Gassasinia
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Kingdom of Ghasasinah المملكة الغساسنة | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Motto: إلى الأمام الغساسنة iilaa al'amam alghasasinat ("Forwards Gassasinia") | |
| Anthem: إلى الأمام الغساسنة iilaa al'amam alghasasinat ("Forwards Gassasinia") | |
| Capital | Jabiyah |
| Official languages | |
| Ethnic groups |
|
| Religion | Secular State
|
| Demonym(s) | Gassasinian |
| Government | Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy |
• King | Yousef II |
• Prime Minister | Ahmed al-Rashid |
• Deputy Prime Minister | Nadim Saqqaf |
• Speaker of Parliament | Salim Ghantous |
• President of the House of Peers | Elie Maalouf |
• Chief Justice | Elsa Karam |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| House of Peers | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Independence from Shadoveil | |
• Declared | 1st of March, 1949 |
• Insurgency in Western Gassasinia | 1972 |
• End of Insurgency | 25th December, 1975 |
• First free General Election, modern constitution | 2nd of May, 1979 |
| Area | |
• Total | 75,000 km2 (29,000 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• February 2019 estimate | 15,103,000 |
• January 2015 census | 14,729,181 |
• Density | 200/km2 (518.0/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | ~$844.4 billion |
• Per capita | $55,909 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | ~$740 billion |
• Per capita | $49,000 |
| Gini (2018) |  39medium |
| HDI (2018) |  0.925very high |
| Currency | Gassasinian Dollars (GSD) |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (Gassasinian Standard Time (GST) |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +962 |
| Internet TLD | .ga الغساسنة. |
Gassasinia, officially the Kingdom of Ghasasinah (Arabic Language: المملكة الغساسنة) is a Sovereign State in Midwestern Thrismari on the Marmor Sea, bordering Encessia to the south-west and Qazhshava to the north-west, with Sofrezia across the Sofrezian Canal to the east. Notable for its' hilly and mountainous north and fertile plains, Gassasinia is home to a mainly Arab population with a divserse variety of different native and immigrant ethnic groups, which have migrated both in ancient and modern history to Gassasinia, seeking safety from persecution and prosperity. Gassasinia is known for it's rich history, and it's religious, cultural and ethnic diversity, being manly made up of a mixture of Arab Christians and Muslims, with notable ethnic minorities of Mehranis, Jews, Lakkathans and Encessians, amongst others. Most Gassasinians are native speakers of Arabic, while English is widely spoken in the areas of media, business and education.
Gassasinian history pre-dates recorded history and stretches back almost seven millennium. Before the arrival of several successive waves of Arab tribes - notably the Ghassanids around the 3rd Century, Gassasinia was home to a wide variety of independent but culturally and linguistically similar kingdoms - mainly the Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arameans. Between the 3rd and 7th Century, these tribes were gradually assimilated by the Ghassanids, an Arab tribe who followed Christianity and migrated from pre-Islamic Gorabo to flee Religious persecution and seek more arable lands for permanent settlement. Between the mid 7th to mid 15th century, Gassasinia was conquered and became an emirate of Gorabo's caliphate. Although initially the Christian populace of Gassasinia was well respected and well-treated, tensions began between the Islamic converts and settlers, and the Christian dhimmi of the Gassasinian Emirate.
After the Gassasinian Revolt in the mid 15th Century, Gassasinia became home to a variety of feuding kingdoms and vassals following different forms of Christianity and Islam until Gassasinia was united as a protectorate of Shadoveil in 1875. Gassasinia finally gained independence in 1949 after the Treaty of al-Nasfan, fuelled by growing tensions between Gassasinia's merchant elite and the declining Shadoveillian empire over taxes. Between the 1950's and the mid 1970's Gassasinia enjoyed relative economic prosperity, but economic tensions due to stark income inequality would continue to boil until far-left paramilitaries attempted to spark an open revolution. Failing to gain the momentum they needed, these paramilitaries were quickly pushed into the mountains, where they continued to carry out their guerrilla war until 1975, when tensions between the Army and far-right pro-government paramilitaries exploded. With the indictment of prime minister Khoury along with several high-profile government officials, the Gassasinian Armed Forces deposed the government, finally bringing in a provisional government which lead the country towards a new constitution which would bring political freedom, stability and eventually prosperity.
