in order to survive. Gibraltar, Ulster, and Prince Edward Island all survived and swore loyalty to the British government; along with the new British colonies in Europe and North Africa, this led to a rebirth of the British Empire. Other parts of Europe also survived the Change and prospered. Surviving parts of Scandinavia formed the nation of Norrland and divided Western Europe with Britain along the old German border. Parts of Ireland besides Ulster survived, including the Republic of the Shannon and, in the north, the Republic of Ireland (Provisional), called "Provoland"—a fanatical Republican entity. In Italy, three nations arose out of the Change: Venice, Sicily and the Umbrian League. Not much is known of Eastern Europe, though it has been reported it had a better survival rate than Western Europe. Comments by the author suggest that Greek survivors from Cyprus become a power in the region, repopulating the fertile Egyptian Delta and the Levantine Coasts. Russia apparently regressed into a handful of rural kingdoms, including one based around Belograd, with the Cossacks and Tatars thriving. Pope John Paul II died in the Vatican at the time of the Change, instead of surviving until 2005, as in our timeline, but Cardinal Ratzinger fled to Umbria, where connections with the worldwide Roman Catholic church were reestablished and he was still elected Pope, as in our timeline – and his pontificate lasts until 2022 (by coincidence, the real Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI lived up to that date but had resigned in 2013 for health reasons). Perhaps the greatest post-Change success of the Roman Catholic Church was reunification with the Church of England, which led to the crowning of the British monarch (William V) as Emperor of the West. For a time, Europe was threatened by raids from pirates out of the Canary Islands, supported by the Emir of Dakar. A coalition of European nations joined together to retake the Canary Islands and destroy their bases on mainland Africa. Merchants from Astoria and Newport traded at several ports in Asia, including one named New Singapore. Areas of China that survived came under attack by mounted hordes from the Mongolian steppe. India devolved to a fervently nationalistic northeastern state called Hinduraj, with smaller populations surviving south in the Deccan. Parts of South America apparently survived, given that Cardinals from there participated in the election of the new Pope. Sicily colonized Libya, while Greater Britain established