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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
|native_name = ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ / ''Charnea'' ({{wp|Tamashek}})<br>تشارنيا / ''Tasharnia'' ({{wp|Arabic|Gharbaic}})<br>טשאַרנעאַ / ''Tsharnea'' ({{wp|Hebrew}})
|common_name = Charnea
|common_name = Charnea
|conventional_long_name = Second Empire of Charnea
|conventional_long_name = Republic of Charnea
|image_flag                  = CharFlag.png
|image_flag                  = CharFlag.svg
|alt_flag                    =  
|alt_flag                    =  
|image_coat                  =  
|image_coat                  = CharSeal.svg
|alt_coat                    =  
|alt_coat                    =  
|symbol_type                =  
|symbol_type                = Seal
|national_motto              = ''One Dream, One Plan, One Charnea''
|national_motto              =  
|national_anthem            =  
|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                    =  
Line 24: Line 22:
|capital                    = [[Agnannet]]
|capital                    = [[Agnannet]]
|largest_city                = [[Agnannet]]
|largest_city                = [[Agnannet]]
|official_languages          = {{wp|Tamashek}}
|official_languages          = ''None''
|national_languages         = </br>{{wp|Zarma language|Zarma}}<br>{{wp|Arabic|Gharbaic}}
|national_languages          = {{nowrap|{{wp|Tamashek}} (de facto)}}
|regional_languages          =
|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              = {{unbulleted list
| ethnic_groups              = {{unbulleted list
| 22.9% {{wp|Ikelan}}
| 62.9% [[Tenerians]]<br>{{nowrap|&nbsp;'''∟'''51.8% [[Tenerians#Kel_A.C9.A3rem|Kel Aɣrem]]}}<br>{{nowrap|&nbsp;'''∟'''11.1% [[Tenerians#Kel_Ajama|Kel Ajama]]}}
| 22.8% {{wp|Tuareg people|Imuhagh}}
| 15.4% [[Deshrians]]
| 19.3% {{wp|Zarma people|Zarma}}
| 13.8% {{wp|Arabs|Gharibs}}
| 14.1% {{wp|Afro-Arab|Gharbaic}}  
| 3.6% {{wp|Zarma people|Zarma}}
| 6.6% {{wp|Yoruba people|Yoruba}}
| 2.1% {{wp|Toubou people|Tebu}}
| 4.5% {{wp|Fula people|Fula}}
| 1.2% [[Chamals]]
| 2.5% {{wp|Sara people|Sara}}
| 1.0% Other
| 2.4% {{wp|Hausa people|Hausa}}
| 1.9% {{wp|Copts|Deshretic}}
| 1.8% {{wp|Zaghawa people|Zaghawa}}
| 1.2% {{wp|Akan people|Akan}}
}}
}}
|ethnic_groups_year          = 2019
|ethnic_groups_year          = 2024
|demonym                    = Charnean
|demonym                    = Charnean
|government_type            = {{wp|Unitary states|Unitary}} {{wp|constitutional monarchy}}  
|government_type            = {{wp|Unitary states|Unitary}} {{wp|Parliamentary system|parliamentary}} {{wp|republic}}  
|leader_title1              = [[Monarchy of Charnea|Tamenokalt]]
|leader_title1              = Amizar
|leader_name1                = [[Amina N'Okha]]
|leader_name1                = [[Khyar Aziouel]]
|leader_title2              = [[Premier of Charnea|Premier]]
|legislature                = [[Agraw Itkar]]
|leader_name2                = [[Martuf ag Lamine]]
|leader_title3              = [[Chief Justice of Charnea|Chief Justice]]
|leader_name3                = [[Usila Gad]]  
|legislature                = [[Agraw Imgharan]]
|upper_house                =  
|upper_house                =  
|lower_house                =  
|lower_house                =  
|sovereignty_type            =
|sovereignty_type            = Foundation
|sovereignty_note            =  
|sovereignty_note            =  
|established_event1          =  
|established_event1          = Fall of [[Tamazgha]]
|established_date1          =  
|established_date1          = 250
|established_event2          =  
|established_event2          = [[Ihemodian Wars]]
|established_date2          =  
|established_date2          = 1360-1410
|established_event3          =  
|established_event3          = {{nowrap|[[Awakar Confederation]]}}
|established_date3          =  
|established_date3          = 1519-1910
|established_event4          = Charnean Revolution
|established_date4          = 10 October 1910
|established_event5          = [[Muttay Ajamhuryin]]
|established_date5          = 7 June 2023
|area_rank                  =  
|area_rank                  =  
|area_magnitude              =  
|area_magnitude              =  
|area                        =
|area                        =  
|area_km2                    = 2,621,088
|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              = 0.0084%
|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      = 12.6
|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                        = 35.9
|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                  =
Line 112: Line 106:
}}
}}


'''Charnea''' ({{wp|Tamashek}}: ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ; {{wp|Arabic|Gharbaic}}: تشارنيا; {{wp|Hebrew}}: טשאַרנעאַ), formally the '''Second Empire of Charnea''', is a {{wp|constitutional monarchy}} in [[Ajax#Scipia|Scipia]] bordered by the [[Messidor Union]] to the northwest, [[Alanahr]] to the northeast, [[Fahran]] and [[Kembesa]] to the east and [[M'biruna]] to the southeast. The Second Empire is a {{wp|unitary state}} made up of [[Territories of Charnea|seven territories]] and encompasses numerous ethnic and religious groups, with {{wp|Tuareg people|Imuhagh}}, {{wp|Zarma people|Zarma}}, and {{wp|Afro-Arab|Gharbaic}} peoples making up the largest ethnic contingents. Among Charnea's diverse religious groups are [[White Path|White Pilgrims]], [[Azdarin|Yen]], {{wp|Judaism|Jews}} and [[Asalism|Asalists]] which practice their traditions exclusively or in conjunction with the highly {{wp|syncretism|syncretic}} native Charnean faith [[Tamdda-ddin]], a [[Kaharnism|Kaharnic]] faith closely related to ancient {{wp|Amazigh}} traditional religion. The government of the Second Empire, recently established in December of 2021, invokes many of the customs and traditions of the defunct [[Empire of Charnea]] while implemented a new style of constitutional government. In contrast to some contemporary monarchies of this type, Charnea eschews concepts of {{wp|representative democracy}} in favor of {{wp|meritocracy|meritocratic}} principles and the philosophy of {{wp|Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Total Law}} under which the monarch serves as a hereditary executive subject to the law rather than a {{wp|Sovereign}} with overriding authority over the courts. The national {{wp|deliberative assembly}}, [[Agraw Imgharan]], is a {{wp|Unicameralism|unicameral legislature}} whose members represent various organs of the civil service and the military as a means of formalizing the role of these institutions in the decision making process and control of the apparatus of state.  
'''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]] bordered to the north by [[Talahara]], [[Tyreseia]], and [[Alanahr]], to the east by [[Kembesa]] and [[M'biruna]], and to the south by [[Itayana]] and the [[Makgato|Makgato Federation]]. Referred to as the Heart of the [[Ninva]], Charnea sits at the crossroads of the Scipian continent between the [[Periclean world|Periclean]], [[Association of Ozeros Nations|Ozerosi]], and [[Ooreqapi]] nations. The country is predominantly made up of flat {{wp|Desert climate|arid}} and {{wp|Semi-arid climate|semi-arid}} plains interrupted by the [[Arwa mountains|Arwa]], [[Agala mountains|Agala]] and [[Adjer mountains]]. The population of 27 million has a 70% urbanization rate and is concentrated in urbanized corridors connected to each other by an extensive rail network spanning the desert. [[Agnannet]] is the largest city in Charnea and serves as its capital and central railway hub, gaining the status of a {{wp|global city}} because of its importance to the central Scipian region.  


