Monsilvan Kivuians
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 5,489,878 (2022) 8.77% of the total population of Kivu (2022) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
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| Related ethnic groups | |
Monsilvan Kivuians (Kivuian: Monsilvische Kivuer; Monsilvan: 山国裔基伍人; Shaoyunese: サﾝヲｸ エｵ キウヤﾝ; Luhainese: 山國裔基武人) are Kivuians that are of full or partial Monsilvan descent. As of 2022, there were 5,489,878 people of Monsilvan (including Shaoyunese and Luhainese) descent living in Kivu, most reside in Kivu's western states (Kivuian: staats), although approximately 8% (around 454,088) live in Landerberge.
Kivuians who identified as being of Monsilvan ethnic orgin, made up 8.77%, or about 5.49 million people as of the 2020 population census
History
Merchants and sailors that came aboard trading vessels in the early eighteenth-century were the first documented Monsilvans in Kivu. From the early eighteenth century until the 1960s, there were less than 5,000 people of Monsilvan descent living in Kivu.
In 1962, then prime minister Liang Huiqing was assassinated, so his deputy, Shao Yaoting, took over the premiership. Under Shao, Monsilva became an increasingly authoritarian nation, with widespread corruption and military brutality. During this timeframe, Monsilva's economy began to fail, causing widespread economic hardship. The economic decline, in addition to the increasing restriction of both civil and political rights, caused many Monsilvans to immigrate to other countries, including Kivu.
Protests against Monsilva's government began increasing in both frequency and intensity in the late 1960s and early 70s, leading to the start of the Monsilvan Revolution in 1972. As a result, the number of Monsilvans immigrating to Kivu increased significantly. In 1970, there were 26,721 Monsilvans living in Kivu, by 1975 there were over 200,000 Monsilvans living in Kivu.
The 1944-1948 Kivuian protests, which had also been caused by economic decline and decreasing civil and political rights during president Leonhardt Nagel's tenure from 1930-1948, eventually led to the 1948 Coup d'état. In addition to a strained relationship with Shao's government, it led to Kivu supporting the protests against the Monsilvan government when they broke out in 1972.
In April 1978, as tensions between the Monsilvan Revolutionary Army (MRA) and the Monsilvan government escalated, following the public execution of Lin Bolin on 15 April 1978, Kivu's government began supporting protesters against the Monsilvan government and the MRA, primarily with funding and assistance from the Kivuian Security and Intelligence Service (SUN). The SUN maintained networks of informants with protesters and within the MRA, and assisted them in anti-government activities. In addition, the SUN also provided non-violent equipment, and would later coordinate the smuggling of protest leaders out of Monsilva during Operation Greenbird. By June 1978, there were an estimated 456,000 Monsilvans living in Kivu.
Protests would last until October 1978, when the MRA and its supporters invaded the Monsilvan parliament building, arrested several political leaders, including Shao, and created a temporary government that would oversee the creation of the Monsilvan Republic.
1978-Present
In 1979, the Kivuian Parliament passed the Monsilvan Refugees Rights Act, which established Monsilvans as an ethnic group recognized by the Kivuian government and gave Monsilvans the same rights as other non-Kivuian ethnic groups. The act also established an expedited process for refugees of the Monsilvan Revolution to apply for Kivuian citizenship, provided they passed the necessary security requirements, such as background checks.
Following the establishment of the Monsilvan Republic in 1978, the numbers of Monsilvans immigrating to Kivu dropped dramatically from a rate of over 200,000 Monsilvans entering Kivu in 1977, to around 20,000 in 1982.
Racism towards Monsilvan Kivuians peaked in 1982 after Meinard Weber, a police officer in the Buchthafen Police Department, shot and killed 23-year-old Su Huiqing outside an abandoned building in Buchthafen. Weber claimed that Huiqing was trespassing on the property and had refused to follow his orders. However, witnesses stated that they had not heard Weber say anything before firing his gun. In 1984, Weber was sentenced to life in-prison for the incident. This incident sparked peaceful protests against police brutality by Monsilvan Kivuians and many sympathetic Kivuians. Counter-protesters, particularly supporters of then Conservative Party presidential candidate, Gerlach Blau, who claimed that "This incident is another example of why Monsilvans in Kivu should be deported back to their homeland", turned some of the protests violent especially in the city of Wehye in Nahmer.
