Andalus

Arab Jamahiriya of Andalusia Ġamahirijja al-Andalus al-Arabija (Andalusi Arabic)
Flag Emblem
Motto: Ħurrijatun, Waħdatun, Isctirakijatun "Freedom, Unity, Socialism"
Anthem: Wallah Zaman Ja Silaħi
Capital and largest city	Cordova
Official languages	Arabic (Andalusi Arabic)
Recognized languages	Castillian, Galician, Basque
Religion	72.1% Sunni Islam 10.4% Catholicism 9.3% no religion 6.2% Shia Islam 2% other
Demonym(s)	Andalusi, Andalusian
Government	Unitary one-party parliamentary Arab socialist republic with an executive presidency
• President	Hatim Mustafa
• Prime Minister	Débora Galan
• Speaker of the	Khaled Idris
Legislature	Parliament
Area
• Total	583,254 km2 (225,196 sq mi)
• Water (%)	2.09
Population
• Estimate	62.3 million
• Density	106.81/km2 (276.6/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$213.773 billion
• Per capita	40,609
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$2.26 trillion
• Per capita	$3,562
Gini	34.1 medium
HDI	0.753 high
Currency	Andalusi dinar (AAD)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Date format	dd-mm-yyy (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+34
Internet TLD	.an

Andalusia, officially the Arab Jamahiriya of Andalusia, is a country located in Southwestern Europe, with additional territory in the Atantic Ocean and Mediterrannean Sea. It is the largest country in Southern Europe and the largest country by Muslim population in Europe. The country encompasses the entirety of the Iberian Peninsula, in addition to the Canary Islands, the Hasan Islands, Mudira and the Balearic Islands in the Atlantic and Mediterranean respectively. It is bordered to the north by France; its northern and western coast are surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, while its southeastern and eastern coast are surrounded by the Mediterrannean. Its largest city and capital is Cordova. Other cities of significance include Ħims, Gharnata, Tulaitula, Valancia, Malaka and Al-Maria.

Before the Roman conquest of Iberia, Iberia was inhabited by Celtiberians, Iberians, and other Pre-Roman peoples. Iberia fell under the control of the Roman province of Hispania and was gradually Romanized and Christianized. The fall of the Western Roman Empire resulted in the migration of tribes from Central Europe, including the Vandals and Visigoths, into Iberia. In the 8th century, the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate conquered the Iberian peninsula, bringing with it the Islamization and Arabization of the peninsula. Al-Andalus become a cosmopolitan center of science and culture, ushering in a golden age. While still remaining connected to the wider Islamic world, the Renaissance brought Andalusia closer to the rest of Europe in cultural consciousness. During the Age of Discovery, while Andalusia did not engage in large-scale colonization, it did engage in missionary work, or dawah. Andalusia created a trading-based empire in the New World, bringing crops and wealth from the New World, although at the cost of native death as a result of diseases they didn't have immunity to. Andalusia's trading Empire later spread across Africa and the Indian Ocean, establishing new trade routes with the local peoples. In an age where an increasing amount of wealth was found outside of Europe and in colonization, Andalusia's failure to capitalize on the colonization of the New World or Africa and Asia resulted in its economic and cultural decline.

Members of the Andalusi military, inspired by the 1969 Libyan revolution, overthrew the Emir and established a Nasserist-aligned Arab socialist republic. After this point, Andalusia emphasized itself as an extension of the Maghreb and its connection to the rest of the Arab world. As Libya increasingly started to drift away from Egypt, Andalusia aligned itself with Gaddafi's Libya, adopting the moniker of "Jamahiriya". While not adopting Libya's Third International Theory, its association with Libya and Gaddafi as a whole resulted in sanctions against the state which further weakened its economy. In recent years relations between Andalusia and the rest of Europe have improved, while Andalusia has increasingly begun to refer to itself as a part of Europe again.

Etymology

The origin of the toponym al-Andalus is not known.

For amny years, most scholars and historians believed that the name originates from an Arabization of the Vulgar Latin Vandalitia (lit. "Land of the Vandals"), or alternatively from the Vandalic "Wandalitia" or "Vandalitia", which is most likely a Vandalic adaptation of Vandalitia. Both words come from the Proto-Germanic root "wandaliz", meaning "to wander", or "wanderer". al-Andalus is thus understood as referring to "the land of the Vandals". The association of Iberia with the Vandals came as a result of their migration to the Iberian peninsula in the 5th century.

In recent years, some scholars have challenged the consensus of al-Andalus referring to the Vandals. In 1986, Vallvé proposed that the name was a corruption of the Arabic word for the Atlantic. Arabic sources mention an "island" known as al-Andalus. Halm in 1989 on the other hand proposes a Gothic etymology, landahlauts, meaning "Land of Lots", or "Land of Inheritance". The term would then be corrupted into Latin and then further corrupted into Arabic. Other theories include a derivation from a pre-Roman substrate or a derivation from Coptic.

Politics

Government

Andalusia is governed as a one-party parliamentary republic by the Arab Socialist Union, a Libya-aligned Nasserite party. In theory independent political parties are able to run; in practice the government limits political parties solely to supporters of the ASU, and opposition parties and factions are banned.

The president serves as the head of state and the commander of the armed forces, in theory only serving a ceremonial role but in practice holding a large amount of power. The prime minister in theory controls the government, but this function is commonly delegated to the president instead. Some have suggested that President Hatim Mustafa has been increasingly concentrating power into his position, though he denies this.

Foreign Relations

Andalusia is a member of the Arab League, the Council of Arab Economic Unity, an observer state of the Arab Maghreb Union and various other international and regional organizations.