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| {{WIP}} | | {{Region_icon_Ajax}}{{wip}}{{Infobox country |
| {{Region_icon_Ajax}} | | |native_name = ⴰⵊⴰⵎⵀⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ</br>''Ajamhurya n Charnea'' |
| {{Infobox country | | |common_name = Charnea |
| | conventional_long_name = Charnean Confederation | | |conventional_long_name = Republic of Charnea |
| |native_name = Charnea | | |image_flag = CharFlag.svg |
| |common_name = Charnea | |
| |image_flag = CharFlag.png | |
| |alt_flag = | | |alt_flag = |
| |image_coat = | | |image_coat = CharSeal.svg |
| |alt_coat = | | |alt_coat = |
| |symbol_type = Emblem | | |symbol_type = Seal |
| |national_motto = ''Under the Sun and our Banner'' | | |national_motto = |
| |national_anthem = [[Charnean National Anthem|Song of Eight Nations]] | | |national_anthem = |
| |royal_anthem = | | |royal_anthem = |
| |other_symbol_type = | | |other_symbol_type = |
| |other_symbol = | | |other_symbol = |
| |image_map = Charnea_location.png | | |image_map = CHARMAPLOWRES.png |
| |map_width = 275px | | |map_width = 275px |
| |alt_map = | | |alt_map = |
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| |map_caption2 = | | |map_caption2 = |
| |capital = [[Agnannet]] | | |capital = [[Agnannet]] |
| |largest_city = [[Koros]] | | |largest_city = [[Agnannet]] |
| |official_languages = | | |official_languages = ''None'' |
| |national_languages = {{wp|Tamashek}} | | |national_languages = {{nowrap|{{wp|Tamashek}} (de facto)}} |
| |regional_languages = {{wp|Zaghawa language|Beriaa}} <br> {{wp|Kanuri language|Yerwa}} <br> {{wp|Awjila language|Tawilant}} <br> {{wp|Zarma language|Djerma}} <br> {{wp|Siwi language|Siwi}} | | |regional_languages = {{wp|Egyptian language|Randeshret}}<br/>{{wp|Tamahaq}}<br/>{{wp|Tawellemmet}}<br/>{{wp|Maghrebi Arabic|Darja}} |
| |languages_type = | | |languages_type = |
| |languages = | | |languages = |
| |ethnic_groups = [[Charnea#Demographics|See Ethnicity]] | | | ethnic_groups = {{unbulleted list |
| |ethnic_groups_year = 2019 | | | 62.9% [[Tenerians]]<br>{{nowrap| '''∟'''51.8% [[Tenerians#Kel_A.C9.A3rem|Kel Aɣrem]]}}<br>{{nowrap| '''∟'''11.1% [[Tenerians#Kel_Ajama|Kel Ajama]]}} |
| | | 15.4% [[Deshrians]] |
| | | 13.8% {{wp|Arabs|Gharibs}} |
| | | 3.6% {{wp|Zarma people|Zarma}} |
| | | 2.1% {{wp|Toubou people|Tebu}} |
| | | 1.2% [[Chamals]] |
| | | 1.0% Other |
| | }} |
| | |ethnic_groups_year = 2024 |
| |demonym = Charnean | | |demonym = Charnean |
| |government_type = Elective Tribal Federation | | |government_type = {{wp|Unitary states|Unitary}} {{wp|Stratocracy|stratocratic}} {{wp|republic}} |
| |leader_title1 = [[Amenukal of Charnea|Amenukal]] | | |leader_title1 = Amizar |
| |leader_name1 = [[Martuf ag Lamine]] | | |leader_name1 = [[Khyar Aziouel]] |
| |leader_title2 = [[Executor of Charnea|Executrix]] | | |legislature = [[Agraw Itkar]] |
| |leader_name2 = [[Kubra ult Lamine]]
| |
| |legislature = Great Convocation
| |
| |upper_house = | | |upper_house = |
| |lower_house = | | |lower_house = |
| |sovereignty_type = | | |sovereignty_type = |
| |sovereignty_note = | | |sovereignty_note = |
| |established_event1 = Charnean Empire | | |established_event1 = |
| |established_date1 = 14 August 903 CE | | |established_date1 = |
| |established_event2 = Second Foundation | | |established_event2 = |
| |established_date2 = 25 February 1817 | | |established_date2 = |
| | |established_event3 = |
| | |established_date3 = |
| | |established_event4 = |
| | |established_date4 = |
| | |established_event5 = |
| | |established_date5 = |
| |area_rank = | | |area_rank = |
| |area_magnitude = | | |area_magnitude = |
| |area = | | |area = |
| |area_km2 = | | |area_km2 = 2,130,656 |
| |area_sq_mi = | | |area_sq_mi = |
| |area_footnote = | | |area_footnote = |
| |area_label = Total | | |area_label = Total Area |
| |percent_water = | | |percent_water = 0.084% |
| |area_dabodyalign = | | |area_dabodyalign = |
| |population_estimate = 33,023,983 | | |population_estimate = 27,023,983 |
| |population_estimate_rank = | | |population_estimate_rank = |
| |population_estimate_year = 2020 | | |population_estimate_year = 2022 |
| |population_census = 33,010,572 | | |population_census = 26,995,572 |
| |population_census_year = 2019 | | |population_census_year = 2020 |
| |population_density_km2 = | | |population_density_km2 = 12.68 |
| |population_density_sq_mi = | | |population_density_sq_mi = |
| |population_density_rank = | | |population_density_rank = |
| |GDP_PPP = $101 billion | | |GDP_PPP = [[Latin solidus|$]]599 billion |
| |GDP_PPP_rank = | | |GDP_PPP_rank = |
| |GDP_PPP_year = | | |GDP_PPP_year = |
| |GDP_PPP_per_capita = $5779.45 | | |GDP_PPP_per_capita = [[Latin solidus|$]]22,179.45 |
| |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = | | |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = |
| |GDP_nominal = | | |GDP_nominal = |
| |GDP_nominal_rank = | | |GDP_nominal_rank = |
| |GDP_nominal_year = | | |GDP_nominal_year = |
| |GDP_nominal_per_capita = | | |GDP_nominal_per_capita = |
| |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = | | |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = |
| |Gini = 25.9 | | |Gini = 44.4 |
| |Gini_rank = | | |Gini_rank = |
| |Gini_year = | | |Gini_year = |
| |Gini_category = | | |Gini_category = |
| |HDI = 0.701 | | |HDI = 0.801 |
| |HDI_rank = | | |HDI_rank = |
| |HDI_year = | | |HDI_year = |
| |HDI_category = | | |HDI_category = |
| |currency = Charnean Dinar | | |currency = [[OAD|Azref<br>Aga]] |
| |currency_code = CDR | | |currency_code = |
| |time_zone = | | |time_zone = |
| |utc_offset = | | |utc_offset = |
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| }} | | }} |
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| '''Charnea''', formally the '''Charnean Confederation''' (''[[Wikipedia:Tuareg language|Tamashek]]:'' ⴾⴻⵍ ⴾⴰⵂⴰⵕⵏⴰ, Kel Kaharna), is a tribal {{wp|confederation}} governed by {{wp|elective monarchy}} located in central [[Ajax#Scipia|Scipia]], bordering the [[Messidor Union]] to the north and [[Fahran]] to the east. The eight national and ethnic affiliations recognized as constituent parties of the confederation, known as the Eight Nations do not directly correspond to individual constituent states but instead denote the eight ethnic affiliations which are shared between many component governments of each National ethnicity within Charnea. The Confederation is ruled by the [[Amenukal of Charnea|Amenukal]], an elected monarch selected by the Eight Nations Council, who is endowed with the delegated authority of the various devolved tribes and national organizations party to the confederation, and is the direct commander in chief of the [[Inter-Charnean Army]], the confederated military forces of all Charnean nations. Day to day government of the large nation is split between the devolved authorities of the Eight Nations and the [[Executor of Charnea|Executor]], a first minister position serving for life at the pleasure of the sitting Amenukal. | | '''Charnea''', officially the '''Republic of Charnea''' ({{wp|Tamashek}}: ⴰⵊⴰⵎⵀⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ, ''Ajamhurya n Charnea''), is a {{wp|Landlocked country|landlocked country}} in central [[Ajax#Scipia|Scipia]]. The territory of Charnea spans the majority of the [[Ninva|Ninva desert]], bounded by the [[Arwa mountains|Arwa range]] in the west and the [[al-Kija river|Kija river]] in the east. Charnea is bordered to the north by [[Talahara]], [[Tyreseia]], [[Khemetu]] and [[Alanahr]], to the east by [[Happara]], [[Fahran]] and [[Kembesa]], and along the mountainous southern boundary by [[M'biruna]] and the [[Itayana|Amayana]] [[Makgato]] and [[Itayana Solar Autocracy|Solar Temple]] states of the [[Karana river|Karana basin]]. [[Agnannet]] is the capital and {{wp|primate city}} of Charnea, located in the urbanized [[Achra|Achra triangle]]. |
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| The Charnean people are multi-cultural and have many ethnic origins, endowing the Confederation with its multi-lingual, multi-ethnic nature which lends itself to a generally devolved political authority on the Confederate level. Historically, Charnea was ruled by peoples of {{wp|Tuareg people|Tamashek}} origin and in the modern day three of the eight constituent nations primarily speak the Tamashek langauge, an additional two speak related Amazigh languages, and all eight observe [[Kaharnism]], a religious practice of Tamashek origin. An overwhelming number of Charneans not speaking Tamashek as a first language nevertheless speak Tamashek as a second language, and the tongue is taught in schools across the Confederation alongside the local language. Tamashek is thus the general lingua franca for all of Charnea and is used across all government institutions and functions, although it is not formally adopted as the official language of the Confederation for reasons of equal treatment towards recognized local languages. | | The Republic is a {{wp|military democracy}} established by elements of the [[Charnean Army]] following the political disintegration of the [[Second Empire (Charnea)|Charnean Empire]] in the mid-2010s. The [[Ihemodian Revival]], a Ninvite {{wp|pan-nationalism|pan-nationalist}} movement invoking the historical legacy of the 14th century conqueror [[Ihemod|Ihemod Imekkusa]], is the dominant political current in the Republic. While the Revivalists generally seek to integrate Charnea's large historically marginalized minorities such as the [[Deshrians]] and {{wp|Darja}} speaking [[Hatherians]] into the new Republican society, the legislature, national bureaucracy and Army remain in the hands of the [[Tenerians|Tenerian]] majority, particularly [[Tenerians#Kel_Ajama|Ajamites]] of rural nomadic extraction in the latter case. |
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| Economic activity across the Charnean confederation falls almost entirely within the primary sector. By far the most prolific economic activity across the confederation is mining, particularly of gold, copper and nickel. Cobalt is also present in deposits across western Charnea, alongside a particular site with an unusually high prevalence of the rare element {{wp|iridium}}. Charnean oil reserves, found in central and eastern Charnea are significant and the petroleum industry nationalized under [[COPEC]] is highly valuable to the Charnean budget, however it is of much lesser value to the overall economy compared to mining activities. Notable secondary industries of the Charnean confederation are a rice-based agricultural sector alongside resource reclamation through a strong recycling industry fed by imported waste products. The current Lamine regime has expressed a desire to industrialize the Charnean confederation for the benefit of all peoples of the Eight Nations by developing industrial capabilities to refine Charnea's exported resources into products of higher value, although such programs are yet in their infancy.
| | Charnea undertook a program of intensive industrialization beginning in the early 20th century, transforming the country through a {{wp|state capitalism|state capitalist}} model of centralized economic planning. Although lucrative resource beds would later be discovered, much of Charnea's formative economic development driven by an apparent dearth of natural resources in the Charnean Ninva would focus on establishing a carefully planned manufacturing sector supplied with imported raw materials by the [[Steel Road|Trans-Ninvite Railway]]. The scarcity of water in particular established a pattern of development which favored economic and demographic consolidation into highly concentrated urban zones emerging where local water resources could sustain them, connected to resource beds, international commerce and to each other by the rail network. Despite the harmful effects of recent political instability and long-term social inequality, the Charnean economy has transformed the inhospitable Ninva into a modern and developed country. |
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| ==Etymology== | | ==Etymology== |
| Charnea derives its name from the central figure of Kaharnism and the patron goddess of many Tamashek tribes, Mother Kaharna. Charnea's Tamashek name ''Kel Kaharna'' translates roughly to "People of Kaharna". This nomenclature follows the ancient Tamashek traditions of a confederation across tribal lines, belying Charnea's origin as a universal confederation of numerous pre-existing nomadic confederations of the Zahra desert. It is uncertain when or how Kel Kaharna came to be [[Standard Latin language|latinized]] into the word Charnea, but its believed to have occurred at some point in the 10th century following northward incursions of the Charnean Empire towards [[Periclean world|the Periclean]].
