DF World: Do non-humans have their own countries?

[khorboth]

Other examples:

In Krynn (Dragonlance), the human lands all have minorities of the non-human races, but the non-human lands are basically void of humans. In a few cases, this is explained by xenophobia or by extreme border defenses, but mostly it makes no real sense. It's just The Way of Things in dungeon fantasy.

In the fantasy world I've put the most time into, Cosmia, my halflings have an innate magic which allows them to run atop grass if they desire. This makes them uniquely suited to defending the grasslands in the broad river valley they call home as they can combine stealth and maneuverability like no other troops. Still, their vastly inferior numbers would be no match for either of the human-led kingdoms on their borders. Fortunately, both kingdoms also acknowledged that the halflings are superior farmers and they don't want to tangle with each other. Clever halfling were able to negotiate a treaty guaranteeing the existence of the independent halfling state and generous trade with both human kingdoms.

In a segment of Forgotten Realms I'm much less familiar with, the Shining South, I understand there's an entire kingdom of half-elves. Half-drow even. If the non-humans can breed with humans and breed true, there's no reason why they couldn't form a population of their own.

Another idea is to look at the racial template and think about where they might be most suited to live. If a race has Darkvision and lives underground, then humans won't get along well in their cities. Likewise, a race with Perfect Balance which lives in high mountains is unlikely to have cities comfortable to outsiders. The standard DF templates have nothing so extreme (that I remember) so this approach might just give them countries where their armies have distinct advantages in defense, but foreign traders still come to ply their trade.