Charnea

Republic of Charnea ⴰⵊⴰⵎⵀⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵛⵀⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ Ajamhurya n Charnea
Flag
Capital and largest city	Agnannet
Official languages	None
Recognised national languages	Tamashek (de facto)
Recognised regional languages	Randeshret Tamahaq Tawellemmet Darja Udayen
Ethnic groups (2022)	70.2% Tenerians  ∟55% Kel Aɣrem  ∟15.2% Kel Ajama 14.3% Deshrians 11.1% Gharibs 3.2% Kel Udayen 1.2% Other
Demonym(s)	Charnean
Government	Unitary parliamentary military republic
• Emasli Adinat	Amina N'Akall
• Amizar	Khyar Aziouel
Legislature	Agraw Allonan
Historical Landmarks
• Ihemodian Wars	1360-1410
• Peace of Awakar	1549-1810
• Baron's War	1854-1860
• Imperial Restoration	1 August 1921
• Muttay Ajamhuryin	4 April 2023
Area
• Total Area	2,130,656 km2 (822,651 sq mi)
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
Gini	44.4 medium
HDI	0.801 very high
Currency	Charnean Azref (₳)
Date format	mm.dd.yyyy
Driving side	right

Charnea, officially the Republic of Charnea (Tamashek: ⴰⵊⴰⵎⵀⵓⵔⵢⴰ ⵏ ⵛⵀⴰⵔⵏⴻⴰ, Ajamhurya n Charnea), is a country in central Scipia. The Ninva desert encompasses the totality of the land area of Charnea, a total of 2.1 million square kilometers of arid terrain receiving on average 7 centimeters of rain a year or less. Charnea is a landlocked country bordered to the north by Talahara, Tyreseia, and Alanahr, to the east by Fahran, Kembesa and M'biruna, to the south by Itayana, and to the west by Anyanwu. The Charnean desert is not geographically uniform and is subdivided into several regions, some of which are more or less inhospitable than others. Most human settlement in Charnea is concentrated into four relatively limited zones in the Arwa and Adjer mountains, the Achra basin and the regions of the Charnean far east known as Hatheria and Deshret. The rest of the desert, subdivided into the Tenere region in central and west Charnea and the Zahra region in the east, is ill suited for permanent habitation and is covered in dune seas, rocky pleateaus and other formations of the barren landscape. Water is scarce across all of Charnea, making control of the water supply a foundational raison d'etre and a powerful political tool for the Charnean state, both in its current iteration and all of its antecedents.

The history of Charnea has been marked by reoccurring social upheavals and conflict over the limited resources of the desert. The foundation of Charnea, or the Kel Kaharna as it was known contemporaneously, can be linked to the Siriwang eruption and volcanic winter in the mid 14th century, which struck the desert-dwelling peoples of Scipia in the form of climatic disruption leading to widespread famine. The Tenerian warlord Ihemod the Inheritor emerged from this period of strife, unifying the Tenerian tribes and leading them in the conquest of the neighboring states in order to claim for themselves greener pastures and more reliable water supply. This conquest would expand in scope as it unfolded until the Kel Kaharna had subjugated the majority of the Scipian continent, ruling over a population of millions at its zenith in the 15th century. Although the empire would soon loose much of its territory to rebellion, reconquest and invasion, it would remain as a rump state in the lands of its birth, deep in the Ninva desert, where it would evolve over the centuries into the modern Charnean state. In the 20th century, Charnea would undergo a process of urbanization and industrialization, facilitated by the connection of the country's far-flung oasis towns and cities with the construction of continent-spanning railway networks across Scipia. This process would bring unprecedented prosperity to the Charnean cities, although the ever expanding demands for water and other resources would lead to major internal conflicts and wars with neighboring countries such as the Agala War and the Ninvite War. In April of 2023, Charnea underwent the Muttay Ajamhuryin or Republican Reform, which overthrew the monarchic imperial system of seven centuries to install a new system of government based on a limited democracy of the army and civil services. This has been the latest in a long line of political upheavals Charnea has suffered over the course of the past century which have left their mark on Charnean society and culture.

The country is home to a mostly urbanized population of 27 million people. This urban population is highly concentrated with more than a quarter of all Charneans live in the capital city, Agnannet, with an additional third living in the next three largest cities. The urban population sustains the national economy which is based in processing the country's natural resources and manufacturing products for export on the basis of these resources. Charnean economics is heavily state driven and consolidated into a number of industrial giants with close ties to the government, such as the state owned petro-extraction and chemical firm COPEC or the nominally private but state-linked plastics manufacturing giant Plexico. A near-totality of all economic output in Charnea comes from large corporations such as these operating in the great cities. The rural population, consisting of Kel Ajama as well as ethnic and religious minority groups in the territorial periphery, lead a predominantly agrarian existence and contribute little to the economy. Charnea has been plagued by its history of slavery, apartheid and internal segregation of its population, which has had a long-lasting effect on its society and the development of its economy and has been the subject of many recent political reforms.