Modern day Charnea was once part of three great Scipian empires, the {{wp|Yoruba people|Yoruba}}-{{wp|Hausa people|Hausa}} led [[Sunset Empire]], the {{wp|Zarma people|Zarma}} led [[Hsewa Empire]] as well as the {{wp|Tuareg people|Imuhagh}} led [[Empire of Charnea]] for which the country is named. Various {{wp|Copts|Deshretic}} domains as well as the {{wp|Tamashek}} speaking {{wp|Amazigh}} confederations of the northern and western deserts have also existed within what is now Charnea, eventually being subsumed into the Empire of Charnea. At its peak between 1350 and the 1420s, the Empire of Charnea controlled a majority of the Scipian continent and was one of the largest contemporary military powers in the world. Throughout the early modern period, the empire's frontiers receded to what was considered its core territories, a region roughly equivalent to the modern day borders of the Second Empire. From 1906-1909, the empire underwent a period of escalating civil conflict known as the [[Charnean Revolutionary Period]] eventually leading up to the dissolution of the Charnean Empire in 1911. Many core states of the former empire established the [[Central Scipian Accord]], which would later lead to the federation of the [[State of the Central Scipian Accord]]. The SCSA would expand its influence and reassert control over many lost territories of the old empire, carving up lands among notable clans and engaging in a {{wp|Spoils system|system of patronage}} benefiting the well connected. This state in turn would break under the pressure of the [[Ninvite War]] in 1987, reforming as the [[Central Scipian Republic]] during the 1987-1990 ceasefire and prosecuting the remainder of the war. The CSR continued many aspects of the corrupt {{wp|pay to play}} patronage system under a far more centralized state in which power was monopolized my a single clique of clan leaders and notable politicians as opposed to many local groups. Political instability stemming from corruption, mismanagement and constant reshuffling of state officials and leaders through the machinations and betrayals of national leadership led to the [[Great Charnean Crisis]], the [[Hatherian Genocide]] and the subsequent [[2013 Charnean coup d'etat|military coup in 2013]], followed by the breakup of the military government with the [[Military Rebellion|military rebellion of 2015]] which effectively dismantled the Central Scipian Republic. Administration of the country was then left to the [[Transitional Government of the Obul and Ninva]] effectively controlled by local military officers turned warlords for six years from late 2015 until the foundation of the Second Empire on December 10th of 2021.  
Pre-historic Charnea is thought to be the point of origin for {{wp|Human|anatomically modern humans}} {{Citation needed}} and would go on to play host to some of the world's first urban civilizations emerging from the {{wp|Neolithic Revolution|Agricultural Revolution}} of the [[Kija river|al-Kija basin]]. The {{wp|Bronze age}} would see the gradual westward spread of the Kijite civilizations, of which [[Ancient Deshret|Deshret]] is the preeminent example, bringing urbanism, organized agriculture and metallurgical sciences to the region. The fusion of Kijite influences with the indigenous {{wp|Berbers|Kel}} peoples of central Scipia would eventually give rise to the [[Tenerians]], who would emerge under the leadership of [[Ihemod|Ihemod Imekkusa]] to establish an empire spanning most of the continent. Although short-lived, the medieval [[Ihemodian Empire]] established the foundation of the modern Charnean nation that would take shape in later centuries.  


In the past century, Charnea has experienced three {{wp|revolution|revolutions}}, four {{wp|military dictatorship|dictatorships}}, seventeen {{wp|coup d'etat}} attempts both failed and successful, the ten year [[Ninvite War]] with neighboring [[Fahran]], and the [[Internal conflict in Charnea|longest running civil conflict in the world]]. Many of its internal conflicts can be traced back to the dissolution of the Empire of Charnea and the aftermath of the ensuing events, particularly the unfulfilled promises of independence, self determination and autonomy which were made to many Charnea's myriad ethnic groups living under the often incompetent and heavy handed late Imperial rule. A degree of nostalgia for the relative stability of imperial rule has served as a driving force behind the movement to establish the Second Empire and renew the ideas of [[Charneanism]]. Another cause of political instability in the past has been the outbursts of periodic infighting between factions of the county's upper class over control of Charnea's valuable natural recourses, which include {{wp|petroleum}} and precious metals like {{wp|gold}} and {{wp|platinum}}. Petroleum industries nationalized under the state owned [[COPEC]] extraction and processing company account for roughly 45% of the national GDP and 70% of government income and accounts for a large portion of Charnean wealth, although the national reliance on oil exports to sustain its economy has made it especially vulnerable to disruptive fluctuations in the price of oil on the international market. Despite these frequent disruptions and the occasional imposition of {{wp|economic sanctions}} by foreign powers, the Charnean economy based largely on the processing and export of its natural wealth has become moderately prosperous. Charnea is a member of the [[Forum of Nations]] and party to the [[Four Rising Nations Summit]].
Charnea undertook an expansive program of modernization and industrialization in the early 20th century, transforming the country through the aggressive application of a {{wp|Developmentalism|Developmentalist}} {{wp|state capitalism|state capitalist}} model of economic planning. The industrialization of the desert nation would have profound consequences for its people, bringing the Tenerian core of western Charnea into conflict with the indigenous minority groups of the southern and eastern peripheries. Charnea is the current record-holder for the longest running civil war in the world {{Citation needed}} in the form of constant low-level insurgencies gripping the periphery since the late 1920s, occasionally flaring up into major conflagrations such as the [[Agala War]] (1945-1947) and the [[Ninvite War]] (1966-1987). The country's endemic conflicts led to the deeply rooted militarization of Charnean society that can be seen in the present day. The 21st century has so far been marked by the escalating power struggle between civilian and military institutions of the Charnean government, culminating in the civil conflict known as the [[Maqar Azwi|Great Misery]] and the military uprising that would give rise to the pseudo-democratic Charnean Republic that has ruled the country since 2018.
==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 {{wp|pastoralism|pastoral}} lifestyle following the collapse of [[Tamazgha]] 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 desert. 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==


==Etymology==  
==Government==
The first people to be called Charneans were the ancient [[Amazigh]] tribes of the eastern [[Ninva]] which were called the ''Charkesh'' or simply ''Cha'' by the {{wp|Copts|Deshritic}} peoples of the [[Saawa Oasis]]. The Charkesh amazigh tribe are first referenced in inscriptions dating to 1,300 BCE and is no longer recorded after 700 BCE, however it is believed that the Charkesh people may have been one of the founding tribes of the large Amazigh confederation of [[Kaharna|Queen Kaharna]] and remained in the Ninva desert after the dissolution of this kingdom. Historically, the desert abode of the Charkesh and their Tamashek speaking descendants the ''Imuhagh'' tribes has termed ''Charna'', later corruption to
The government of Charnea is a {{wp|Unitary state|unitary}} {{wp|Parliamentary system|parliamentary}} {{wp|republic}} under a system of {{wp|suffrage|limited franchise}}. The supreme authority of the Charnean state is the [[Agraw Itkar|Agraw Itkar (Paramount Assembly)]] in accordance with the principles of {{wp|parliamentary sovereignty}} laid out in the [[November Protocol]], a document which serves as the legal framework for the Republic together with the original [[Azut Declarations]]. The chief executive is the [[Amizar of Charnea|Amizar]], a combined {{wp|head of state}} and {{wp|head of government|government}} elected from within the legislature and accountable to it. Continuing the tradition of past Charnean regimes, there is no independent judiciary. Instead, the judicial system is overseen by the Agraw which doubles as a {{wp|supreme court}}, wielding ultimate legal and constitutional power.  
''Charnea''. This latter term in was associated with the Empire of Charnea, a conquering polity native to what was originally called the Charnean desert, now known as the central and eastern Ninva. Through the Empire of Charnea, the name would come to associated not only with the cradle of its desert-faring civilization but with most of the areas it conquered, particularly those it retained until its late dissolution and reorganization into the SCSA in the 20th century. The states of the SCSA and the CSR notably did not formally adopt the name of Charnea, in an effort to divorce themselves from the legacy of autocratic Imuhagh rule over the region. In contrast, the Second Empire has opted for the inverse of this approach, attempting to associate non-Amazigh groups with the idea of a Charnean identity.  


==History==
Under the Charnean system, the right to political participation is earned through national service, the definition of which is established by the November Protocol to include civil servants, public workers and the employees of state-owned corporations as well as military service. Franchise is earned after a certain number of years served, varying depending on the service. Two years of military service grants franchise, compared to five years in the [[Civil Guard (Charnea)|Civil Guard]] or seven years in civilian service. Under the November Protocol, military veterans and civilian recipients of Certificates of Merit would be granted franchise retroactively on the basis of prior service, while in all other cases the perior of service for the purposes of earning a franchise would only be counted beginning on the 14th of November 2023. Certificates of Merit are documents granting special franchise issued by the central [[Election Council (Charnea)|Election Council]], requiring an appeal by one who already has their franchise. Earning a franchise confers both the right to vote together with the right to stand for election and cannot be revoked once issued, even as punishment for a crime.  
===Classical Period===
[[File:Moabite_Sarcophagus.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Sarcophagus belonging to Omotanwa the Great, leader of the Sunset Empire]]
The Sunset Empire ({{wp|Yoruba language|Yoruba}}: ''Iwọoorun Ijoba, lit. "Western State"'') was the culmination of the [[Ancient Obul|ancient Obulite civilization]] which was established on the banks of the lower [[Obul river]] as one the early {{wp|river valley civilizations}} around 2,630 BCE, making it the first recorded civilization in what is now modern day Charnea and one of the first in the world. Its final ieration as the Sunset Empire was originally established by a northern offshoot of the ancient {{wp|Hausa people|Hausa}} along a portion of the river to the west of the Yoruba tribes who would give the polity its common name and would later become absorbed into the political realm. The Obulite people had long practiced agriculture, which grew to intensive levels under the Sunset Empire and fueled population growth and the emergence of the first major cities in Charnea. While the Obulites had been a settled polity, the Sunset Empire was the first and only state to unify them and achieved great success in doing so, establishing a powerful military caste and expanding the empire's borders aggressively. For much of its history, the empire faced no significant external threats and primarily devoted its military to protecting its borders from raids and incursions by small neighboring tribes. Tributary states were often employed by Sunset emperors as buffers to control territory outside the main Obulite stretch and protect the primary agricultural and urban centers of the empire from attack. Despite its expansionism, the empire never expanded beyond the south Charnean savannah where it remained embroiled with Amazigh tribes from the Ninva desert, and saw no success penetrating the desert itself. At its peak, the empire expanded across all regions of the upper Obul, but was limited to the thin strip of territory along the river as that region was and remains highly arid and devoid of vegetation away from the Obul's lifegiving waters. The Sunset Empire established a long lasting literary tradition, using precursors of {{wp|N'Ko script|the N'Ko writing system}} as well as {{wp|Adlam script}} in some regions. Inscriptions in stone, clay tablets and writing on preserved {{wp|papyrus|reed paper}} make up much of the established record of the Sunset Empire, which was known to keep extensive writings on administrative processes, contact with neighboring cultures and important figures of the day making the few surviving examples of Sunset era writings which survive to this day of great archeological and scientific importance. Many of its larger structures were destroyed by the fall of the empire, and are most often discovered in the rubble buried underneath still surviving structures of the later Hsewa empire which supplanted it in the Obul region centuries after its fall.  