Today Gassasinia is a developed country, with a parliamentary liberal democratic government under a constitutional monarchy. With a high-income services-based economy, Gassasinia has the highest GDP per capita in the Midwestern Thrismari, second only to the small oil-rich kingdom of Alzal. Despite it's small size, Gassasinia is considered a major hub of banking, commerce and technology in the region, with its' capital of Jabiyah being considered a major financial and tourist hub of the region. Gassasinia has a diverse economy based on - amongst other areas - IT, banking and chemical industries. Gassasinia is a founding member of the Midwestern Thrismari Cooperation Organisation, and has major economic ties to - amongst others - Gorabo and Mehrava.
Etymology
Most historians suggest that Gassasinia was named after the Ghassan region of Gorabo, from which the ancient Ghassanids are believed to have migrated. However, other historians have suggested that modern Gassasinia's name could have come from Mount Ghassan, the largest peak in the area. Mount Ghassan's etymology is known to predate the establishment of the Kingdom of Ghasasinah in ancient Gassasinia. Some have suggested that perhaps the Arab migration to Gassasinia could have stretched over several centuries before what is currently factually accepted as the arrival of Arabs in the region, and that these early settlers could have named Mount Ghassan after their homeland.
Historically - particularly during Islamic rule, Gassasinia was alternatively known as Ash-Shaam.
History
Ancient History
-Originally populated by a mix of Paganistic and Christian Arabs, ancient "Canaanites" and Jews
-Christian House of Maalouf migrated from the deserts of modern day Gorabo in the 3rd Century, conquered lands and converted the local Pagans and some of the local Jews.
-Conquered by Muslims in mid 7th Century, many converted due to Islam for benefits
-Rebelled, House of Maalouf retook power in late 15th Century
-Deep ties formed with Shadoveil in 19th Century, English becomes secondary language of Christian elite
-On and off wars with Muslims until 1880s, when it became a protectorate of Shadoveil
Protectorate of Shadoveil
-Enforced religious equality between Jews, Christiand and Muslims
-House of Maalouf client monarch of Shadoveil
-Earliest roots of prosperity
Independence
-Independence in 1949 under King Elias II
-Prosperity grows, and so does economic inequality
-On and off terrorist attacks until 1980s
-Prince Yousef becomes voice for change
Insurgency, Mass Civil Unrest
For quite some time before the 1970's, as Gassasinia's economy grew - and so did the divide between rich and poor. For decades, the muslim populace of Gassasinia had grown as the Gassasinian economy - driven by manufacturing and textiles exports - had grown, and this made much of the Christian populace - who had at one time dominated Gassasinia's demographics - very uncomfortable. However, despite religious divides - the main division in Gassasinia's civil unrest wasn't religion - in fact, many Christians and Jews were found within the ranks of the left-wing opposition. Furthermore, much of Gassasinia's Christian middle class were divided between support for more liberal ideals and support for the Christian right-wing, while much of the Christian working class supported left-wing groups.
In particular, the Gassasinian Worker's Labour Party - representing left-wing social democratic and democratic socialist interests - had grown substantially in support. From 1959 to 1972, the Labour Party had grown from a mere 150 members to almost a quarter of a million. Meanwhile, far-right and far-left paramilitaries illegally imported arms. Throughout the 1960's, Gassasinia saw frequent terrorism, rioting and assassinations committed by far-left anf far-right paramiliaties. It was an open secret that these paramilitaries were associated with the ruling Christian Democratic Party and the Royal Police
The Insurgency in Western Gassasinia broke out in 1972 after a far-right paramilitary associated with the Christian Democratic Party assassinated the leader of the Labour Party, leading to an open declaration of hostilities by far-left paramilitaries. Although the far-left paramilitaries effectively completely failed to achieve the mass mobilisation of the working class for the overthrow of the Gassasinian government they expected - many viewing the far-left and far-right paramilitaries as "just as bad as each-other", and a majority of opposition parties condemning extremist violence - preventing the conflict from escalating into all-out civil war, the ensuing conflict would still manage to claim the lives of as many as an estimated 2,500 deaths, with dozens of thousands injured by a combination of terrorist attacks, rioting and direct combat between far-left paramilitaries and pro-government forces.
