Note: this page covers the Standalone version of DayZ; for information on the Mod, see Mod:Chernarus.
| Chernarus | ||
|---|---|---|
| Чернарусь | ||
| "Black Rus" | ||
 | ||
| Flag of Chernarus | ||
| General | ||
| Capital | Novigrad | |
| Official Language | Czech, Russian | |
| President | Petr Černý | |
| Area | About 5450 km² | |
| Population | Pre-Outbreak: 3,000,000 Chernarussians 800,000 Russians Post-Outbreak: Below 1,000 (if not even less) | |
| Overview | ||
| Map of Chernarus | ||
Chernarus is a fictional Former-Soviet Republic nation in DayZ Standalone based on the popular Chernarus map from ARMA II.
Chernarus was established as a typical former-soviet republic, that was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Chernarus landscape consisted of mostly rural areas, with few larger cities. The capital of Chernarus is Novigrad. Players can not travel to Novigrad but there is a map of all of Chernarus showing Novigrad in the bottom left hand corner of the map. Players currently play in the most North Eastern region called South Zagoria. At present, it is infested with mindless zombies and the survivors who aim to prevent succumbing to their attacks. The map of said country in the Standalone is called Chernarus+.
History
The first settlements in the area date back to 5th Century B.C. When the valleys of the Burnaja and Svetlaya rivers were inhabited by Skyth tribes and nomads, who later formed the Takmyr and Karzeg nations. The center of modern Chernarus had been founded in the delta of the Burnaya River and on the coast, divided from the Zagorie region which was under the supremacy of a Moscow Principate by the Black Mountains ridge.[1]
The local Slavic population constantly had to fight off the raiders from the southwest so it was traditionally bound with Russia, but always kept its independence. In the 12th Century it was controlled by dukes, in the 13th century it was united by Taras Kozub. The Kozub dynasty ruled until 1631, when Chernarus joined the Russian empire. After the revolution in 1917 Chernarus became an Soviet Socialist Republic, after the demise of the USSR in 1991 it gained independence.[2]
After regaining its independence, Chernarus was established as a Republic and it's Army took possession of former Soviet military installations and stockpiles. In 2009, it suffered from a Civil War that left the country in turmoil, forcing it to seek help from NATO.[3]
The civil war was caused by the mass amounts of communist supported groups that were popping up in the region. The communist revolutionary movement was known as the Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star, or Chedaki for short. After the movement spread across almost all of South Zagoria and some parts of Chernarus, the Russian Federation was involved later after the ChDKZ staged a bombing in Red Square in Moscow, Russia killing dozens. The Russian government was fooled into thinking it was the Nationalist Party or NAPA that did the bombing, this led to the presence of Russian troops in the very north of South Zagoria and gave excessive amounts of weapons to the ChDKZ, this led to the Civil war of 2009 and the whole region of South Zagoria broke into turmoil and death. The United Nations were sent into the southern parts of South Zagoria and parts of Novigrad. The remnants of the political party of the republic were stationed at Miroslavl' and Novigrad.
Outbreak
Not much is known about the Zombie outbreak in Chernarus, but somewhere at the beginning of the 21st century the inhabitants of the country began to turn into zombies probably due to a disease or a similar biological reason.
Interestingly in many places around Chernarus garbage bags marked as toxic waste can be found primarily in civilian areas.
Toxic Waste
At the same time military troops of the Chernarus Defense Force, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the United Nations were in Chernarus. If the reason for this was the outbreak or a prior/coincidental civil war is not known. Regardless these soldiers couldn't stop the zombie hordes and were slowly overrun with even heavy weapons like tanks being destroyed or abandoned. The military tried to contain the outbreak and organised the systematic disposal of corpses (as can be seen at Kamensk Military Base).
Remains of a military convoy
Remains of a military convoy
Post-Outbreak
After the outbreak the local military and civilian defenses were overwhelmed and disintegrated. All inhabitants either fled the country, were turned into zombies or roam the desolated area as survivors. The lawlessness led to rise in Banditry.
Geography
Chernarus is located in peninsula with the sea on the eastern and southern borders and consists of multiple hills and mountains, valleys and even a few islands. It has a rugged yet verdant environment of rolling hills, covered by dense forests and deep valleys, hidden in forested ridges or on elevated plateaus with lush meadows. Its valleys conceal quaint rural villages connected by barely perceptible dirt tracks, while its coastlines support sprawling industrial cities with wide roads and rail networks.
Chernarus has the typical climate of an Eastern European country. It has a fairly diverse vegetation with multiple useful plants and its wildlife consists of former domesticated species and different wild animals.
Chernarus is divided into three sections: North Trikani, South Zagoria, and Central Kopec.
For a detailed description of the different landmarks see the following articles:
- Sea, Coast and Waters
- Hills and Mountains
- Fields and Forests
Politics and Economy
Chernarus produced multiple natural resources like wood and different mining products, which can be seen in the different factories especially the lumber mill in Berezino or the quarry in Solnichniy.
Infrastructure
The country has a developed network of roads and streets, but only a few are asphalt or even two-lane streets.
Chernarus has only one Power Plant, located in Elektrozavodsk. Multiple Power Lines stretch out from it all over Chernarus.
The country also had its own Chernarus Fire Department.
Most rivers are also regulated by different dams.
Towns and Cities
There are five major coastal towns:
- Chernogorsk
- Elektrozavodsk
- Solnichniy
- Berezino
- Svetlojarsk
Major towns off the coast include:
There are many more smaller towns, villages, villas, etc. In addition multiple castles can be found.
Police and Military
Before the outbreak Chernarus had a strong presence of Police and Defense Force. There were multiple Military Bases in Chernarus, but with the zombie outbreak even more temporary Military Camps were founded.
For a full list see these articles:
Culture
The most prominent religion was the Eastern Orthodox Church identifiable by the multiple churches in Chernarus.
Map
The map of South Zagoria, Chernarus in DayZ Standalone is expanded and overhauled compared to the DayZ Mod. To differentiate the maps it was titled Chernarus+.
Full Map Chernarus
Warning: The following image is just a fictional map of where Chernarus is located, but it is known that it is somewhere in the Caucasus Mountains from the Arma II trailer, which shows a camera panning into the Caucasus Mountains. The second image is fictional to DayZ, and shows Several cities that can be seen from the map and multiple rivers flowing down to the Green Sea past the capital of Novigrad, Chernarus. The peninsula that forms Chernarus and Takistan is fictional and was the first map speculation created by GavinskyTV.
Trivia
- The Chernarussian landscape is based heavily on the Czech Republic, the home country of the developer. The geography, roads and major landmarks of Chernarus are modeled after the municipality of Povrly and surrounding areas. Elektrozavodsk is modeled after Povrly, Solnichniy after Dobkovice, Berezino after Malšovice, and so forth.[4]
- The Republic of Chernarus is majored by the nationalistic political party.
References
- ^ fictional history of Chernarus that was the setting for both ArmA II and DayZ design. Based on the assumption that DayZ takes place in a branching timeline after the Events of Arma2.
- ^ Building Chernarus: Where DayZ's World Came From.