[Gardavasque]

This Map thread is Archived  

For the IDU Map 2024, please go to: 

IDU Map 2024 Thread

Welcome to the IDU Ministry of Cartography

Our mission is to provide and maintain reliable, responsive, and equitable geospatial data and mapping resources, as well as historic and archive maps for all nations of the IDU in a manner that facilitates fun, active role-play, nation-building, and diplomacy. In service to the region, we will attempt to maintain quarterly updates to the map (January, April, July, October) around the 15th of the month. In the interest of transparency, the Ministry of Cartography will use this thread for all official map requests and communications.

Please click here for the latest version of the IDU Map.        Please click here for a .gif version of the IDU Globe.          Please click here for the Map Request Log

Announcing Major Map Overhaul for Q4 2022 Summer 2023

The current map has numerous stylistic and consistency errors (especially fonts, lines, cities), a poorly-selected color palette, no map key, no Spell Check, no lines of longitude and latitude, and exists only as a political map (no physical map, no time zone map, tectonic oddities). In addition, as part of our response to COVID, the Ministry of Cartography indefinitely suspended the practice of removing former resident nations that have since left the region or ceased to exist. Consequently, there are numerous nations to be nominated for removal from the map. Therefore, there will be new improved map release in Summer 2023 which will feature the same continents and oceans, but with improved lines, color, fonts, and additional features (Cities, provinces, mountains, forests, roads, etc.!). The Ministry will be pinging each resident nation to determine their specific preferences for inclusion on the new map.

The Current map is maintained in a combination of PaintX for Mac and Preview which isn't the best solution for this kind of thing, and at full zoom the map has become just a frightful mess. Plus NationStates is making exciting changes to how nations will share maps with one another. Beginning with the next Map update in Summer 2023, the current 2022 Map will be retired and a new one will be built and deployed using Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator. A new thread will be created for the 2023 Map sometime around July. 

How to get on the Political Map

Please reply to this thread with the following info (This form will be replaced summer 2023).

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Nation Name: __________ Capital City: __________ Describe location of capital city within the nation: (Example: Southwestern coast at mouth of the river) __________

Nature of request: (Please select from these options)
• Primary/Main Nation, First Time Placement
• Puppet Nation, First Time Placement
• Already On Map, Requesting Modification
• Nominate an International Reserve
• Nominate a Map Feature (example: Ocean, Mountain Range, etc.)
• Nominate a Nation for Removal

Which continent would you like to be located? (Please select from these options)
• Anywhere
• Caxcana
• Hesperida
• Liberalia
• Neria
• No Continent

Which side of the continent?
• North
• South
• East
• West
• Central
• Other

What Approximate Latitude? __________. Which Nation(s) will share a border with you? (Please have them confirm their consent by replying with "OK" on this thread) __________

Which features are characteristic of your Nation? (As many as apply)
• Smooth Coastline
• Rocky Coastline/Fjords
• Single Island
• Archipelago
• Small Land Area
• Medium Land Area
• Large Land Area
• Desert (few rivers)
• Riparian (many rivers)
• Peninsula
• Lakes
• Natural Bay/Harbor
• Isthmus
• Linear borders
• Jagged borders

Which color would you prefer on the Political Map?
• Gold
• Lavender
• Light Blue
• Light Green
• Peach
• Pink
• Tan
• Teal

What real-life nation has characteristics similar to your nation in terms of size, location, geography, or culture? __________.  Is there anything else you would like the Ministry of Cartography to know? __________

*  *  *

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many nations can I request?
A: For now, you can request as many as you need. This rule may change in the future, based on future needs.
Q: Can I request a specific shape?
A: Uh, sure, but no Floridas... just keep it PG.
Q: What if I don't like my placement or the features where I am?
A: We can change it. Unlike real life Earth, plate tectonics can happen overnight.
Q: Can you add or remove islands or other features?
A: Yes! Easy Peasy
Q: I want to border XYZ Nation, but they no longer exist. What should I do?
A: Nominate them for removal. We will reach out to the nominated nation. Removal process will be at least 30 days, but not longer than 60 days.
Q: Will we run out of space on the map?
A: If we grew that large it would be a great problem to have. So, don't worry about it.
Q: What nations are eligible to be on the map.
A: Any Main nation or puppet that is a resident of the IDU, regardless of population.
Q: Not that I would ever do anything bad, but what if I get ejected from the IDU?
A: You can expect your nation to be removed from the map at the next regular update. Successful ejection appeals may result in map eligibility being restored but won't guarantee same place on the map. May you never have to go through such drama.
Q: What software do you use for creating the map?
A: PaintX at the moment. But it is creating some unfortunate consistency issues that don't scale well. Anyone who has GIMP or Adobe skills is invited to reach out to the Ministry of Cartography.
Q: Can I add a historic nation or nation that no longer exists in the IDU?
A: In the near future, we will add a separate Historical Map that you can add to.
Q: Can you add lines of longitude and latitude?
A: In the future when we use a different program (not PaintX) for edits. They didn't look good when we tried.
Q: Can I add my 10 largest cities?
A: For now, each nation can have a capital city. We will overhaul the map to be able to add more details in the near future. The ministry is happy to provide you with an individual map with your cities upon request.

