Intergalactic Summit

I've lived in the federation since I was about 4 or 5, it's my home. I went to school in the Federation, I met most of my friends in the Federation and I have had a stellar career in the Federal Defence Union, spending months in it as a Luminaire General. In fact the only time I left the Federation for more then a week or two was for my final year of training as a Vherokior Mystic.

I often saw other Minmatar in the Federation but it was only recently that I came upon this statistic...



I'd never even considered that one in three citizens of the Gallente Federation were Minmatar, this idea made my jaw drop at the realisation. The ethnic Minmatar are the largest immigrant bloc in the nation. We wield a tremendous amount of political power and yet its so infrequently considered. This leaves me with a question though, what are the percentages of the other ethnicity's in the Federation? Are the Gallente still the majority ethnic group?

And together, we shall rule the universe!

In all honesty, can't see it myself. I am friends with plenty of Gallenteans, but large groups of them tend to be just a little too much for me to deal with and retain my mental health and currently low blood pressure.

Because the Federation is so intermingled and multicultural, determining ethnic lines can be difficult and it's often a... touchy subject with the people involved, to put it mildly. Take, for instance, three children of mixed Gallentean-Sebiestor parentage. On a given census, when asked for their ethnicity, you may get something like this:

- The first identifies strongly with his Gallentean parent and heritage, and puts down "Rouvenour Gallente", despite his Minmatar heritage. He may not reject his other heritage, but will, if asked, identify as a Gallentean and a Federal.

- The second identifies strongly with his Minmatar parent and heritage, and puts down "Sebiestor", despite his Gallentean heritage.

- The third does not identify more strongly with one parent than the other, and puts down "Mixed Race (Gallentean/Sebiestor)". He considers himself a Federal first and foremost.

While inaccurately reporting information on a Federal census is technically a misdemeanor, the Federation's immense population makes that utterly unenforceable. All three individuals are of a similar appearence and genetic makeup, and they will all identify themselves as loyal Federals, but they have totally different opinions about what their ethnic heritage is. For instance, I'm technically one-quarter Gallente (my maternal grandmother), but I always identify myself as Intaki.

The issue is further muddied by the fact that "Gallentean" means a lot of different things nowadays:

- The broadest - and least accurate - definition is "any citizen of the Federation". When outsiders say "Gallentean", this is usually what they mean unless they're intentionally being more specific. This is deeply problematic as it includes people not traditionally thought of as ethnically "Gallentean", such as Caldari, Minmatar and Amarrian, and can cause confusion.

- A narrower - and similarly inaccurate - definition is "any citizen of the Federation whose primary ethnic heritage is traditionally associated with the Federation rather than somewhere else". This includes "ethnic Gallenteans" (see below), Intaki, Mannar and Jin-Mei, and not ethnicities traditionally associated with the Minmatar, Amarr or Caldari. This is less problematic but still not particularly accurate.

- A still narrower - and significantly more accurate - definition is "any citizen of the Federation whose primary ethnic heritage can be traced to any of the historical nations of Gallente Prime". This is much less problematic, and is generally what most people within the Federation (and, to their credit, the majority of the IGS) think of when the word "Gallente" or the phrase "ethnic Gallente" is used.

- The strictest possible definition is "any citizen of the Federation whose primary ethnic heritage can be traced to the historical Garoun Empire", as this is where the term "Gallente" first originated. This definition is technically the most accurate as it excludes Federal citizens with ethnic heritage traceable to places like Morthane or Castou, but it's pretty damn archaic, and its use is considered wheedling and pedantic nowadays.

I don't have recent census figures - they're mysteriously hard to find. I'm almost certain ethnic Gallente make up a plurality, but possibly not a majority. Intaki are incredibly prevalent throughout the Federation.

Things get even more interesting when you break ethnicity down by region. If anyone's interested, I could go further into that.

I will keep this thread for inspirational material when I spar later.

So if you actually look at the regions, everything starts to make a lot of sense.

Sinq Laison is the largest region in Gallente space by nearly 40 systems, by far the most populous and most certainly the commercially developed. It's also a border region that links to all three of the other empires and CONCORD space - it is also the only region in the Federation with direct stargate links to Minmatar space. If a Minmatar immigrant comes into the Federation on anything other than a jump-capable ship (and likely even if he does), he at least has to pass through Sinq Laison, even if he doesn't stop there. Sinq Laison has by far the largest immigrant population and by far the largest Minmatar immigrant population in the entire Federation. Unsurprisingly, Sinq Laison's culture is incredibly cosmopolitan. Your "one in three" figure is probably correct, but I would venture a guess that pretty close to one in three citizens of the Federation also live in Sinq Laison.

