Bellissarian Economics

by Bruce Heard

Here some (revised) stats for the nations of Bellissaria, based upon the Economy-101 spreadsheet:

DAWNRIM

Farming Population (rural): 93.3% of total population
Fishing Population (urban): 0.4% of total population
Non-Farming Population (urban): 6.3% of total population

Including:
1,539,970 Civilians -- 98% of total population
33,300 Military -- 2% of total population

Dawnrim's Total Population: 1,573,270 people

Total Surface: 282,366 sq. miles
Population Density: 6 inhabitants/sq. mile

Wilderness Regions: 18% of total surface
Borderland Regions: 57% of total surface
Settled Lands: 25% of total surface

Total Income for Dawnrim: 140,141 gp/month

Average Tax Earnings/Tax-Payer: 0.9 sp/month
Average State Earnings/Capita: 0.9 sp/month
Average Cost of Military: 13.3 sp/month per warrior

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HORKEN

Farming Population (rural): 95% of total population
Fishing Population (urban): 1% of total population
Non-Farming Population (urban): 4% of total population

Including:
751,510 Civilians -- 99% of total population
9,280 Military -- 1% of total population

Horken's Total Population: 760,790 people

Horken's Total Surface: 102,060 sq. miles
Population Density: 7 inhabitants/sq. mile

Wilderness Regions: 27% of total surface
Borderland Regions: 22% of total surface
Settled Lands: 51% of total surface

Horken's Total Income: 73,121 gp/month

Average Tax Earnings/Tax-Payer: 0.9 sp/month
Average State Earnings/Capita: 1.0 sp/month
Average Cost of Military: 24.8 sp/month per warrior

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LAGRIUS

Farming Population (rural): 92.5% of total population
Fishing Population (urban): 0.5% of total population
Non-Farming Population (urban): 7% of total population

Including:
1,205,748 Civilians -- 99% of total population
18,015 Military -- 1% of total population

Lagrius Total Population: 1,223,763 people

Total Surface: 200,718 sq. miles
(plus Blueside Lake, approx. 30,000 sq. miles)
Population Density: 6 inhabitants/sq. mile

Wilderness Regions: 25% of total surface
Borderland Regions: 40% of total surface
Settled Lands: 35% of total surface

Total Income for Lagrius: 117,098 gp/month

Average Tax Earnings/Tax-Payer: 0.94 sp/month
Average State Earnings/Capita: 0.96 sp/month
Average Cost of Military: 20.5 sp/month per warrior

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MERIANDER

Farming Population (rural): 91% of total population
Fishing Population (urban): 1% of total population
Non-Farming Population (urban): 8% of total population

Including:
830,150 Civilians -- 97% of total population
21,960 Military -- 3% of total population

Meriander's Total Population: 852,110 people

Total Realm or Dominion's Surface: 92,988 sq. miles
Population Density: 9 inhabitants/sq. mile

Wilderness Regions: None
Borderland Regions: 44% of total surface
Settled Lands: 56% of total surface

Meriander's Total Income: 97,331 gp/month

Average Tax Earnings/Tax-Payer: 1.0 sp/month
Average State Earnings/Capita: 1.1 sp/month
Average Cost of Military: 14.0 sp/month per warrior

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NOTRION

Farming Population (rural): 94% of total population

Fishing Population (urban): 1% of total population

Non-Farming Population (urban): 5% of total population

Including:
2,144,478 Civilians -- 97% of total population
56,450 Military -- 3% of total population

Notrion's Total Population: 2,200,928 people

Notrion's Total Surface: 319,788 sq. miles
Population Density: 7 inhabitants/sq. mile

Wilderness Regions: 4% of total surface
Borderland Regions: 64% of total surface
Settled Lands: 32% of total surface

Notrion's Total Income: 181,302 gp/month

Average Tax Earnings/Tax-Payer: 0.8 sp/month
Average State Earnings/Capita: 0.8 sp/month
Average Cost of Military: 10.1 sp/month per warrior

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SURSHIELD

Farming Population (rural): 90.5% of total population Fishing Population (urban): 1.0% of total population Non-Farming Population (urban): 8.5% of total population

Including:
1,544,415 Civilians -- 97% of total population
41,675 Military -- 3% of total population

Surshield's Total Population: 1,586,090 people

Surshield's Total Surface: 258,552 sq. miles
Population Density: 6 inhabitants/sq. mile

Wilderness Regions: 9% of total surface
Borderland Regions: 70% of total surface
Settled Lands: 21% of total surface

Surshield's Total Income: 146,343 gp/month

Average Tax Earnings/Tax-Payer: 0.90 sp/month
Average State Earnings/Capita: 0.92 sp/month
Average Cost of Military: 11.1 sp/month per warrior

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DONE!

In retrospect -- it's a good thing that Lagrius and Horken have decent natural barriers as their borders, because their military is fairly weak compared to their two neighbours, Surshield and Dawnrim. Lagrius and Horken otherwise pay their troops better than Dawnrim and Surshield do, which could mean that their troops are of a higher quality (therefore better). Lagrius doesn't have much of a navy either, however Surshield and Dawnrim must maintain a sizeable navy considering how much coast they have. What also helps Lagrius and Horken is the fact that Surshield has a truly horrendous amount of borders and vulnerable coastline to defend, which takes up most of their military (the second largest on Bellissaria). Dawnrim is in a better shape than Surshield, but their neighbour to the north, Notrion, is a dangerous one with the biggest armed forces on Bellissaria. On the other hand Notrion also has the worst trained military, considering how little they spend as an average. Finally, Meriander lies on the opposite side of Notrion, with a decent size and good quality military. Meriander has the best economy on the island, essentially due to the fact they have the highest percentage of settled lands and urbanisation.

NOTES

1. All this means that the population of Bellissaria amounts to almost 9.2 million people.

2. The (pre-Wrath) Imperial Share of the Bellissarian economy amounts to a whopping 151,000 gp/month (all in cash -- there could be written IOU's between the colonies and the empire or some form of paper money limited to trade between states).

Else, this tells you something about the volume of gold in existence and why Minaean pirates would definitely want to prowl the shipping lanes between Alphatia and its colonies. This is a lot of money literally "floating around" and the colonies are responsible for delivering it to mainland Alphatia. Until then, this money is their entire responsibility. Granted it would not be shipped as one big treasure, but as an ongoing series of smaller amounts from the various colonies' ports, as the income is generated. Some of that could be teleported, but this would incur yet another cost, probably greater than surface shipping.

More sundry detail -- the Imperial treasury receives from Bellissaria an average 1.6 copper pieces per capita.