| | The exact origins and meaning of the name of Charnea is heavily in dispute. The prevailing theory is that the modern ''Charna'' as it is rendered in Tamashek is a corruption of the Deshrian word ''Shasramt'' meaning "traveling people" referring to the ancestors of the [[Tenerians]] who reverted to a nomadic {{wp|pastoralism|pastoral}} lifestyle following the collapse of the urbanized [[Tamazgha|Tamazghan Confederation]] in the 3rd century. ''Shasramt'' was likely adopted as a term for the lands and peoples of the central Ninva desert some time after the rise of the Ihemodian Empire. The Tenerian endonym for the land is simply ''Tenere'' meaning "desert", referring to the arid landscape of the Ninva. However, this term is generally applied only to the historically Tenerian region of the western Ninva. The Ninva east of the Adjer mountains instead bears the Hatherian name of ''Zahra'' which has the same meaning as ''Tenere''. |
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| ==History== | | ==History== |
| ===Classical period===
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| Both the ancestors of the Amazigh Tamashek peoples as well as their Kanuri and Zaghawa counterparts are known to have inhabited what is now Charnea since prehistory, leading up to the advent of the written word and settled agrarian society in the south of Charnea in what is referred to as the [[Obulite Civilization]] in the third millennium BCE. The Obulite culture is strongly believed to be the antecedent of modern {{wp|Zarma people|Djerma}} ethnic groups in Charnea, although the early Obulite kingdoms were not alone in this era. Around 500 BCE, the legendary [[Kaharna|Queen Kaharna]] is said to have unified the disparate ancient Amazighs of the Zahra, at this time significantly less arid than the desert of the modern day. Although Kaharna is deified as the goddess Mother Kaharna by the Charnean Tamasheks, the ancient Queen is also recognized and remembered by other Amazigh groups outside of Charnea, such as the Aghmatians of the [[Messidor Union]]. The ancient Amazigh confederation began to fragment into smaller confederations some time after Kaharna's reign, eventually becoming distinct groups. The southernmost splinters of Kaharna's confederation would evolve into proto-Tamashek tribes, which would enter into periodic clashes with the Obulite civilization. Tamashek confederations would develop a caste system featuring noble ''Imajaghan'' descended from Kaharna's kin group and vassal herders called ''Imghad'' (singular ''Amghid'') as well as semi-settled artisan ''Inadan'' and peasnt ''izeggaren'' alongside bonded slave ''Ikelan'' which primarily formed agrarian communities under the control and protection of the warrior nobility. The Charnean caste system would see many alterations over the centuries but would have long lasting repercussions for Charnean society even in the modern day. Although most elements of Tamashek at this period were nomadic, the establishment of settled and semi-settled communities primarily inhabited by lower caste members of society led to clashes with Obulite dominions over land and resources. Northward excursions by Obulite armies and southward raids and forays by Tamashek confederations are well documented throughout the classical period.
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| ===Medieval period=== | | ==Government== |
| [[File:Tuarick_in_a_Shirt_of_Leather,_Tuarick_of_Aghades.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Depiction of 10th century Charnean warriors, showing ''allagh'' spears and a {{wp|takoba|''takoba''}} sword as well as ''tellak'' daggers worn on the forearms]] | | The Republic of Charnea is a {{wp|Military democracy|democratic}} {{wp|stratocracy}} in which political rights are contingent on voluntary national service in the [[Charnean Army]] or a military sanction. Like the Charnean Empire that preceded it, the Republic does not have a formal constitution. The mechanisms of the Republic's government and democratic system are instead outlined in the 2018 Edicts of Agnannet which established a {{wp|parliamentary}} system of government in which the right to vote and hold office would be granted to anyone who completes a 2-year period of military service, while the 2022 Declaration of Principles would later allow for meritorious non-military forms of service to be rewarded with an official sanction granting the same rights. The closest analogue to the unorthodox Charnean system is the federal military regime in neighboring [[Makgato#Politics|East Itayana]]. |
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| Beginning around 600 and progressing onwards, Tamashek confederations around the southern [[Zahra desert|Zahra]] region would begin to expand significantly in scope and power as they extended further north into the desert and along an east-west axis parallel to the edges of the semi-arid savannah and scrubland regions. The rising power of these semi-nomadic polities coincided with the expansion of the [[Trans-Scipian Trade]] which saw vast wealth of salt, gold and other goods traveling in caravans through traversable corridors across the Zahra desert, which in turn led to tribute and payment for mercenary protection flowing into the coffers of local Tamashek confederations. Many confederations existed at this time, though the three most powerful were the [[Kel Ataram]] (lit: ''People of the West'') and the [[Kel Dinnik]] (lit: ''People of the East''), which together form the basis for the modern day {{wp|Iwellemmedan people}} of central Charnea, and the [[Kel Awakar]] which had the widest degree of control over the Zahra trade routes. By this time, the Obulite civilization had declined significantly since its days as a great power during the bronze age. Nevertheless, many significant Obulite successor kingdoms of Djerma ethnic makeup existed both north and south of the [[Obul River|Obul]]. As the power and reach of the growing Tamashek confederations increased, conflict with these kingdoms and the desert peoples to the north rose as well, seeing many wars between Tamashek and Djerma peoples north of the Obul in the 8th and 9th centuries. These conflicts would serve as the historical backdrop for the rise of the powerful {{wp|Amenukal}} [[Agnan of the Tree]] at the beginning of the 10th century and result in the radical metamorphosis of the Charnean political landscape.
| | The [[Agraw Itkar]] is the supreme legislative assembly of the Republic, comprised of deputies representing the eligible electorate both within and without the active military. Voting districts of the Agraw, where are known as Corps, are not geographically demarcated and are instead defined by the formation in which a voter preformed their service. Corps which are deemed to be too large to adequately represent its members are split into smaller bodies by the national Elections Council, itself a subdivision of the Agraw which also oversees the dispensation of military sanctions to civilians. All national elections are carried out using a {{wp|Multiwinner approval voting|block approval}} methodology. In addition to legislation, the Agraw also serves as the supreme judicial organ of the Republic overseeing all civilian and military courts in Charnea. |
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| | The [[Amizar of Charnea|Amizar]] is the elective, removable office that acts as chief of the Charnean Army and State. As the military commander in chief, the Amizar exercises total authority over the operations of the Army as well as the state administration. The legitimacy of an Amizar's administration and leadership of the military is legally supported by the Agraw Iktar, which holds the power to instate and recall an Amizar to and from office as the formal representative body of the military. The office has no established term limits, vesting in the Agraw the total authority to dictate how long a specific Amizar may hold the office. The only rule restricting the Agraw's ability to recall an Amizar from office is that a supermajority of 80% of the assembly is required to remove the Amizar if Charnea finds herself in a declared inter-state war, in contrast to the simple majority required in all other circumstances. |
| | ===Military=== |
| | The [[Charnean Army]], commonly referred to as the ICA for its Tamashek initials ('''''I'''ɤrudan '''C'''harnan '''A'''jhanan'', meaning "Combined Charnean Army") is the professional military force of the Republic. It is an all-volunteer organization in which career-long service is common. The ICA practices a {{wp|Maneuver warfare|mobile art of war}} largely inherited from the nomadic military traditions of the Charnean [[Tenerians]] who have made up the vast majority of the ICA's manpower for all of its modern history. The combat elements of the ICA are organized into generally autonomous operational groups known as [[Agadegan|''Igadeganen'']] which include aviation, intelligence and logistics components in addition to the infantry, armor and artillery units typical of a conventional combined-arms force. Because of this all-inclusive organizational method, the Charnean military lacks any independent service branches such as an autonomous {{wp|air force}}. Although it retains the capacity for conventional warfare as a deterrent against foreign aggression, the Charnean Army is primarily equipped and trained for {{wp|Counterinsurgency|counterinsurgency}} and sustained {{wp|low-intensity conflict|low-intensity conflicts}} which have been the historical norm across central and eastern Scipia in general and Charnea in particular. Charnea's hybrid defense doctrine establishes the theoretical basis that inter-state warfare and counterinsurgency are neither distinct nor mutually exclusive, and promotes a material and operational approach capable of effectively engaging state and non-state opponents alike. |
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| Agnan, the adopted son of the Amenukal of the Kel Awakar confederation, succeeded to the throne in 898 following a protracted conflict between Agnan and his followers battling many nobles of the Kel Awakar which resisted the low born reformer Agnan. Following his tumultuous rise to power among the Awakar, he instituted a number of meritocratic social and military reforms and made plain ambitions to unify all Tamashek peoples under his banner. Conflict soon broke out between the Kel Awakar and the Kel Ataram and Kel Dinnik confederations, former rivals which united against the common threat of Agnan's forces, concluding quickly in August of 903 in the aftermath of the [[Battle of Red Hills]] when Amenukal Agnan defeated and forced the submission of the Ataram-Dinnik coalition to his rule, declaring the unification of all descendants of Kaharna through his victory. The Kel Awakar, Kel Ataram, Kel Dinnik, Kel Korod and the Kel Tessawa were subsequently merged into the Kel Kaharna (lit: ''People of Kaharna'') , marking the official birth of what would become known as Empire of Charnea. Some confederations such as the Kel Azakane remained independent at the time of this unification but would later be subsumed into the united tribes of the Kel Kaharna as they began to expand further in all directions. Conflict between the Djerma and this new Tamashek power would reach a boiling point at the breakout of the [[Kuru War]] in which Amenukal Agnan sought to show the superiority of his Tamashek forces over the Djerma principalities north of the Obul, which united against him. Sources document Agnan's intent in invading the southern domains was to extract tribute from the Djerma and to make a show of force to resolve many minor land disputes in favor of Tamashek settlements now under his protection. Agnan of the Tree would perish, however, at the [[Battle of the Four Corners]] near the site of modern day [[Agnannet]] and be succeeded by his protégé and second in command, the emancipated Ikelan [[Ihemod the Inheritor]], who would prosecute the latter half of the Kuru war.
| | Since the foundation of the Republic, the Charnean military has gained near-total political primacy through the establishment of stratocratic government. The Charnean Army has thus far rejected [[United_Communes_Defense_Forces#Unified_structure_and_elections|Talaharan-style]] military democracy out of concern that it would negatively effect cohesion and discipline within the ICA, instead establishing the Agraw Itkar as an organ external to military hierarchy to serve as the medium of expression for the Army's political will. As part of its assumption of political control over the country, the ICA has enforced its {{wp|Monopoly on violence|legal monopoly over force}} through the disarmament of paramilitary organizations and non-military security forces including municipal police, banning any non-military agent of the state from bearing arms in an official capacity. This action has effectively disbanded many policing organizations across the country, prompting the Army to assume an expanded role in Charnean internal security and law enforcement. |
| | ===Foreign relations=== |
| | Charnea maintains tentative diplomatic relations with the international community, suffering from a lack of legitimacy due to the recent establishment of the regime and Charnea's modern history of political upheaval. The Republic has frigid relations with most of its immediate neighbors on the Scipian continent due to historical grievances, ideological incompatibility, and the ramifications of Charnea's history of internal conflicts. Nevertheless, Charnea maintains friendly relations with the [[Itayana|Amayana]] states in the form of military and economic cooperation, particularly in the case of the [[Makgato|Amayana Makgato Federation]]. The Republic has also preserved the previous regime's well-established trading relationship with [[Tyreseia]] despite generally uneasy relations with the [[Rubric Coast Consortium]] to which Tyreseia is a party. On a global stage, Charnea maintains good relations with [[Mutul|the Mutul]] on the basis of shared cultural history and the diplomatic legacy of [[Jasaw Chan K'awiil IV]]. The diplomatic split between Charnea and the [[Periclean world]] which began during the [[Ninvite War]] has persisted to the present day, staining Charnea's international perception and serving to generally impede good diplomatic relations with [[Ajax#Belisaria|Belisarian]] and Periclean nations. |
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| In contrast to his predecessor Amenukal Ihemod had no intentions of leaving Djerma lands after defeating their princes in battle, a fact made clear when in 917 construction began on a new permanent settlement at Agnannet which would become the Charnean imperial capital. By 925, Ihemod's regime had displaced or enslaved many thousands of Djerma living north of the Obul, radically expanding the reach of settled Tamashek communities and creating a massive influx of Ikelan slave caste populations in this new occupied territory which Ihemod used extensively for the expansion of his empire's domain and infrastructure despite being of Ikelan origin himself. The Charnean military would also be reformed, implimenting Djerma auxiliaries, adopting new technology and siege tactics and undergoing structural refroms. Amoung these reforms was the foundation of the ''Yezzaren Imedrayen'' or "First Brothers" which served as the Amenukal's personal bodyguard and as a proto-general staff, which would later become a lasting insitution of Charnea even surviving the fragmentation and refoundation of the Kel Kaharna in later centuries. In 927 Amenukal Ihemod and an army of an estimated 40,000 Tamashek and Djerma warriors crossed the Obul. This marked the start of the [[The Nefecane|Nefecane Wars]], a series of invasions across southern and eastern Charnea which were initiated by the expansionistic Kel Kaharna under Ihemod's rule. The Tamashek, although now unified and boasting large numbers of assimilated Zahra tribesmen among their numbers, were still numerically inferior in terms of population to many of the {{wp|Zarma people|Djerma}}, {{wp|Kanuri people|Yerwa}}, and {{wp|Zaghawa people|Beri}} groups they conquered. This led to the implementation of what has been called practical brutality, the escalation of atrocities and massacres particularly the razing of entire cities which had resisted conquest, which was also used as a propaganda tool to convince cities to surrender without fighting, thus being spared such treatment. Consequences of the violent subjugation of these ethnic groups into the Empire of Charnea would be felt for centuries to come, particularly during the later decline and fragmentation of the Empire. Additionally, this wide reaching depopulation of central and southern Scipia would profoundly affect the demographics of the area and be felt even into the modern day.