Government

The Agraw

The supreme power of the Republic is vested in the assembly of the Agraw Allonan, the military council constituted from elected deputies of the Charnean Army with special delegates representing select organs of the civilian government. It is the heart of the Charnean state and its military-political organization from which all legal authority stems. The Agraw serves a dual political function both as a legislative organ of the national civilian state as well as a democratic governing body of the Army. As a legislature, the Agraw functions as a unicameral lawmaking assembly with a flexible membership holding the ultimate authority to create laws, issue directives to the executive branch, and approve ministers of the state and judges of the Charnean court system. As a military organ, the Agraw satisfies the political imperative to democratize the Army and redress the grievances of the rank and file Charnean servicemembers without subverting the tenets of military discipline and hierarchical cohesion. This was done to avoid implementing a democratic system within the military itself as is done in the Talaharan military, something which the leadership of the Charnean military-political movement deemed to be potentially corrosive to the cohesion of the Army and damaging to its effectiveness as a military force. Instead, representatives of the military in the Agraw hold no authority within the military hierarchy, serving only to give a democratic voice to the servicemembers of the Army in the assembly which might then implement the general will of the Army's rank and file from the top down and in accordance with military hierarchy. As the Agraw is vested with the sole authority to declare war, this also grants exclusive power to declare war and sue for peace to the common soldiery of the Army.

The Agraw Allonan replaced the previous Agraw Imgharan, the council of elders, which had served as the bicameral legislature of the Charnean states since the time of Ihemod and was based primarily on clan membership. It a strong contrast to its predecessor, the Agraw Allonan remains true to its name (lit. "Common Assembly") as its deputies are voted into their seats by an open popular vote within each unit of the Army and civilian government organs. Voting is done through a instant-runoff system, a ranked choice system in which multiple rounds of counts of second and third-rank votes are used to determine the winner of each unit election if no candidate can win at least half of the first-rank votes. This electoral system as well as the investiture of voting power mainly in the predominantly Ajamite enlisted ranks of the Army has had the effect of almost entirely eliminating the great Charnean clans from political office, instead elevating many historically disenfranchised groups such as the Ajamites and Deshrians into the Agraw Allolan. Currently the Agraw is made up of 392 deputies representing the Central Army, the Civil Defense Units and civilian organs of the state, with only 51 of these deputies belonging to the majority Aɣremite ethnic subgroup, and 107 deputies being non-Tenerian.

Leadership

Administrative authority is delegated by the Agraw into the hands of the Amizar, the principal executive and head of government of the Charnean republican system. The Amizar is vested with broad authority to carry out the will of the Agraw and to enforce the laws of the Republic through the organs of the civilian government. Amizars are elected using the same electoral system as the Agraw elections applied to an electorate-wide scale to serve five-year terms in office with a single term limit disallowing any candidate from holding the office more than once. The authority and power of the Amizar within the Republic is wide reaching, with few constitutional limitations. They hold the sole power to form a government and nominate members of the cabinet, and act as the paramount commander-in-chief of the Army. However, the practical limitations of the Amizarate rest with the Agraw which holds the authority to override the Amizar, issue directives and recall them from office. The recall can be triggered by a simple majority of the Agraw, which will proceed to a referendum of the full electorate, where another simple majority of the popular vote will end the sitting Amizar's term prematurely and bar them from running againt as if they had completed their term normally. An interim Amizar is then appointed by the Agraw until a full Amizarate election can be held.

The office of the Emasli Adinat is the secondary executive of the government, and the nominal head of state. This office is the product of a constitutional addendum, a later addition to the government system made in response to rising public unrest in the aftermath of the Muttay Ajamhuryin. The function of the Emasli Adinat (lit. "Public Voice") is to serve as the advocate of the general public in the government, with a mainly advisory role but a variable degree of de facto authority dependent on the public will. They also act as the head of the legislature, having the power preside over legislative sessions, set the agenda, enforce procedural rules, and even propose legislation themselves, although some or all of these responsibilities can be delegated to a deputy at the Emasli's discretion. The first Emasli, the former monarch Amina N'Akall, was appointed by Amizar Khyar Aziouel with the approval of the Agraw, while a system of direct election open to the public was put in place to select subsequent Emaslis.

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 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 nearly a third 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 Kaokazuka and the Ikyan 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.