===Tamazgha===
The Deputies of the Agraw are elected through a unique system known as the Voting Corps. The many organs of the National Service are subdivided into Voting Corps delineated by the Election Council, and earning once's franchise through service in a given Corps establishes a membership to the Corps. Rather than a geographically defined electoral district, these Corps are the basis of Charnean parliamentary elections. This method for the organization of elections is a holdover from the brief period of the Republic's foundation as a military republic in which its democracy was based on an electorate of the active military who may be widely dispersed and move great distances regularly as their postings and living conditions change. The primary function of the Electoral Council in this system is to allocate seats in the Agraw to each Corps of the electorate. Each Corps then elects candidates to the Agraw through a {{wp|Multiwinner approval voting|block approval}} voting methodology. The system of Voting Corps is only used for the national parliamentary elections while local elections utilize a {{wp|First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post}} voting system with eligibility based on residency rather than Corps.  
{{main|Tamazgha}}
[[File:Garma_(Garama)_-_Ruinen_der_antiken_Stadt_Garma_02.jpg|225px|thumb|left|Ruins of ancient Ekelhoc, the capital of Tamazgha, located within the Azalay mountain range in the western Ninva.]]
The establishment of the [[Tamazgha]] confederation in [[Ajax#Scipia|Scipia]] marks the beginning of statehood for the northern Charnean tribes, which have retained and transmitted their ancestral Amazigh culture to neighboring peoples. Recorded mentions of Tamazgha and confederation of tribes is part of recovered military reports of the late Sunset Empire in what is now southern Charnea, detailing clashes and raids undertaken by the nomadic Amazigh of the conferation. Archeological finds suggest that the Sunset Empire undertook a massive fortification of its northern frontiers between 565 and 540 BCE, suggesting an increase in the frequency and strength of incursions into their territory or that of their buffer states.  


The founder of the Tamazgha confederation was the legendary [[Kaharna|Queen Kaharna]], who unified various Amazigh tribes native to much of northern and central Scipia, including the ancestors of the [[Messidor_Union#Classical_era|Aghmatians]], as well as Charnean {{wp|Tuareg people|''Imuhagh''}} and their [[Talakh|Talaki]] cousins. At its peak under Kaharna and her succesors, Tamazgha streached from the [[Periclean world|Periclean coast]] in the north to the north bank of the [[Obul river]] in the south, from the [[Saawa Oasis]] in the east to the borders of ancient [[Yisrael]] and parts of the Thassalian coast of west Scipia in the west. Although many of the tribes which were joined under the rule of Kaharna and her successors were traditionally semi-nomadic or fully nomadic pastoralists at that time, Tamazigha was an emerging urban civilization, the second one to arise in the barren expanse of the Ninva after the Deshritic civilization of the Saawa oasis. This was achieved through the digging of extensive tunnel networks which allowed Amazigh city builders to tap into {{wp|fossil water}} of the central Scipian region, specifically in regions such as the [[Royal Valley]] and the [[Thumer basin]] where such excavation into the flanks and mountainsides around the low ground would reach the lowlying {{wp|Aquifer|deep aquifer}}, where water could then be moved by {{wp|Aqueduct (bridge)|aqueduct}} to sustain a permanent settlement in the desert.
===Military===
[[File:Pyramids_of_Nyuserre_Ini_and_Neferirkare.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Thumer Necropolis, the burials of Queen Kaharna and many of her dynasty which ruled Tamazgha during its golden age.]]
{{main|Charnean Army}}
Tamazgha was highly successful in its military engagements with its neighbors, making use of its vast manpower and advantages in cavalry to prevail in conflicts. Particularly, Amazigh forces were engaged in escalating hostilities against the Sunset Empire to the south, which was considered to be one of the principal rivals of the confederation. Although the Sunset Empire survived the conflict, records show they suffered many resounding defeats and their armies took irreparable losses. The collapse of the empire's military at the hands of Amazigh riders loyal to Tamazgha may have caused the empire's decline in the following decades as its military would never fully recover from the conflict. From then on, the Sunset Empire lost control of its northeastern portions accounting for more than half the land the empire ruled at its zenith. Evidence suggests Tamazgha was not interested in conquering the Sunset Empire or annexing the northeastern lands, as the Amazigh polity appears to have been fully capable of doing so if its rulers and tribal leaders desired it. Instead, the war with Tamazgha shifted the balance of power in what is now southern Charnea from a mostly Yoruba-Hausa dominated state to the Zarma dominated state of the later periods.  
[[File:AverageICA.png|200px|thumb|left|Kel Ajama servicemembers of the Charnean Army mobile infantry]]
The military forces of Charnea are consolidated under the Charnean Army, better known by the acronym of its Tamashek name as the ''Iɤrudan Charnan Ajhanan'' (lit. "Combined Charnean Army") or ICA. The ICA encompasses all of the land and air-based military capabilities of the landlocked nation, and is internally subdivided into the Central Army which represents the main ground combat arms of the ICA, the Border Guards which serve as a security force for desert patrols in peacetime and rear area security in wartime, as well as the Army Air Service which acts as the air combat and support unit. The Charnean Army has been historically reliant on the manpower and expertise provided by the nomadic peoples of Charnea, the descendants of the Tenerians who retained the ancestral ways of the desert people, today known as the Kel Ajama. During the era of the modernization of Charnea in the early 20th century, the then nascent Kel Ajama subculture represented a source of manpower which were already well adapted to travel and land navigation in the open and inhospitable landscape of the Ninva, and who could be paid less than their city-dwelling counterparts due to their consistently lower standard of living. Over the decades, this became and entrenched reality of the military which would deeply influence the character of the organization.  


Tamazgha eventually dissolved in large part because of the depletion of the fossil water reserves which had sustained its most important urban centers in the central Ninva, near the shared border of modern Charnea and the Aghmatian portion of the [[Messidor Union]]. Without water to sustain its political centers, the sedentary portion of the Amazigh hegemony dominating Scipia abandoned its capital and resettled near the Periclean sea in modern day Aghmatia. The disruption of its powerbase and dissolution of much of Tamazgha's infrastructural connective tissue cause many of the Amazigh peoples under its rule to secede and effectively ended the confederation. The southern portion of Tamazgha which remained in the Ninva after the dereliction of the major Amazigh settlements there became the ancestors of the ''Imuhagh'' and reverted to their pre-unification pastoralist lifestyle and living a hard, nomadic existence in the harsh expanse of the deserts.  
The modern Charnean Army is organized in response to the geographic and material realities of the nation. In order to overcome the immense distances and uniquely inhospitable conditions of the landscape, the ICA has become a highly vehicular force relying on a large inventory of aircraft and wheeled land vehicles to equip its long range mobile forces. Many such formations forgo heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery in order to achieve the range and mobility required to operate effectively in the wide open and hostile environment of the desert which lends itself to scattered, sporadic, low intensity engagements. As a result, the Charnean Army relies heavily on its air arm to deliver heavy firepower, as well as the nationwide rail network which sustains the extensive logistical support system which keeps the Army in operational working order.