[Legionas]

Greetings,

The Federation of Legionas is requesting an expansion of its current territory due to the recent dissolution of the Shen Empire as well as to reduce congestion in urban areas such as Bayview, Verdesia and Moense.



This is the area that the Federation of Legionas is requesting, to be incorporated into the nation as two brand new provinces.

Thank you, that is all.

(Nice office btw.)

[Gardavasque]

Thank you for your request, [nation]Legionas[/nation]; I'll be glad to include this in the next map update. Since a portion of your claim borders on [nation]Arcadia Dazeber[/nation] would you mind askind them to comment here was a "Yes" indicating their consent?

Greetings,

The Federation of Legionas is requesting an expansion of its current territory due to the recent dissolution of the Shen Empire as well as to reduce congestion in urban areas such as Bayview, Verdesia and Moense.

This is the area that the Federation of Legionas is requesting, to be incorporated into the nation as two brand new provinces.

Thank you, that is all.

(Nice office btw.)

[Legionas]

I'll see to it. Thanks

[Arcadia Dazeber]

Hello,

The Empire of Arcadia-Dazeber agree's with the border changes that Legionas presents.

In other things I request the area that Empire of Arcadia-Dazeber is requesting be incorporated into the empire.



Thank you.

[Laeral]

Greetings,

I'd like to offer a few thoughts and suggestions regarding the recent changes to the map following the abrupt departure of Shen, Zamastan, etc. I'm recognizing the need to clear the map to ensure that inactive players are no longer taking up space that could be allocated to new players and new nations. However, Shen and Zamastan in particular were very active nations with a significant footprint in regional RP, and as a result they both make numerous appearances in other nations' canon- for instance, Zamastan is a major player in the Vulkaria RP, Shen plays an important role in Laeral's early history, and both feature in the narrative of the Maivers Conference roleplay of December 2019. Therefore, I'd like to suggest a compromise- that, as a result of the departure of these nations, we downsize their size on the map significantly, but retain a "remnant" or "rump" state which will preserve a marker of their presence on the map for the sake of RP. I would suggest that we retain Shen, Zamastan, and Vulkaria on the map, but reduce them in size, by around 1/2 or 2/3rds. This means that these nations will still be on the map to be referenced in roleplay, but that the majority of their territory will be freed up for new nations. Please let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Laeral

[Laeral]

Oh, and another thing: The Allied Cities, while nominally a Shen puppet, actually became something of a communal puppet, with parts of the nation being roleplayed as parts of various surrounding nations, as can be seen at the Allied Cities wiki page. As such, I think it should remain on the map as it was before Shen departed.

[Gardavasque]

Oh, and another thing: The Allied Cities, while nominally a Shen puppet, actually became something of a communal puppet, with parts of the nation being roleplayed as parts of various surrounding nations, as can be seen at the Allied Cities wiki page. As such, I think it should remain on the map as it was before Shen departed.

I'm not opposed; in fact I'm grateful for the question. Having former nations erased presents a continuity issue for historical role plays involving them. The purpose of the map (as I understand it) is to facilitate role play, removing obstacles that make it difficult to write current international events into history. How do we account for nations that vanish in the narrative of our own nations that are left behind to grieve the loss? Are there other ways of addressing this issue other than keeping them on the map? What happens to that narrative when a new nation claims the former territory of a CTE'd or moved away nation?

Perhaps this can be submitted as a poll: I would very much like from other nations on this idea. In addition to leaving them on the map in reduced form, are there other ways to indicate what was but no longer is? Perhaps a "historical map" or some other contrivance? Ideas please...

[Xiomera]

I would prefer to leave nations that had a significant RP presence, particularly those whose histories are intertwined with those of other nations, on the map in some capacity. Laeral's idea of leaving them on the map while reducing their size is a sound one to me. Nations who had little to no RP presence, and aren't part of the histories of other nations, who CTE can (and should) be removed without issue, I think. But nations that are part of other nations' backstories and history, such as Shen and Zamastan, should remain present to some degree.

