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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

What would Eurasia look like if it had been colonized and chopped up like North and South America?

Guest post by Daniel Bensen.

I can't say why. Maybe it was the Gondwanans or those pesky Martians, or some other invader entirely, but what we get is the polar opposite of the native-run North America you know and love.

Yellow is religion, Blue is language, red perceived ethnicity, Purple culture, Green trade. Looking at them all superimposed, it's easy to see the sad history of Eurasian colonization.

They came from the sea, expanding inland from coastal fortifications down rivers and sweeping across plains. Their early colonies in Southeast Asia were slow to expand, giving the natives some time to mount a resistance and force concessions. As their technology developed, however, the invaders moved faster, spreading across plains and forests, forming unstoppable cultural/economic superpowers. United as the earlier colonies were not, these states grew much larger, transforming vast tracts of land into a form that could support their burgeoning population.  The natives were killed by war, disease, starvation, and eventually simply outbred. Soon, aside from some mixed populations in Southeast Asia and some relics hiding in the desert, tundra, and mountains, all that remained of the original Eurasians were place-names, some words for animals and plants, and a few quaint local customs.

This project comes from Dan's to-be-published novel, The World's Other Side. Find out about his other projects on his website. Also find him on Twitter and Deviant art.

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Daniel M. Bensen is an English teacher and writer in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is currently preparing for publication his time-travel adventure/romance Groom of the Tyrannosaur Queen.

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