Placid is the second largest region but probably the second least populous, depending on whether census data from the northern constellations is accurate. The safer southern areas of the region are heavily populated, while colonies in the turbulent northern areas are, as a general (but not unbroken) rule, much smaller. Being the homeland of the Intaki, Intaki are unsurprisingly the single largest ethnic bloc in the region. Ethnic Gallente and Caldari immigrants make up the next two largest blocs, followed by Jin-Mei, True Amarr (curiously enough, a lot of Amarr expatriates tend to get on pretty well with the deeply spiritual Intaki) and various Minmatar bloodlines. The region is very, very slim on Mannar - traditionally, they don't tend to get on all that well with the Intaki, and Placid isn't their first choice of residence if they're changing planets.

The third largest region is Essence, and it's probably the second most populous. It contains both the home of the ethnic Gallente (in Luminaire) and the seat of Federal government (in Villore). Ethnic Gallente most certainly make up a slim majority here, and depending on census data (and the various vagaries of self-identification I touched upon in my previous post) may constitute all the way up to 70% of the population. Intaki are the second largest bloc, Jin-Mei being third, Mannar being fourth and Deteis and Civire being roughly equal at fifth and sixth respectively.

Everyshore is the fourth largest region and probably the third most populous. It contains the homeworlds of both the Mannar and Jin-Mei, but neither race holds the ethnic majority or even a plurality - that honour goes to ethnic Gallente. Jin-Mei are the second largest ethnic grouping, Intaki being third and Mannar being all the way down in fourth (which causes no end of resentment from them, let me tell you).

Verge Vendor is the second smallest region in the Federation (larger than Solitude by only one system, no less!) and its fourth most populous. Its ethnic makeup is spread fairly evenly between ethnic Gallente, Intaki and immigrants, mostly of Caldari and Minmatar origin.

Solitude is the smallest region and the least populous. Its ethnic makeup is overwhelmingly ethnic Gallente, with Amarrian immigrants (all Imperial ethnicities, grouped as one bloc) being the next largest. Note, however, that while proportionally it has the largest percentage of Amarrian immigrants of any single region in the Federation, as with all immigrant ethnicities save Civire, Sinq Laison has the largest actual population of them. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the least cosmopilitan and the most isolationist region in the Federation. Mentas Blaque is a native of Solitude, as are 15% of the Senate, which is an overwhelmingly large amount for such a small and sparsely populated region (one should note, however, that very few of the senators in question actually represent constituencies within Solitude).

A more intriguing line of questioning is "Why are there so many Matari in the Federation instead of the Republic?"

One would imagine the "call of the tribes" to return home to be a bit stronger?

That Matari would willingly face cultural assimilation and abandon their homes and their people speaks volumes about conditions in the Republic.

I am always pleased when I see Minmatar in Gallente space. I am totally agree with that they live with us. They are our strong allies and morevover, we share some ideas and aims.

The Federation is a mix of different ethnies, and this mix bring us some talents and knowledge. I come from the true Gallente bloodline, but I am open minded on the genetic mix. All together, we will be stronger than each alone !

So, welcome to all Minmatar refugees, immigrants or simple visitors !

Concerning politics, I think all people have political rights in the Federarion, ensure by our democratic system.

This is one of the most vile and overtly racist postings I've seen on the IGS in quite a while. I dare you to substantiate any of this claptrap. "Most impoverished in the galaxy"? "Breed at the pace they are...?" Prove either of these statements with hard, unbiased empirical data.

I hope that most in the State aren't as ignorant and racist as you.

My theory is that the Minmatar diaspora has simply been so extreme and so poorly documented that ethonographers just don't know where they are. Have you noticed that the Minmatar are habitually referred to as 'thirds'?

Apparently a third are enslaved. A third are in Gallente space. Possibly a third are with the Elders as Thukkers. A fourth third is probably in the Republic proper.

Perhaps some REAL studies should be done.

Interesting information here. Thank you to those who wrote out such detailed replies.