Charnea
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Charnean Confederation Kel Kaharna ⴾⵍ ⴾⵂⵔⵏ | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: "Reverence to the Mother" | |
| Anthem: "Winds of the Great Sand Sea" | |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Agnannet |
| Recognised national languages | Tamashek |
| Recognised regional languages | Beriaa Yerwa Tawilant Djerma Siwi |
| Ethnic groups (2019) | See Ethnicity |
| Demonym(s) | Charnean |
| Government | Parliamentary constitutional elective monarchy |
• Amenukal | Martuf ag Lamine |
| Kubra ult Lamine | |
| Legislature | Great Assembly |
| Agraw Imgharan | |
| Agraw Imuhagh | |
| Establishment | |
• First Confederation | 14 August 703 |
• Imperial Reform | 2 February 1379 |
• Second Confederation | August 13 1888 |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 33,023,983 |
• 2019 census | 33,010,572 |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Total | $101 billion |
• Per capita | $5779.45 |
| Gini | 25.9 low |
| HDI | 0.701 high |
| Currency | Charnean Dinar (CDR) |
| Date format | mm.dd.yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
Charnea, formally the Charnean Confederation (Tamashek: ⴾⵍ ⴾⵂⵔⵏ, Kel Kaharna), is a confederation governed by elective monarchy located in central Scipia, bordering the Messidor Union to the northwest, Alanahr to the northeast, and Fahran to the east. The confederation occupies a very large region of the Ninva desert, also known as the Great Scipian Desert, and in turn the majority of the country's land area is made up of the Ninva's arid and semi-arid regions and only small portions of tropical grassland and monsoon climate regions in the south of the country. As a result of the vast territory it controls across the Ninva desert, Charnea is one of the largest countries in the world by land area and the largest on the Scipian continent. The constituent states of Charnea are unusually non-uniform, as many are organized according to ancient principles of tribal government while others more closely resemble a modern parliamentary republic. All of these component bodies are bound in a state of union under Charnea in a nominally voluntary manner as signatories of the Covenant of Charnea, the foundational treaty of the Second Confederation of modern Charnea which doubles as the national constitution. The modern extent of Charnean borders was established in the 1904 Treaty of Koros and reaffirmed by the armistice signed at the end of the Ninvite War in 1995. Charnea is an elective monarchy ruling by an Amenukal (Female: Tamenukalt), considered a title equivalent to King, as well as a Prime Minister known as the Executor who is nominated by the parliamentary Great Assembly and formally appointed by the Amenukal.
The Charnean people are considered an ethno-religious polity made up of numerous tribes and sub-cultures that were at one time distinct but are in the present day broadly unified by Kaharnist religious beliefs, many centuries of shared history, and shared cultural traditions such as the practice of Tafekka Tebillant martial arts. The Tamashek language, itself a dialect of Southern Amazigh language, was the lingua franca of medieval Charnea and is now the first language of most Charneans, while the related Amazigh languages Siwi and Tawilant as well as the southern Scipian languages Beriaa, Yerwa and Djerma are all also spoken as second languages in many regions of the Confederation. However, the Charnean people are not homogenous and are often considered multi-ethnic or multi-cultural to varying extents. In general, Charneans are divided into more Amazigh-associated groups which reside in and around the vast desert regions of the country which are termed Kel Tagelmust (Tamashek: ⴾⵍ ⵜⴳⵍⵎⵙⵜ, lit "Those of the Veil") for their distinctive turban-like head coverings, while the non-Amazigh Charneans of the south inhabit the savannah and delta regions of the lower Obul and are known as Kel Fila (Tamashek: ⴾⵍ ⴼⵍ, lit "Those of the Fila hat") for the iconic Fila style headgear similar to the ubiquitous Kufi. This internal dynamic of a bi-polar cultural continuum within Charnea is further highlighted as the national capital and largest city Agnannet is almost totally Kel Tagelmust culturally and is located within the Ninva desert, while the second largest city and major financial and industrial hub Koros is conversely mixed Kel Fila charachter and is located in the extreme south of the country at the mouth of the Obul delta.
Economic activity across much of Charnea is classified as primary sector enterprise, focusing on the mining and petroleum industries with a weak agricultural sector localized in the relatively minute arable regions of the country. The oil and petrochemical industries are notably nationalized under COPEC, the state owned petroleum company, contributing a significant portion of the national GDP and propping up government finances since the nationalization in the late 1960s. Mining has been Charnea's chief economic activity since the establishment of the Second Confederation and the early integration of the then relatively isolated country into the global economy, and remains the largest sector of the economy. Policy regarding the often very powerful mining conglomerates and their local leaders, the treatment of their workers and their use of Charnea's vital water recourses has shaped the nature of Charnean politics and been the cause of many social movements and revolutions across the turbulent decades of the 20th century. Industrial manufacturing and further secondary sector activities have been slow to develop in Charnea, faced with insurmountable competition from foreign markets and anemic government support for the past half century. The only significant manufacturing-based industry to be established in Charnea is that of arms manufacturing which first developed during the Ninvite War and has developed in peacetime as one of the primary suppliers of the Inter-Charnean Army. Charnean arms manufacturers have had some success in catering to the domestic and foreign civilian arms markets, but have to date failed to secure a military contract outside of the Charnean national military, in part due to the derivative nature of the designs in production.