| | ==Geography== |
| | The territory of Charnea comprises {{Convert|2,130,656|km2}} of land, making it the largest country in Scipia by land area. Charnea is far larger in its {{wp|Longitude|longitudinal}} expanse than its dimensions in {{wp|latitude}}, with its far western tip at the border with [[Talahara]] being 3,160 kilometers west of its furthest eastern border section abutting [[Happara]]. This entire territory is considered part of the [[Ninva Desert|Ninva]], the continental desert spanning most of central Scipia of which Charnean territory makes up more than half of its total expanse. More than 90% of the country is classified as {{wp|Desert climate|arid desert}} with small portions of the southwest periphery falling under a {{wp|Semi-arid climate|semi-desert}} climate classification. The vast majority of this desert expanse has no permanent surface water, with the totality of the surface water in Charnea amounting to 0.084% of the country's total surface area or roughly 179 square kilometers. The principal locations of surface water in Charnea are the {{wp|inland delta}} of the [[Iza river]] in [[Achra]], as well as the [[Great Oasis]] and [[al-Kija river|Kija river]] in the far east. |
| | ===Regions=== |
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| Ihemod's attempts to conquer eastern and northern Scipia would eventually be thwarted both by military action of the local states and by rising logistical and organizational problems within the Empire. Which his vast armies stretched thin over even greater territory, Ihemod reluctantly heeded his advisors and halted Charnean expansion by the latter half of the 10th century, instead focusing his recourses on consolidating the Empire, putting down rebellions and expanding the city of Agnannet. The Empire of Charnea would never again launch such massive campaigns as had been seen during the Nefecane Wars, although some conquests of lesser scale would be made in the following centuries. Instead, Charnea would remain relatively stable through the 14th century and oversee the partial assimilation of many of the cultures it had conquered, influencing some groups with Tamashek culture in some places while adopting local customs into Tamashek practice in others. Tamashek {{wp|Animism|animist}} beliefs would merge the the local faiths of conquered peoples and the remnant beliefs of the ancient Obulites to form the first iterations of recognizable [[Kaharnism]] in these centuries, establishing many religious and social orders across Scipia.
| | ==Economy== |
| | | The Charnean economy is founded on a strong {{wp|Secondary sector of the economy|secondary sector}} sustained by a large urban workforce and extensive infrastructure investments. The formative development of the country's economy in the early 20th century preceded the discovery of significant mineral deposits in the Ninva desert by many decades. Lacking the potential for a lucrative {{wp|Primary sector of the economy|primary sector}} in the absence of agricultural potential or mineral wealth, Charnean industrial planning focused on establishing a manufacturing sector based on the raw materials that could be readily and cheaply imported from neighboring Scipian countries by rail. The center and west of the country specialized in textiles produced using cotton imported from [[Itayana]], while the near and far east of the country established a copper-based metalworking economy importing raw materials from [[Fahran]] and [[Kembesa]] through [[Happara|Happaran]]-owned east Scipian railways. The discovery of buried petroleum reserves in the far east and far west in the 1960s opened the door for {{wp|Chemical industry|petrochemical production}} and the rise of the Charnean {{wp|plastics industry}}, the third component of the "Charnean Trinity" along with textiles and metal products. Mineral extraction has emerged as an important component of the national economy since modern prospecting technologies helped discover previously unknown resource deposits in the Ninva desert, but is primarily oriented toward supporting domestic manufacturing rather than exporting raw materials directly. Agriculture is likewise oriented toward domestic demand as the high costs associated with Charnean agricultural production make exports generally unprofitable. As a result of these factors stemming from environmental conditions and its mode of industrialization, the Charnean economy has remained in a state of secondary sector primacy throughout its modern history. |
| Charnea entered a period of precipitous decline and fragmentation in the 14th century, usually described as beginning around 1388 during a particularly violent succession crisis which for the first time since unification had redrawn sub-ethnic lines within the Kel Kaharna Tamashek tribes. In 1501, the [[Kel Awakar]] had reformed and seceded from the Kel Kaharna, followed by many upstart states made up of {{wp|Zaghawa people|Beri}} and {{wp|Kanuri people|Yerwa}} ethnic groups. The Empire of Charnea would survive as a rump state of mixed {{wp|Tuareg people|Tamashek}}-{{wp|Zarma people|Djerma}} ethnic composition until the [[Sack of Agnannet]] in 1690, which finally dissolved the Kel Kaharna remnant.
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| ===Warring nations period===
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| The start of the warring nations period is debated, traditionally marked at the fall of Agnannet in the late 17th century but in the modern day more often described as beginning with the seccesion of the Kel Awakar at the turn of the 16th century. In either case, the root cause is generally believed to have been the 1388 succession crisis in the Charnean empire and a general decline and failure of imperial authority in Agnannent which followed, leading to disunity not only among the multicultural subjects of Charnea but also among the Tamashek tribes which formed the core population of the empire. The secession of the Kel Awakar, which inspired some other tribes to subsequently break away in turn, weakened the principal powerbase of the Empire and as a result saw many subjugated peoples rebel or in some cases simply declare their independence and undergo virtually uncontested secessions. While some Yerwa rebellions were quelled by the Charnean army in this time, others were deemed too strong or too far afield for the military to handle and were simply granted independence rather than risk their forces joining the rebellions of their kinsmen along the southern bank of the Obul, close to Agnannet. The more powers broke away from Agnannet's rule, the further the Empire declined, until eventually the Charnean rump state in Agnannet was eclipsed by Tamashek and Yerwa states which had broken away. A general power vacuum left by the once powerful Empire saw an escalation of conflicts and ethnic tensions which had not been seen in hundreds of years due to overpowering Charnean overlordship. A near constant state of civil war and and upheaval followed, as although most tribes had now broken away from Agnannet many still viewed themselves as Charnean or as Charnean successor states and aimed to reunite the Empire under their own rule.
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| In the latter stages of the protracted warring nations conflict, Tamashek society would see a fundamental upheaval of its caste structure with the [[Ikelan Rebellion (1769)]] which was only the largest and most recent of a long series of escalating slave uprisings across the semi-nomadic society of the Tamashek. The Ikelan had by this point developed the combat art known as [[Broken Chain]] and were highly organized among their communities. Concurrently to this escalating uprisings by the Ikelan, Tamashek noble society had become decimated by the civil wars and battles against rival nations and tribes. The noble Imajaghan caste had historically held dominance and served as the main military body of their confederations, and so their decline resulted in a loss of cohesion across the caste system and facilitated the emancipation war of the Ikelan. The successful Ikelan Rebellion of 1769 established several independent Ikelan settled communities and states in central and eastern Charnea, while the ongoing upheaval in Tamashek confederations across the Zahra saw a general split into nomadic groups formed from the merging of Imajaghan (noble) and Imaghad (herder vassal) castes as well as a sedentary Tamashek group formed from Inadan (artisan) and Izeggaren (peasant) castes of society. Nomadic Tamashek now occupied the Zahra desert while the settled Tamashek and now independent Ikelan groups shared the north bank of the Obul and more broadly the non-desert lands of central and eastern Charnea.
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| Following the Ikelan Rebellion and independence movement, powerful blocs of various ethnicities had largely consolidated their local areas and reached a tentative peace through the stabilization of this new balance of power among Charnean successor and seceded states. The largest polities roughly aligned to what are now known as the [[Eight Nations of Charnea]], these being the Amazigh Tamashek which are subdivided into the nomadic Imajaghan/Imaghad nation and the settled Inadan/Izeggaren nation, northwestern {{wp|Awjila people|Tawilant}} speaking tribes, eastern {{wp|Siwi language|Siwi}} speaking tribes (both of which are considered distinct from "true" Tamashek tribes), the newly established Tamashek speaking Ikelan nation, in addition to the largely settled sub-Zahran {{wp|Zaghawa people|Beri}}, {{wp|Kanuri people|Yerwa}}, and {{wp|Zarma people|Djerma}} ethnic groups. All eight of these nations largely practiced [[Kaharnism]] and could use Tamashek as a common language both in their attempts at diplomacy and in day to day life as neighboring communities. Eventually, as the standstill of the the warring nations period cooled down and mounting foreign pressure created unifying forces among the former Charnean states, armed conflict eventually gave way to common front anti-colonial struggles against Belisarian and Oxidental powers and a mood of general toleration between the rival states, although deep rooted enmities from this period and prior wars yet remain to this day. Nevertheless, the turn of the 19th century brought about a wave of unification movements in many Charnean successor states, which sought to set aside their differences and combine their forces to re-establish the Empire of Charnea, although this would later be altered simply to a multicultural pan-Charnean Confederation concept to include non-Tamashek peoples who did not wish to be once again subjugated by a Tamashek dominated Agnannet. Regardless, the advent of the unification movement which reached its peak in the 1810s is seen as the end of the warring nations period, as it would directly lead into the reunification of Charnea.
| | Charnea is known for its centralized, often highly restrictive economic planning governed by regional governmental organizations such as the [[Achra#Achra_TET|Achra TET]] that direct local development and establish regulation on the use of local resources. The dominant economic model in Charnea, especially in the country's industrialized urban zones, is a form of {{wp|corporatism|corporatist}} {{wp|state capitalism}} in which the state is both directly involved (through state enterprise) and indirectly involved (through regional development organs) in economic activity. The Charnean system has greatly benefitted a small number of major industrial conglomerates, known as "Combines" (ⴻⵔⵜⴻⵢ, ''Ertey'') in Charnean parlance, which have prospered from close cooperation and a reciprocal business relationship with the state. Private entities such as the [[Mamala Combine]] as well as state enterprises like [[COPEC]] individually account for significant portions of the national GDP, making Charnea one of the most consolidated economies in the world in terms of ownership and corporate structures. |
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| ===New Confederation period===
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| The modern form of Charnea was established under the second confederation by a general congress of tribes in Agnannet, known as the Congress of Eight Nations, on the 25th of February, 1817. Many talks between the disparate tribal states in the north and petty Kingdoms in the south had occurred in the lead up to the Congress. This wave of unity had been spurred on by the rapidly increasing foreign interest in the region, and the threat of subjugation to foreign colonial powers, which the warring governments of Charnea hoped to stave of by working together, especially by combining their military commands with the intention of throwing out any colonial incursions into historically Charnean lands with overwhelming numbers. Although many of the nations attending the Congress spoke different language, held differing religious beliefs, and were generally distinct culturally as well as politically from one another, all of them held shared history as long occupied territories of the former Empire of Charnea, and had been deeply influenced by northern Tamashek culture as the longest held regions of the Empire. Particularly, most of the remaining states in the lands of Charnea were local successor states to the old Empire and had viewed reunification positively, despite repeated disagreements and conflicts with their fellow successor states. Although it required the settling of by now long held grudges and disputes as a prerequisite, reunification of the old imperial confederation of the Charnean Empire was generally viewed favorably. Eventually, a new system was drafted by which many of the Empire of Charnea era political systems would be restored while also placing new emphasis on a devolved confederal nature, declassifying this new Charnea from being termed an Empire, defaulting instead to the Confederal nomenclature.
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| The [[Covenant of Agnannet]] was later issued as an announcement of the resolutions agreed to within the 1817 Congress of Eight Nations, outlining the nature of the new Charnean confederation and affirming the will of each of the attending parties to assent to the terms laid out and join their forces with the new Charnean Confederation. In the absence of a formal constitution, the Covenant of Agnannet has served as an ad hoc constitution by later governments of the Confederation, particularly as a means to refer back to the original intentions and terms of the Founders, those leaders and delegates that through their participation and consent brought about the second confederation.
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| For many years following this new unification, the Charnean Confederation perused a degree of rapid modernization and adoption of new technology, particularly of a military nature, in an effort to further protect itself and its constituent members from foreign aggression and influence which had been the primary motivation of the reunification. The railroad and foreign drill and military organization were adopted during this early period, from 1817 to approximately 1860, a period known as the Rule of the Founders, although generally many of the Founders died or stepped down, their ruling style and objectives continued by their heirs and allies in their stead.
