Conventions used in the Lands database

The maps used in this database come from a series of maps developed in the city of Cancwame in during the gt1180s; based on satellite photographs, they represent the best knowledge we currently have of the geography of the continent.

Longitudinal measurements

Longitudinal measurements follow the Grand Treaty and Vreski Imperial standards (not the Telik standard, which set the meridian 14.83° to the east of the others). This has the unfortunate effect of placing the datum line (180°E/W) through the continental landmass of Ewlah. Thus cities in the western and central parts of the continent have eastern coordinates, while those in the east have western coordinates.

While a number of attempts have been made to rectify this situation, failure to agree on the positioning of a new meridian line means that most people continue to use the old standards; hopefully this situation will be rectified in the near future, if only because of the ongoing astronomical work being carried out in the observatories in the Land of Pesane - a consensus has recently been building that the new meridian should pass across the peak of Mt. Zeene.

Calendars

For the sake of sanity, most dates in this database are given in the Grand Treaty calendar (gt), or the Falah Standard calendar (fs) for older dates. More information on calendars used across Ewlah can be found on calendars and dating systems page of this website.

Orthographic conventions

The names of cities and geographical features are given in the Gevey language, using the Cancwame orthography - the Gevey language uses its own writing system natively, leading to the development of a number of competing systems for rendering the language into the Cheidran alphabet. The Pidome orthography used on the Gevey language web pages, which is the preferred system used in universities across the Gevey speaking Lands, differs in a number of significant ways from the Cancwame orthography used in this section of the Encyclopaedia.