Etymology
Charnea derives its name from the central figure of Kaharnism and the patron goddess of many Tamashek tribes, Mother Kaharna. Charnea's Tamashek name Kel Kaharna translates roughly to "People of Kaharna". This nomenclature follows the ancient Tamashek traditions of a confederation across tribal lines, belying Charnea's origin as a universal confederation of numerous pre-existing nomadic confederations of the Zahra desert. It is uncertain when or how Kel Kaharna came to be latinized into the word Charnea, but its believed to have occurred at some point in the 10th century following northward incursions of the Charnean Empire towards the Periclean.
History
Classical period
Both the ancestors of the Amazigh Tamashek peoples as well as their Kanuri and Zaghawa counterparts are known to have inhabited what is now Charnea since prehistory, leading up to the advent of the written word and settled agrarian society in the south of Charnea in what is referred to as the Obulite Civilization in the third millennium BCE. The Obulite culture is strongly believed to be the antecedent of modern Djerma ethnic groups in Charnea, although the early Obulite kingdoms were not alone in this era. Around 500 BCE, the legendary Queen Kaharna is said to have unified the disparate ancient Amazighs of the Zahra, at this time significantly less arid than the desert of the modern day. Although Kaharna is deified as the goddess Mother Kaharna by the Charnean Tamasheks, the ancient Queen is also recognized and remembered by other Amazigh groups outside of Charnea, such as the Aghmatians of the Messidor Union. The ancient Amazigh confederation began to fragment into smaller confederations some time after Kaharna's reign, eventually becoming distinct groups. The southernmost splinters of Kaharna's confederation would evolve into proto-Tamashek tribes, which would enter into periodic clashes with the Obulite civilization. Tamashek confederations would develop a caste system featuring noble Imajaghan descended from Kaharna's kin group and vassal herders called Imghad (singular Amghid) as well as semi-settled artisan Inadan and peasnt izeggaren alongside bonded slave Ikelan which primarily formed agrarian communities under the control and protection of the warrior nobility. The Charnean caste system would see many alterations over the centuries but would have long lasting repercussions for Charnean society even in the modern day. Although most elements of Tamashek at this period were nomadic, the establishment of settled and semi-settled communities primarily inhabited by lower caste members of society led to clashes with Obulite dominions over land and resources. Northward excursions by Obulite armies and southward raids and forays by Tamashek confederations are well documented throughout the classical period.
Medieval period
Beginning around 600 and progressing onwards, Tamashek confederations around the southern Ninva desert region would begin to expand significantly in scope and power as they extended further north into the desert and along an east-west axis parallel to the edges of the semi-arid savannah and scrubland regions. The rising power of these semi-nomadic polities coincided with the expansion of the Trans-Scipian Trade which saw vast wealth of salt, gold and other goods traveling in caravans through traversable corridors across the Zahra desert, which in turn led to tribute and payment for mercenary protection flowing into the coffers of local Tamashek confederations. Many confederations existed at this time, though the three most powerful were the Kel Ataram (lit: People of the West) and the Kel Dinnig (lit: People of the East), which together form the basis for the modern day Iwellemmedan people of central Charnea, and the Kel Awakar which had the widest degree of control over the Zahra trade routes. By this time, the Obulite civilization had declined significantly since its days as a great power during the bronze age. Nevertheless, many significant Obulite successor kingdoms of Djerma ethnic makeup existed both north and south of the Obul. As the power and reach of the growing Tamashek confederations increased, conflict with these kingdoms and the desert peoples to the north rose as well, seeing many wars between Tamashek and Djerma peoples north of the Obul in the 8th and 9th centuries. These conflicts would serve as the historical backdrop for the rise of the powerful Amenukal Agnan of the Tree at the beginning of the 10th century and result in the radical metamorphosis of the Charnean political landscape.
Agnan, the adopted son of the Amenukal of the Kel Awakar confederation, succeeded to the throne in 898 following a protracted conflict between Agnan and his followers battling many nobles of the Kel Awakar which resisted the low born reformer Agnan. Following his tumultuous rise to power among the Awakar, he instituted a number of meritocratic social and military reforms and made plain ambitions to unify all Tamashek peoples under his banner. Conflict soon broke out between the Kel Awakar and the Kel Ataram and Kel Dinnik confederations, former rivals which united against the common threat of Agnan's forces, concluding quickly in August of 903 in the aftermath of the Battle of Red Hills when Amenukal Agnan defeated and forced the submission of the Ataram-Dinnik coalition to his rule, declaring the unification of all descendants of Kaharna through his victory. The Kel Awakar, Kel Ataram, Kel Dinnik, Kel Korod and the Kel Tessawa were subsequently merged into the Kel Kaharna (lit: People of Kaharna) , marking the official birth of what would become known as Empire of Charnea. Some confederations such as the Kel Azakane remained independent at the time of this unification but would later be subsumed into the united tribes of the Kel Kaharna as they began to expand further in all directions. Conflict between the Djerma and this new Tamashek power would reach a boiling point at the breakout of the Kuru War in which Amenukal Agnan sought to show the superiority of his Tamashek forces over the Djerma principalities north of the Obul, which united against him. Sources document Agnan's intent in invading the southern domains was to extract tribute from the Djerma and to make a show of force to resolve many minor land disputes in favor of Tamashek settlements now under his protection. Agnan of the Tree would perish, however, at the Battle of the Four Corners near the site of modern day Agnannet and be succeeded by his protégé and second in command, the emancipated Ikelan Ihemod the Inheritor, who would prosecute the latter half of the Kuru war.