they did manage to further wreak havoc upon Gassasinia's populace. Despite being well armed with firearms and explosives, far-left paramilitary groups were repelled from the urban areas of the country by the combined counterinsurgency efforts of the Gassasinian Armed Forces, and paramilitary counterterrorist units of the Royal Police Service. Within the first three months of the conflict kicking off, most far-left insurgent groups were brutally flushed out from the cities and into the Gassasinian mountains.
Despite the efforts of the Gassasinian Armed Forces and the Royal Police, and mounting casualties for the insurgents, security forces couldn't quite flush the insurgent forces out of the mountains due to the difficult terrain and local support from disadvantaged indigenous ethnic minorities and the lower classes who inhabited the mountains.
Furthermore, as counterinsurgency operations raged on, tensions grew between the Armed Forces and the Royal Police, along with their associated paramilitary organisations. The Armed Forces felt that the government unfairly favoured far-right paramilitaries associated with the Royal Police. Additionally, the Gassasinian Army drew it's lower ranks from a diverse variety of ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds - meaning that while many soldiers despised the far-left paramilitary groups they were fighting, many soldiers disliked the far-right paramilitaries just as much even though they were supposedly fighting on the same side.
First Fair Elections
Despite military operations successfully pushing military groups from the lower-class slums of major Gassasinian cities into the mountains, they waged a guerilla war which wore down the will of the Gassasinian elite. In mid 1975, Gassasinian citizens, working class and middle class, Christian and Muslim, came out into the streets of Jabiyah, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Khoury, and the removal from power of the Christian Democratic Party.
As usual, police forces and paramilitaries were deployed to the streets to brutally beat down and suppress the protests, with the military on standby in-case of an escalation. Before long, these protests exploded into some of the worst rioting Gassasinia had seen yet, during which hundreds were arrested, thousands were injured and twelve killed. Rioters trashed pro-Christian Democratic Party businesses, set several police stations on fire and occupied the Gassasinian parliament for a week, between being pushed out by police forces.
Two weeks into the rioting, King Elias II flew out to Bakyern for treatment on the 19th of November, leaving his son Prince Yousef II to his duties. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court found Prime Minister Khoury guilty of numerous counts terrorist activities, human rights abuses and abuse of power. A power struggle between the courts and the police ensued as police refused to carry out court orders.
On the 23rd of November, the 221 Regiment of the 1st Mechanised Infantry Division marched on the parliament and arrested the Prime Minister on orders of the Supreme Court. Subsequently, using his reserve powers, Prince Yousef II dissolved parliament and called up 50 Members of Parliament each from the Social Liberal and Progressive Party, the Unionist Labour Party and the Conservative Party were instituted into parliament, and a provisional government was formed with Liberal Prime Minister Fares Kassib at its' head.
The unelected Provisional Government ruled from 1975 to mid 1979, drafting a new constitution and laying the foundations for peace and democratic rule. About a month after the coup, the Lawdada Accords was signed which saw the discontinuation of paramilitary actions, with an agreement to disarm by 1989.
Modern Day
Culture
Gassasinian culture is reflective upon the wide variety of peoples and empires that have inhabited its' lands throughout history - ranging from the numerous pre-Arabic Canaanite tribes that lived there - including Hebrews, Phoenicians and Arameans, early Arab settlers and tribals, the Christian Al-Yaman tribe of Gorabo, the Islamic Caliphate of Gorabo and most recently - the Anglophone empires. Modern Gassasinian culture is derived from a wide variety of influences, both Arabic and foreign. Furthermore - especially amongst upper-class Christians, there is a notable trace of Anglophone influence owing to the historical affinity amongst the Gassasinian upper-classes for Christian civilisations in contrast with other Arab, Islamic civilisations. Despite religious differences in modern Gassasinian society, Gassasinians still have more in common than they have differences. Alongside influence from past civilisations and empires, Gassasinian culture also has hints of Mehrani influence owing to Mehrani settlement, past and present.
