Jiha

Federal Republic of Jiha ᨁᨐᨈ ᨕᨙᨀᨐᨙᨕᨘ ᨍᨗᨖ (gyata-ekyew jiha)
Flag Coat of arms
Capital and largest city	Aram
Government	Federal presidential republic
• President	Kwasí Abrefa
• Vice President	Kumi Narh
Legislature	Parliament
Independence from Midrasia  1969
Population
• 2020 estimate	190,202,331
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	287.586 billion
• Per capita	1,512
HDI (2018)	.494 low
Currency	Đ (Dwo)
Time zone	UTC+1 (Central Asuran Time)

Jiha, also the Federal Repulic of Jiha and locally known as Gataicie, is a country located centrally on the southern coast of Majula, directly to the east of The Mawusi.

History

The lakes region of inner Jiha is home to some of the earliest humans, who developed in small band societies in the lush Brune rainforest between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago. Small stone tools from the area have been dated to between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago, primarily microliths. Pottery and the related pyrotechnology developed later in the same period, approximately 9,500 BCE. Domesticated crops such as millet and rice greatly expanded the population of inner regions at a time when the coastal area was still dominated by pastoralists and band societies.

Urban society developed in two distinct fashions; the interior stone-cutter culture and the coastal mudbrick system. The mudbrick system was generally easier to deploy and spread faster into the interior with brick fortresses to protect small farming communities from hunter-gatherer bands, which still persisted in the area, and from stone-cutter culture encroachments. Some of these sites persist today as “brick fields”, which are the destroyed remnants mudbrick structures and are said to be cursed by the lakes peoples. The turning point between the interior-coastal tension occurred at some point between 989 and 976 BCE when a series of tropical storms destroyed important coastal settlements and allowed unorganized migrations from the interior to occupy successively more southern areas.

During the late 9th century, a religious pseudo-state known as Ebo emerged through the unification of several disparate religious traditions. A work of philosophy, called the Heavenly Means, was passed through the population orally and described a cosmology that had influences from both the shamanist and fetishist traditions. Ebo maintained a privileged status in the area until the introduction of Irsad in the succeeding century. Ebo remains an important aspect of Jiha culture although it is now observed by a minority of the population.

The Midrasian South Majula Company gained concessions from the Sultanate of Mihra in 1735 which made them the exclusive exporter for the nation. Contractual enforcement eventually led to the Field Missions of the 1750s and 60s which subjugated or destroyed inland nations. From 1760 to 1958, Jiha remained a colonial possession of Midrasia. Following the conclusion of the Black River War, and wanting to avoid those results, Midrasia created a transitional government based on Dagban. The Dagban government ruled for a ten year period, preparing the nation for its first elections. In 1968, the elections were delayed for a year to give the government more time to establish polling places. In 1969, the nation’s first elections took place, but were immediately condemned by the international community when protests across the country erupted accusing the transitional government of failing to respect the results of the elections. Later, journalists revealed that the transitional government had failed to seek candidates for the legislature in many districts and then assigned members of the transitional government to serve as uncontested candidates in those districts. Many protesters complained that they had never even seen their representatives before.

The transitional government attempted to restore order with international help, but failed to do so after the civil service largely defected in favor of the protesters. This was referred to as the Paper Revolution and heralded as an excellent example of civil disobedience. Later, it was revealed that the elements of the civil service that orchestrated the coup had carefully purged their opponents including several who disappeared after they took over as a new transitional government. While distinctly undemocratic, the second transitional government was far more responsive to public opinion and followed up on some of its key directives including the establishment of a ubiquitous (though not universal) education system and the town-by-town election of mayors. A coalition of mayors eventually was able to lobby for a successful election in 1994, which replaced the transitional council with an elected parliament.

Geography

Jiha extends from the central lakes region of Majula, famous for it's dense rainforests and equatorial climate, to the Majulan Ocean where cold currents have led to a desertified coasts.

Politics and Government

Jiha is a presidential republic known for it's strong fourth oversight branch, which represents the civil service.

Economy

Jiha has a developing economy with substantial barriers to entry and difficulties including limited access to education, an inactive housing market, and environmental protectionism.

Demographics

Jiha's demographics are broadly divided into the interior and coastal regions, with ethnic and religious lines falling into those two groups. The north is largely Ebo while the South is Nadvarist.