In contrast to his predecessor Amenukal Ihemod had no intentions of leaving Djerma lands after defeating their princes in battle, a fact made clear when in 917 construction began on a new permanent settlement at Agnannet which would become the Charnean imperial capital. By 925, Ihemod's regime had displaced or enslaved many thousands of Djerma living north of the Obul, radically expanding the reach of settled Tamashek communities and creating a massive influx of Ikelan slave caste populations in this new occupied territory which Ihemod used extensively for the expansion of his empire's domain and infrastructure despite being of Ikelan origin himself. The Charnean military would also be reformed, implimenting Djerma auxiliaries, adopting new technology and siege tactics and undergoing structural refroms. Amoung these reforms was the foundation of the Yezzaren Imedrayen or "First Brothers" which served as the Amenukal's personal bodyguard and as a proto-general staff, which would later become a lasting insitution of Charnea even surviving the fragmentation and refoundation of the Kel Kaharna in later centuries. In 927 Amenukal Ihemod and an army of an estimated 40,000 Tamashek and Djerma warriors crossed the Obul. This marked the start of the Nefecane Wars, a series of invasions across southern and eastern Charnea which were initiated by the expansionistic Kel Kaharna under Ihemod's rule. The Tamashek, although now unified and boasting large numbers of assimilated Zahra tribesmen among their numbers, were still numerically inferior in terms of population to many of the Djerma, Yerwa, and Beri groups they conquered. This led to the implementation of what has been called practical brutality, the escalation of atrocities and massacres particularly the razing of entire cities which had resisted conquest, which was also used as a propaganda tool to convince cities to surrender without fighting, thus being spared such treatment. Consequences of the violent subjugation of these ethnic groups into the Empire of Charnea would be felt for centuries to come, particularly during the later decline and fragmentation of the Empire. Additionally, this wide reaching depopulation of central and southern Scipia would profoundly affect the demographics of the area and be felt even into the modern day.
Ihemod's attempts to conquer eastern and northern Scipia would eventually be thwarted both by military action of the local states and by rising logistical and organizational problems within the Empire. Which his vast armies stretched thin over even greater territory, Ihemod reluctantly heeded his advisors and halted Charnean expansion by the latter half of the 10th century, instead focusing his recourses on consolidating the Empire, putting down rebellions and expanding the city of Agnannet. The Empire of Charnea would never again launch such massive campaigns as had been seen during the Nefecane Wars, although some conquests of lesser scale would be made in the following centuries. Instead, Charnea would remain relatively stable through the 14th century and oversee the partial assimilation of many of the cultures it had conquered, influencing some groups with Tamashek culture in some places while adopting local customs into Tamashek practice in others. Tamashek animist beliefs would merge the the local faiths of conquered peoples and the remnant beliefs of the ancient Obulites to form the first iterations of recognizable Kaharnism in these centuries, establishing many religious and social orders across Scipia.
Charnea entered a period of precipitous decline and fragmentation in the 14th century, usually described as beginning around 1388 during a particularly violent succession crisis which for the first time since unification had redrawn sub-ethnic lines within the Kel Kaharna Tamashek tribes. In 1501, the Kel Awakar had reformed and seceded from the Kel Kaharna, followed by many upstart states made up of Beri and Yerwa ethnic groups. The Empire of Charnea would survive as a rump state of mixed Tamashek-Djerma ethnic composition until the Sack of Agnannet in 1690, which finally dissolved the Kel Kaharna remnant.
Warring nations period
The start of the warring nations period is debated, traditionally marked at the fall of Agnannet in the late 17th century but in the modern day more often described as beginning with the seccesion of the Kel Awakar at the turn of the 16th century. In either case, the root cause is generally believed to have been the 1388 succession crisis in the Charnean empire and a general decline and failure of imperial authority in Agnannent which followed, leading to disunity not only among the multicultural subjects of Charnea but also among the Tamashek tribes which formed the core population of the empire. The secession of the Kel Awakar, which inspired some other tribes to subsequently break away in turn, weakened the principal powerbase of the Empire and as a result saw many subjugated peoples rebel or in some cases simply declare their independence and undergo virtually uncontested secessions. While some Yerwa rebellions were quelled by the Charnean army in this time, others were deemed too strong or too far afield for the military to handle and were simply granted independence rather than risk their forces joining the rebellions of their kinsmen along the southern bank of the Obul, close to Agnannet. The more powers broke away from Agnannet's rule, the further the Empire declined, until eventually the Charnean rump state in Agnannet was eclipsed by Tamashek and Yerwa states which had broken away. A general power vacuum left by the once powerful Empire saw an escalation of conflicts and ethnic tensions which had not been seen in hundreds of years due to overpowering Charnean overlordship. A near constant state of civil war and and upheaval followed, as although most tribes had now broken away from Agnannet many still viewed themselves as Charnean or as Charnean successor states and aimed to reunite the Empire under their own rule.
In the latter stages of the protracted warring nations conflict, Tamashek society would see a fundamental upheaval of its caste structure with the Ikelan Rebellion (1769) which was only the largest and most recent of a long series of escalating slave uprisings across the semi-nomadic society of the Tamashek. The Ikelan had by this point developed the combat art known as Broken Chain and were highly organized among their communities. Concurrently to this escalating uprisings by the Ikelan, Tamashek noble society had become decimated by the civil wars and battles against rival nations and tribes. The noble Imajaghan caste had historically held dominance and served as the main military body of their confederations, and so their decline resulted in a loss of cohesion across the caste system and facilitated the emancipation war of the Ikelan. The successful Ikelan Rebellion of 1769 established several independent Ikelan settled communities and states in central and eastern Charnea, while the ongoing upheaval in Tamashek confederations across the Zahra saw a general split into nomadic groups formed from the merging of Imajaghan (noble) and Imaghad (herder vassal) castes as well as a sedentary Tamashek group formed from Inadan (artisan) and Izeggaren (peasant) castes of society. Nomadic Tamashek now occupied the Zahra desert while the settled Tamashek and now independent Ikelan groups shared the north bank of the Obul and more broadly the non-desert lands of central and eastern Charnea.