Society
Gassasinia is home to a society which is much more culturally liberal than other Arab countries such as Gorabo - especially in significant urban areas such as Jabiyah, Al-Nasfan and Lawdada. Notably, Gassasinian society has a surprisingly liberal view on many issues such as LGBT+ Rights and Women's Rights. Gassasinian law makes discrimination, and inflamatory or hateful speech directed against religions, ethnic groups, races, sexual orientations, genders and gender identities illegal, while upholding an expectation of equal treatment.
Gassasinia has been home to significant strife mainly amongst the lines of economic class in the past, which gave fuel to the 1972-1975 Insurgency in Western Gassasinia. While policies instituted during the 1980's have eased conditions for the working class and grown a sizeable middle class, there still remains significant issues with income inequality.
Clans are a significant aspect in Gassasinian society, and are generally passed down patrilineally - albeit in recent years in some cases kinship has been increasingly passed down through matrilineally. Loyalty to one's clan and family is very important in Gassasinian families, including the expectation of nepotism - to provide employment for one's family members - especially within upper-class Christian clans, although the government has worked to fight this expectation of nepotism, such traditions still remain one of Gassasinia's remaining obstacles to further social and economic progress. Furthermore, parenting in Gassasinia doesn't end when one reaches the legal age of majority but rather until one's children move out or get married.
While it was common to move out of one's home after turning 18 during the late 1980's through to the early 2000's, in recent years, Gassasinians have increasingly reverted to living with their parents well into their thirties, until they can secure home-ownership or marriage owing to increasing costs of buying a house.
Gassasinia has a five-day weekday, which runs from Saturday to Sunday, owing to Sunday's holy significance to Christians and Jews. Furthermore, on Friday, many schools and businesses either close early or give a 2 hour lunch break to allow for Muslims to attend prayer. As of current, Gassasinia has a 38 hour average work-week. In early 2020, the Ministry of Labour announced its' intention to reduce working hours to about 21 hours a week by the end of the 2020's.
Popular Media
Much of Gassasinian media is imported from other nations, particularly Thuadian nations and Gorabo. Although most imported media in Gassasinia is generally dubbed in English language with Modern Standard Arabic Subtitles, some media - particularly family movies and cartoons - are translated into Gassasinian Arabic, whereas Goraboese media is often dubbed in Goraboese Arabic with subtitles so as to account for any dialect differences.
Well-known - and well-hated - is the Media Ratings Board. The Media Ratings Board is responsible for age-rating and approving media - ranging from video games, to music, to movies. The Media Ratings Board is well-known for its' stringent regulations controlling inappropriate and offensive material. Ratings in Gassasinia include...
- Family - Generally family-appropriate for all ages, with bloodless and mild displays of violence at max.
- 15+ - Appropriate for teenagers, with mild displays of blood and violence, non-sexual displays of mild nudity, mild and vague references to drugs, non-abusive alcohol usage,
- 18+ - Media appropriate for adults with sexual themes, explicit display of drugs and drug-usage, extreme violence and blood, alcohol abuse and discrimination.
It is very easy for materials to be rated 18+. Movies which are 18+ are subject to certain controls - they cannot be screened on television except between 9 PM and 5:30 AM. Furthermore, they are subject to strongly enforced rigid age restrictions for purchase and display in cinemas. Certain exemptions for strictly educational purposes allow such media which may be rated for higher ages to be rated more liberally.
Copyright law in Gassasinia is strongly enforced - and media is no exception. Media piracy websites are quickly shut-down. An unusual exception is physical counterfeits of media sold in markets in poorer neighbourhoods - which seem to often be looked over by police patrols. Many lower-income Gassasinians rely on these physical counterfeits for entertainment, as often they cannot afford to pay for legitimate copies.