===Early Medieval Period===
===Foreign relations===


===Late Medieval Period===
==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 0.0084% of the country's total surface area or roughly 179 square kilometers. Nearly all of this surface water can be found in the [[Great Oasis]] in Deshret province as well as parts of [[Al-Kira river]] which marks parts of the far eastern border.
===Regions===


====Consolidation====
==Economy==
Ihemod ag Jeqan, Amghar within the Awakari tribes of the Imuhagh, was the adopted son to the Amenukal of the Awakar confederation, Jeqan ag Boru. He was named heir to his father's influential position on the latter's deathbed, a proclamation which is contested by modern historians and was largely discounted by contemporary sources. Jeqan's three surviving biological heirs contested Ihemod's status, igniting a war across the Kel Awakar. The significant military resources and portions of the nomadic population of the confederation were split between the claimants, Ihemod retaining only a small number of Jeqan's closest followers with whom he had worked as his father's lieutenant. Ihemod tracked down and confronted Tenge, the youngest of the three Jeqid brothers and the claimant with the second smallest force after Ihemod. While the forces were preparing to do battle, Ihemod challenged Tenge to a duel as a means of settling the dispute, which was not uncommon in that time. Tenge was pressured by his followers to accept, and was then defeated and killed in the duel with Ihemod to their dismay. With Tenge's forces joining his, Ihemod was cornered by the remaining brothers Agtab and Mechtegen who had agreed to temporarily join forces to defeat Ihemod after hearing of their brothers death. The brothers surrounded and attacked Ihemod's forces, but in doing so a portion of their army came under ambush and was destroyed, allowing Ihemod's riders to escape and regroup. After reinforcing with a group of Zarma mercenaries, Ihemod counterattacked at the [[Battle of the Red Way]] and defeated Agtab and Mechtegen, consolidating their remaining forces into his army and executing them. Unusually, he spared many of his former rival's top officers to integrate into his own army, which began to swell as he prepared to expand the domains of the Kel Awakar. Following the conquest of the Kel Atram and Kel Dinik confederations of the Lullemmeden Amazigh tribes, Ihemod further bolstered his numbers and began to absorb many smaller clans of Imuhagh peoples across the Ninva without conflict. Many voluntarily joined Ihemod's confederation upon request, as the leader had proven himself in combat and had already united a large portion of the Imuhagh, while others resisted and were coerced into joining the confederation by threat of war if they refused. In some cases, the threat was insufficient and further conquests were undertaken, resulting in minor Imuhagh clans being destroyed, their population enslaved as {{wp|Ikelan|Akli}} and their herds and wealth distributed equally as loot among the confederation's tribes.  
The structure of the Charnean economy follows a highly {{wp|Economic interventionism|interventionist}} model in which the state or more commonly state-affiliated entities take on a major role in directing development. This system of Developmentalism, which has been described as a form of {{wp|state capitalist}}, placed great economic power and financial resources in the hands of the state and state-affiliated companies controlled by members of the politically connected great clans of Charnean society. The Developmentalist approach proved to be effective through the first half of the 20th century, successfully transitioning Charnea from a purely {{wp|Extractivism|extractive economy}} to a fully industrialized one with significant contributions from the manufacturing sector. During this period, Charnea saw dramatic increases in the urbanization, life expectancy, rates of literacy and education, as well as median incomes and standards of living which have risen to the level of near-parity with the more developed world. However, in its later years the high degree of consolidation and concentration of wealth within the Charnean economy as a result of the Developmentalist model has caused a variety of issues, namely a condition of industrial overspecialization, a lack of diversification, a stagnation of median incomes, and a plethora of social issues stemming from high wealth inequality, all of which has contributed to a slowdown in economic growth. These conditions have largely remained unchanged and in some cases deteriorated further through the upheaval of the Muttay Ajamhuryin, which had the additional effect of shaking investor confidence in the Charnean economy, despite the Republic's efforts to break up the conglomerates and decrease the level of consolidation of the major businesses in Charnea. Escaping the current era of stagnation and safeguarding the advances in standards of living is the self-declared first priority of the Republic's government, and represents a major political imperative.
===Mining===
[[File:Twincreeksblast.jpg|200px|thumb|left|[[Nagamina]] gold mine in near-eastern Charnea]]
Resource extraction and processing represents roughly 40% of Charnea's total economic activity and is a highly developed sector of the economy. Mining was the catalyst which kicked off the industrialization of Charnea's desert society, providing the financial impetus for the expansion of the nationwide railway network which was critical to the later stages of urbanization and industrialization and largely enabled the development of the modern Charnean state. By far the most lucrative type of extraction in Charnea is {{wp|gold mining}}, which accounts for one fifth (20%) of the national GDP. Gold mining has a long history in Charnea, being one of the main economic activities of the medieval Charnean states and by far the most important export of pre-modern Charnea, dwarfing the value of the dye and salt trade. Today, the largest mine in Charnea is the [[Nagamina]] {{wp|Open-pit mining|open-pit mine}} in the western reaches of Adjer province, which was originally a copper mine in which gold was extracted as a byproduct. Some 22,500 kilograms of gold have been extracted from Nagamina to date, alongside nearly 100,000 metric tons of copper ores as well as 100 kilograms of silver, making it one of the largest known mineral deposits in Scipia. Other important gold mines in Charnea include the [[Mother-and-Son]] mine and the [[Karukwar]] mine, both located in the southern Agala region of Charnea. These are {{wp|Quartz reef mining|quartz reef deposits}} which are mined through a system of underground tunnels, in contrast to the open-pit system of the Nagamina mine. All of these gold mines, however, use the same widely accepted processing techniques to extract pure gold from the ores taken out of the earth. These processing techniques are the subject of major controversy as they threaten the local water tables with cyanide and mercury contamination, making the highly lucrative extraction business a threat to the security of the water supply and a highly divisive matter in the [[Water politics in Charnea|national water politics debate]].  


====Formation of the Empire====
The mineral wealth of Charnea is concentrated in the [[Adjer Mountains|Adjer range]] stretching across Gangara, Ouedmaqqor and the eponymous Adjer province, which forms the bulk of the Adjer-Tenere {{wp|Large igneous province|igneous province}}. The entire region is home to a variety of important ores bearing a wealth of industrial metals including gold, iron and copper. In recent years, exploration of the region's geological formations has revealed deposits of {{wp|Laurite}}, a mineral ore containing {{wp|ruthenium}}, {{wp|osmium}}, and {{wp|iridium}}, which are rare elements highly sought after in the electronics industry, in addition to some amounts of iron and {{wp|rhodium}}. Extraction of Laurite in the [[Harakez valley mine|Harakez valley]] some 140 kilometers south of [[Azut]] began in 2020. The economic potential of Laurite extraction is mostly untapped and represents a potentially lucrative new horizon for the future expansion of the Charnean mining sector.  
[[File:Tuarick_in_a_Shirt_of_Leather,_Tuarick_of_Aghades.jpg|225px|thumb|left|Imuhagh warriors, a {{wp|Takouba}}-wielding noble (right) and a ''zagaya'' spear-wielding common herder (left)]]
Having consolidated the Imuhagh tribes of the [[Ninva]], Ihemod began a number of military reforms and began to reorganized the tribal forces into a more unified army under his command. The new army was established along the lines of Ten-Thousands or ''Meraou Igiman'', massive army formations consisting of thousands (''Igiman''), hundreds (''Temad'') and finally squad level tens (''Meraoued''). Commanders for the top level units were to be appointed by Ihemod, while lower level commanders were elected by their men. Within these decimal units, Ihemod intentionally mixed multiple tribes and clans with the intention of erasing their tribal identity to form a homogenous Imuhagh army. He also adopted many technological reforms, adopting advanced {{wp|composite bow|bows made of multiple materials}}, new riding equipment and later transitioned the entirely mounted army of the Imuhagh from camelry to cavalry mounted on {{wp|Barb horse|Barbs}}. Camels were still used in an auxiliary role, and led the initial conquests in the desert regions where they could outrun and outlast horses in the dry heat. Ihemod's immediate target was the Hsewa Empire to the south, which he perceived as having oppressed and divided the Imuhagh for their own gain, a sentiment which many of his followers shared. The war against the Hsewa empire began in April of 1351 with the sacking of several border towns.  