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 4,526 | — |
| 1960 | 7,653 | +69.1% |
| 1970 | 26,721 | +249.2% |
| 1980 | 334,354 | +1151.3% |
| 1990 | 1,154,662 | +245.3% |
| 2000 | 2,658,477 | +130.2% |
| 2010 | 3,729,434 | +40.3% |
| 2020 | 4,967,538 | +33.2% |
4,967,538 (6.45% of Kivu's population) Kivuian residents reported that they had Monsilvan ancestry, according to the 2020 population census. Monsilvan Kivuians are the third-largest ethnic group (after Kivuians and Jackian Kivuians) in Kivu.
The distribution of Monsilvan Kivuians in Kivu varies significantly across the country, traditionally most have lived in Kivu's western staats, particularly Buchthafen, Brenawald, and Landenmeer. However, beginning in the 1990s, many Monsilvan Kivuians began moving to Landerberge, particularly to the city of Altenberg. Between 1990 and 2000, the population of Monsilvan Kivuians in Landerberge grew from 67,456 to 187,319, and in 2022 454,088 lived in Landerberge. Cities that have had noticeable increases in their Monsilvan Kivuian population since 1990 include Trokgas (312%), Ahalebên (178%), and Donarwasser (162%).
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Monsilvan Kivuian centers of population
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According to estimates from the 2020 population census, 73.4% of Monsilvan Kivuians live in urban areas, with the Buchthafen metropolitan area, which includes the city of Buchthafen, being the largest with 562,053 Monsilvan Kivuians. Other large centers of population in western Kivu include Söhlde, Trokgas (282,629), Nordhaven, Donarwasser (241,546), and Anderköste, Landenmeer (203,857).
Altenberg, Landerberge is the largest Monsilvan Kivuian center of population in eastern Kivu, and the fastest growing center of population in Kivu as of the 2020 census. Altenberg had a population of approximately 104,624 Monsilvan Kivuians as of the 1990 population census, by the 2000 population census the population had grown to 194,896, and by 2020 the population had grown to 425,373 Monsilvan Kivuians.
Buchthafen has been the fastest growing Monsilvan Kivuian center of population in western Kivu since the 1980 population census. Although Aurich, Ahalebên, has been the second-fastest growing since the 2005 population census, growing from a population of 38,372 Monsilvan Kivuians, to 312,511 in 2020.
Health
In 2022, the average life expectancy for Monsilvan Kivuians was 72.7 years for males, and 75.3 years for females, both of which are slightly lower than the average life expectancy of Monsilvans living in Monsilva, and ethnic Kivuians.
Monsilvan Kivuians have a fertility rate of 2.0 births per women, and a birth rate of 14 babies per thousand citizens, both of which are slightly higher than the fertility and birth rates of other ethnic groups in Kivu.
Prior to 1995, Monsilvan Kivuians were not included in Kivu's universal healthcare scheme. In 1995, the Kivuian Parliament narrowly passed a resolution adding Monsilvan Kivuians that had become citizens through either the traditional process, or the expedited process offered to refugees of the 1978 Jingtianmen Square protests and massacre, to the nation's healthcare system.
Langauges
A variety of languages exist in Monsilva, and so Monsilvan immigrants who come to Kivu bring these multiple languages with them. The vast majority of Monsilvan Kivuians speak the standard Monsilvan spoken throughout all of Monsilva. However, there are still noticeable minorities of Monsilvan Kivuians who speak Luhainese and Shaoyunese. The language is an important aspect of Monsilvan culture, and immigrants from Monsilva encourage their families to continue using Monsilvan at home and with their families, despite them mostly using Kivuian in their everyday lives. Around 95% of first-generation Monsilvan immigrants in Kivu speak Monsilvan, while around 65% of Kivu-born Monsilvans speak Monsilvan. Around 98% of Kivu-born Monsilvans speak Kivuian, but only around 30% use it as the main language at home.
In areas with larger populations of Monsilvan Kivuians, particularly cities, certain Monsilvan words and phrases have made their way into the everyday speech of both Monsilvan Kivuians themselves, but also ethnic Kivuians and other resident ethnic groups. This has taken place particularly amongst school-age children, who form slang in Kivuian using Monsilvan words and phrases. This has happened in more extreme cases, where Monsilvan words and phrases have been used in Kivuian speech for so long that they have entered the language as a standard. The most common variety of loaning in Kivuian, is where a phrase or word's semantics are borrowed, but the words are Kivuian. An example of this is the word Gehirnwäsche (meaning "brainwash") which comes from the Monsilvan 洗脑 (Xǐnǎo, literally "wash brain") which was a term used by members of the Monsilvan Revolutionary Army and other dissidents during the Monsilvan Revolution to refer to sympathisers of Shao Yaoting's regime and became used more widespread in Kivu and Jackson after and during the 1978 Jingtianmen Square protests and massacre and Operation Greenbird.