Following the Ikelan Rebellion and independence movement, powerful blocs of various ethnicities had largely consolidated their local areas and reached a tentative peace through the stabilization of this new balance of power among Charnean successor and seceded states. The largest polities roughly aligned to what are now known as the Eight Nations of Charnea, these being the Amazigh Tamashek which are subdivided into the nomadic Imajaghan/Imaghad nation and the settled Inadan/Izeggaren nation, northwestern Tawilant speaking tribes, eastern Siwi speaking tribes (both of which are considered distinct from "true" Tamashek tribes), the newly established Tamashek speaking Ikelan nation, in addition to the largely settled sub-Zahran Beri, Yerwa, and Djerma ethnic groups. All eight of these nations largely practiced Kaharnism and could use Tamashek as a common language both in their attempts at diplomacy and in day to day life as neighboring communities. Eventually, as the standstill of the the warring nations period cooled down and mounting foreign pressure created unifying forces among the former Charnean states, armed conflict eventually gave way to common front anti-colonial struggles against Belisarian and Oxidental powers and a mood of general toleration between the rival states, although deep rooted enmities from this period and prior wars yet remain to this day. Nevertheless, the turn of the 19th century brought about a wave of unification movements in many Charnean successor states, which sought to set aside their differences and combine their forces to re-establish the Empire of Charnea, although this would later be altered simply to a multicultural pan-Charnean Confederation concept to include non-Tamashek peoples who did not wish to be once again subjugated by a Tamashek dominated Agnannet. Regardless, the advent of the unification movement which reached its peak in the 1810s is seen as the end of the warring nations period, as it would directly lead into the reunification of Charnea.
New Confederation period
The modern form of Charnea was established under the second confederation by a general congress of tribes in Agnannet, known as the Congress of Eight Nations, on the 25th of February, 1817. Many talks between the disparate tribal states in the north and petty Kingdoms in the south had occurred in the lead up to the Congress. This wave of unity had been spurred on by the rapidly increasing foreign interest in the region, and the threat of subjugation to foreign colonial powers, which the warring governments of Charnea hoped to stave of by working together, especially by combining their military commands with the intention of throwing out any colonial incursions into historically Charnean lands with overwhelming numbers. Although many of the nations attending the Congress spoke different language, held differing religious beliefs, and were generally distinct culturally as well as politically from one another, all of them held shared history as long occupied territories of the former Empire of Charnea, and had been deeply influenced by northern Tamashek culture as the longest held regions of the Empire. Particularly, most of the remaining states in the lands of Charnea were local successor states to the old Empire and had viewed reunification positively, despite repeated disagreements and conflicts with their fellow successor states. Although it required the settling of by now long held grudges and disputes as a prerequisite, reunification of the old imperial confederation of the Charnean Empire was generally viewed favorably. Eventually, a new system was drafted by which many of the Empire of Charnea era political systems would be restored while also placing new emphasis on a devolved confederal nature, declassifying this new Charnea from being termed an Empire, defaulting instead to the Confederal nomenclature.
The Covenant of Agnannet was later issued as an announcement of the resolutions agreed to within the 1817 Congress of Eight Nations, outlining the nature of the new Charnean confederation and affirming the will of each of the attending parties to assent to the terms laid out and join their forces with the new Charnean Confederation. In the absence of a formal constitution, the Covenant of Agnannet has served as an ad hoc constitution by later governments of the Confederation, particularly as a means to refer back to the original intentions and terms of the Founders, those leaders and delegates that through their participation and consent brought about the second confederation.
For many years following this new unification, the Charnean Confederation perused a degree of rapid modernization and adoption of new technology, particularly of a military nature, in an effort to further protect itself and its constituent members from foreign aggression and influence which had been the primary motivation of the reunification. The railroad and foreign drill and military organization were adopted during this early period, from 1817 to approximately 1860, a period known as the Rule of the Founders, although generally many of the Founders died or stepped down, their ruling style and objectives continued by their heirs and allies in their stead.
After 1860, Charnea had been armed with up to date foreign weapons and tactics, and its unification had successfully insulated it from most foreign incursion. Indeed, in 1866 the Charnean Confederation annexed the Urush region and the ex-colonial city of Koros in what modern historians have termed an ironic reversal of Charnea's anti-colonial founding sentiments, as many of the Urushar local peoples were not granted the same representative rights and self determination as had been enshrined in the Covenant of Agnannet for other groups residing in Charnea, even those outside the Eight Nations. Following this begins an era known as the Rule of the Land Masters, generally described as beginning in the 1860s and terminating around 1910, characterized as a period of expanding power of landlords and decline of the original founding states and parties of the Confederation, which found themselves increasingly at the mercy of landowners and private business forces. Many internal conflicts began to arise among the Charnean people, as the forces of the modern world exemplified by the new landlord class and the advancing mining industry clashed with local peoples and tribal groups. Many Charneans, finding themselves pushed out of ancestral lands, denied water or otherwise put down by these new powers over the land began to resort to insurgent resistance, banditry, and early forms of terrorism, as is the case with such well known figures as Lamine ag Sahra and Red Hands Rali.