The initial Charnean cassus belli was to retaliate against the Zarma people of the Hsewa empire by showing their superiority in battle and extracting tribute as restitution for past wrongs. In the early stages of the war, Imuhagh forces commanded personally by Ihemod or by his closest advisors attacked Hsewa garrisons, raided the countryside and ambushed the forces sent to deal with their raids. Almost immediately, the Hsewa emperor was alerted that the Imuhagh were not merely raiding the borderlands as had been expected, and mobilized a major force to destroy it. This force was caught in a pincer movement by the far more mobile mounted Imuhagh who had begun to wage a guerilla style war while within enemy territory. The resulting battle, the [[Battle of Achra]], was pivotal in the conflict and is seen as a key moment in history in large part due to the unexpected rout which led to the death of the near totality of the massive Hsewa force. The Imuhagh victory at Achra was of such an overwhelming nature that the Hsewa would be virtually defenseless to further attacks for a time. Ihemod decided in the aftermath of the battle to alter the course of his offensive, turning it from a war to extract tribute to a war of conquest and subjugation, deciding to eliminate the threat posed by the powerful Hsewa now that he saw the opportunity to do so. Historians label the Battle of Achra and its aftermath as the moment at which the Empire of Charnea truly came into being as an empire of the Imuhagh subjugating the neighboring nations, rather than a simple confederation of tribes like the ancient Tamazgha.
[[File:WikiAir Flight IL-13-02 1332.JPG|200px|thumb|right|Tamse refinery in [[Agnannet]], COPEC's largest petrochemical plant]]
[[File:Schlacht_bei_Zama_Gemälde_H_P_Motte.jpg|250px|thumb|right|War elephants and war-{{wp|Paraceratherium|hornless rhinos}} were adopted by the Charnean armies after the conquest of the Hsewa empire]]
{{wp|Extraction of petroleum|Petroleum extraction}} makes up another significant component of the Charnean mineral wealth. There are two main oil producing regions in the country, located in the far east and the far western regions of the country. The eastern fields, located in the provinces of Saadia, Hatheria and Zahra, have far larger proven reserves of petroleum and natural gas. However, the eastern regions have suffered from long standing political instability, economic underdevelopment and were the main active front of the [[Ninvite War]] some decades past. The destruction of extraction and refining infrastructure by war along with the continuing instability in the region and the threat of the [[Azdarin Liberation Front]] has greatly limited and curtailed investment in oil and gas extraction in the region. Conversely, the western fields located mainly in Azalay province are far better explored and have much more infrastructure in place, making them much more economically valuable despite having only a fraction of the reserves of the eastern fields. Oil extraction and processing in Charnea has been nationalized since 1945, consolidated as part of the state-owned energy giant [[COPEC]]. Despite the size of the petro-industry in Charnea, the export of oil and gas only accounts for 3% of GDP and less than half of COPEC's yearly earnings. The majority of the oil and gas extracted by COPEC are destined for domestic use primarily as refined petrochemical products needed by many industrial firms in the massive plastics industry in Charnea, as well as the Charnean energy market. 80% of all electricity in Charnea is generated in {{wp|Gas-fired power plant|gas-fired power plants}} with an additional 16% being generated in power plants burning heavy oil. Both of these fuel types are supplied almost exclusively by COPEC, and the generation plants are themselves owned by [[Ejjaj|a COPEC subsidiary]].
Following the capture and burning of the Hsewa capital, the lands of the large empire were partitioned into vassal states. The invasion had displaced and killed predominantly Zarma farmers and citizens numbering in the hundreds of thousands, even millions by some estimates, depopulating large swaths of the Obul river particularly in the north. As a result, many Imuhagh people began to settle the land and establish sedentary communities in the derelict villages and farms left behind by those who had fled or been killed by Ihemod's forces. Ihemod encouraged this as a means of strengthening the core of his empire, and authorized the ''Iklan'', the slave caste of Imuhagh society, to be settled in the captured regions under a system similar to {{wp|serfdom}}. Additionally, many engineers and public servants of the former Hsewa empire were taken into Ihemod's service as administrators and military auxiliaries following his victory. In 1357, Ihemod attacked the [[Mawla|Mawlen Sultanate]] to the east, capturing the ancient city of Azut and driving off many of the Gharbaic Mawlen rulers. Azut became Ihemod's capital and seat of power as the staging area for further invasions to the east and west. With the fall of Mawla, Ihemod annexed Hatheria with the help of the Saawa Deshritics who became vassals of the empire, and then prosecuted a short war to vassalize the Saadian Emirate, conquering all of what is now eastern Charnea by 1360, a mere nine years since the beginning of his war with the now defunct Hsewa.  


During the war with Saadia, the Imuhagh forces made ample use of Zarma engineers from the west to overtake the many fortifications the defenders had prepared. With their help, the Charnean armies where quickly becoming highly proficient in siege warfare on top of their increasingly refined cavalry tactics and supremacy in field battles. On the heel of this conflict, Ihemod advanced further into what was the [[Azdarin]] Caliphate. It was in these offensives that the Empire of Charnea suffered its first defeat, in 1366 at the [[Battle of Al-Hira]] by the Charnean General Ahag ag Salla at the hands of an Azdarin Gharbaic prince. Nevertheless, since the decline of the Almurid Caliphate years earlier, the region was divided and Ihemod met success in his invasions despite setbacks. In 1372, Ihemod invaded the Periclean coast of Scipia, launching incursions beginning with the conquest of [[Alanahr]] in a two pronged invasion from 1372-1373, to the incursion on [[Messidor Union|modern day Aghmatia]] in 1380 which ended the Periclean campaign and extended Charnean rule from the Periclean to the Thalassan. The period of 1380 to 1395, known as the Crushing in many histories, was marked by massive waves of rebellion across conquered areas, including a mutiny of some of Ihemod's Generals and other officers objecting to his absolute rule and what they saw as reckless expansion. The delay caused by these rebellions undoubtedly postponed many further invasions and significantly impacted the final size of the Empire of Charnea on Ihemod's death. Ihemod would go on to spend his remaining years conquering the south and west before his death ended the so called "Age of Terror", the period of unchecked Charnean expansion and seemingly unstoppable military supremacy.
===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.  


====Pax Charnica====
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.
[[File:Bent_Pyramid_曲折金字塔_-_panoramio.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The Pyramid of Ihemod, tomb of the Empire's founder.]]
Amenukal Ihemod died in 1409 at the age of 66, from what historians suspect was a brain tumor based on reports of headaches and seizures in the old conqueror's later years. His death soon halted the campaigns of expansion, granting a reprieve to the [[Periclean world]] and the lands of eastern Scipia, modern day [[Fahran]], [[Vardana]] and [[Kembesa]], as the invading Charnean armies retreated and their generals returned to Ihemod's temporary capital at [[Azut]]. There, the imperial assembly of elders known as the ''Agraw Imgharan'' met to elect as new ruler in the traditions of the Imuhagh confederations. The new Amenukal, Magdan ag Barka, was slow to send the armies back to the front lines of expansion and prioritized internal matters of the empire. Magdan had been one of Ihemod's generals, assigned to put down rebellions in the region of the Obul river bend, and had in that time developed a concern that the mighty Imuhagh empire would soon face major internal threats to its integrity greater than any outside foe. Magdan and his successors are largely credited with the administrative reform of the empire, which codified the Agraw Imgharan as a permanent deliberative assembly with important powers and responsibilities, set up the provisions for the government of captured cities and internal relations with the empire's many new tributary states and vassals. While new territories were added into the empire when the Generals and their armies returned to the frontiers, this was only a fraction of the meteoric expansion that had been seen under Ihemod's reign. In 1435, Magdan ordered the construction of a pyramid in the ancient style of some Tamazgha era tombs to house Ihemod's body, which had been mummified and kept in the Azut crypts after his death. Ihemod's reburial was an elaborate ceremony, one which drew clear parallels between the Empire of Charnea and her rulers, and the ancient Tamazgha confederation which Magdan wished to evoke as Charnea's predecessor state. Soon thereafter, Magdan established the new imperial capital at the Fish-Blood Bastion, a citadel in the desert near Ihemod's new pyramid monument. The resulting settlement would soon develop into the city of [[Agnannet]], which has been the seat of every Charnean state since.  


The period of internal peace and stability which followed Magdan's reign, historiographically known as the ''Pax Charnica'', saw very little further military expansion and largely defensive wars or reconquests of insubordinate vassal states. In some areas, the empire indeed lost territory as tributaries broke away, although Amenukal Madgan reportedly viewed some of the losses as beneficial, seeing some of his predecessor's annexations as either undue overextensions or as vestigial first steps into campaigns which never occurred due to the conqueror's death. Many of Magdan's contemporaries criticized him for not following up of Ihemod's great conquests, while the Amenukal himself routinely cast himself as upholding Ihemod by securing his legacy rather than persuing his own. Amenukal Magdan focused the veteran Charnean armies, which had never numbered more than 95,000 soldiers during Ihemod's reign, on occupying and pacifying the empire's aquisitions, knowing that mustering the forces into a concentrated army to invade more territory would only jeopardize the existing conquests by draining their garrisons and reserve forces. Thanks largely to his effors, Charnea prospered without a major rebellion for nearly 300 years. Tamashek language literature as well as patronage of the arts and sciences was at an all time high under this new reign of the Imuhagh tribes, and many monuments, tombs and elaborate palaces were built in this period which stand in the modern day.  
===Agriculture===
{{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.  