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| After 1860, Charnea had been armed with up to date foreign weapons and tactics, and its unification had successfully insulated it from most foreign incursion. Indeed, in 1866 the Charnean Confederation annexed the Urush region and the ex-colonial city of Koros in what modern historians have termed an ironic reversal of Charnea's anti-colonial founding sentiments, as many of the Urushar local peoples were not granted the same representative rights and self determination as had been enshrined in the Covenant of Agnannet for other groups residing in Charnea, even those outside the Eight Nations. Following this begins an era known as the Rule of the Land Masters, generally described as beginning in the 1860s and terminating around 1910, characterized as a period of expanding power of landlords and decline of the original founding states and parties of the Confederation, which found themselves increasingly at the mercy of landowners and private business forces. Many internal conflicts began to arise among the Charnean people, as the forces of the modern world exemplified by the new landlord class and the advancing mining industry clashed with local peoples and tribal groups. Many Charneans, finding themselves pushed out of ancestral lands, denied water or otherwise put down by these new powers over the land began to resort to insurgent resistance, banditry, and early forms of terrorism, as is the case with such well known figures as [[Lamine ag Sahra]] and [[Red Hands Rali]].
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| Many of the trends of the Rule of Land Masters continued into the later eras of the early and middle 20th century, known both as the Gold Time and as the Rule of City Kings, which saw not only the boom of gold and nickel mining in Charnea, but also the beginning of the lucrative petroleum industry. The Charnean economy, previously dominated by agriculture, pastoralism and hand-crafts was in this era totally transformed into an industrial primary sector economy of mineral exploitation, triggering a wave of urbanization and modernization in the country. This brought widespread expansion of railroads and roadways across the country, advent of the telegraph and telephone, and electrification, sanitation, and other practices which accompanied the sudden growth of many Charnean cities. In addition to these technological and infrastructural improvements however, the Rule of City Kings also saw the birth of an entirely new form of social conflict between the new caste of industrial workers and the owners of businesses and the well connected upper class of this new Charnean society, seeing the birth of the Charnean labor movement, unionization of miners and numerous resulting labor conflicts between syndical groups, worker militias, private security and mercenary forces hired by private companies, and local and national police which were punctuated by political instability and the ongoing previous conflicts between the modernizing forces and the old traditional groups of Charnea which viewed both big business interests and the industrial workforce as threats to their own way of life.
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| The majority academic opinion contends that the Rule of City Kings ends in the 1960s with the death of [[Mzagar ag Mawa|Amenukal Mzagar]] and the rise of power of [[Zaragan Zina|Amenukal Zaragan]] and his infamous Executor [[Baseel Madoun]]. Modernization and self reliance plans made at the tail end of Mzagar's reign, such as the [[New Dawn Plan]], many of which where later adapted by Madoun's administration are generally taken to signify the final point of transition in Charnean history, delineating the point when Charnea could be considered to have fully entered the industrial world, although this is contested by scholars which point to the continued survival of traditional ways of life in Charnea despite the undeniable industrial expansion across much of the Confederation. The period following this end of traditional Charnean history is divided generally into the Madoun Era and the Lamine era, describing the period of Madoun's administration which survived two Amenukals, characterized by some nationalization and centralization measures largely in corrupt self service for the ruling faction and powerful political figures as well as the general turmoil brought about by the [[East Scipian Wars]], followed by the aftermath of these conflicts, the [[Triple Coup]], and the following Lamine regime which as ruled Charnea from the end of 2000 onwards.
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| ==Government and Politics==
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| Charnea is a voluntary union of 44 sovereign and independent {{wp|constituent states}} which have entered into a condition of perpetual confederacy under the terms of the 1817 [[Covenant of Agnannet]], the treaty of unification which doubles as an ad hoc constitution governing the functions of the Confederation's central government which are delineated in the document as part of the treaty. The first Article of the Covenant enthroned the war leader of the Alliance to Restore Charnea, the Amenukal of the Kel Awakar, as the first [[Amenukal of Charnea]] and established the powers, restrictions and succession laws of this royal office that would be used to elect and enthrone every subsequent Amenukal. The third Article of the Covenant outlined the form of the Confederation's unicameral legislature representing the member states, known as the Great Convocation, which drafts and approves the laws of the Confederation and convenes in smaller committees and councils to govern specific aspects of general policy affecting multiple member states. Although legally complicated by later established laws, the retained sovereignty of the member states grants the implicit right of secession. Seceded states, or other external states, can reconfederate through voluntary assent to the terms of the Covenant of Agnannet and a vote of confirmation by the Great Convocation. Although no new states have been added to the Charnean Confederation, some current member states have seceded and later been reconfederated in this manner.
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| Historically the Confederation of Charnea held weal central authority and afforded constituent states almost total autonomy in all areas of government spare foreign policy and some aspects of military affairs. Similarly, laws passed by the Great Convocation or the orders of the Amenukal even in full compliance with the established rules of the government would need ratification or subsequent approval and implementation by each individual constituent state to take effect locally. However, the limitations imposed by the highly devolved powers of the early Confederation would often held back the government from functioning effectively, which in turn created political pressure to gradually curtail autonomy, centralize authority and generally adopt traits resembling those of a {{wp|Federation|Federal state}}.
| | ===Manufacturing=== |
| | [[File:Plexico.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Main production hall of the Aghzu plastics factory, equipped with advanced computerized custom molding equipment]] |
| | The {{wp|Secondary sector of the economy|secondary sector}} of the Charnean economy is highly consolidated, with more than three quarters of all economic activity within the manufacturing industries being consolidated within just three major conglomerates. These are [[Ishar Consortium|Ishar]], [[Plexico]] and [[Akundar Industrial Combine|Akundar]], together known as the "big three". Plexico, an enormous {{wp|Plastics industry|plastics industry}} corporation, is by far the largest of the big three. It serves as one of the main suppliers of basic as well as complex plastic products on a global scale, accounting for the majority of Charnean exports of plastic products which in total account for some 17% of the national GDP. Plexico's plastic products range from highly complex and heavily engineered medical grade items to cheap mass produced industrial components such as plastic pipes. The company is also one of the largest contributors to the worldwide supply of the plastics industry's most basic material, the {{wp|Nurdle (bead)|pre-production plastic pellets}} which serve as the main input of all plastic products. Of the big three, Plexico is the most politically connected with an especially close business relationship with COPEC as its main supplier of key petrochemicals for the production of plastic materials. Plexico wields outsized political influence thanks to its status as the largest company in Charnea by revenue and one of the country's largest employers. Plexico grew to this immense size through the constant financial support and legal acquiescence of the Charnean government which invested heavily in growing the domestic plastics industry in the 1960s and and 70s, capitalizing on the incredibly low cost of the petrochemicals in the domestic market needed as inputs for the industry as well as the effects of the {{wp|demographic dividend}} which Charnea was experiencing in those decades. The main campuses of Plexico's plastics empire are Aghzu factory located in Agnannet, Aszar in [[Ekelhoc]] and the Thalsa facility in [[Tezzat]], all of which are found in close proximity to COPEC refineries and chemical plants which supply these factories with their raw materials. Plexico's monopoly on the Charnean plastics industry stems from its access to the financial rescources of the Charnean state and its international backers, which have allowed it to dominate the market in which other firms struggle to surpass the high financial and technological barriers of entry. |
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| The seat of the central government is [[Agnannet]] which once served as the capital to the Empire of Charnea and is, along with joint military bases of more than one [[Charnea#Military|Inter-Charnean Army]] component force, make up the central territories of the central government. Extended territories of the central government are those small portions of territory which have been requested for use by an agency or subsidiary entity of the central government and which were subsequently granted by the constituent state to which the territory belongs. These extended territories, because they were not granted by the articles of the Covenant, may be revoked or overturned by the appropriate legal actions by the Great Convocation or an individual constituent state and so are typically referred to as leases rather than cessions.
| | Besides plastics manufacturing which is highly consolidated under Plexico, the Charnean manufacturing sector also includes the production of of vehicles and transportation-related goods, metal products such as copper wire, and other low-complexity consumer grade products which fall under the category of {{wp|light industry}}. These sectors are largely consolidated into the Akundar-Ishar {{wp|duopoly}}, with neither conglomerate holding or seeking an outright monopoly over any one sector while both entities are subject to economic interdependence as part of a wider industrial {{wp|oligopoly}}. Akundar is the main producer of {{wp|Rolling stock|rolling stock}} through its Agnannet-based subsidiary [[Akundar Transportation]], while Ishar holds a greater degree of market presence among rail operators, giving both companies a great deal of control over the all-important Charnean railway network and the industries which support its infrastructure. The [[Ahuriri Aerospace|Ahuriri Corporation]] represents an outside power in the transport-manufacturing industry in Charnea, as an [[Onekawa-Nukanoa|Onekawan]] firm which has expanded operations of its aircraft manufacturing industry into Charnea in recent years. This move, as well as the investment in the vehicular manufacturing and industrial sectors in general, has been indirectly subsidized by the Charnean defense industry which itself is almost entirely propped up by lucrative contracts awarded by the [[Charnean Army]]. Domestic Charnean defense industry firms such as [[Eruere Enterprises]] and the [[Akayon Corporation]] benefit greatly from the supporting network of industry of the big three as well as the smaller firms. |
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| ===Executive Authority=== | | ===Agriculture=== |
| The executive power vested in the central government of Charnea is split between the monarchy, which is traditionally associated with the administration of the military and foreign affairs, and the civilian administration which deals with the daily operation of the government's agencies and subordinate entities. This split reflects the political traditions of the Tamashek culture which has had similar civil-military divisions in its government structure dating to the ancient past, in which the martial and civil government of the tribe was split along gender lines. The civil-military split was further reinforced during the Imperial era when Tamashek tribes and their Amenukal were largely concerned with military activity while being exempt from taxation and the repressive administration of the Imperial bureaucracy, and thus the Amenukal would establish a separate parallel government to oversee the settled communities of conquered peoples to be run by his civilian subordinates. In the Covenant of Agnannet this was used as a means to regulate the activities of the central civilian government without imposing further restrictions on the Amenukal's already relatively narrow purview which could render the martial utility of the royal office ineffective.
| | {{main|Agriculture in Charnea}} |
| | [[File:Roadside desert agriculture, Zagora, Morocco (5491386219).jpg|250px|thumb|right|Agricultural field in the Charnean desert, protected from the wind and sand by a {{wp|windbreak}} of palms]] |
| | As a desert nation, Charnea faces significant challenges in the development of its agriculture and domestic food production. Charnea has extremely low overall rainfall, with most of the nation's water supply coming from groundwater aquifers which are tightly regulated by the Charnean government due to the political and strategic considerations surrounding the extremely sensitive, scarce and crucial resource. In addition, Charnean farmers battle the often terrible physical and chemical characteristics and low fertility of the desert soil. These factors act to hinder the process of cultivation and food production in the desert. Nevertheless, Charnean farmers have persisted despite the adversity and have perfected methods of agriculture specifically adapted to the arid conditions through the millennia of human habitation in the region. Domestic cereal production is centered around the cultivation of {{wp|millet}}, {{wp|barley}} and {{wp|flax}}, especially the native cultivars of these crops which are uniquely hardy and drought resistant making them far better adapted to the conditions than foreign staples such as wheat and rice. Production of {{wp|mesquite flour}} from the invasive and widespread {{wp|Prosopis glandulosa|honey mesquite tree}} is common in many parts of the Tenere region of the desert, where it was introduced by [[Mutulese Global Circuit|Mutulese traders]] centuries ago. Other arboreal cultivations include {{wp|Date palm|date palms}} for fruit production as well as {{wp|Pistacia lentiscus|mastic}} and {{wp|Gum arabic|gum acacia}} which produce aromatic resin in high demand both locally and internationally. |
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| In keeping with traditional roots, the [[Amenukal of Charnea]] is the {{wp|Commander-in-chief|supreme commander}} of the [[Inter-Charnean Army (ICA)]] as well as paramilitary police forces and common militia forces found across the expanse of Charnea. While each constituent state in the Confederation retains its own native armed forces, these are all integrated into an overarching joint command in the form of the ICA, and it is the function of the Amenukal to lead this umbrella organization and maintain the general staff and command structure of these integrated upper echelons of the combined Charnean military apparatus. Coordination of the combined forces of the ICA is often difficult and is usually reserved only for times of war, although the Amenukal does coordinate with the militias of the ICA to a lesser extent for the purposes of maintaining readiness and conducting peacetime security operations. The Amenukal is also vested with powers to represent the Charnean Confederation as head of state and is therefore placed in charge of all executive functions pertaining to foreign policy, including deals on trade, immigration and extradition with foreign nations. Because the Confederation possesses an internal single market without customs or immigration checks between states, the Amenukal's dealings on foreign trade and immigration must be secondarily approved by the Great Convocation in order to take effect, as it would be unconstitutional for the Amenukal to unilaterally negotiate on matters concerning the states without their approval and consent to any deal agreed upon. International military or security cooperation is at the discretion of the Amenukal, although this right to unilaterally enter into military dealings with foreign nations is dampened by the restriction that any mobilization of Charnean military assets cannot be attained without the explicit approval and oversight of the specific state authorities to which those assets belong. In 2011, the Great Convocation passed a law further restricting this power, stating that the Amenukal may take no action of intervention or military cooperation that may carry the declaration of war on Charnea by a foreign nation as a foreseeable direct consequence.