Gaming
Gaming in Gassasinia has been popular since the late 1980's, when arcades started to appear in Gassasinia and gaming became a popular hobby for middle-class children. Gassasinia is home to several notable development and publishing companies involved in the gaming industry, including ARCOM, Bariq Games and Liwa Software. Along with most common contemporary gaming genres, western role-playing games and strategy games have typically been popular, owing to the rise of computer gaming in the 1990's when computers became common in many households, and gaming became available to those who could not afford game consoles.
Gassasinia has a legally-binding well-enforced age-rating system which controls games and movies containing offensive and inappropriate material, such as drug usage and extreme violence. Gassasinia has in the past refused to certify certain games, but owing to the rise of digital distribution, censorship in media has lightened in recent years.
Television, Theatre and Film
The GRT was formed in 1968 as the public broadcasting service of Gassasinia, responsible for providing entertainment and news through television and radio, along with other media services. Funded mostly through television licenses, the GRT is notable for several famous television shows and movies, well-known across the Arab world and even translated into English. Furthermore, GRT is also well-known for its' news broadcasts, which generally present a rather truthful and reliable - albeit generally somewhat Liberal slanted - perspective of events and are broadcasted around the world in a variety of foreign languages.
Gassasinian cinema dates back to the 1920's, pioneered by the likes of Michel Awad, a businessman considered the father of Gassasinian cinema, who pursued directing movies out of personal interest and formed the first Gassasinian movie production company with his own personal income, well-known for his magnum opus, the 1941 movie Labourer, a movie examining the positives and negatives of life for Gassasinia's growing urban working class.
Music
Literature
Arts
Sports
Cuisine
Holidays
Public holidays in Gassasinia are generally a mixture of Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious events, along with secular holidays which acknowledge certain events within the nation's history. The most major Gassasinian secular holiday is National Day on the 9th of June, which celebrates the anniversary of the 1487 Christian Revolt which saw Gassasinia split off once more from the Gorabonese caliphate and become an independent Christian kingdom oncemore.
Politics
Gassasinia is a three-party constitutional parliamentary monarchy with universal suffrage, subject to the 1979 Constitution of the Kingdom of Gassasinia. Under the 1979 Constitution, the parliament is made up of two houses and an Advisory Council. The Lower house, the House of Representatives, which legislates on laws and votes to send them to the House of Peers, the upper house which finally criticises, votes on and amends legislation from the lower house before it is put into law, and is also responsible for scrutinising and criticising the government's policies and actions. The House of Representatives elected based on a proportional voting system by which each house is host to 150 seats.
Elections for the House of Representatives and local Councils are held every 4 years.
Along with the two Houses of Parliament, there is also the Advisory Council, which is made up of elected local council officials.
Members of the House of Peers are not elected. Instead, they are voted on by the Privy Council, which is mainly made up of prestigious politicians, experts and judges. Members of the House of Peers are required to relinquish their membership in any political parties, as Peers are supposed to be impartial to party bias. Most members of the House of Peers are prestigious politicians, technical experts, lawyers and judges. Peers are supposed to "Set aside all biases and prejudices in the name of impartially scrutinising the government and helping to secure the Liberal Democratic order of the nation." The House of Peers was formerly filled with nobles before parliament was suspended in 1979, only being reformed 4 years later in 1979.
The Prime Minister, who is the executive Head of Government and chooses the ministers who form the Cabinet, is generally chosen from the leader of the party with the most seats. If the largest party fails to gain a majority in Parliament, it will form a coalition with one or more parties. Generally the second largest party in this coalition government will be chosen as the Deputy Prime Minister, who is essentially the 2nd in line of succession.
There are three main parties in Gassasinia: the Liberal Party, the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. As of current Gassasinia is currently host to a coalition lead by the Liberal Party with Labour Party support after the 2019 election and the rise of the left-wing in Gassasinia in response to what is seen as an unfair wealth gap and disadvantages for the working class. Before 2019, Gassasinia had been considered by many to be a dominant-party system, with the Liberal Party having held power for most of Gassasinia's history between 2019 and 1979.
