar of Seven. He died shortly afterwards.

His son succeeded to the 'title' but renounced it immediately and swore allegience to the King. In return he was granted the less pretentious title of Count Sevensky (Count of Seven). This recognition was later withdrawn however. Neither father nor son succeeded in attracting a large number of Russians to the settlement, and the population remained at about 20.

In 1918, however, a large number of emigres from the Russian Empire arrived following the Revolution and settled in the settlement, increasing its size by about 60 people. Most of them, however, were not actually ethnically Russian and so did not get on well with the existing Russian population. They communicated with each other using a Russian pidgin, which later became a creole and had many English words added to it. Gradually the Russian words began to fade out of the language until it was merely a dialect of English - this was due mainly to the influence of the English speakers of Kinley. By around 1955, when Novosevensk was almost completely English-speaking, the hamlet had grown to a size of about 400. The inhabitants lived peacefully with the American Lovians of Kinley, with whom they had largely assimilated. Around 1960, however, a large number of people (mainly Americans or American Lovians) began to migrate to Seven (especially Kinley), which had previously been rather a backwater. This aroused nationalistic tendencies in the people of Novosevensk as their differences with the other Lovians were highlighted. They took to pronouncing their dialect in an exaggerated way, and to use excessive amounts of Russian words in their speech. Strong tensions between the two communities arose. In 1966 two Americans were killed by a drunken mob in Novosevensk. Worldwide attention was drawn to this event, and the Novosevenskians were portrayed as spies for the Soviets due to their heritage (even though most were not Russian, and had left because of the Revolution). In response, the Lovian government attempted to quell any nationalistic tendencies by inviting large numbers of Americans to live in the state. This policy succeeded, with the unfortunate result that the original Seven dialect is rarely heard in Kinley, and 40% of Novosevenskians identify as 'recent settlers' who often do not understand or want to understand the original culture.

Although Novosevensk was previously a fairly large settlement, the population has shrunk in recent years as it has become seen as an undesirable place to live, and due to the attraction of cities such as Noble City and Newhaven. The decrease was such that Novosevensk was recently downgraded to the status of hamlet. In 2010, however, Semyon Breyev became chairman and began a project to repopulate the town.

Language
This section summarises the changes that took place in the language of Novosevensk from its founding in 1880 to the present.

Phase 1: Native Russian
This was the stage between 1880 and 1918 when everyone in the settlement spoke Russian natively.

Phase 2: Other languages and Russian pidgin
Phase 2 began after 1918, when a large number of inhabitants could not speak Russian. They spoke their own languages to other members of their ethnicity and broken, pidgin Russian to other ethnicities.

Phase 3: Russian creole
Due to ethnic intermarriage, some children began to speak the pidgin as a native language. By this time a small British settlement had been founded not far from Novosevensk, and these children were sent to school there. The pidgin was forced to develop as for the first time it became a native language and new words were needed. As the children learnt English in school, these new words were supplied from English.

Phase 4: Native English (with Russian borrowings)
The Phase 4 language was created by the creole speakers, who taught it to their children. The use of the new language quickly became seen as backward by the inhabitants of Novosevensk, and the Russian words began to fade away from the language. It is posited that that all Russian words would have disappeared completely, had the English speakers of the British settlement and Kinley not borrowed words from the creole, reversing the process.

It should be noted that throughout this time, and up to the present, the original pre-revolutionary Russian speakers continued to speak Russian. They had by now attained the status of aristocracy and Russian had become a higher class language.

Population
The current population is unknown, as Novosevensk has mysteriously always excluded from censuses. However, it is estimated to be around 200.

Ethnicity
Roughly speaking, there are four major groups in Novosevensk:
 * The settlers from the Russian empire. Most are not themselves Russian, but Poles, Finns, Germans, Tatars, or other such ethnicities. However, they have mixed together to an extent that they are unable to tell reserchers who their ancestors originally were.
 * The original Russian settlers, who preceded the group above. They see themselves as 'aristocrats' and this status is reluctantly acknowledged by the other Russians. The most notable of this group is the eccentric 'Countess' Irina Sevenskaya.
 * The settlers of American origin. This group's culture can vary a lot, depending on when their ancestors moved to Lovia. If this happened recently, they are more likely to be noticeably 'American' and speak American English or Urban Lovian English and look down slightly on the Russians, especially the 'aristocracy'. On the other hand, those Americans who have been in Lovia for longer are more likely to speak Northern Lovian English and to share at least some of the Northern Lovian culture.
 * Others. This group, made up mostly of Belgians and Chinese. They tend to speak Northern Lovian English, though without as much Russian influence. They are not involved in the ethnic tension which can occasionally rise between the Russians and Americans.