| | The specificities of Charnean agriculture have a significant effect on the diet of the local people, distinguishing their cuisine from that of related {{wp|Berbers|Amaziɣ}} and comparable desert-dwelling peoples such as the Gharibs. For example, Talaharan {{wp|couscous}} made from wheat {{wp|semolina}} differs noticeably in flavor and consistency from its Charnean equivalent which is made from pearl millet. The Charnean diet and its associated food industries are also highly influenced by the Tenerian traditions of animal husbandry, particularly the herding of camels. This activity has been industrialized and intensified over the last century, although it retains at its core many of the practices of the nomadic ancestors of the modern Tenerians. Camels are widely raised by large family owned enterprises across Charnea for their meat, hide and especially their milk. Charnea is the largest producer of {{wp|camel milk}} in the world, with a near totality of this industry's output aimed at the large domestic market for the milk itself as well as the yoghurt that can be made from it. |
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| The office of the Executor is created by the first Article of the Covenant as an addendum to the powers of the Amenukal. Originally little more than the chief of civil affairs for the Amenukal in keeping with the traditional civil-military split, the Executorial office has since expanded significantly in its role as Amenukals became less involved with the daily administration of the central government. The Executor is still by the Amenukal and approved by the Great Convocation, and in turn selects a cabinet of ministers referred to as the Circle of Viziers who must each be likewise approved by the Great Convocation. This established civilian government is then fully endowed with the powers of administration on a national confederacy-wide level in such matters as the construction and maintenance of inter-state infrastructure, the upkeep of the national healthcare and education systems, the collection of vital statistics, conduct of the census and the administration of the Confederation-wide national identification system, through which Charnean passports may be issued to its citizens. In practice, most of the Executor's functions require ongoing approval and dialogue with the Great Convocation or special committees thereof, making the Executor the de facto bridge between the Confederation legislature and the executive branch. One of the central powers the Executor holds, and one of the few independent from the interference of the Great Convocation, is the appointment of court officials for the Confederation's high court systems which may controlled exclusively by executive power as they belong specifically to the central government and so are outside the purview of any individual constituent state.
| | Charnea is a major importer of foodstuffs and agricultural products, and has been so consistently since the 1940s when urbanization and population growth propelled the demand for food beyond what the Charnean agricultural sector could supply. All Charnean production of foodstuffs through crop cultivation and animal husbandry today accounts for less than half of the total food supply in the country and less than 10% of all economic activity by value, with major imports of non-perishable canned goods, cereal grains, legumes and processed foods accounting for a large portion of the national food supply in Charnea. The cost to import these items by rail from neighboring nations contributes to the inflation of food prices in Charnea, an important political issue for the Charnean government and a source of public unrest in the country. The Charnean state has engaged in a policy of stockpiling reserves of non-perishable and shelf-stable food products in government run warehouses in order to mitigate the economic and political fallout of any serious trade disruption which could send food prices skyrocketing. |
| | ===Tourism=== |
| | [[File:The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel (8300656204).jpg|200px|thumb|left|The [[Thirteen Heaven Casino]]]] |
| | The development of the Charnean {{wp|Tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary sectors}} has been based primarily on the tourism industry. From the lavish palaces of the Imperial era to the pre-Imperial ancient monuments of the Tenerian and Deshrian civilizations, Charnea has a great many historically significant and impressive sites which have been converted into tourist attractions, most often by the local communities which rely on the income collected from visitors to sustain themselves. Many enterprises have been established in the rural regions of the country to organize tours aimed at foreign visitors, with the natural beauty of the Charnean desert landscape as the main selling point. As with the historical attractions, these are mainly operated by local families to gain a higher level of income that would otherwise be possible in the native region. These sub-sectors of the tourism industry have been the hardest hit by the dips in tourist travel to Charnea that has come as a result of the country's recent political instability. |
|
| |
|
| ===Deliberative Assemblies===
| | By contrast, major hospitality firms operating in the great cities have been only marginally affected thanks to their devoted clientele of foreign visitors. These establishments capitalize on Charnea's legal gambling and prostitution as well as its permissive drug laws to attract visitors, especially from more restrictive parts of the world, to patronize their large {{wp|casino}}-{{wp|Resort|resorts}}. The majority of these hospitality industry establishments can be found in Agnannet and [[Tanitnet]] in commercial districts which have a high density of businesses catering specifically to a clientele of foreign visitors. These districts, known in Charnea as ''Talyat'' districts, are well known for their safety with the local law enforcement and at times even the local branch of the Charnean [[Alxalat]] syndicate paying special attention to the safety of foreign visitors from all forms of crime and even petty harassment. Tourism is a relatively non-consolidated industry, making it somewhat unique in the landscape of the Charnean economy, with very few establishments being part of any sort of wider company or chain. The Ishar Consortium is the only major Charnean corporation to have entered into the tourism industry, operatingtwo casino-resorts in Tanitnet and one in Agnannet. For the most part, the tourism industry in Charnea is dominated by small-scale {{wp|entrepreneurship}} driven by individual owner-operators or in some cases family-ownership. |
| There exist two deliberative bodies at level of the central government, these being the Great Convocation and the far more limited Agraw Imgharan. The duties and powers of the latter are relatively limited in scope and pertain largely to the traditional functions of ancient Tamashek confederation governments, elements of which were retained by the Confederation of Charnea. Foremost among the Agraw Imgharan's functions is to elect the Amenukal, which is done according to the [[Mandate of the Worthy]] and its dictates regarding eligibility of candidates and the bearing of deeds required by any prospective Amenukal. This same document covers the law of challenges which enables an Amenukal to be challenged by an eligible individual and be legally deposed in favor of the challenger, or to be simply dethroned through legal processes to initiate a temporary inter-regnum government and a new election process. Both of these duties, and the general laws of royal power and procedure are enforced by the Agraw Imgharan. The body itself is made up of the traditional Amghars of the principal Tamashek tribes which represent roughly half of the population of Charnea. Because of this, the candidates which are ultimately elected Amenukal are generally of Tamashek ethnicity and heritage. Despite the membership of the Agraw Imgharan consisting of respected elders and thus generally older citizens, Amenukals are generally middle aged when elected due in large part to the traditional role of the Amenukal as war leader for the Confederation and the belief that the elderly should not fight wars. The Agraw Imgharan currently counts 336 members each representing a single Tamashek clan or tribe, typically numbering only a small number of family groups. The Amghars typically do not adhere to any partisan bloc but do have been known to form broad alliances within the assembly based on inter-tribal affiliations and shared regionalism.
| |
| | |
| The Great Convocation is the foremost assembly of Charnea and holds wide ranging authority as the representative assembly of the sovereign constituent states as the unicameral legislature of the Confederation. Seats are allocated to each state based on population and new seats are created and assigned automatically through the administrative bodies of the Convocation. Electoral practices for the selection of deputies to fill these assigned seats are not governed by the Covenant of Agnannet and therefore many vary significantly from state to state, ranging from popular vote elections, elections followed by approval by the incumbent government, or simply selection of deputies within the internal apparatus of a particular state's ruling authorities. Despite this variation, the Covenant does explicitly state that all parties acknowledge the deputies of a state to be collectively representative of the will of that state's government and people, and may be recalled at any time using the same mechanisms of selection should they be found to no longer represent the wishes of the state they represent.
| |
| | |
| The powers of the Great Convocation are generally broad and wide reaching due to the nature of the perpetual confederacy which establishes the Charnean government. Chief among these powers is the appropriation of funding, as taxes cannot be levied by the central government except on its own limited territories and thus revenue from the constituent states must be volunteered by the local authorities or more commonly by their representatives in the Great Convocation. The Convocation also holds the power to declare war, sue for peace, approve any foreign treaty, or generally pass elgislation on any matter concearned more than one state. Historically, all votes required unanimous consensus to pass so that no member would feel unrepresented by the Confederation and invoke its right to seceed. This has largely been reduced as power has become more centralized to allow for resolutions through a {{wp|Supermajority#Two-thirds_vote|supermajority}} of deputy votes, however the power to declare war remains one of the few types of resolution which still require total consensus to pass thus ensuring no member state should have its military forces called into a conflict it did not approve. The only vote which may pass through a simple majority is the resolution to sue for peace, which similarly guarantees that a minority of belligerent states cannot keep the country in a state of war against the will of a majority of beleaguered constituents desiring an armistice. The Great Convocation is also empowered to impose penalties on states that threaten their neighbors or otherwise aggress the general Confederation through their actions, although such measures are rarely taken outside of extreme circumstances as they threaten to provoke a secession of the affected state. Generally, the laws passed by the Great Convocation typically cover inter-state agreements and national affairs of the entire Confederation, and generally do not prescribe criminal codes or ordinances affecting the individual citizen as these areas of law are generally left to the constituent states.
| |
| | |
| ===Administrative Divisions===
| |
| {| class="wikitable"
| |
| !Division Name!!Capital!!Population
| |
| |-
| |
| ! colspan="5" |Constituent States
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Achra]]
| |
| | [[Kasbeka]]
| |
| | 2,469,763
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Ake]]
| |
| | [[Akuja]]
| |
| | 2,182,795
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Zila]]
| |
| | [[Imannet]]
| |
| | 1,339,461
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Cherbua]]
| |
| | [[Abayara]]
| |
| | 1,291,722
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Taiba]]
| |
| | [[Tagoua]]
| |
| | 1,121,173
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Ahadez]]
| |
| | [[Kaouar]]
| |
| | 979,970
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tamazad]]
| |
| | [[Sahr]]
| |
| | 965,378
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tanemiah]]
| |
| | [[Kahina]]
| |
| | 832,708
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Mezara]]
| |
| | [[Fatutma]]
| |
| | 819,824
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Kaokawari]]
| |
| | [[Ferwan]]
| |
| | 792,069
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tessawa]]
| |
| | [[Sinder]]
| |
| | 775,589
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Toraska]]
| |
| | [[Kebejiya]]
| |
| | 758,351
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tabarden]]
| |
| | [[Zayara]]
| |
| | 726,946
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Iriyaken]]
| |
| | [[Idnan]]
| |
| | 612,283
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Kada]]
| |
| | [[Kabaouat]]
| |
| | 600,895
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tademait]]
| |
| | [[Amrra]]
| |
| | 583,656
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Izna]]
| |
| | [[Inannagari]]
| |
| | 520,649
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Nubrea]]
| |
| | [[Delfa]]
| |
| | 520,424
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Taghat Mellet]]
| |
| | [[Afella]]
| |
| | 448,513
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Azzayen]]
| |
| | [[Ibatan]]
| |
| | 444,976
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tinessan]]
| |
| | [[Siwana Doura]]
| |
| | 411,127
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Awakar]]
| |
| | [[Tanerghest]]
| |
| | 409,618
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Suhen]]
| |
| | [[Tissemat]]
| |
| | 396,333
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Ajowat]]
| |
| | [[Gres]]
| |
| | 361,632
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tegehe Aoutan]]
| |
| | [[Relannet]]
| |
| | 350,648
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tleta]]
| |
| | [[Dourom]]
| |
| | 312,937
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Amatadu]]
| |
| | [[Hosre]]
| |
| | 308,457
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Gara]]
| |
| | [[Wau]]
| |
| | 305,137
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Tesserbet]]
| |
| | [[Lifaghrawa]]
| |
| | 279,467
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Sanata]]
| |
| | [[Sati]]
| |
| | 249,781
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Kaokazuka]]
| |
| | [[Tadele]]
| |
| | 237,593
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Ewey]]
| |
| | [[Riyaza]]
| |
| | 227,219
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Adagh]]
| |
| | [[Ayer]]
| |
| | 150,367
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Alulla]]
| |
| | [[Hagar]]
| |
| | 93,628
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Zahrata]]
| |
| | [[Addai Zahra]]
| |
| | 55,826
| |
| |-
| |
| ! colspan="5" |Central Territories
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Koros]]
| |
| | [[Koros]]
| |
| | 2,429,473
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Agnannet]]
| |
| | [[Agnannet]]
| |
| | 2,050,811
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Ganima]]
| |
| | [[Ganima]]
| |
| | 1,341,357
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Anan Madal]]
| |
| | [[Anan Madal]]
| |
| | 519,708
| |
| |-
| |
| ! colspan="5" |Extended Territories
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Obul Delta Territory]]
| |
| | [[Stesse]]
| |
| | 2,718,834
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[East Charnea Territory]]
| |
| | [[Saida]]
| |
| | 754,926
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Kaloksen Territory]]
| |
| | [[Katir]]
| |
| | 103,775
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Ghul Corridor Territory]]
| |
| | [[Dasta]]
| |
| | 97,672
| |
| |-
| |
| | [[File:CharFlag.png|50px]] [[Erg Taneghosu Territory]]
| |
| | [[In Niah]]
| |
| | 57,101
| |
| |-
| |
| |}
| |
| | |
| ===Law===
| |
| | |
| ===Military===
| |
| {{main|Inter-Charnean Army}}
| |
| | |
| The Charnean military follows the devolved political structure of Charnea as a confederated military force made up of the specific armed forces of the constituent nations operating under a unified confederate command structure known as the Inter-Charnean Army or ICA. The ICA includes paramilitary and irregular forces operating under constituent armed forces. However, the Charnean military had previously deviated from this structure under the 1899 Armed Forces Reform which disarmed the constituent nations and centralized the Confederate military, a status quo that was effectively undone in the turmoil of the [[East Scipian Wars]] and formally repealed under the Lamine regime in 2002, which saw the restoration of a confederal mode of national defense. Component forces are typically trained and specialized by their respective nations to operate in their varied local environments, leading to a high degree of variation in equipment and tactics across the ICA, ranging from combined arms urban warfare doctrines utilized in the developed and densely populated southern regions to the highly irregular, mobility based insurgent warfare endemic to the Zahra desert commonly employed by militias of nomadic populations. The ICA is primarily a ground based organization, although it does feature a subordinate army air-force known as the ICAA (Inter-Charnean Army Airforce). Maritime operations conducted off of Charnea's small coastline are relatively insignificant and have few resources allocated to them which makes them strategically insignificant enough to lack a dedicated subordinate force, instead placing these light maritime duties in the charge of local constituent army units.