The government of Gassasinia is the Government of Gassasinia, which legally derives its' power from the constitution and the execution of the people's will through Parliament, rather than from the crown like in most constitutional monarchies.
| Party Colour | Party Name | MPs | Ideology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government | |||
| Social Liberal and Progressive Party (LIB) | 55 | Centre - centre right wing, liberalism and social progressivism | |
| Unionist Labour Party (LAB) | 45 | Centre-left - left wing, Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism | |
| Opposition | |||
| Conservative Party (CON) | 30 | Centre-right - right wing, Conservatism | |
| Independents (IND) | 20 | Varied | |
Cabinet
| Office Name | Head of Office Position Name | Head of Office | Political Party | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister's Office | Prime Minister Deputy Prime Minister |
Ahmed al-Rashid Nadim Saqqaf |
LIB LAB |
|
| Ministry of Labour | Minister for Labour | Rahar Khayyam Mohammed | LIB |
|
| Ministry of Finance and Economy | Minister for Finance and Economy | Marisa Abdul Rashid | LIB |
|
| Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) | Minister for Defence | George Aoun | LIB |
|
| Ministry for Health and Social Care (MHSC) | Minister for Health and Social Care | Hamida Naaji | LAB |
|
| Ministry of Culture and Media | Minister for Culture and Media | Rashad Bousaid | LAB |
|
| Ministry for the Interior | Minister for the Interior | Jamal al-Din Mus'ad Amjad | LIB |
|
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Minister for Foreign Affairs | Mikhail Ghosn | LIB |
|
| Ministry of Education and Youth Affairs | Minister for Education and Youth-Affairs | Elias Saad | LIB |
|
| Ministry of Justice (MoJ) | Minister for Justice | Nasser Karimi | LIB |
|
| Ministry of Transportation | Minister for Transportation | Tarik Arif | LAB |
|
| Ministry of Science and Technology | Minister for Science and Technology | Akmal Selim | LIB |
|
| Ministry for Energy, Environment and Water Management (MEEWM) | Minister for Energy, Environment and Water Management | Mikhail Chammas | LIB |
|
| Ministry for Information Technology, Communication and Information (MITCI) | Minister for Information Technology, Communication and Information | Basel Badour | LIB |
|
| Ministry for Agriculture | Minister for Agriculture | Adar Uki | LAB | |
| Ministry for Human Rights and Equality | Minister for Human Rights and Equality | Saba Bagherzadeh | LIB |
|
| Speaker of Parliament | Speaker | Aden Meir | IND |
Legal System and Courts
The Gassasinian legal system is a common law system based on [ENGLISH] law, made up of mainly two branches: criminal law and civil law. Each branch is subject to their own specific courts and procedures. Gassasinian law is based both on the legislation passed by Parliament, and case law derived from interpretations of the law from previous judges based on their reasoning and logic.
There are many levels of courts in Gassasinia, which are overseen by the Supreme Court of Gassasinia, the highest court of appeal in Gassasina, made up of prestigious judges who hear cases of constitutional importance, or cases which affect the general populace as a whole.
Magistrates and judges are not chosen by the Executive but rather by the Judiciary itself. Local magistrates are appointed by local Advisory Commissions who appoint Magistrates to be appointed by the Lord Justice of Gassasinia. This system, while criticised as elitist and undemocratic by some, is said to keep the courts of Gassasinia meritocratic, impartial and unbiased.
Administrative Divisions
[[File:|right|thumbnail|500px|A map of Gassasinia, labelled corresponding to the region table.]] Gassasinia is made up of six regions along with a metropolitan area which houses the capital of Jabiyah. Regions are divided by municipalities for villages, towns and cities which house a constituency for the Advisory Council, and a Municipality Council who can set certain local laws and standards - and even set local languages. Most authority for local government lies with local municipal government, while municipalities often form voluntary Communities with other municipalities to coordinate policies, infrastructure and education amongst municipalities.