Religion
The majority of Monsilvan Kivuians report to have no religious affiliation. Of those who have reported to be affiliated with a religion, around 24% have switched to another religion from the religion they grew up with. A significant majority of Monsilvan Kivuians above the age of 60 report to be affiliated with Monsilvan folk religion, with many specifying Taoism or Confucianism. The next most common religion within the Monsilvan Kivuian community is Buddhism. In a survey of just under 10,000 Monsilvan Kivuians, 76% of those who have converted or are unaffiliated said they still follow some family traditions which originate from their original religion.
Religious holidays and celebrations such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Monsilvan New Year are widely celebrated amongst the Monsilvan Kivuian community, irrespective of religion. The separation between the holiday celebrations and their religious background has allowed these celebrations to become a part of the wider Kivuian culture, with many non-Monsilvan Kivuians also taking part in some celebrations of Monsilvan New Year.
Politics
Monsilvan Kivuians historically have voted for center to center-left political parties. First-generation immigrants directly from Monsilva that immigrated to Kivu before 2005 have traditionally voted for the Center Party of Kivu. While first generation immigrants that migrated to Kivu after 2005 have voted for the Democratic Party of Kivu. Second-generation, and younger Monsilvan Kivuians typically vote for the Democratic Party or the Democratic Socialist Party of Kivu. A study by the Monsilvan Kivuian Rights Association, found that a high of 35% of Monsilvan Kivuians under the age of 40 voted for the Democratic Party, while the Democratic Socialist Party received 27% of the vote and the Center Party 19%, almost the exact opposite of those over 40.
Beginning with the 1974 Kivuian Parliamentary Elections and lasting until the 1990 Kivuian Presidential Election, the majority of Monsilvan Kivuians voted for the Center Party, 52% in the 1974 election, and a peak of 61% in the 1984 Kivuian Parliamentary Elections.
Throughout the 1985, the 1989, and the 1990 elections, several of the Center Party's candidates publically supported anti-immigration policies, including policies that targeted Monsilvans immigrating to Kivu from Monsilva. That, combined with an increasing number of second-generation Monsilvan Kivuians being eligible to vote, led to a decline of the Center Party's popularity among Monsilvan Kivuians. In the 1994 Kivuian Parliamentary Elections, in which 42.3% of Monsilvan Kivuians voted for the Democratic Party, compared to 38.2% for the Center Party, and in the 1995 Kivuian Presidential Election 44.2% voted for the Democratic Party Candidate, Heino Frank.
The first Monsilvan Kivuian to run in a federal election was Lei Hong from Detern, Brenawald, who unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the Center Party in the 1999 Kivuian Parliamentary Elections. Song Honghui was the first Monsilvan Kivuian to successfully run for a political office, when he became a member of the Brenawald State Parliament in the 2003 Brenawald State Parlimentary Elections. In 2010, Chang Teufel became the first Monsilvan Kivuian candidate for president, when he became the Democratic Party's candidate for president in the 2010 Kivuian Presidential Election. As of 2023, Tian Jianyu, Hao Koch, Tillo Zhaohui, Agna Qiu, Jiang Lijuan, and Lei Meirong are currently serving as members of parliament in the Federal Parliament of Kivu. A Monsilvan Kivuian is yet to successfully win an election for president, chancellor, or staat chancellor.
Socioeconomics
Educational attainment
Generally, when compared to other ethno-racial demographic groups in Kivu, Monsilvan Kivuians have higher educational attainment rates and above-average rates of academic achievement rates. They are more likely to apply to competitively elite, prestigious and higher-ranked education institutions than other ethno-racial demographic groups. Although language ability and verbal scores tend to be lower due to new immigrants and drastic differences between Kivuian and the native language of most Monsilvan Kivuians, scores in more science and mathematics oriented subjects are often above-average.
This increased academic achievement amongst Monsilvan Kivuians is often positively attributed to Monsilva's meritocratic traditions and family traditions of pride based on income and educational achievement. It is also occasionally criticized to be a result of familial pressure, exaggerated punishment for not achieving a desired academic attainment and an unhealthy work ethic brought on by social pressure. Mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety, amongst school-aged Monsilvan Kivuians tends to be more common than other ethno-racial demographic groups.