[Lauchenoiria]

On this conversation, I have no issue with some nations being kept on the map...but if someone leaves or is removed from the region for doing something wrong which caused harm to other members of the region, then keeping them on the map could cause distress to the recipients of that harm.

[Gonhog]

About time I got on this new map

Nation Name: Gonhog
Puppet: No
Capital City: Jaken City
Border Nations: N/A
Request:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/6...2/Ghog.png

Capital is dot with circle around it.
Other cities (the other dots; from left to right): Jarnhamn, Vellige, Sigtuna, Kalmar

[Latidonia]

Nation name: Latidonia
Puppet: No
Capital: Latidonia (Latidonia is a city-state)
Border nations: None
Request:

Spoiler:

Capital:

Spoiler:

Thank you!

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

Will the map be able to be zoomed in on in a future update?

[Agutrerra]

Now that it's been a month, here is my proper map request:

Country - Agutrerra

Capital City - Agutrerra

Location - https://imgur.com/Ka1pmpM (reduced border to the black line).

I am requesting to border Lauchenoiria and Kvask, and will be contacting them on Discord.

[Gardavasque]

Will the map be able to be zoomed in on in a future update?

Can you describe what you mean by "Zoomable?" Are you having difficulty zooming in to see detail?

[Gardavasque]

Now that it's been a month, here is my proper map request:

Country - Agutrerra

Capital City - Agutrerra

Location - https://imgur.com/Ka1pmpM (reduced border to the black line).

I am requesting to border Lauchenoiria and Kvask, and will be contacting them on Discord.

Thank you for your revised request. You've been placed on the map in the general area requested, however, I avoided (for now) having your territory bordering on any neighbors, pending their consent. Also, since your claim overlapped with [nation]Latidonia[/nation], I decided to grant them the island. If there was a specific purpose you wanted control of an archipelago somewhere please let me know.

[Shuell]

Nation Name: Federal Republic of Otika
Puppet: Yes
Puppet of: Shuell
Capital City: PZMNY
Border Nations:
Description of Map Placement: I have a picture.
Description of Capital City Placement: See below.
Picture: https://imgur.com/a/mwSPKrw
Note: It's been slightly over 3 months since my last application. I believe this was enough time?

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

Will the map be able to be zoomed in on in a future update?

Can you describe what you mean by "Zoomable?" Are you having difficulty zooming in to see detail?

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, I'm wondering if we will be able to zoom in on the map to better see detail. This could be an issue on my end.

[Ponoxien]

Nation Name: Ponoxien
Puppet: No
Puppet of: N/A
Capital City: Lendentiae
Border Nations: None (I think? Do Eira, Cape Auria, or Milintica count as bordering?)
Description of Map Placement: The large island located near the Gulf of Yukoni, along with the nearby island chain and part of the nearby peninsula.
Description of Capital City Placement: Located at the point of inaccessibility on the largest island.

Map Request:

The circle represents the capital city of Lendentiae, which I have eyeballed as the point of inaccessibility. It doesn't really matter if that's the actual point or not.

My main request is for the large island. The island chain is a secondary concern, and the part of the peninsula is my lowest priority. So if it turns out that this claim is too large, that is how I would want it to be reduced, if possible.

[Agutrerra]

I received permission from Kvask only.

[Arizcara]

The USSA humbly requests to receive this land as its formal territory

[Gardavasque]

Thank you for your claim and welcome to the IDU, [nation]Arizcara[/nation]. As a gesture of diplomatic goodwill, can you ask [nation]Arcadia-Dazeber[/nation] and [nation]Legionas[/nation] to indicate their consent to your borders by adding a comment of "Affirmative" on this thread?

[Gardavasque]

Nation Name: Federal Republic of Otika
Puppet: Yes
Puppet of: Shuell
Capital City: PZMNY
Border Nations:
Description of Map Placement: I have a picture.
Description of Capital City Placement: See below.
Picture: https://imgur.com/a/mwSPKrw
Note: It's been slightly over 3 months since my last application. I believe this was enough time?

Thank you for your request, [nation]Shuell[/nation]. Respectfully, your claim is quite large for a brand new nation. Out of fairness to other newcommer nations, could you decrease the size of your claim by 50%?

[Lauchenoiria]

Nation Name: Zongongia
Puppet: Yes
Puppet of: Lauchenoiria
Capital City: Sneedville
Border Nations: Lauchenoiria, Kerlile (both my own nations)
Description of Map Placement: the strip of land north of Lauchenoiria and west of Kerlile, under the river
Description of Capital City Placement: on the west coast, at the little sticky out corner bit

[Legionas]

Hello, The Federation of Legionas consents to Arizcara's border placement.

We would also like to request that our border be altered slightly so as to look less artificial, thanks.