Many of the trends of the Rule of Land Masters continued into the later eras of the early and middle 20th century, known both as the Gold Time and as the Rule of City Kings, which saw not only the boom of gold and nickel mining in Charnea, but also the beginning of the lucrative petroleum industry. The Charnean economy, previously dominated by agriculture, pastoralism and hand-crafts was in this era totally transformed into an industrial primary sector economy of mineral exploitation, triggering a wave of urbanization and modernization in the country. This brought widespread expansion of railroads and roadways across the country, advent of the telegraph and telephone, and electrification, sanitation, and other practices which accompanied the sudden growth of many Charnean cities. In addition to these technological and infrastructural improvements however, the Rule of City Kings also saw the birth of an entirely new form of social conflict between the new caste of industrial workers and the owners of businesses and the well connected upper class of this new Charnean society, seeing the birth of the Charnean labor movement, unionization of miners and numerous resulting labor conflicts between syndical groups, worker militias, private security and mercenary forces hired by private companies, and local and national police which were punctuated by political instability and the ongoing previous conflicts between the modernizing forces and the old traditional groups of Charnea which viewed both big business interests and the industrial workforce as threats to their own way of life.
The majority academic opinion contends that the Rule of City Kings ends in the 1960s with the death of Amenukal Mzagar and the rise of power of Amenukal Zaragan and his infamous Executor Baseel Madoun. Modernization and self reliance plans made at the tail end of Mzagar's reign, such as the New Dawn Plan, many of which where later adapted by Madoun's administration are generally taken to signify the final point of transition in Charnean history, delineating the point when Charnea could be considered to have fully entered the industrial world, although this is contested by scholars which point to the continued survival of traditional ways of life in Charnea despite the undeniable industrial expansion across much of the Confederation. The period following this end of traditional Charnean history is divided generally into the Madoun Era and the Lamine era, describing the period of Madoun's administration which survived two Amenukals, characterized by some nationalization and centralization measures largely in corrupt self service for the ruling faction and powerful political figures as well as the general turmoil brought about by the East Scipian Wars, followed by the aftermath of these conflicts, the Triple Coup, and the following Lamine regime which as ruled Charnea from the end of 2000 onwards.
Government and Politics
Charnea is a voluntary union of 44 sovereign and independent constituent states which have entered into a condition of perpetual confederacy under the terms of the 1817 Covenant of Agnannet, the treaty of unification which doubles as an ad hoc constitution governing the functions of the Confederation's central government which are delineated in the document as part of the treaty. The first Article of the Covenant enthroned the war leader of the Alliance to Restore Charnea, the Amenukal of the Kel Awakar, as the first Amenukal of Charnea and established the powers, restrictions and succession laws of this royal office that would be used to elect and enthrone every subsequent Amenukal. The third Article of the Covenant outlined the form of the Confederation's unicameral legislature representing the member states, known as the Great Convocation, which drafts and approves the laws of the Confederation and convenes in smaller committees and councils to govern specific aspects of general policy affecting multiple member states. Although legally complicated by later established laws, the retained sovereignty of the member states grants the implicit right of secession. Seceded states, or other external states, can reconfederate through voluntary assent to the terms of the Covenant of Agnannet and a vote of confirmation by the Great Convocation. Although no new states have been added to the Charnean Confederation, some current member states have seceded and later been reconfederated in this manner.
Historically the Confederation of Charnea held weal central authority and afforded constituent states almost total autonomy in all areas of government spare foreign policy and some aspects of military affairs. Similarly, laws passed by the Great Convocation or the orders of the Amenukal even in full compliance with the established rules of the government would need ratification or subsequent approval and implementation by each individual constituent state to take effect locally. However, the limitations imposed by the highly devolved powers of the early Confederation would often held back the government from functioning effectively, which in turn created political pressure to gradually curtail autonomy, centralize authority and generally adopt traits resembling those of a Federal state.
The seat of the central government is Agnannet which once served as the capital to the Empire of Charnea and is, along with joint military bases of more than one Inter-Charnean Army component force, make up the central territories of the central government. Extended territories of the central government are those small portions of territory which have been requested for use by an agency or subsidiary entity of the central government and which were subsequently granted by the constituent state to which the territory belongs. These extended territories, because they were not granted by the articles of the Covenant, may be revoked or overturned by the appropriate legal actions by the Great Convocation or an individual constituent state and so are typically referred to as leases rather than cessions.
Executive Authority
The executive power vested in the central government of Charnea is split between the monarchy, which is traditionally associated with the administration of the military and foreign affairs, and the civilian administration which deals with the daily operation of the government's agencies and subordinate entities. This split reflects the political traditions of the Tamashek culture which has had similar civil-military divisions in its government structure dating to the ancient past, in which the martial and civil government of the tribe was split along gender lines. The civil-military split was further reinforced during the Imperial era when Tamashek tribes and their Amenukal were largely concerned with military activity while being exempt from taxation and the repressive administration of the Imperial bureaucracy, and thus the Amenukal would establish a separate parallel government to oversee the settled communities of conquered peoples to be run by his civilian subordinates. In the Covenant of Agnannet this was used as a means to regulate the activities of the central civilian government without imposing further restrictions on the Amenukal's already relatively narrow purview which could render the martial utility of the royal office ineffective.