It is also during this period that much of the assimilation into Imuhagh culture took place, especially among those taken as captives during the initial conquests. These populations had diverse ethnic backgrounds and hailed from all over Scipia, and even had representatives originating in Malaio, Ochran and Belisaria. Under the Charnean form of slavery, the slave caste was not held as chattel but instead lived in settled villages, especially in along the Obul and in the south Charnean grasslands, where they established agriculture and practiced pastoralism. The fruits of these labors would be collected by the Imuhagh tribes which remained nomadic, and served as a more direct and reliable source of food, material and wealth than the vassal states and occupied foreign peoples such as the Zarma or Gharbaic nations under Charnean rule. Over time the slave population adopted the Tamashek language and many aspects of the Imuhagh culture which had enslaved them, while retaining some mixed vestiges of their mother cultures, often confused and fragmentary due to the heterogenous cultural backgrounds introduced into the slave caste communities. As they began to homogenize into a new culture and partially assimilate into the Imuhagh world, these ''Iklan'' would be recognized as a unique ethnicity. Where previously the Iklan had only been a caste label denoting people in bondage living in heavily exploited sedentary communities, the Iklan were now considered a new subject nation of the Imuhagh led empire, and despite their state of subordination they would serve as one of the central components of imperial power and a counterbalance to the Zarma and Gharbaic subject peoples which remained under Charnean rule.  
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.  
===Okha Dynasty===
[[File:Portrait-Fatma_N'Soumer.jpg|225px|thumb|left|[[Ziwa Soumer N'Okha]] led the Azut rebellion and successfully raised the Okha dynasty to the throne of Charnea]]
===Modern Period===


====Transitional Decade====
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.


====Great Charnean Crisis====
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.


==Geography==
==Demographics==
===Religion===
{{bar box
|title = Religion in Charnea
|titlebar=#ddd |left1=Religion|right1=Percent |float=right
|bars =
{{bar percent|[[Ashni Addin]]|Red|71}}
{{bar percent|[[Coptic Nazarism]]|DarkBlue|8}}
{{bar percent|{{wp|Judaism}}|Green|2}}
{{bar percent|[[White Path|Timal Ibaran]]|DarkGrey|12}}
{{bar percent|Other|Grey|2}}
}}
Occupying the central position of the Scipian continent at the confluence of its ancient trade routes, Charnea is and has always been a religiously diverse place.  Temples of the ancient Deshrian religion are among the oldest surviving manmade structuctures in Charnea, and indeed the entire world. A large number of Deshrians today follow the [[Coptic Nazarism|Coptic sect]] of {{wp|Christianity|Nazarism}} originating in [[Tyreseia]]. An older Abrahamic faith, {{wp|Judaism}} first appeared in the lands of Charnea some time during the reign of [[Kaharna|Queen Kaharna]] in the 5th century BCE, in the form of exiles fleeing the land today known as [[Yisrael]]. According to surviving jewish texts from this era, the exiles were welcomed by the {{wp|Amazigh}} Queen and granted refuge in the desert cities of old [[Tamazgha]]. These Charnean jews would, over the ensuing millenia, the community could become concentrated in the central Charnean regions of Achra and the White Desert. The modern population of these Charnean Jews, termed [[Ashkans|Kel Udayen]] in the local dialect, is over 1 million. A comparatively much more recent religious introduction but one no less relevant than its ancient counterparts was the first appearance of the [[White Path]], a [[Mutul|Mutulese]] religion propagated in Charnea by a semi-mythical figure known as the [[Desert Oracle]] in the 17th century. The White Path, or ''Timal Ibaran'' as it is known in Tamashek, experienced a rapid increase in popularity, secretly encouraged by the rulers of the [[Awakari Empire]], today becoming the second largest religion in Charnea and fostering close cultural ties to otherwise distant Mutul. The final, largest and newest Charnean religion is [[Ashni Addin]], the "Blood Doctrine", seeing its origin in the early 18th century as a syncretic religious movement of White Pilgrim Tenerians. Ashniism combines cosmological, philosophical and theological aspects primarily of the White path and Neterism, but also influences of Ashkan Judaism and [[Azdarin]] and even ancient Tenerian folk religion. It grew extremely quickly amongst the Ajamite and Aɣremite populations in Charnea, rapidly becoming the majority religion by the end of the 18th and begining of the 19th centuries and retaining this title to the present day, having even converted portions of the Gharib and Deshrian populace from their traditional ethnic religions. This Charnean interpretation of the White Path is by far the majority of the Sakbeists in the country, while the remaining adherents of the more orthodox Mutli version are termed ''Shaddijnen'' or "Puritans" and are mainly found among the more militaristic of the Kel Ajama.
===Urban Centers===
{{Largest cities
| name        = Largest cities in Charnea
| country      = Charnea
| stat_ref    = National Office of Statistics
| list_by_pop  =
| class        = nav
| div_name    = Region
| div_link    =
 
|city_1 = Agnannet
|div_1 = Achra
|pop_1 = 7,825,622
|img_1 = GNNT.png


==Economy==
|city_2 = Azut
The Charnean economy is one of the least developed on the Scipian continent, and the country is among the poorest in the world measured by national GDP per capita. The main contributing factor to this underdevelopment has been the frequent disruption of economic activities by war, civil conflict and government incompetence that has hampered efforts to develop a more complex and robust economy. This has left Charnea almost totally reliant on resource extraction for revenue and export, a state of affairs which the Second Empire government seeks to remedy by fostering new industries and establishing the requisite political stability needed for expansion of the economy through state driven development and private investments. While not a {{wp|planned economy}}, the economic policy of the Second Empire reflects a doctrine of {{wp|dirigisme}} especially in sectors which affect water resources. Within the uncertainty underpinning the Second Empire's promise to end instability and insecurity in Charnea, a degree of uncertainty also surrounds the regime's plans to rebuild and expand the Charnean economy and follow through on various development and investment schemes involving the fellow member states of the [[Four Rising Nations Summit]] and other foreign entities.  
|div_2 = Adjer
|pop_2 = 1,610,645
|img_2 = AZT.jpg


===Petroleum and Mining===
|city_3 = Ekelhoc
The extraction of mineral wealth is the cornerstone of the Charnean economy and has historically been the main vehicle for the development and modernization of the county's economy and infrastructure. Mining is today the largest sector of the economy, focusing on Charnea's abundant deposits of {{wp|nickel}}, {{wp|copper}}, {{wp|tin}}, {{wp|gold}} and {{wp|iron}}. Deposits of rare minerals such as {{wp|platinum}} and {{wp|iridium}} are also found in Charnea. Some geological formations in remote areas of the [[Ninva]] have been found to contain the {{wp|zinc}} bearing minerals {{wp|Sphalerite}} and {{wp|Franklinite}}, suggesting unexplored deposits of that mineral. Overall, it is speculated that a large portion of Charnea's total natural wealth remains undiscovered in remote regions of the desert. This remains true in referring to the nation's petroleum reserves. Charnea has one of the largest known reserves in the world, and much of the oil bearing regions remain unexplored. Petroleum extraction was previously the largest sector of the economy but failed to keep up expansion and exploitation, suffering from stagnation due to instability and seeing many foreign companies pull out of the Charnean oil fields due to issues of local violence and theft, as well as instability and corruption of the government. The nationalization of the petroleum industry in 2005 under [[COPEC]] further slowed the growth of the industry, as overall extraction and exports dropped. Despite the decrease of overall profits from oil as a result of nationalization, direct revenue to the government from oil increased dramatically as COPEC revenue far outstripped what the state was able to charge in taxes on private oil profits. COPEC has remained the cash cow of several successive Charnean regimes and is now in a state of expansion with access of new funds and investments through the Second Empire regime.  
|div_3 = Arwa
|pop_3 = 1,243,000
|img_3 = KLHC.png


===Agriculture===
|city_4 = Hamath
The Charnean agriculture sector is a relatively minor component of the overall economy, dwarfed by the mining and energy industries both in terms of raw contribution to national GDP as well as the proportion of Charneans employed in each sector of the economy. Most agriculture in Charnea caters to the domestic demand for food, and has historically been able to establish self sufficiency in food albeit with notable famines and periods of reliance on food imports in thge 1980s and 90s. Food self sufficiency, which waned in the early 2000s and 2010s, has been reestablished in recent years thanks to the focus on the food supply by the [[Transitional Government of the Obul and Ninva|TGON]] and the Second Empire regime as food supply has largley caught up to population growth. Major crops include {{wp|millet}}, {{wp|wheat}}, {{wp|beans}}, {{wp|yuca}}, {{wp|yams}} and {{wp|maize}}. In some regions, {{wp|cocoa}} is also cultivated. {{wp|Sorghum}} is produced for animal feed and biofuels, certain species of Acacia produce {{wp|gum arabic}} and {{wp|rubber tree|Rubber trees}} are grown for their latex which is used to produce {{wp|natural rubber}}. {{wp|Rice}}, formerly the single most popular staple food in Charnea, has suffered a precipitous drop in cultivation and consumption thanks in large part to a campaign by the Second Empire regime to intentionally reduce and stamp out its usage through a series of tax schemes and import tariffs which artificially inflated the price to produce or purchase rice, while simultaneously subsidizing millet and wheat as alternatives. Rice was targeted specifically with these measures because of its high water usage and the elevated level of water waste in flood irrigation used in rice cultivation, which falls well beyond what the regime's new [[National Environmental Resource Administration]] considers acceptable levels. The NERA's more ambitious plans to bring about state mandated implementation of {{wp|drip irrigation}} and far more stringent water controls for agriculture remains on hold due to the estimated costs of these projects.  
|div_4 = Hatheria
|pop_4 = 870,856
|img_4 = HMTH.png


===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. Recycling and other forms of industrial treatment of imported waste products is a significant contributor to pollution and contamination of the environment with waste products, particularly in the southernmost regions of the country.


