Even smaller than gnomes, halflings are a peaceful race, practical and comfort-loving. Most of them live in halfling villages in the west, but some do live in mixed settlements with other races. They are usually farmers, keeping a few pigs, cattle, or sheep on the side.
Halflings are organized into large, extended families, each family headed by a senior member. The familes band together into villages. The village has a Chief, who is really Chief Redistributor. The Chief collects a progressive tax from the village, and uses it to smooth social inequities, as well as for infrastructure, schools, the militia, etc. The Chief is also responsible for any official dealings with the outside world. A good Chief is one who convinces the outside world to leave them in peace.
Halflings are basically monogamous, marrying for life. The sexes are socially equals, but work is divided into usually-male (field work, war, etc.) and usually-female (gardening, child care, etc.).
Halflings do not have an organized religion. They are happy enough to be the adoptive children of Zaole, and leave it at that. Women keep small green snakes as pets, but as much from tradition as devotion to the deity.
Each village does have a small temple of Zaole, complete with a cleric, who mostly wanders around getting invited to dinners, but also Says Words for things like births, namings, marriages, and funerals. The occasional halfling may be found serving in a temple of Ormaz. Halfling druids live on the fringes of halfling society. They are regarded with suspicion, but people ask them in to bless their fields anyway.
Halflings generally get along well with outsiders, in a low-key way. They follow the laws of whatever kingdom they happen to be in, paying their taxes in time and sending a company of archers if called upon tobattle.
Export: mostly agricultural products. Beer. Tobacco (a northern variety that grows in colder climates). Grain. Livestock.
Import: some manufactured products. Exotic spices.
Halflings speak their own language, which in the distant past shared an ancestor with Koine. It uses the same alphabet as Koine.
Halflings get named when they are a month old, and pretty much stick with that name for life. This consists of a long personal name (which gets shortened for daily use) and a family name.
Male personal names:
Female personal names:
Family names:
Other borrowed material: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, of course. I don't care what they say, Tolkien invented this race.