Kembesa

Kingdom of Kembesa Ye'kembesiya Meseyoumeti
Flag Royal Seal of the House of the Yegidonochi of Kembesa Royal Seal of the House of the Yegidonochi
Capital	Azwa
Official languages	Kembesan
Recognised regional languages	Gharbaic Swahili M'bweni
Government	Confederal unitary constitutional monarchy
• King	Selemoni XIV
• Grand Ras	Biniam Wolo
• Speaker	Abreham Aklilu
Legislature	Royal Councils of Kembesa
• Upper house	House of the Rasochi
• Lower house	House of the Commons
Establishment
• Kingdom of Yebwi	299 BCE
• Christianization	358 CE
• Kingdom of Kembesa	433 CE
• Constitutional reform	1948 CE
Area
• Total	508,224 km2 (196,226 sq mi)
• Water (%)	6.5
Population
• 2018 census	26,299,273
• Density	51.75/km2 (134.0/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$491 billion (2018)
• Per capita	$18,672
Currency	Werik (W) (KBW)

Kembesa, officially the Kingdom of Kembesa, is a country in Eastern Scipia. It is bordered to the north by Fahran, to the west by Charnea, to the south by M'biruna, and shares a maritime border to east with Bemiritra in the Ozeros Sea. The capital city of Azwa is located in the country's north. Kembesans are the dominant ethnic group in the country, but there are major Gharib and Swahili enclaves within its borders.

Kembesan national identity is rooted in both linguistic and religious differences from its neighbours. The Kingdom of Kembesa became a Christian state in the 4th century CE. Over the next millennium and a half it remained independent from the Adzarin conquests and even the expansion of Mutulese Ochran. In the present, the Kembesan Orthodox Church is the state religion and is not in communion with Fabria. While a prosperous nation for much of its history, Kembesa declined in the 19th century. Under King Isaias III, the country liberalized in 1948, forming a constitutional monarchy.

The Kembesan economy is dominated by agriculture and mining sectors, exporting and importing goods north and south through Fahran and M'biruna respectively, as well as across the Ozeros. The country saw major a demographic expansion after the 1940's. Much of the country's power infrastructure was developed in that era and at present there is insufficient electrical production in many cities and villages.

History

Antiquity

Nomadic groups have inhabited the region of modern Kembesa for tens of millennia, though the oldest evidence of human settlement dates back to the fifth millennium BCE. The region fell under the influence of ancient Fahrani polities in the third millennium BCE. Speakers of ancient She'dje, the predecessor of modern Kembesan, formed the independent Kingdom of Ke'sem in the mid-10th century BCE. Ke'sem expanded over the next two centuries but collapsed around 750 BCE.

For the next half-millennium warring states, each led by a Ras (duke), vied for power in the region. The Rasochi were unified in 299 BCE by the House of Aizan which founded the Kingdom of Yebwi based in the ancient city of Me'lewa.

Geography and climate

Kembesa is a country of hills and rivers. Tropical forests and highlands cover most of its area. The Kira River, which extends from Kembesa, through Fahran, Alanahr, and into the Periclean Sea, flows from Lake Gozzam, itself fed by several hundred rivulets in the Degama Region. The highest point in that Kingdom is at the peak of Mount Anibesa in the western reaches of the Degama Region. The greatest climatic variances are found in the Ye'wenizi region where tropical forests and marshes give way to savannah plains and even some areas of desert.

The Me'bala Region, which includes most of Kembesa's coasts, sees the most consistent rainfall of the three regions. The monsoon season is mitigated somewhat by calm winds and waters afforded by the island of Bemiritra which protects Kembesa's northern coasts from the open waters of the Ozeros. As the country is located in the northern hemisphere, most of its rivers drain southward toward the equator and the Ozeros. Much of the southern coastal area is saturated marshland.

Temperatures in the country vary by season and location. In Ye'wenizi and Me'bala, seasonal temperature variations are extremely low, averaging less than 5 degree centigrade. However, rainfall is very different. The more eastern and northerly region experiences more dramatic dry and rainy seasons. Most of the precipitation only falls in the midsummer. Ye'wenizi, by contrast, experiences steadier rainfall, though the summer months are considerably wetter than the winter. In the west, the Degama Region experiences a multitude of microclimates owing to the inconsistent mediating effect of water systems, valleys, and small rain shadows. Seasonal temperatures exceed those in the other two regions and can vary between 10 and 15 degrees centigrade seasonally. The rainy season is also about as long as it is in the Ye'wenizi Region - about 7 to 9 months of the year.

Government and politics

Branches of government

The Kingdom of Kembesa in a confederal unitary constitutional monarchy. That is to say, it operates as a confederation of unified regions in which the central government has ultimate authority and a constitution defines roles for both the monarchy and democratic institutions. In effect, the monarchy and the traditional nobility of Kembesa wield the majority of the power. The commoners, the nobility, and the monarch are each represented in the tricameral parliament known as the Royal Councils of Kembesa. Any bill must receive the assent of all three houses to be enacted as law. The upper two houses (the Rasochi and the monarch) also enact the judiciary and executive functions of the government.

The lowest house is the House of the Commons. The Commons is made up of 150 representatives divided evenly among the 3 regions. Representatives are elected proportionally through a party list system in each region. A Speaker is subsequently elected by the Commons. Terms in the Commons last 8 years.

The House of the Rasochi (dukes) is the middle-to-upper house of the parliament. There are 62 seats in the house, one for each duchy. The title of Ras is hereditary and the monarch surrendered the right to unliaterally appoint new members to the Rasochi in the 1948 constitution. Instead, both the Rasochi and the monarch must assent to any new members. The House of the Rasochi is also the highest court of the Kingdom. In this function, the monarch keeps a panel of three Rasaki Danya (Ducal Arbiters) to hear cases. The monarch also appoints a Ras Nagash (Lord Duke) to manage the affairs of the house. Both the Ducal Arbiters and the Lord Duke serve 8-year terms before the monarch must make another appointment.

Though often not considered a house in the same sense as the Commons or the Rasochi, the Royal House of the Yegidonochi completes the tricameral structure of the Kembesan government. The monarch themself executes most of the functions of the house in providing or withholding assent for bills and functioning as the head of state. The monarch also appoints advisors and officers for the functioning of the executive branch of the government. In general, the monarch has a great deal of discretion in how they organize their government, though there are constitutional limits placed on their ability to make unilateral orders. Outside of the executive function and the ability to make appointments, the monarch has no unilateral means of enacting law.

Administrative subdivions

The Kingdom of Kembesa is divided into three kililochi, or regions which represent cultural, linguistic, and geographic polities. The three regions are Degama in the west, Ye'wenizi in the east, and Me'bala in the south. Each region admits 50 representatives to the House of the Commons. The area of the Kingdom also encompasses 62 ye'ras meretochi, or duchies, the borders of which do not readily correspond to those of the regions. Municipalities and incorporated communities must be established through tripartite assent between the Royal House, the House of the Rasochi, and the House of the Commons. As a result, only 5 new municipalities have been incorporated since the induction of the new constitution in 1948 and many people reside in unincorporated communities.