In keeping with traditional roots, the Amenukal of Charnea is the supreme commander of the Inter-Charnean Army (ICA) as well as paramilitary police forces and common militia forces found across the expanse of Charnea. While each constituent state in the Confederation retains its own native armed forces, these are all integrated into an overarching joint command in the form of the ICA, and it is the function of the Amenukal to lead this umbrella organization and maintain the general staff and command structure of these integrated upper echelons of the combined Charnean military apparatus. Coordination of the combined forces of the ICA is often difficult and is usually reserved only for times of war, although the Amenukal does coordinate with the militias of the ICA to a lesser extent for the purposes of maintaining readiness and conducting peacetime security operations. The Amenukal is also vested with powers to represent the Charnean Confederation as head of state and is therefore placed in charge of all executive functions pertaining to foreign policy, including deals on trade, immigration and extradition with foreign nations. Because the Confederation possesses an internal single market without customs or immigration checks between states, the Amenukal's dealings on foreign trade and immigration must be secondarily approved by the Great Convocation in order to take effect, as it would be unconstitutional for the Amenukal to unilaterally negotiate on matters concerning the states without their approval and consent to any deal agreed upon. International military or security cooperation is at the discretion of the Amenukal, although this right to unilaterally enter into military dealings with foreign nations is dampened by the restriction that any mobilization of Charnean military assets cannot be attained without the explicit approval and oversight of the specific state authorities to which those assets belong. In 2011, the Great Convocation passed a law further restricting this power, stating that the Amenukal may take no action of intervention or military cooperation that may carry the declaration of war on Charnea by a foreign nation as a foreseeable direct consequence.
The office of the Executor is created by the first Article of the Covenant as an addendum to the powers of the Amenukal. Originally little more than the chief of civil affairs for the Amenukal in keeping with the traditional civil-military split, the Executorial office has since expanded significantly in its role as Amenukals became less involved with the daily administration of the central government. The Executor is still by the Amenukal and approved by the Great Convocation, and in turn selects a cabinet of ministers referred to as the Circle of Viziers who must each be likewise approved by the Great Convocation. This established civilian government is then fully endowed with the powers of administration on a national confederacy-wide level in such matters as the construction and maintenance of inter-state infrastructure, the upkeep of the national healthcare and education systems, the collection of vital statistics, conduct of the census and the administration of the Confederation-wide national identification system, through which Charnean passports may be issued to its citizens. In practice, most of the Executor's functions require ongoing approval and dialogue with the Great Convocation or special committees thereof, making the Executor the de facto bridge between the Confederation legislature and the executive branch. One of the central powers the Executor holds, and one of the few independent from the interference of the Great Convocation, is the appointment of court officials for the Confederation's high court systems which may controlled exclusively by executive power as they belong specifically to the central government and so are outside the purview of any individual constituent state.
Deliberative Assemblies
There exist two deliberative bodies at level of the central government, these being the Great Convocation and the far more limited Agraw Imgharan. The duties and powers of the latter are relatively limited in scope and pertain largely to the traditional functions of ancient Tamashek confederation governments, elements of which were retained by the Confederation of Charnea. Foremost among the Agraw Imgharan's functions is to elect the Amenukal, which is done according to the Mandate of the Worthy and its dictates regarding eligibility of candidates and the bearing of deeds required by any prospective Amenukal. This same document covers the law of challenges which enables an Amenukal to be challenged by an eligible individual and be legally deposed in favor of the challenger, or to be simply dethroned through legal processes to initiate a temporary inter-regnum government and a new election process. Both of these duties, and the general laws of royal power and procedure are enforced by the Agraw Imgharan. The body itself is made up of the traditional Amghars of the principal Tamashek tribes which represent roughly half of the population of Charnea. Because of this, the candidates which are ultimately elected Amenukal are generally of Tamashek ethnicity and heritage. Despite the membership of the Agraw Imgharan consisting of respected elders and thus generally older citizens, Amenukals are generally middle aged when elected due in large part to the traditional role of the Amenukal as war leader for the Confederation and the belief that the elderly should not fight wars. The Agraw Imgharan currently counts 336 members each representing a single Tamashek clan or tribe, typically numbering only a small number of family groups. The Amghars typically do not adhere to any partisan bloc but do have been known to form broad alliances within the assembly based on inter-tribal affiliations and shared regionalism.
The Great Convocation is the foremost assembly of Charnea and holds wide ranging authority as the representative assembly of the sovereign constituent states as the unicameral legislature of the Confederation. Seats are allocated to each state based on population and new seats are created and assigned automatically through the administrative bodies of the Convocation. Electoral practices for the selection of deputies to fill these assigned seats are not governed by the Covenant of Agnannet and therefore many vary significantly from state to state, ranging from popular vote elections, elections followed by approval by the incumbent government, or simply selection of deputies within the internal apparatus of a particular state's ruling authorities. Despite this variation, the Covenant does explicitly state that all parties acknowledge the deputies of a state to be collectively representative of the will of that state's government and people, and may be recalled at any time using the same mechanisms of selection should they be found to no longer represent the wishes of the state they represent.
The powers of the Great Convocation are generally broad and wide reaching due to the nature of the perpetual confederacy which establishes the Charnean government. Chief among these powers is the appropriation of funding, as taxes cannot be levied by the central government except on its own limited territories and thus revenue from the constituent states must be volunteered by the local authorities or more commonly by their representatives in the Great Convocation. The Convocation also holds the power to declare war, sue for peace, approve any foreign treaty, or generally pass elgislation on any matter concearned more than one state. Historically, all votes required unanimous consensus to pass so that no member would feel unrepresented by the Confederation and invoke its right to seceed. This has largely been reduced as power has become more centralized to allow for resolutions through a supermajority of deputy votes, however the power to declare war remains one of the few types of resolution which still require total consensus to pass thus ensuring no member state should have its military forces called into a conflict it did not approve. The only vote which may pass through a simple majority is the resolution to sue for peace, which similarly guarantees that a minority of belligerent states cannot keep the country in a state of war against the will of a majority of beleaguered constituents desiring an armistice. The Great Convocation is also empowered to impose penalties on states that threaten their neighbors or otherwise aggress the general Confederation through their actions, although such measures are rarely taken outside of extreme circumstances as they threaten to provoke a secession of the affected state. Generally, the laws passed by the Great Convocation typically cover inter-state agreements and national affairs of the entire Confederation, and generally do not prescribe criminal codes or ordinances affecting the individual citizen as these areas of law are generally left to the constituent states.
