Seaborn

The Seaborn are an ethnic group that has developed in the wake of the Water Wars, climate change, and other various ecological and anthropological disasters. Not a typical ethnic group, especially in the racial sense, the term "seaborn" originally came from the hundreds of thousands of people from former Pacific island nations that were destroyed by rising sea levels. Many of the refugees became permanently settled in temporary housing in rush-constructed floating cities meant to house them. Since then, a generation has passed without the United Nations or any country doing much to aid them. The descendents of the original refugees have since become stateless, with no country willing to accept them.

Due to this, an entire society and culture has formed on these "arks". After the initial wave of Pacific islanders were settled, many people from the Middle East and Africa fled to floating refugee camps. This was largely in part due to the Water Wars and incresingly severe droughts, as well as the reluctance of the European Union to accept refugees. Currently, there are an estimated 40 million Seaborn housed in floating shantytowns and considered stateless. Over fifty floating cities ("arks") are used to house the Seaborn in poor living conditions, with an average of 80,000 people living on these arks. The remainder of the Seaborn are housed in internment camps within countries, but are still denied citizenship.

By the late 2060s, the Seaborn have developed their own culture - a combination of their origins in the Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. English is the most common language, but Arabic and a number of Polynesian languages can often be heard in Seaborn slums. Many of the Seaborn youth consider themselves members of a new nation, one unbound by traditional notions of territory or blood. Instead, this new nation reflects the shared experiences and lifestyle of its people: afloat at sea and forgotten by the world.