| |
| | |
| ==Geography and Climate==
| |
| | |
| ==Economy==
| |
| The Economy of Charnea is a strong primary sector economy, primarily exporting mineral resources and petroleum and importing most manufactured goods and a measured amount of agricultural products. Industrialization is a high priority for the current Lamine regime, and is planned to be carried out through {{wp:Import substitution industrialization}} specifically of manufactured or processed products based on resources exported by Charnea, for example the refining and manufacture of petroleum products such as kerosene, gasoline, and petroleum derived manufactured products such as plastics. Laminid economic plans of this nature are typically focused on industrial products wholly or mostly derived from materials already exploited by the Charnean mining and petroleum industries, and generally do not apply to goods that are either several levels of complexity removed from current Charnean manufacturing ambitions, or are manufactured using a majority of materials not readily available to the Charnean domestic market without importation of materials. The primary sector also features a rice-based agricultural sector, which has enabled Charnea to be largely self-sufficient on foodstuffs, with importations for the most part being limited to products that cannot grow in Charnea and are not basic staples. The Charnean economy currently depends on its exported mineral wealth, which is directed primarily to Oxidentale and trading partners such as [[Sante Reze]], [[Yisrael]], and [[Mutul]], in addition to developed [[Ajax#Belisaria|Belisarian]] and [[Ajax#Ochran|Ochrani]] markets. The Charnean currency, the Dinar, has suffered fluctuations historically but is relatively stable in the present day with inflation under control.
| |
| | |
| ===Energy===
| |
| The energy sector is of particular concern to the Charnean confederation, as profits generated by the state owned petroleum and energy infrastructure firm [[COPEC]] nearly supersede taxation as the confederate government's source of income. Oil rich regions are located in the northwest and far east of Charnea, around the frontiers of the Zahra desert, and are exclusively exploited by COPEC since the 1979 Petroleum Nationalization Law. Refining and petrochemical manufacture were previously contracted out to foreign companies by COPEC or else simply done overseas after the exportation of crude oil from Charnean ports, although this has largely transitioned to domestic operations wholly owned and operated by COPEC under the Laminid industrialization plan. Additionally, electrical generation is run by the state corporation and is largely specialized in solar generation, replacing older coal and oil fired fossil fuel generation plants. Wind energy is secondarily perused, to a more limited extent. Unlike the petroleum industry, COPEC does not have a national monopoly on power generation although it does control a large portion of the market as the primary investor and developer of new energy infrastructure.
| |
| | |
| ===Transportation===
| |
| | |
| ===Recycling===
| |
| Charnea is well known for its recycling industry, which is locally referred to as the reclamation industry. This sector of the Charnean economy, widely practiced in southern regions of the country, is based on the importation of foreign industrial and consumer waste products typically by rail or by sea to be processed by comparatively cheap Charnean labor. Reclamation firms in Charnea draw their profits from selling salvaged materials back onto the market as cheaper alternatives to what are called first generation materials, such as plastic pellets made from recycled plastic waste as opposed to being produced directly from petroleum products. [[Wikipedia:Ship breaking|Ship breaking]] is also a hallmark activity of the Charnean reclamation industry, making the Charnean coast and particularly the port of Koros international hotspots for the disposal of commercial ships, where the vessels are cheaply demolished and taken apart for the purposes of extracting raw materials and metal scrap.
| |
| | |
| ==Society==
| |
| ===Demographics===
| |
| [[File:Tuareg.JPG|thumb|upright=0.75|A Tamashek man from the [[Kel Awakar]]]]
| |
| {|class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px"
| |
| ! colspan="4" style="text-align:center; background:#cfb;"|Population in Charnea
| |
| |-
| |
| ! style="background:#cfb;"|Year
| |
| ! style="background:#cfb;"|Million
| |
| |-
| |
| |style="text-align:left;"|1940 ||style="text-align:right;"|9.16
| |
| |-
| |
| |style="text-align:left;"|1990 ||style="text-align:right;"|22.32
| |
| |-
| |
| |style="text-align:left;"|2020 ||style="text-align:right;"|33.02
| |
| |}
| |
| In 2020, Charnea's population was an estimated 33,023,983. Historically, the overwhelming majority of Charneans have been rural, however this figure has decreased in recent decades to an estimated 61% of Charneans now living in cities while 39% remain largely rural. According to the 2019 census, these figures amount to 19,999343 urban Charneans and 13,011,229 rural Charneans, including both agrarian and pastoralist communities. Over 75% of the population live in the south of Charnea, while less than 10% of Charneans live in the vast expanse of the [[Zahra desert]] which conversely occupies the majority of Charnea's territorial extent.
| |
| | |
| The rate of population growth and the accompanying age distribution of the general population has fluctuated significantly in the the past few decades, due in large part to the severe effects of the [[East Scipian Wars]] which decimated the male population of many ethnic groups across Charnea. Nevertheless, in 2020 a somewhat stable demographic distribution has been recorded at 29.8% under 14 years of age, 66.5% between 15 and 64 years of age, and a remaining 3.7% of Charneans being 65 and over. The Confederation as a whole has an estimated total sex ratio of 0.94 males to females.
| |
| | |
| ===Largest cities in Charnea===
| |
| {{Largest cities
| |
| | name = List of cities in Charnea by population
| |
| | country = Charnea
| |
| | stat_ref = All-Charnea Statistics Bureau (ACSB) census for 2019
| |
| | list_by_pop = <!-- link to the list of cities in the given country, if possible sorted by population -->
| |
| | class = info
| |
| | div_name = Division
| |
| | div_link =
| |
| | |
| | city_1 = Koros | div_1 = Koros | pop_1 = 2,429,473 | img_1 = Tripoli_Central_Business_District_from_Oea_Park.JPG
| |
| | city_2 = Agnannet | div_2 = Agnannet | pop_2 = 2,050,811 | img_2 = Tunisia_view_1890s2.jpg
| |
| | city_3 = Ganima | div_3 = Ganima | pop_3 = 1,341,357
| |
| | city_4 = Kasbeka | div_4 = Achra | pop_4 = 902,543 | img_3 = Tunis.png
| |
| | city_5 = Akuja | div_5 = Ake | pop_5 = 881,297 | img_4 = Palazzo_Reale_di_Tripoli.jpg
| |
| | city_6 = Tagoua | div_6 = Taiba | pop_6 = 770,546
| |
| | city_7 = Ayukuta | div_7 = Ake | pop_7 = 751,489
| |
| | city_8 = Imannet | div_8 = Zila | pop_8 = 749,816
| |
| | city_9 = Stesse | div_9 = Obul Delta Territory | pop_9 = 600,556
| |
| | city_10 = Idnan | div_10 = Iriyaken | pop_10 = 559,982
| |
| | city_11 = Kahina | div_11 = Tanemiah | pop_11 = 539,544
| |
| | city_12 = Khelisa | div_12 = Achra | pop_12 = 522,900
| |
| | city_13 = Kabaouat | div_13 = Kada | pop_13 = 521,227
| |
| | city_14 = Anan Madal | div_14 = Anan Madal | pop_14 = 519,708
| |
| | city_15 = Sahr | div_15 = Tamazad | pop_15 = 506,349
| |
| | city_16 = Kaouar | div_16 = Ahadez | pop_16 = 499,981
| |
| | city_17 = Sinder | div_17 = Tessawa | pop_17 = 492,372
| |
| | city_18 = Inannagari | div_18 = Izna | pop_18 = 488,779
| |
| | city_19 = Amrra | div_19 = Tademait | pop_19 = 464,168
| |
| | city_20 = Zayara | div_20 = Tabaraden | pop_20 = 460,002
| |
| }}
| |
| | |
| ===Ethnic groups===
| |
| Charnea's general population includes a wide variety of ethnic groups, the largest and most significant of which are counted among the Eight Nations. The historically significant {{wp|Amazigh}} decended nomadic populations which inhabit the Zahra desert region account for 9.4% of the population, 3,102,993 people, in the 2019 census. Closely related to these nomads are {{wp|Tamashek}} speaking ''Inadan/Izeggaren'' and ''Ikelan'' ethnic groups comprising a further 39.1% of the population, or some 12,907,133 people. According to the 2019 census, 21.7% (7,163,294 people) self identify as {{wp|Zarma people|Djerma}}, 15.4% (5,083,628 people) identify as {{wp|Kanuri people|Yerwa}}, 11.8% (3,895,247 people) identify as {{wp|Zaghawa people|Beri}} and a remaining 2.6% (858,277 people) are reported as being of a non Eight Nations ethnicity, such as {{wp|Arab people|Gharib}} or {{wb|Akan people|Urushar}}. Some sources have criticized the accuracy of the 2019 census, stating that many ethnic groups outside the Eight Nations were either counted as an Eight Nations ethnic group or not counted at all due to the census taking practices employed.
| |
| | |
| === Languages ===
| |
| {{bar box
| |
| |title=Mother Tongues in Charnea (2019 census)
| |
| |titlebar=#ddd
| |
| |left1=Mother Tongues
| |
| |right1=percent
| |
| |float=right
| |
| |bars=
| |
| {{bar percent|{{wp|Tamashek}}|red|41.6}}
| |
| {{bar percent|{{wp|Zarma language|Djerma}}|purple|16.5}}
| |
| {{bar percent|{{wp|Kanuri language|Yerwa}}|darkgreen|13.3}}
| |
| {{bar percent|{{wp|Zaghawa language|Beriaa}}|yellow|11.8}}
| |
| {{bar percent|{{wp|Air Tamajeq language|Tamajeq}}|darkred|6.9}}
| |
| {{bar percent|{{wp|Siwi language|Siwi}}|orange|3.1}}
| |
| {{bar percent|{{wp|Akan language|Urushar}}|darkblue|2.5}}
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| {{bar percent|{{wp|Awjila language|Tawilant}}|green|2.3}}
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| {{wp|Tamashek}} is the lingua franca and by far the most spoken language in Charnea with an estimated 97% of all residents across the Confederation being able to communicate with the language. More than half of all Charneans speak Tamashek or the mutually intelligible regional variant {{wp|Air Tamajeq language|Tamajeq}} as their mother tongue, as the language corresponds to three of the eight principal ethnic groups of Charnea. While over 21% of Charneans identify as ethnic Djerma, only 16.5% speak the Djerma language as their mother tongue. The same phenomenon is present although less pronounced among the Yerwa who make up 15.4% of the population while the Yerwa language is the mother tongue of 13.3% of Charneans. Experts believe this discrepancy to be the result of close relations and physical proximity between communities of these ethnities and those of native Tamashek speakers, which combined with universal Tamashek language education in all schools results in some Charneans learning Tamashek before the language of their own native communities. This phenomenon is not manifested among the Beri, almost all of whom speak the native tongue of Beriaa as their first language, appearing to confirm the theories about Djerma and Yerwa language speakers as Beriaa speaking communities are generally less intertwined with native Tamashek speakers, although Tamashek is still spoken as a second language in most cases.
