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Vanadiel Countries = Earth Countries

From: Bashar
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Posted: 2007-03-20 21:35:39

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Nations and Regions of Vana’diel and their Earth Parallels

By Bashar of Fairy Server

Many of the nations and regions of Vana’diel have similarities to Earth counterparts. One day during a 2005 update I started compiling this list, which is not meant to be authoritative in any way, for I have no specific authority. I invite anyone to contribute.

The Republic of Bastok = Germany

Bastok is surrounded by Gustaberg, and four of Germany’s sixteen states have names ending with a variant of the syllable “berg.”
In Vana’Diel, the Konschtat Highlands are controlled by Bastok, who won a great battle there against San D’Oria long ago. The “schtat” in the Konschtat Highlands sounds like the German word for “state” (“staat”), which on Earth is affixed onto the end of few of Germany’s remaining states.
Germany is democratic republic with an economy heavily based on industry and innovative engineering, like Bastok.

The Kingdom of San d’Oria = France

There are many, many French influences in the names of NPCs and areas in and around San d’Oria. For example, “chateau” (as in Chateau d’Oraguille) is a french word for “castle” or “fortified building,” which is what Chateau d’Oraguille is. There\'s the Bostaunieux Oubliette, and the cathedral where you can talk with Morjean. La Theine. And so on.

The Federation of Windurst = Britain

There are many similarities between SE’s Windurst and Tolkien’s Shire. These idyllic and extremely isolated countrysides populated by little magical people who live in harmony with nature are both meant to represent Great Britain around or before the time of the Roman Empire.
Much of the magic in Final Fantasy is based on the mythologies of the British Isles, and Windurst is the magical center of Vana’diel.
(I\'ve also noticed a “Hatter” in Windurst Waters, Baren-Moren, who bears a striking resemblance to the Disney rendition of the “Mad Hatter” in the 1865 British classic “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.\")

The Grand Duchy of Jeuno = Switzerland

Jeuno is similar to Switzerland. The Swiss Confederacy has professed complete neutrality in every major conflict since it obtained independence from the Roman Empire in 1499, yet it maintains superbly equipped military forces. It strafes a mountain range, yet acts as a nearly unavoidable crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe. Switzerland takes advantage of its geographic position and neutrality by acting as a political and economic haven where all of the major treaties are signed and all of the wealthiest people in the world keep all of their money.

Kazam = Australia

Kazam is a settlement of Mithra that sits between the jungle and the water’s edge (on a huge island continent-nation in the southeastern corner of the world).
Though inhabited for 40,000 years, Australia was first established as a prison colony by Great Britain near the end of the 1700s. Kazam is not explicitly populated by criminals, though the mischievous feel of the city and proximity to the pirates contribute to a general sense of being in the company of criminals.
Today, Australia has its own representative government, though it still ceremonially recognizes the sovereignty of the British crown. This relationship is similar to Windurst (Britain) and Kazam (Australia).

Norg = Japan

Items and skills acquired in Norg are frequently referred to in the game as being from the “Far East,” which, on Earth, is the same term sometimes used to describe countries in Eastern Asia, like Japan.
The job flag quests for SAM and NIN are found in Norg, which are explicitly based off ancient Japanese martial arts disciplines of the same names. The images that surround these professions when using their Vana’diel abilities are similar to some Asian writing styles.

Altepa = Africa

The noun/consonant and pronunciation structures of these two words are roughly identical. Roughly 25% of the continent of Africa is open desert. Altepa has the most desert of any area in the game.

Xarcabard = Svalbard

The name “Xarcabard” is play on Svalbard, a Norwegian island found in the Arctic Ocean fairly close to the north pole, which plays a part in Norse mythology. Castle “Zvahl,” located in Xarcabard, is another play on the name “Svalbard.”

Conclusion: Why?

Why would SE do this? J.R.R. Tolkien said that one of the reasons he created a new language for his elves, and eventually for all the races of Middle Earth, was because it conveyed realism through cohesion. In other words, the words and places Tolkien created seemed real because they all fit together. They all fit together because they were based on an actual functioning system of related languages that Tolkien synthesized for exactly that purpose.
I would guess that SE didn’t have that kind of time, but they still wanted the sense of cohesion. In mimicking the styles of real-world languages and nations, they had a set of ready-made guidelines on which to base the styles of their names and places. As long as they primarily stick to the program, but not enough to ram it down your throat while you’re playing, they can create (a cheap knockoff of) the same sense of cohesion Tolkien did -- by basing it on a real system.
That\'s my guess anyway.

From: annom Guest Posted: 2007-03-22 07:49:17	Reply Quote
good content and thx for sharing ur observation very much makes sense and this deserves to be on wiki...not some dead bbs...

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Vanadiel Countries = Earth Countries