Administrative Divisions
Law
Military
The Charnean military follows the devolved political structure of Charnea as a confederated military force made up of the specific armed forces of the constituent nations operating under a unified confederate command structure known as the Inter-Charnean Army or ICA. The ICA includes paramilitary and irregular forces operating under constituent armed forces. However, the Charnean military had previously deviated from this structure under the 1899 Armed Forces Reform which disarmed the constituent nations and centralized the Confederate military, a status quo that was effectively undone in the turmoil of the East Scipian Wars and formally repealed under the Lamine regime in 2002, which saw the restoration of a confederal mode of national defense. Component forces are typically trained and specialized by their respective nations to operate in their varied local environments, leading to a high degree of variation in equipment and tactics across the ICA, ranging from combined arms urban warfare doctrines utilized in the developed and densely populated southern regions to the highly irregular, mobility based insurgent warfare endemic to the Zahra desert commonly employed by militias of nomadic populations. The ICA is primarily a ground based organization, although it does feature a subordinate army air-force known as the ICAA (Inter-Charnean Army Airforce). Maritime operations conducted off of Charnea's small coastline are relatively insignificant and have few resources allocated to them which makes them strategically insignificant enough to lack a dedicated subordinate force, instead placing these light maritime duties in the charge of local constituent army units.
Geography and Climate
Economy
The Economy of Charnea is a strong primary sector economy, primarily exporting mineral resources and petroleum and importing most manufactured goods and a measured amount of agricultural products. Industrialization is a high priority for the current Lamine regime, and is planned to be carried out through Template:Wp:Import substitution industrialization specifically of manufactured or processed products based on resources exported by Charnea, for example the refining and manufacture of petroleum products such as kerosene, gasoline, and petroleum derived manufactured products such as plastics. Laminid economic plans of this nature are typically focused on industrial products wholly or mostly derived from materials already exploited by the Charnean mining and petroleum industries, and generally do not apply to goods that are either several levels of complexity removed from current Charnean manufacturing ambitions, or are manufactured using a majority of materials not readily available to the Charnean domestic market without importation of materials. The primary sector also features a rice-based agricultural sector, which has enabled Charnea to be largely self-sufficient on foodstuffs, with importations for the most part being limited to products that cannot grow in Charnea and are not basic staples. The Charnean economy currently depends on its exported mineral wealth, which is directed primarily to Oxidentale and trading partners such as Sante Reze, Yisrael, and Mutul, in addition to developed Belisarian and Ochrani markets. The Charnean currency, the Dinar, has suffered fluctuations historically but is relatively stable in the present day with inflation under control.
Energy
The energy sector is of particular concern to the Charnean confederation, as profits generated by the state owned petroleum and energy infrastructure firm COPEC nearly supersede taxation as the confederate government's source of income. Oil rich regions are located in the northwest and far east of Charnea, around the frontiers of the Zahra desert, and are exclusively exploited by COPEC since the 1979 Petroleum Nationalization Law. Refining and petrochemical manufacture were previously contracted out to foreign companies by COPEC or else simply done overseas after the exportation of crude oil from Charnean ports, although this has largely transitioned to domestic operations wholly owned and operated by COPEC under the Laminid industrialization plan. Additionally, electrical generation is run by the state corporation and is largely specialized in solar generation, replacing older coal and oil fired fossil fuel generation plants. Wind energy is secondarily perused, to a more limited extent. Unlike the petroleum industry, COPEC does not have a national monopoly on power generation although it does control a large portion of the market as the primary investor and developer of new energy infrastructure.
Transportation
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. 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.
Society
Demographics
| Population in Charnea | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Million | ||
| 1940 | 9.16 | ||
| 1990 | 22.32 | ||
| 2020 | 33.02 | ||
In 2020, Charnea's population was an estimated 33,023,983. Historically, the overwhelming majority of Charneans have been rural, however this figure has decreased in recent decades to an estimated 61% of Charneans now living in cities while 39% remain largely rural. According to the 2019 census, these figures amount to 19,999343 urban Charneans and 13,011,229 rural Charneans, including both agrarian and pastoralist communities. Over 75% of the population live in the south of Charnea, while less than 10% of Charneans live in the vast expanse of the Zahra desert which conversely occupies the majority of Charnea's territorial extent.
The rate of population growth and the accompanying age distribution of the general population has fluctuated significantly in the the past few decades, due in large part to the severe effects of the East Scipian Wars which decimated the male population of many ethnic groups across Charnea. Nevertheless, in 2020 a somewhat stable demographic distribution has been recorded at 29.8% under 14 years of age, 66.5% between 15 and 64 years of age, and a remaining 3.7% of Charneans being 65 and over. The Confederation as a whole has an estimated total sex ratio of 0.94 males to females.