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| Siwi and Tawilant language speakers, together making up a little over 5% of the Charnean population, generally nomadize the northwest and far east of Charnea respectively and are almost exclusively adherent to a pastoralist nomadic lifestyle which often isolates them from the other cultures of Charnea. Consequently, though they intermingle to some extent with Tamashek speaking nomads, they generally do not speak more than two languages unlike southern Charneans who typically speak between 2 and 5 languages and local dialects because of the high density of language distribution in the south. Urushar speakers are another significant outlier group among Charneans, as they belong to an ethnicity not recognized as one of the Eight Nations, and consequently their language does not figure into the recognized regional languages of Charnea. This status has placed the Urushar language outide of the normal local language protections the Confederation has in place affecting such things as education and public signage, which is exclusively in Tamashek in native Urushar speaking regions. It is noted that almost all of the respondants in the 2019 census who did not figure into one of the Eight Natinons were ethnic Urushars, corresponding closely with the recorded number of native Urushar language speakers in the same census. One of the statistically insignificant remainder groups of the Charnean language census are speakers of {{wp|Egyptian Arabic|Charnean Gharib}} who primarily inhabit the state of [[East Charnea]] in the Confederation's far east, bordering [[Fahran]].
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| | ==Demographics== |
| ===Religion=== | | ===Religion=== |
| {{bar box | | {{bar box |
| |title=Religion in Charnea | | |title = Religion in Charnea |
| |titlebar=#ddd | | |titlebar=#ddd |left1=Religion|right1=Percent |float=right |
| |left1=Religion | | |bars = |
| |right1=Percent | | {{bar percent|[[Ashni Addin]]|Red|71}} |
| |float=right | | {{bar percent|[[Azdarin]]|DarkBlue|13}} |
| |bars= | | {{bar percent|[[Coptic Nazarism]]|Green|10}} |
| {{bar percent|[[Kaharnism]]|green|93}} | | {{bar percent|[[White Path|Shaddijat]]|DarkGrey|4}} |
| {{bar percent|[[Azdarin]]|blue|5}} | | {{bar percent|Other|Grey|2}} |
| {{bar percent|Other/Irreligious|red|2}} | |
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| [[File:Buitre_negro_(1).jpg|200px|thumb|left|A Charnean Sacred Vulture]]
| | ===Urbanism=== |
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| === Education === | |
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| === Health ===
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| === Gender equality ===
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| ==Culture==
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| ===Cuisine===
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| [[File:Cooking_Taguella_in_Kel_Ahaggar.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A Charnean man cooking Taguella in hot ashes]]
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| Reflecting the multicultural nature of the confederation, Charnean cuisine is a mixture of many different influences both internal and external. While in general many different local cuisines are found across Charnea, {{wp|Tuareg people|Tamashek}} cuisine is endemic to most regions of the confederation. Additionally, foreign influences primarily originating with other {{wp|Amazigh}} peoples scuh as [[Messidor Union|Aghmatia]] can be felt as well, having been introduced through the connecting trans-scipian trade routes which have historically served as the mediums of cultural exchange for central Scipia and Charnea. {{wp|Taguella}} bread, an unleavened flatbread normally cooked over charcoal, is a ubiquitous staple food across most of Charnea, while {{wp|Eba}} is more popular in the south as a local staple. {{wp|Tajine}}, {{wp|Couscous}} and {{wp|Pastilla|Besṭila}} are examples of foreign Amazigh dishes introduced to Charnea through cultural exchange that have since become popular with many local peoples, while {{wp|Jollof rice}} can be taken as an example of a popular dish having an origin within the local cultures of southern and central Charnea.
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| Many of the dishes common to differing regions of Charnea are highly specific to the local environment and agricultural or pastoral traditions, and are general the products of the most available sources of nutrition and the best fitted crops that can be cultivated in any particular region, such as goat and sheep products along with wheat flatbreads in the Zahra desert region contrasted with rice and cassava based foods in the far less arid southerly regions. The steady introduction of modern agricultural techniques and industrialized food production and especially the advent of refrigeration have resulted in a rising degree of homogeneity, as foods from one region of Charnea can much more easily be transported and consumed in other regions where the climate would never allow those products to be prepared locally, leading to a general spread in popular south Charnea rice dishes, although a few northern foods such as taguella and ''cink'' or ''liwa'' millet porridge still retain their wide reaching popularity as cultural staples.
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| [[File:TeaSeremonyWS.jpg|150px|thumb|left|''Ashahi'' tea ceremony]]
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| Tea is highly popular across all differing Charnean cultures. {{wp|Maghrebi mint tea|''Ashahi'' tea}}, green tea steeped with sugar and mint, is not only popular but culturally significant as the focal point of many social gatherings. Preparation is often semi-ritual and ceremonial in nature, being prepared for household guests as a key element of traditional Charnean hospitality, as well as part of daily social meetings within and without the family group. Generally, each person takin part will consume more than one (typically 2-4) glasses of tea in any particular occasion or tea ceremony. Ashahi tea is not limited to any particular activity, meal or time of day, and is generally consumed at all times of day, often multiple times a day, with food or on its own. The common variety of Ashahi tea consumed today is a type of {{wp|Gunpowder tea|gunpowder green tea}} introduced to Charnea in the 18th century, although the tradition of the tea ceremony is though to predate this introduction and may have originated with unknown varieties of tea that came into Charnea in medieval times, at some point prior to the 11th century.
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| Coffee, beer and other alcoholic beverages which are generally common across most of the world are comparatively far less popular in Charnea. In some instances, varieties of coffee which are typically imported are consumed in a similar manner to Ashahi tea especially in recent years, however the popularity of this practice is not wide reaching. Imported alcoholic beverages, such as {{wp|Balché|Balche}} and {{wp|Tequila}} introduced to Charnea through contact with the [[Mutul]], have a niche market, with some contributions from locally produced distillations which generally consist of {{wp|Moonshine}}. Other Mutulese imports such as chocolate have a similar middling level of popularity, and are mainly imbibed as part of [[White Path]] ritualistic consumption.
| | ===Ethnicity=== |
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| ===Clothing and Fashion===
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| A wide variety of textile and clothing styles can be found in Charnea, having origins both in many diverse native cultures within the Confederation as well as foreign origins which may have been introduced through cross-cultural contact over ancient trade routes historically or be relatively recent additions to Charnean fashion brought about in the industrial age through modern means of international trade. Although common foreign styles, often those mass produced and in ubiquitous use globally, are indeed found all over Charnea, it is also common to find local styles being worn both in ceremonial capacities and in day to day life. The most iconic piece of native fashion is the {{wp|tagelmust}}, a head wrap originating with the {{wp|Tuareg people|Tamashek}} people of the [[Zahra desert]] which is typically dyed with indigo but may also be dyed in other colors, especially as it has been introduced as a common piece of headwear outside of the nomadic cultures of northern Charnea. A tagelmust is specifically intended to be worn by men, as the Tamashek traditionally veil themselves at all times except in the presence of close friends or within a family. Women do not traditionally cover their faces except at specific times during ceremonies and events using the ''tusuwart'', a woman's head covering. Men generally wear cloth pants known as ''akarbey'' while women will traditionally wear dresses as well as {{wp|Wrapper (clothing)|''afer''}} coverings. The Tamashek, as well as many other ethnic groups within Charnea, commonly wear various types of {{wb|Djellaba|Djellaba robe}} or {{wp|kaftan}}, such as the {{wp|Senegalese kaftan|''mbaub''}} found in the south. Charneans who do not wear the tagelmust will sometimes use {{wp|Kufi}} style hats instead. In Charnean culture, the tagelmust is considered a symbol of adulthood and wearing one for the first time marks a rite of passage into manhood. Many similar practices exist across Charnea, where traditional headgear and hats are intended to be worn only by adult men or women. Footwear may vary greatly depending on the climate, however leather sandals (''iragazan'') and shoes (''ibuzagan'') are relatively common and widespread across Charnea's arid regions.
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| [[Category:Charnea]] | | [[Category:Charnea]] |
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| [[Category:Countries (Ajax)]] | | [[Category:Countries (Ajax)]] |
| [[Category:MT]] | | [[Category:MT]] |
| [[Category:Monarchies]] | | [[Category:Republics]] |
| [[Category:Monarchies (Ajax)]] | | [[Category:Republics (Ajax)]] |
| [[Category:Confederacies]] | | [[Category:Unitary states]] |
Charnea, officially the Republic of Charnea (Tamashek: ⴰⵊⴰⵎⵀⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ, Ajamhurya n Charnea), is a landlocked country in central Scipia. The territory of Charnea spans the majority of the Ninva desert, bounded by the Arwa range in the west and the Kija river in the east. Charnea is bordered to the north by Talahara, Tyreseia, Khemetu and Alanahr, to the east by Happara, Fahran and Kembesa, and along the mountainous southern boundary by M'biruna and the Amayana Makgato and Solar Temple states of the Karana basin. Agnannet is the capital and primate city of Charnea, located in the urbanized Achra triangle.
The Republic is a military democracy established by elements of the Charnean Army following the political disintegration of the Charnean Empire in the mid-2010s. The Ihemodian Revival, a Ninvite pan-nationalist movement invoking the historical legacy of the 14th century conqueror Ihemod Imekkusa, is the dominant political current in the Republic. While the Revivalists generally seek to integrate Charnea's large historically marginalized minorities such as the Deshrians and Darja speaking Hatherians into the new Republican society, the legislature, national bureaucracy and Army remain in the hands of the Tenerian majority, particularly Ajamites of rural nomadic extraction in the latter case.
Charnea undertook a program of intensive industrialization beginning in the early 20th century, transforming the country through a state capitalist model of centralized economic planning. Although lucrative resource beds would later be discovered, much of Charnea's formative economic development driven by an apparent dearth of natural resources in the Charnean Ninva would focus on establishing a carefully planned manufacturing sector supplied with imported raw materials by the Trans-Ninvite Railway. The scarcity of water in particular established a pattern of development which favored economic and demographic consolidation into highly concentrated urban zones emerging where local water resources could sustain them, connected to resource beds, international commerce and to each other by the rail network. Despite the harmful effects of recent political instability and long-term social inequality, the Charnean economy has transformed the inhospitable Ninva into a modern and developed country.
Etymology
The exact origins and meaning of the name of Charnea is heavily in dispute. The prevailing theory is that the modern Charna as it is rendered in Tamashek is a corruption of the Deshrian word Shasramt meaning "traveling people" referring to the ancestors of the Tenerians who reverted to a nomadic pastoral lifestyle following the collapse of the urbanized Tamazghan Confederation in the 3rd century. Shasramt was likely adopted as a term for the lands and peoples of the central Ninva desert some time after the rise of the Ihemodian Empire. The Tenerian endonym for the land is simply Tenere meaning "desert", referring to the arid landscape of the Ninva. However, this term is generally applied only to the historically Tenerian region of the western Ninva. The Ninva east of the Adjer mountains instead bears the Hatherian name of Zahra which has the same meaning as Tenere.
History
Government
The Republic of Charnea is a democratic stratocracy in which political rights are contingent on voluntary national service in the Charnean Army or a military sanction. Like the Charnean Empire that preceded it, the Republic does not have a formal constitution. The mechanisms of the Republic's government and democratic system are instead outlined in the 2018 Edicts of Agnannet which established a parliamentary system of government in which the right to vote and hold office would be granted to anyone who completes a 2-year period of military service, while the 2022 Declaration of Principles would later allow for meritorious non-military forms of service to be rewarded with an official sanction granting the same rights. The closest analogue to the unorthodox Charnean system is the federal military regime in neighboring East Itayana.
The Agraw Itkar is the supreme legislative assembly of the Republic, comprised of deputies representing the eligible electorate both within and without the active military. Voting districts of the Agraw, where are known as Corps, are not geographically demarcated and are instead defined by the formation in which a voter preformed their service. Corps which are deemed to be too large to adequately represent its members are split into smaller bodies by the national Elections Council, itself a subdivision of the Agraw which also oversees the dispensation of military sanctions to civilians. All national elections are carried out using a block approval methodology. In addition to legislation, the Agraw also serves as the supreme judicial organ of the Republic overseeing all civilian and military courts in Charnea.
The Amizar is the elective, removable office that acts as chief of the Charnean Army and State. As the military commander in chief, the Amizar exercises total authority over the operations of the Army as well as the state administration. The legitimacy of an Amizar's administration and leadership of the military is legally supported by the Agraw Iktar, which holds the power to instate and recall an Amizar to and from office as the formal representative body of the military. The office has no established term limits, vesting in the Agraw the total authority to dictate how long a specific Amizar may hold the office. The only rule restricting the Agraw's ability to recall an Amizar from office is that a supermajority of 80% of the assembly is required to remove the Amizar if Charnea finds herself in a declared inter-state war, in contrast to the simple majority required in all other circumstances.