==Culture==
|city_5 = Tanitnet
|div_5 = Azgwag
|pop_5 = 532,220
|img_5 =  


===Wedding Traditions===
|city_6 = Perset
[[File:Fantasia_à_Ain_Larba.jpg|200px|thumb|left|A Charnean {{wp|Fantasia (performance)|''Fantazey''}} exhibition of horsemanship, common in traditional Imuhagh wedding celebraions]] 
|div_6 = Deshret
===Festivals===
|pop_6 = 470,003
[[File:Sebiba_Touareg_Exhibition,_Djanet_(Algérie).jpg|250px|thumb|right|Traditional {{wp|New Year's Eve|new year}} celebration in Charnea includes a ritual reenactment of the [[Battle of Achra]]]]
|img_6 =  


===Cuisine===
|city_7 = Tezzat
[[File:Cooking_Taguella_in_Kel_Ahaggar.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A Charnean man cooking Taguella in hot ashes]]
|div_7 = Achra
|pop_7 = 135,332
|img_7 =


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.
|city_8 = Saajo
|div_8 = Agala
|pop_8 = 101,375
|img_8 =


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 Ninva 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.
|city_9 = Akalikwal
[[File:TeaSeremonyWS.jpg|150px|thumb|left|''Ashahi'' tea ceremony]]
|div_9 = Azalay
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.
|pop_9 = 95,997
|img_9 =


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.
|city_10 = Awakar City
|div_10 = Awakar
|pop_10 = 60,000
|img_10 =
}}


===Clothing and Fashion===
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 [[Ninva|Ninva 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 {{wp|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.


[[Category:Charnea]]
[[Category:Charnea]]
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[[Category:Republics]]
[[Category:Republics]]
[[Category:Republics (Ajax)]]
[[Category:Republics (Ajax)]]
[[Category:Federal states]]
[[Category:Unitary states]]

Latest revision as of 01:18, 17 October 2024

Republic of Charnea
ⴰⵊⴰⵎⵀⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ
Ajamhurya n Charnea
Flag of Charnea
Flag
Seal of Charnea
Seal
CHARMAPLOWRES.png
Capital
and largest city
Agnannet
Official languagesNone
Recognised national languagesTamashek (de facto)
Recognised regional languagesRandeshret
Tamahaq
Tawellemmet
Darja
Ethnic groups
(2024)
Demonym(s)Charnean
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
• Amizar
Khyar Aziouel
LegislatureAgraw Itkar
Foundation
• Fall of Tamazgha
250
1360-1410
1519-1910
• Charnean Revolution
10 October 1910
7 June 2023
Area
• Total Area
2,130,656 km2 (822,651 sq mi)
• Water (%)
0.0084%
Population
• 2022 estimate
27,023,983
• 2020 census
26,995,572
• Density
12.68/km2 (32.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)estimate
• Total
$599 billion
• Per capita
$22,179.45
Gini44.4
medium
HDI0.801
very high
CurrencyAzref
Aga
Date formatmm.dd.yyyy
Driving sideright

Charnea, officially the Republic of Charnea (Tamashek: ⴰⵊⴰⵎⵀⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ, Ajamhurya n Charnea), is a landlocked country in central Scipia bordered to the north by Talahara, Tyreseia, and Alanahr, to the east by Kembesa and M'biruna, and to the south by Itayana and the Makgato Federation. Referred to as the Heart of the Ninva, Charnea sits at the crossroads of the Scipian continent between the Periclean, Ozerosi, and Ooreqapi nations. The country is predominantly made up of flat arid and semi-arid plains interrupted by the Arwa, Agala and Adjer mountains. The population of 27 million has a 70% urbanization rate and is concentrated in urbanized corridors connected to each other by an extensive rail network spanning the desert. Agnannet is the largest city in Charnea and serves as its capital and central railway hub, gaining the status of a global city because of its importance to the central Scipian region.

Pre-historic Charnea is thought to be the point of origin for anatomically modern humans[citation needed] and would go on to play host to some of the world's first urban civilizations emerging from the Agricultural Revolution of the al-Kija basin. The Bronze age would see the gradual westward spread of the Kijite civilizations, of which Deshret is the preeminent example, bringing urbanism, organized agriculture and metallurgical sciences to the region. The fusion of Kijite influences with the indigenous Kel peoples of central Scipia would eventually give rise to the Tenerians, who would emerge under the leadership of Ihemod Imekkusa to establish an empire spanning most of the continent. Although short-lived, the medieval Ihemodian Empire established the foundation of the modern Charnean nation that would take shape in later centuries.

Charnea undertook an expansive program of modernization and industrialization in the early 20th century, transforming the country through the aggressive application of a Developmentalist state capitalist model of economic planning. The industrialization of the desert nation would have profound consequences for its people, bringing the Tenerian core of western Charnea into conflict with the indigenous minority groups of the southern and eastern peripheries. Charnea is the current record-holder for the longest running civil war in the world[citation needed] in the form of constant low-level insurgencies gripping the periphery since the late 1920s, occasionally flaring up into major conflagrations such as the Agala War (1945-1947) and the Ninvite War (1966-1987). The country's endemic conflicts led to the deeply rooted militarization of Charnean society that can be seen in the present day. The 21st century has so far been marked by the escalating power struggle between civilian and military institutions of the Charnean government, culminating in the civil conflict known as the Great Misery and the military uprising that would give rise to the pseudo-democratic Charnean Republic that has ruled the country since 2018.

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 Tamazgha 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 desert. 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 government of Charnea is a unitary parliamentary republic under a system of limited franchise. The supreme authority of the Charnean state is the Agraw Itkar (Paramount Assembly) in accordance with the principles of parliamentary sovereignty laid out in the November Protocol, a document which serves as the legal framework for the Republic together with the original Azut Declarations. The chief executive is the Amizar, a combined head of state and government elected from within the legislature and accountable to it. Continuing the tradition of past Charnean regimes, there is no independent judiciary. Instead, the judicial system is overseen by the Agraw which doubles as a supreme court, wielding ultimate legal and constitutional power.

Under the Charnean system, the right to political participation is earned through national service, the definition of which is established by the November Protocol to include civil servants, public workers and the employees of state-owned corporations as well as military service. Franchise is earned after a certain number of years served, varying depending on the service. Two years of military service grants franchise, compared to five years in the Civil Guard or seven years in civilian service. Under the November Protocol, military veterans and civilian recipients of Certificates of Merit would be granted franchise retroactively on the basis of prior service, while in all other cases the perior of service for the purposes of earning a franchise would only be counted beginning on the 14th of November 2023. Certificates of Merit are documents granting special franchise issued by the central Election Council, requiring an appeal by one who already has their franchise. Earning a franchise confers both the right to vote together with the right to stand for election and cannot be revoked once issued, even as punishment for a crime.

The Deputies of the Agraw are elected through a unique system known as the Voting Corps. The many organs of the National Service are subdivided into Voting Corps delineated by the Election Council, and earning once's franchise through service in a given Corps establishes a membership to the Corps. Rather than a geographically defined electoral district, these Corps are the basis of Charnean parliamentary elections. This method for the organization of elections is a holdover from the brief period of the Republic's foundation as a military republic in which its democracy was based on an electorate of the active military who may be widely dispersed and move great distances regularly as their postings and living conditions change. The primary function of the Electoral Council in this system is to allocate seats in the Agraw to each Corps of the electorate. Each Corps then elects candidates to the Agraw through a block approval voting methodology. The system of Voting Corps is only used for the national parliamentary elections while local elections utilize a first-past-the-post voting system with eligibility based on residency rather than Corps.

Military

Main article: Charnean Army
Kel Ajama servicemembers of the Charnean Army mobile infantry

The military forces of Charnea are consolidated under the Charnean Army, better known by the acronym of its Tamashek name as the Iɤrudan Charnan Ajhanan (lit. "Combined Charnean Army") or ICA. The ICA encompasses all of the land and air-based military capabilities of the landlocked nation, and is internally subdivided into the Central Army which represents the main ground combat arms of the ICA, the Border Guards which serve as a security force for desert patrols in peacetime and rear area security in wartime, as well as the Army Air Service which acts as the air combat and support unit. The Charnean Army has been historically reliant on the manpower and expertise provided by the nomadic peoples of Charnea, the descendants of the Tenerians who retained the ancestral ways of the desert people, today known as the Kel Ajama. During the era of the modernization of Charnea in the early 20th century, the then nascent Kel Ajama subculture represented a source of manpower which were already well adapted to travel and land navigation in the open and inhospitable landscape of the Ninva, and who could be paid less than their city-dwelling counterparts due to their consistently lower standard of living. Over the decades, this became and entrenched reality of the military which would deeply influence the character of the organization.