Religion
For a Lovian settlement, Novosevensk is unusually religious. Around half the population are Russian Orthodox, another quarter are religious but not Orthodox (mainly Christian) and the rest are non-religious.

Other
As in the rest of Seven, most Novosevenskians are older than the national average. However this balance is changing rapidly, as more young people are attracted to settle. The ratio of men and women is almost exactly 1:1, although naturally there is some fluctuation.

Birth rate is high; each woman has three children on average. Life expectancy is 70.5 for men and 74.2 for women.

Culture
The culture of Novosevensk is an interesting and unique blend of Russian, American and European influences. This contributes to the inhabitants' feeling of uniqueness.

Cuisine
Both Russian dishes, such as borsh and shee, and American and European dishes are eaten in Novosevensk. This results in a highly diverse cuisine, contrasting Russian peasant cooking with more sophisticated Western recipes. This juxtaposition is perhaps best shown by the Novosevenskians' bizarre tradition of serving coffee in a samovar.

Music
Likewise, music combines Russian traditional instruments (balalaika, kantele, Jew's harp) with more common ones such as violin and guitar.

Even among the instruments only from Russia, there is great variation as immigrants came from all over the Russian Empire. For example, the kantele is Finnish and the Jew's harp is Tatar/Turkic. Another popular instrument is the komuz, a three-stringed guitar imported by Kyrgyz immigrants.

Novosevenskian music tends to use Western patterns, but some tunes can be in a pentatonic scale, influenced by Tatar music.

Rapper MC Squad was born in Novosevensk.

Transportation
As Novosevensk is the only settlement on Philosopher's Island, it is not connected to any other settlement by road. However, ferries depart regularly from the Abraham Harbor to Beaverwick and Sofasi. These are very reliable as without them Novosevensk is completely isolated from the outside world.

There is only one road on the island, nicknamed the Philosopher's Road, connecting Novosevensk to a small jetty on the other side of the island where cable ferries depart to Kinley from a small jetty. Recently the Nielsen Bridge was built connecting the two islands, meaning that the ferry is now used less often.

The chairman has recently proposed building a regional airport which would provide flights to Sofasi. There is a good deal of opposition to this however, so this is very possible that the plan will not come to fruition.

Economy
Novosevensk is not an important region in Lovia, and little economic activity occurs there.

Primary sector
For most of Novosevensk's existence, the economy has revolved around farming and fishing. Orray (a local word for trout) fishing has in particular brought in money to the hamlet. Dairy farming is virtually the only kind of farming possible, due to the steepness of the land, and is mainly for subsistence, to supplement the diet with meat and milk, whereas the main income is from fishing. In recent years, however, some milk has been exported. Some Novosevenskians own farms on other islands. Most families also grow fruit and vegetables in private gardens, though only for their own use.

Secondary sector
The secondary sector is virtually non-existent in Lovia. The Novosevensk Woollen Mill is a small enterprise which makes woollen articles such as sweaters and socks, which are very popular in other parts of Lovia.

Tertiary sector
Currently tourism is not a major industry in Novosevensk, although the chairman is looking to expand it. Most tourists come to visit for the very attractive scenery and quiet atmosphere; Novosevensk is possibly the most accessible of Lovia's small island. Culture is also an attraction, as Novosevensk's culture is a unique blend of Russian, American, European, and native Lovian influences; by contrast Kinley, and other Lovian towns, are sometimes felt to be too 'Nobleized'.

Education
Although there a is a school in Novosevensk, the Russian School, few children attend it as it only teaches in Russian history, literature and language. It is growing in popularity among the students who want to learn about their heritage, although they can only go to evening classes, as they must go to normal school in the day. The younger children attend Henri Burton Elementary in Kinley, while the older children must go to Newhaven or Sofasi. This is not an important problem however, as there are few children in Novosevensk.

Places of interest

 * Museum of Russian Culture.
 * Novosevensk beach.
 * School for Russian Language, History and Culture (one of the oldest schools in Lovia, founded in 1925.
 * Sharapov Memorial (defiantly raised by Russian Lovians in 1964)

Sister towns

 * Pewsey, Wiltshire, England
 * Gorno-Altaysk, Altai Republic, Russia
 * Cottbus, Germany

Historical

 * Nikolai Sharapov, founder of the town and self-styled 'Tsar of Seven'.
 * Vladimir Sharapov, his son.
 * Sir John Lashawn lived in Novosensk from 1901-1902

Present day

 * Semyon Breyev, current chairman.
 * Philip Bradly-Lashawn, famous fencer and illegitimate son of Arthur III.
 * J. Oswald McCloud, entrepreneur.
 * 'Countess' Irina Sevenskaya, a descendant of the Sharapovs and leader of the Novosevensk 'aristocracy'.
 * Vladimir Klopov, businessman.
 * Henri Megrii, famous fencer and spokesman for LGBT-rights