Largest cities in Charnea
Largest cities or towns in Charnea
All-Charnea Statistics Bureau (ACSB) census for 2019 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Division | Pop. | Rank | Division | Pop. | ||||
 Koros  Agnannet |
1 | Koros | Koros | 2,429,473 | 11 | Kahina | Tanemiah | 539,544 |  Ganima  Kasbeka |
| 2 | Agnannet | Agnannet | 2,050,811 | 12 | Khelisa | Achra | 522,900 | ||
| 3 | Ganima | Ganima | 1,341,357 | 13 | Kabaouat | Kada | 521,227 | ||
| 4 | Kasbeka | Achra | 902,543 | 14 | Anan Madal | Anan Madal | 519,708 | ||
| 5 | Akuja | Ake | 881,297 | 15 | Sahr | Tamazad | 506,349 | ||
| 6 | Tagoua | Taiba | 770,546 | 16 | Kaouar | Ahadez | 499,981 | ||
| 7 | Ayukuta | Ake | 751,489 | 17 | Sinder | Tessawa | 492,372 | ||
| 8 | Imannet | Zila | 749,816 | 18 | Inannagari | Izna | 488,779 | ||
| 9 | Stesse | Obul Delta Territory | 600,556 | 19 | Amrra | Tademait | 464,168 | ||
| 10 | Idnan | Iriyaken | 559,982 | 20 | Zayara | Tabaraden | 460,002 | ||
Ethnic groups
Charnea's general population includes a wide variety of ethnic groups, the largest and most significant of which are counted among the Eight Nations. The historically significant Amazigh decended nomadic populations which inhabit the Zahra desert region account for 9.4% of the population, 3,102,993 people, in the 2019 census. Closely related to these nomads are Tamashek speaking Inadan/Izeggaren and Ikelan ethnic groups comprising a further 39.1% of the population, or some 12,907,133 people. According to the 2019 census, 21.7% (7,163,294 people) self identify as Djerma, 15.4% (5,083,628 people) identify as Yerwa, 11.8% (3,895,247 people) identify as Beri and a remaining 2.6% (858,277 people) are reported as being of a non Eight Nations ethnicity, such as Gharib or Template:Wb. Some sources have criticized the accuracy of the 2019 census, stating that many ethnic groups outside the Eight Nations were either counted as an Eight Nations ethnic group or not counted at all due to the census taking practices employed.
Languages
Tamashek is the lingua franca and by far the most spoken language in Charnea with an estimated 97% of all residents across the Confederation being able to communicate with the language. More than half of all Charneans speak Tamashek or the mutually intelligible regional variant Tamajeq as their mother tongue, as the language corresponds to three of the eight principal ethnic groups of Charnea. While over 21% of Charneans identify as ethnic Djerma, only 16.5% speak the Djerma language as their mother tongue. The same phenomenon is present although less pronounced among the Yerwa who make up 15.4% of the population while the Yerwa language is the mother tongue of 13.3% of Charneans. Experts believe this discrepancy to be the result of close relations and physical proximity between communities of these ethnities and those of native Tamashek speakers, which combined with universal Tamashek language education in all schools results in some Charneans learning Tamashek before the language of their own native communities. This phenomenon is not manifested among the Beri, almost all of whom speak the native tongue of Beriaa as their first language, appearing to confirm the theories about Djerma and Yerwa language speakers as Beriaa speaking communities are generally less intertwined with native Tamashek speakers, although Tamashek is still spoken as a second language in most cases.
Siwi and Tawilant language speakers, together making up a little over 5% of the Charnean population, generally nomadize the northwest and far east of Charnea respectively and are almost exclusively adherent to a pastoralist nomadic lifestyle which often isolates them from the other cultures of Charnea. Consequently, though they intermingle to some extent with Tamashek speaking nomads, they generally do not speak more than two languages unlike southern Charneans who typically speak between 2 and 5 languages and local dialects because of the high density of language distribution in the south. Urushar speakers are another significant outlier group among Charneans, as they belong to an ethnicity not recognized as one of the Eight Nations, and consequently their language does not figure into the recognized regional languages of Charnea. This status has placed the Urushar language outide of the normal local language protections the Confederation has in place affecting such things as education and public signage, which is exclusively in Tamashek in native Urushar speaking regions. It is noted that almost all of the respondants in the 2019 census who did not figure into one of the Eight Natinons were ethnic Urushars, corresponding closely with the recorded number of native Urushar language speakers in the same census. One of the statistically insignificant remainder groups of the Charnean language census are speakers of Charnean Gharib who primarily inhabit the state of East Charnea in the Confederation's far east, bordering Fahran.
Religion
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Education
Health
Gender equality
Culture
Cuisine
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, Tamashek cuisine is endemic to most regions of the confederation. Additionally, foreign influences primarily originating with other Amazigh peoples scuh as 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. Taguella bread, an unleavened flatbread normally cooked over charcoal, is a ubiquitous staple food across most of Charnea, while Eba is more popular in the south as a local staple. Tajine, Couscous and Besṭila are examples of foreign Amazigh dishes introduced to Charnea through cultural exchange that have since become popular with many local peoples, while Jollof rice can be taken as an example of a popular dish having an origin within the local cultures of southern and central Charnea.
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 Zahra 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.
Tea is highly popular across all differing Charnean cultures. 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 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.
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 Balche and Tequila introduced to Charnea through contact with the Mutul, have a niche market, with some contributions from locally produced distillations which generally consist of 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.
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 tagelmust, a head wrap originating with the Tamashek people of the Zahra 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 afer coverings. The Tamashek, as well as many other ethnic groups within Charnea, commonly wear various types of Djellaba robe or kaftan, such as the mbaub found in the south. Charneans who do not wear the tagelmust will sometimes use 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.