Choice of institution
Monsilvan international students and Monsilvan Kivuians are generally more prestige-oriented and brand name conscious when it comes to choosing nationally ranked elite higher education institutes due to cultural differences and socioeconomic factors. Many Monsilvan Kivuians are pressured by their families to return to Monsilva for higher education, going to universities such as Central Amking University and the University of Luhai, however this trend has noticeably decreased since the 2010s.
Area of study
Monsilvan Kivuians and Monsilvan international students are far more involved in technical and scientific majors such as engineering, computer science and mathematics in comparison to social sciences and humanities. This is a result of cultural factors and increased parental involvement and family preferences when a student is choosing what university majors to pursue. The value of pursuing a STEM-focused education is constantly increasing in importance and this high regard often results in a perceived greater worth and long-term benefits in terms of lifetime educational, career, and financial returns on investment into obtaining a degree.
Although the proportion of Monsilvan Kivuian students taking STEM versus social sciences and humanities is still heavily in favor of STEM, the proportions are balancing out as younger Monsilvan Kivuian families abandon these traditions. This trend can also be seen in Monsilva, and native Monsilvans, particularly older generations, who tend to be more in favor of the traditions, often attribute the trend to overseas Monsilvans such as Monsilvan Kivuians.
Employment
Perceptions and change
The perception of Monsilvan Kivuians has changed significantly over time. In the middle of the 20th century, many Monsilvan Kivuians were perceived as uneducated and were often associated with organized crime thanks to the taidu who would often take advantage of the economic struggles facing many Monsilvan Kivuian families and induct them into their organizations. However, as the power and effect of the taidu began waning in the 1970s and 80s, this perception of Monsilvan Kivuians became gradually less common.
During the Monsilvan Revolution in the 1970s, the perception of Monsilvan Kivuians became significantly more positive in Kivu as news coverage of events such as the Jingtianmen Square massacre started a wave of sympathy amongst Kivuians for the protesters and victims. After the establishment of the Monsilvan Republic in 1978, which became a strong ally of Kivu, perception of Monsilvan Kivuians amongst the Kivuian population continued to increase. Over time, Monsilvan Kivuians have become associated with their high educational attainment and positions in occupations in fields such as engineering, medicine, finance, law and academia.
Monsilvan Kivuians are often associated with medical occupations due to their generally high incomes and educational requirements, and the pressures of Monsilvan Kivuian families for their children to enter the medical field. Monsilvan Kivuians account for the third-largest ethno-racial group in the medicine industry. The technology and finance industries also have a large proportion of Monsilvan Kivuians.
Economics
The wealth of Monsilvan Kivuians varies by region. In suburban areas, they tend to be amongst the middle and upper classes, as their above average educational attainment rates have allowed them to elevate their socioeconomic status. They tend to have higher wellbeing relative to many other ethno-racial groups in Kivu. In more urban and rural areas, however, Monsilvan Kivuians are not necessarily as successful. Many still live in poverty, with their families having struggled economically after arriving in Kivu and have been unable to lift themselves out of poverty.
Despite the positive economic indicators, the Monsilvan Kivuian community has still been faced with numerous economic deterrents, particularly in the past, such as institutionalized discrimination against workers of Monsilvan Kivuian descent. Monsilvan Kivuians working in blue collar jobs have been found to face noticeably more discrimination and longer periods of unemployment than those working in STEM and in white collar jobs.
Notable Monsilvan Kivuians
- Otto Chen, professional yuchio player.
- Lai Chunhua, professional yuchio player.
- Lei Hong (20 January 1954 – 11 July 2020), politician, first Monsilvan Kivuian to run for political office at the federal level.
- Song Honghui, politician, first Monsilvan Kivuian to successfully run for political office at state level, and former of the Bundesparlament (1994-1999).
- Tian Jianyu, politician, current member of the Bundesparlament from Buchthafen.
- Jochim Liu, professional kivuian gridiron player.
- Gao Shunyuan, newspaper journalist, and founder and chief editor of the Monsilvan-Kivuian Times.
- Chang Teufel, politician for Kivu's Democratic Party, first Monsilvan Kivuian presidential candidate.
- Markus Ying, professional basketball player.
- Tao Yong, Monsilvan civil rights activist who fled to Kivu, and later served in the Landenmeer Staatparlament.
- Stephan Xiaowen,
- Cai Xiu, former mayor of Detern, first female Monsilvan Kivuian mayor.
- Emilie Zhenzhen, professional yuchio player.
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Lei Hong, first Monsilvan Kivuian to run in a federal election. -
Tao Yong, Monsilvan civil rights activist who fled to Kivu, and later served in the Landenmeer Staatparlament
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