Military
The Charnean Army, commonly referred to as the ICA for its Tamashek initials (Iɤrudan Charnan Ajhanan, meaning "Combined Charnean Army") is the professional military force of the Republic. It is an all-volunteer organization in which career-long service is common. The ICA practices a mobile art of war largely inherited from the nomadic military traditions of the Charnean Tenerians who have made up the vast majority of the ICA's manpower for all of its modern history. The combat elements of the ICA are organized into generally autonomous operational groups known as Igadeganen which include aviation, intelligence and logistics components in addition to the infantry, armor and artillery units typical of a conventional combined-arms force. Because of this all-inclusive organizational method, the Charnean military lacks any independent service branches such as an autonomous air force. Although it retains the capacity for conventional warfare as a deterrent against foreign aggression, the Charnean Army is primarily equipped and trained for counterinsurgency and sustained low-intensity conflicts which have been the historical norm across central and eastern Scipia in general and Charnea in particular. Charnea's hybrid defense doctrine establishes the theoretical basis that inter-state warfare and counterinsurgency are neither distinct nor mutually exclusive, and promotes a material and operational approach capable of effectively engaging state and non-state opponents alike.
Since the foundation of the Republic, the Charnean military has gained near-total political primacy through the establishment of stratocratic government. The Charnean Army has thus far rejected Talaharan-style military democracy out of concern that it would negatively effect cohesion and discipline within the ICA, instead establishing the Agraw Itkar as an organ external to military hierarchy to serve as the medium of expression for the Army's political will. As part of its assumption of political control over the country, the ICA has enforced its legal monopoly over force through the disarmament of paramilitary organizations and non-military security forces including municipal police, banning any non-military agent of the state from bearing arms in an official capacity. This action has effectively disbanded many policing organizations across the country, prompting the Army to assume an expanded role in Charnean internal security and law enforcement.
Foreign relations
Charnea maintains tentative diplomatic relations with the international community, suffering from a lack of legitimacy due to the recent establishment of the regime and Charnea's modern history of political upheaval. The Republic has frigid relations with most of its immediate neighbors on the Scipian continent due to historical grievances, ideological incompatibility, and the ramifications of Charnea's history of internal conflicts. Nevertheless, Charnea maintains friendly relations with the Amayana states in the form of military and economic cooperation, particularly in the case of the Amayana Makgato Federation. The Republic has also preserved the previous regime's well-established trading relationship with Tyreseia despite generally uneasy relations with the Rubric Coast Consortium to which Tyreseia is a party. On a global stage, Charnea maintains good relations with the Mutul on the basis of shared cultural history and the diplomatic legacy of Jasaw Chan K'awiil IV. The diplomatic split between Charnea and the Periclean world which began during the Ninvite War has persisted to the present day, staining Charnea's international perception and serving to generally impede good diplomatic relations with Belisarian and Periclean nations.
Geography
The territory of Charnea comprises 2,130,656 square kilometres (822,651 sq mi) of land, making it the largest country in Scipia by land area. Charnea is far larger in its longitudinal expanse than its dimensions in latitude, with its far western tip at the border with Talahara being 3,160 kilometers west of its furthest eastern border section abutting Happara. This entire territory is considered part of the Ninva, the continental desert spanning most of central Scipia of which Charnean territory makes up more than half of its total expanse. More than 90% of the country is classified as arid desert with small portions of the southwest periphery falling under a semi-desert climate classification. The vast majority of this desert expanse has no permanent surface water, with the totality of the surface water in Charnea amounting to 0.084% of the country's total surface area or roughly 179 square kilometers. The principal locations of surface water in Charnea are the inland delta of the Iza river in Achra, as well as the Great Oasis and Kija river in the far east.
Regions
Economy
The Charnean economy is founded on a strong secondary sector sustained by a large urban workforce and extensive infrastructure investments. The formative development of the country's economy in the early 20th century preceded the discovery of significant mineral deposits in the Ninva desert by many decades. Lacking the potential for a lucrative primary sector in the absence of agricultural potential or mineral wealth, Charnean industrial planning focused on establishing a manufacturing sector based on the raw materials that could be readily and cheaply imported from neighboring Scipian countries by rail. The center and west of the country specialized in textiles produced using cotton imported from Itayana, while the near and far east of the country established a copper-based metalworking economy importing raw materials from Fahran and Kembesa through Happaran-owned east Scipian railways. The discovery of buried petroleum reserves in the far east and far west in the 1960s opened the door for petrochemical production and the rise of the Charnean plastics industry, the third component of the "Charnean Trinity" along with textiles and metal products. Mineral extraction has emerged as an important component of the national economy since modern prospecting technologies helped discover previously unknown resource deposits in the Ninva desert, but is primarily oriented toward supporting domestic manufacturing rather than exporting raw materials directly. Agriculture is likewise oriented toward domestic demand as the high costs associated with Charnean agricultural production make exports generally unprofitable. As a result of these factors stemming from environmental conditions and its mode of industrialization, the Charnean economy has remained in a state of secondary sector primacy throughout its modern history.
Charnea is known for its centralized, often highly restrictive economic planning governed by regional governmental organizations such as the Achra TET that direct local development and establish regulation on the use of local resources. The dominant economic model in Charnea, especially in the country's industrialized urban zones, is a form of corporatist state capitalism in which the state is both directly involved (through state enterprise) and indirectly involved (through regional development organs) in economic activity. The Charnean system has greatly benefitted a small number of major industrial conglomerates, known as "Combines" (ⴻⵔⵜⴻⵢ, Ertey) in Charnean parlance, which have prospered from close cooperation and a reciprocal business relationship with the state. Private entities such as the Mamala Combine as well as state enterprises like COPEC individually account for significant portions of the national GDP, making Charnea one of the most consolidated economies in the world in terms of ownership and corporate structures.
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Manufacturing
Main production hall of the Aghzu plastics factory, equipped with advanced computerized custom molding equipment
The secondary sector of the Charnean economy is highly consolidated, with more than three quarters of all economic activity within the manufacturing industries being consolidated within just three major conglomerates. These are Ishar, Plexico and Akundar, together known as the "big three". Plexico, an enormous plastics industry corporation, is by far the largest of the big three. It serves as one of the main suppliers of basic as well as complex plastic products on a global scale, accounting for the majority of Charnean exports of plastic products which in total account for some 17% of the national GDP. Plexico's plastic products range from highly complex and heavily engineered medical grade items to cheap mass produced industrial components such as plastic pipes. The company is also one of the largest contributors to the worldwide supply of the plastics industry's most basic material, the pre-production plastic pellets which serve as the main input of all plastic products. Of the big three, Plexico is the most politically connected with an especially close business relationship with COPEC as its main supplier of key petrochemicals for the production of plastic materials. Plexico wields outsized political influence thanks to its status as the largest company in Charnea by revenue and one of the country's largest employers. Plexico grew to this immense size through the constant financial support and legal acquiescence of the Charnean government which invested heavily in growing the domestic plastics industry in the 1960s and and 70s, capitalizing on the incredibly low cost of the petrochemicals in the domestic market needed as inputs for the industry as well as the effects of the demographic dividend which Charnea was experiencing in those decades. The main campuses of Plexico's plastics empire are Aghzu factory located in Agnannet, Aszar in Ekelhoc and the Thalsa facility in Tezzat, all of which are found in close proximity to COPEC refineries and chemical plants which supply these factories with their raw materials. Plexico's monopoly on the Charnean plastics industry stems from its access to the financial rescources of the Charnean state and its international backers, which have allowed it to dominate the market in which other firms struggle to surpass the high financial and technological barriers of entry.
Besides plastics manufacturing which is highly consolidated under Plexico, the Charnean manufacturing sector also includes the production of of vehicles and transportation-related goods, metal products such as copper wire, and other low-complexity consumer grade products which fall under the category of light industry. These sectors are largely consolidated into the Akundar-Ishar duopoly, with neither conglomerate holding or seeking an outright monopoly over any one sector while both entities are subject to economic interdependence as part of a wider industrial oligopoly. Akundar is the main producer of rolling stock through its Agnannet-based subsidiary Akundar Transportation, while Ishar holds a greater degree of market presence among rail operators, giving both companies a great deal of control over the all-important Charnean railway network and the industries which support its infrastructure. The Ahuriri Corporation represents an outside power in the transport-manufacturing industry in Charnea, as an Onekawan firm which has expanded operations of its aircraft manufacturing industry into Charnea in recent years. This move, as well as the investment in the vehicular manufacturing and industrial sectors in general, has been indirectly subsidized by the Charnean defense industry which itself is almost entirely propped up by lucrative contracts awarded by the Charnean Army. Domestic Charnean defense industry firms such as Eruere Enterprises and the Akayon Corporation benefit greatly from the supporting network of industry of the big three as well as the smaller firms.
Agriculture
Agricultural field in the Charnean desert, protected from the wind and sand by a
windbreak of palms
As a desert nation, Charnea faces significant challenges in the development of its agriculture and domestic food production. Charnea has extremely low overall rainfall, with most of the nation's water supply coming from groundwater aquifers which are tightly regulated by the Charnean government due to the political and strategic considerations surrounding the extremely sensitive, scarce and crucial resource. In addition, Charnean farmers battle the often terrible physical and chemical characteristics and low fertility of the desert soil. These factors act to hinder the process of cultivation and food production in the desert. Nevertheless, Charnean farmers have persisted despite the adversity and have perfected methods of agriculture specifically adapted to the arid conditions through the millennia of human habitation in the region. Domestic cereal production is centered around the cultivation of millet, barley and flax, especially the native cultivars of these crops which are uniquely hardy and drought resistant making them far better adapted to the conditions than foreign staples such as wheat and rice. Production of mesquite flour from the invasive and widespread honey mesquite tree is common in many parts of the Tenere region of the desert, where it was introduced by Mutulese traders centuries ago. Other arboreal cultivations include date palms for fruit production as well as mastic and gum acacia which produce aromatic resin in high demand both locally and internationally.
The specificities of Charnean agriculture have a significant effect on the diet of the local people, distinguishing their cuisine from that of related Amaziɣ and comparable desert-dwelling peoples such as the Gharibs. For example, Talaharan couscous made from wheat semolina differs noticeably in flavor and consistency from its Charnean equivalent which is made from pearl millet. The Charnean diet and its associated food industries are also highly influenced by the Tenerian traditions of animal husbandry, particularly the herding of camels. This activity has been industrialized and intensified over the last century, although it retains at its core many of the practices of the nomadic ancestors of the modern Tenerians. Camels are widely raised by large family owned enterprises across Charnea for their meat, hide and especially their milk. Charnea is the largest producer of camel milk in the world, with a near totality of this industry's output aimed at the large domestic market for the milk itself as well as the yoghurt that can be made from it.
Charnea is a major importer of foodstuffs and agricultural products, and has been so consistently since the 1940s when urbanization and population growth propelled the demand for food beyond what the Charnean agricultural sector could supply. All Charnean production of foodstuffs through crop cultivation and animal husbandry today accounts for less than half of the total food supply in the country and less than 10% of all economic activity by value, with major imports of non-perishable canned goods, cereal grains, legumes and processed foods accounting for a large portion of the national food supply in Charnea. The cost to import these items by rail from neighboring nations contributes to the inflation of food prices in Charnea, an important political issue for the Charnean government and a source of public unrest in the country. The Charnean state has engaged in a policy of stockpiling reserves of non-perishable and shelf-stable food products in government run warehouses in order to mitigate the economic and political fallout of any serious trade disruption which could send food prices skyrocketing.
Tourism
The development of the Charnean tertiary sectors has been based primarily on the tourism industry. From the lavish palaces of the Imperial era to the pre-Imperial ancient monuments of the Tenerian and Deshrian civilizations, Charnea has a great many historically significant and impressive sites which have been converted into tourist attractions, most often by the local communities which rely on the income collected from visitors to sustain themselves. Many enterprises have been established in the rural regions of the country to organize tours aimed at foreign visitors, with the natural beauty of the Charnean desert landscape as the main selling point. As with the historical attractions, these are mainly operated by local families to gain a higher level of income that would otherwise be possible in the native region. These sub-sectors of the tourism industry have been the hardest hit by the dips in tourist travel to Charnea that has come as a result of the country's recent political instability.
By contrast, major hospitality firms operating in the great cities have been only marginally affected thanks to their devoted clientele of foreign visitors. These establishments capitalize on Charnea's legal gambling and prostitution as well as its permissive drug laws to attract visitors, especially from more restrictive parts of the world, to patronize their large casino-resorts. The majority of these hospitality industry establishments can be found in Agnannet and Tanitnet in commercial districts which have a high density of businesses catering specifically to a clientele of foreign visitors. These districts, known in Charnea as Talyat districts, are well known for their safety with the local law enforcement and at times even the local branch of the Charnean Alxalat syndicate paying special attention to the safety of foreign visitors from all forms of crime and even petty harassment. Tourism is a relatively non-consolidated industry, making it somewhat unique in the landscape of the Charnean economy, with very few establishments being part of any sort of wider company or chain. The Ishar Consortium is the only major Charnean corporation to have entered into the tourism industry, operatingtwo casino-resorts in Tanitnet and one in Agnannet. For the most part, the tourism industry in Charnea is dominated by small-scale entrepreneurship driven by individual owner-operators or in some cases family-ownership.
Demographics
Religion
Urbanism
Ethnicity
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