Talk:Vland (world)

Smelchak Note (2016)

Novel: Traveller 5th Edition Agent of the Imperium (pg. 175)

• 103-621
• Aboard BKF Korrikak Above
• Vlan 1717 Vland A967A99-C Hi Cs

Vland population during Milieu 0

The data for Vland during the timeframe of the founding of the Third Imperium (Milieu 0) is given as: B967344-A

But this indicates a population in the thousands, with a representative democracy. How is this possible? During the first and second imperial eras the population was in the billions, and it is conceivable that it may have shrunk during the centuries of the Long Night. But how can it only show a few thousand remaining at the time of Year Zero?

Then we have the Golden Age data which indicates the population is in the billions, as would be expected for a Major Race homeworld which is currently a sector capital and cultural center of the Third Imperium. But what happened in between the Second and Third imperial eras? Did the total Vland population actually drop from billions to thousands and then rebound? Or is there a more likely explanation?

The only way i can imagine the population and government data being correct for Year Zero is if we hypothesize that the numbers are not "all-inclusive". So for example, perhaps the thousands of sophonts in a representative democracy were merely a subclass of the overall global population, such as the elite ruling castes. In this hypothetical situation, there might have been a few thousand nobles (with a government which was "representative democracy" for them, but not applicable to the rest of the populace) while the true total population continued to be in the billions, but was not reported in the census data there. Would that make sense? Or does anybody have further clues from the Vilani source material, or any better hypotheses for how to reconcile the very strange Milieu 0 data for Vland's population and government classifications?

KevinHutchins (talk) 15:45, 11 March 2024 (EDT)