Franquese in the Ardisphere

Franquese-Ardispherians are Ardispherians of Franquese descent. They have had a significant role as an immigrant group in the Ardisphere from the middle colonial period, and today they form a minority of about 2% of the country's total population, although there are many more Ardispherians (perhaps more than 7%) who can claim at least one Franquese ancestor, given the long history the group has had in the region and the significant mixing that is inevitable over time.

History

There is a long history of Franquese as traders and settlers in the Ardsiphere, especially in the central north, in Departamento Boreal (DB).

Most Franquese settlers arrived in a wave of migration in the early 1700s from the Franquese colonies in northwest Archanta, where the modern nations of Lorredion and Surricy lie. They were Franquese-speaking but ethnic minorities fleeing persecution and economic disadvantage, and were invited by the Castellanese colonial rulers of the Ardisphere to settle the interior far north of the country as a counter-balance to the restless Domudu natives, who were in open revolt against the Castellanese at that point.

The main area for Franquese colonisation was around the Lac Mojique (Lago Moyica). The Franquese immigrants established farms and plantations throughout the Lac Mojique area.

Languages

The Franquese language was already evolving into a distinct dialect among the various Franquese colonies in northwest Archanta, but the group that ended up settling around Lac Mojique was even more notable for some unusual dialectical traits.

Communities

The largest centers of Franquese-speaking culture in the modern Ardisphere are the towns of Mojique, DB (also called Ste-Anne and Moyica) and Arbanville, DB, both in Comuna Moyica, DB (map), the only 2nd-level political division in the country where Franquese is the majority language, and thus "official" there due to the rights granted by the Ardispherian constitution.

There are also notable Franquese-speaking neighborhoods in larger cities farther south, including Capital Boreal, DB and Bahía de la Jacaranda, DB, as well as much farther south in the national capital, Villa Constitución, DF.

Franquese-Ardispherians often refer to themselves as "Surrizaños," (Surriçains/Surriçainnes) with pride. The origin of the term was due to many of them coming from Surricy, and originally was viewed as an insult, but over the last 100 years it has become a badge of pride among the members of the community.

Notable Ardispherians of Franquese Descent

• Teodoro Bettencourt, businessman
• Dionisio Châteauguay, educator and founder of the premier Franquese-language university in the Ardisphere, now called the Universidad Châteauguay (locations in Villa Constitución and Arbanville)
• Luciano Doon d'Orange, philosopher and author.
• Trajano du Quesne, scientist
• Matías Leveque, politician, early leader of Surrizaño community
• Partenio St-Pierre, businessman, founder of Licores Don Tañan
• Sansón St-Pierre, politician and popular governor of Departamento del Centro (DC) in the 1950's, perennial candidate for the presidency in the same era
• Verónica Vieulle, businesswoman