Victoria-Tedaya Province

Victoria-Tedaya Province Provincia de Victoria-Tedaya
Province
Flag
Nickname(s):  Heart of the South
Country	Slokais Islands
Establishment	01 January 1894
Capital and largest city	Victoria City
Ethnic groups	49.3% Mezitos 17.0% Costenos 16.2% Indigenous 14.5% Tediyanians 6.4% Ren 5.4% Kaijanese 2.4% Blancos 1.3% Andharian 1.0% Other 0.7% Haesanite 0.3% Afro-Slokasian
Demonym(s)	Victorianos/Tedayanos
Government
• Upper house	Victoria-Tedaya Senate
• Lower house	Victoria-Tedaya Assembly
National representation
• Slokaisian Legislature	28/643
Population
• 2025 census	3,359,019 (9th)
Postal	VT

Victoria-Tedaya is a province of Slokais Islands home to 3,359,019 people with a capital at Victoria City. Victoria-Tedaya is considered the center of Costeno culture due to a history of colonial settlement which have led to the province having the highest percentage of speakers where Spanish is there primary language (64.2%). Victoria-Tedaya is named for Francisco Edmundo Victoria, the first native-born governor of the San Fernando Colony, with Tedaya being added as a recognition of the indigenous Tediyanians in 1975. Economically, Victoria-Tedaya has a large industrial and mining sector which has given the province a reputation for hard-working people and for excellent marblework.

Etymology

Victoria-Tedaya is a combination of two names. First off, Ciudad Victoria, is named for Francisco Edmundo Victoria, the first native-born governor of the San Fernando Colony. Even at the time of its creation, the naming was controversial as Victoria was a colonial governor and thus seen as oppressive and discouraged by anti-colonial leaders. Yet locals viewed Francisco Victoria as a symbol of the unique Slokasian-born Costeno identity, with political group such as the Hijos de Victoria taking their name from him. Yet in 1975, after years of protest by indigenous residents and as recognition of the city of Tedaya's growing population and influence, the province was changed to Victoria-Tedaya by an act of the Assembly.

History

Original human settlement occurred around 25,000 years ago, with hunter-gather societies forming. Within the Victoria-Tedaya region, various groups used stone tools as well as rock and earthen pillars as markers or designations. It wasn't til the Ocama period that structures began to be built, although these were mostly made of either bamboo or straw. The Tediyanians largely emerged as a distinct group around 1000 BCE, with oral tradition and records leading back to around 800 BCE. Tediyanians traditionally practiced a belief in animal and water spirits, which were believed to be either servants of evil or of goodness. Around 150 BCE, seeking to unify the Tediyan people, a king designated for a city to be built along the Kaijan Strait to allow for trade and for a centralized order. Tedaya's old city was built using a unique form of shells and mud, which has remained largely including the Kamneutli, which is the oldest inhabited building in Slokais.