The modern Charnean Army is organized in response to the geographic and material realities of the nation. In order to overcome the immense distances and uniquely inhospitable conditions of the landscape, the ICA has become a highly vehicular force relying on a large inventory of aircraft and wheeled land vehicles to equip its long range mobile forces. Many such formations forgo heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery in order to achieve the range and mobility required to operate effectively in the wide open and hostile environment of the desert which lends itself to scattered, sporadic, low intensity engagements. As a result, the Charnean Army relies heavily on its air arm to deliver heavy firepower, as well as the nationwide rail network which sustains the extensive logistical support system which keeps the Army in operational working order.

Foreign relations

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 0.0084% of the country's total surface area or roughly 179 square kilometers. Nearly all of this surface water can be found in the Great Oasis in Deshret province as well as parts of Al-Kira river which marks parts of the far eastern border.

Regions

Economy

The structure of the Charnean economy follows a highly interventionist model in which the state or more commonly state-affiliated entities take on a major role in directing development. This system of Developmentalism, which has been described as a form of state capitalist, placed great economic power and financial resources in the hands of the state and state-affiliated companies controlled by members of the politically connected great clans of Charnean society. The Developmentalist approach proved to be effective through the first half of the 20th century, successfully transitioning Charnea from a purely extractive economy to a fully industrialized one with significant contributions from the manufacturing sector. During this period, Charnea saw dramatic increases in the urbanization, life expectancy, rates of literacy and education, as well as median incomes and standards of living which have risen to the level of near-parity with the more developed world. However, in its later years the high degree of consolidation and concentration of wealth within the Charnean economy as a result of the Developmentalist model has caused a variety of issues, namely a condition of industrial overspecialization, a lack of diversification, a stagnation of median incomes, and a plethora of social issues stemming from high wealth inequality, all of which has contributed to a slowdown in economic growth. These conditions have largely remained unchanged and in some cases deteriorated further through the upheaval of the Muttay Ajamhuryin, which had the additional effect of shaking investor confidence in the Charnean economy, despite the Republic's efforts to break up the conglomerates and decrease the level of consolidation of the major businesses in Charnea. Escaping the current era of stagnation and safeguarding the advances in standards of living is the self-declared first priority of the Republic's government, and represents a major political imperative.

Mining

Nagamina gold mine in near-eastern Charnea

Resource extraction and processing represents roughly 40% of Charnea's total economic activity and is a highly developed sector of the economy. Mining was the catalyst which kicked off the industrialization of Charnea's desert society, providing the financial impetus for the expansion of the nationwide railway network which was critical to the later stages of urbanization and industrialization and largely enabled the development of the modern Charnean state. By far the most lucrative type of extraction in Charnea is gold mining, which accounts for one fifth (20%) of the national GDP. Gold mining has a long history in Charnea, being one of the main economic activities of the medieval Charnean states and by far the most important export of pre-modern Charnea, dwarfing the value of the dye and salt trade. Today, the largest mine in Charnea is the Nagamina open-pit mine in the western reaches of Adjer province, which was originally a copper mine in which gold was extracted as a byproduct. Some 22,500 kilograms of gold have been extracted from Nagamina to date, alongside nearly 100,000 metric tons of copper ores as well as 100 kilograms of silver, making it one of the largest known mineral deposits in Scipia. Other important gold mines in Charnea include the Mother-and-Son mine and the Karukwar mine, both located in the southern Agala region of Charnea. These are quartz reef deposits which are mined through a system of underground tunnels, in contrast to the open-pit system of the Nagamina mine. All of these gold mines, however, use the same widely accepted processing techniques to extract pure gold from the ores taken out of the earth. These processing techniques are the subject of major controversy as they threaten the local water tables with cyanide and mercury contamination, making the highly lucrative extraction business a threat to the security of the water supply and a highly divisive matter in the national water politics debate.

The mineral wealth of Charnea is concentrated in the Adjer range stretching across Gangara, Ouedmaqqor and the eponymous Adjer province, which forms the bulk of the Adjer-Tenere igneous province. The entire region is home to a variety of important ores bearing a wealth of industrial metals including gold, iron and copper. In recent years, exploration of the region's geological formations has revealed deposits of Laurite, a mineral ore containing ruthenium, osmium, and iridium, which are rare elements highly sought after in the electronics industry, in addition to some amounts of iron and rhodium. Extraction of Laurite in the Harakez valley some 140 kilometers south of Azut began in 2020. The economic potential of Laurite extraction is mostly untapped and represents a potentially lucrative new horizon for the future expansion of the Charnean mining sector.

Tamse refinery in Agnannet, COPEC's largest petrochemical plant

Petroleum extraction makes up another significant component of the Charnean mineral wealth. There are two main oil producing regions in the country, located in the far east and the far western regions of the country. The eastern fields, located in the provinces of Saadia, Hatheria and Zahra, have far larger proven reserves of petroleum and natural gas. However, the eastern regions have suffered from long standing political instability, economic underdevelopment and were the main active front of the Ninvite War some decades past. The destruction of extraction and refining infrastructure by war along with the continuing instability in the region and the threat of the Azdarin Liberation Front has greatly limited and curtailed investment in oil and gas extraction in the region. Conversely, the western fields located mainly in Azalay province are far better explored and have much more infrastructure in place, making them much more economically valuable despite having only a fraction of the reserves of the eastern fields. Oil extraction and processing in Charnea has been nationalized since 1945, consolidated as part of the state-owned energy giant COPEC. Despite the size of the petro-industry in Charnea, the export of oil and gas only accounts for 3% of GDP and less than half of COPEC's yearly earnings. The majority of the oil and gas extracted by COPEC are destined for domestic use primarily as refined petrochemical products needed by many industrial firms in the massive plastics industry in Charnea, as well as the Charnean energy market. 80% of all electricity in Charnea is generated in gas-fired power plants with an additional 16% being generated in power plants burning heavy oil. Both of these fuel types are supplied almost exclusively by COPEC, and the generation plants are themselves owned by a COPEC subsidiary.

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

Main article: Agriculture in Charnea
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 Thirteen Heaven Casino

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

Religion in Charnea
Religion Percent
Ashni Addin
 
 71%
Coptic Nazarism
 
 8%
Judaism
 
 2%
Timal Ibaran
 
 12%
Other
 
 2%

Occupying the central position of the Scipian continent at the confluence of its ancient trade routes, Charnea is and has always been a religiously diverse place. Temples of the ancient Deshrian religion are among the oldest surviving manmade structuctures in Charnea, and indeed the entire world. A large number of Deshrians today follow the Coptic sect of Nazarism originating in Tyreseia. An older Abrahamic faith, Judaism first appeared in the lands of Charnea some time during the reign of Queen Kaharna in the 5th century BCE, in the form of exiles fleeing the land today known as Yisrael. According to surviving jewish texts from this era, the exiles were welcomed by the Amazigh Queen and granted refuge in the desert cities of old Tamazgha. These Charnean jews would, over the ensuing millenia, the community could become concentrated in the central Charnean regions of Achra and the White Desert. The modern population of these Charnean Jews, termed Kel Udayen in the local dialect, is over 1 million. A comparatively much more recent religious introduction but one no less relevant than its ancient counterparts was the first appearance of the White Path, a Mutulese religion propagated in Charnea by a semi-mythical figure known as the Desert Oracle in the 17th century. The White Path, or Timal Ibaran as it is known in Tamashek, experienced a rapid increase in popularity, secretly encouraged by the rulers of the Awakari Empire, today becoming the second largest religion in Charnea and fostering close cultural ties to otherwise distant Mutul. The final, largest and newest Charnean religion is Ashni Addin, the "Blood Doctrine", seeing its origin in the early 18th century as a syncretic religious movement of White Pilgrim Tenerians. Ashniism combines cosmological, philosophical and theological aspects primarily of the White path and Neterism, but also influences of Ashkan Judaism and Azdarin and even ancient Tenerian folk religion. It grew extremely quickly amongst the Ajamite and Aɣremite populations in Charnea, rapidly becoming the majority religion by the end of the 18th and begining of the 19th centuries and retaining this title to the present day, having even converted portions of the Gharib and Deshrian populace from their traditional ethnic religions. This Charnean interpretation of the White Path is by far the majority of the Sakbeists in the country, while the remaining adherents of the more orthodox Mutli version are termed Shaddijnen or "Puritans" and are mainly found among the more militaristic of the Kel Ajama.

Urban Centers

 
Largest cities or towns in Charnea
National Office of Statistics
Rank Region Pop.
Agnannet
Agnannet
Azut
Azut 		1 Agnannet Achra 7,825,622 Ekelhoc
Ekelhoc
Hamath
Hamath
2 Azut Adjer 1,610,645
3 Ekelhoc Arwa 1,243,000
4 Hamath Hatheria 870,856
5 Tanitnet Azgwag 532,220
6 Perset Deshret 470,003
7 Tezzat Achra 135,332
8 Saajo Agala 101,375
9 Akalikwal Azalay 95,997
10 Awakar City Awakar 60,000
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