- Metropolitan Area (Amanah)
- Region (Mintaqah)
- Community
- Municipality / City / Town / Village (Baladiyah)
- Neighbourhood / Quarter (Mahallah)
| Name | Population | Largest City | Numbering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jabiyah Metropolitan Region | 4,500,000 | Jabiyah City | 1 |
| Fyniqia Region | Al-Nasfan | 2 | |
| Lakhmiya Region | Lawdada | 3 | |
| Mount Ghassan Region | Bethlehem | 4 | |
| al-Saamira Region | al-Saamira | 5 | |
| Nazareth Region | Rmeileh | 6 | |
| Transaramia | Batroun | 7 | |
| Salihiya | Ushdud City | 8 | |
| Iliya | Iliya City | 9 |
Foreign Relations
Gassasinia is a member of the Midwestern Thrismari Co-operation Organization, an organisation of similarly cultured nations mainly speaking Arabic, who are involved in mutual defence, single-market free trade, and have abolished most travel restrictions between each other's countries. While being the smallest country in the Midwestern Thrismari Co-operation Organization, Gassasinia plays an important role in the pact, being the most technologically advanced and developed nation in the pact and being the source of both rivers.
Gassasinia is heavily involved in international peacekeeping. Recently, Gassasinia deployed the Gassasinian Defence Force to Ereska for peacekeeping and technical assistance.
Gassasinia has strong relations with Neferheim, and has upheld business ties, a free-trade agreement and foreign aid to the developing nation.
| State | Relations Status | Visa Requirement | International Agreements | First Relations | Ambassador | Relations Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mehrava
|
Positive | No | Free trade, visa-free travel | 1992 | Lukas Lahad | Mehrava has been a strong partner of Gassasinia since the 1990's, and both nations are a part of the Midwestern Thrismari Co-operation Organization. Gassasinia is home to a sizeable Mehrani minority, and many Mehranis at home work for Gassasinian companies, for whom Mehrava is a favourite for outsourcing, owing to its' mixture of lower labour costs and decent degree of industrialisation. Gassasinia also imports significant quantities of petroleum and natural gas from Mehrava. |
 Sofrezia
|
Positive | No | Free trade, visa-free travel | 1949 | Yusuf Francis | Sofrezia and Gassasinia have strong historical ties, both being traditionally dominantly Christian kingdoms formerly occupied by the Goraboese Caliphate, and both nations having minorities coming from either country. Gassasinia imports fossil fuels from and outsources work to Sofrezia. |
| Hadian Empire | Negative | Visa Refused | Economic Embargo | N/A | N/A | Gassasinia does not recognise the Hadian Empire and considers the Hadian Empire a threat to world peace due to its' fascistic governmental system and its' militarisation and colonisation of teh arctic. |
| Acriae | Negative | Visa Refused | Economic Embargo | N/A | N/A | Gassasinia does not recognise the Acriae and considers Acriae a threat to world peace due to its' fascistic governmental system, the country's militaristic hostility towards it's neighbours and attempst to spread fascism, and it's mass killing of Kistolian civilians. |
Human Rights
Gassasinia generally has a very strong track record with human rights, and is considered a Full Democracy. Gassasinia's judicial system is notable for being independent and impartial, and there are legal protections establishing the presumption of innocence. Furthermore, the Independent Commission on Human Rights is a government commission tasked with ensuring that government agencies act in line with international and national human rights laws, in particular those set out in the Gassasinian Constitution, the Equality Act of 2003, and the Human Rights Act of 2001. Furthermore, the Royal Gassasinian Civil Liberties Organisation is one of the largest political organisations in Gassasinia outside of the main three political parties, and hires hundreds of lawyers to pursue cases pertaining to human rights, along with raising awareness about one's legal rights and campaigning for the expansion and protection of human rights law.
Since 2003, Gassasinia has recognised same-sex civil partnerships. Furthermore, in 2013, Gassasinia's parliament voted 102-9-39 to legally acknowledge same-sex marriage, becoming the only country within the Midwestern Thrismari Co-operation Organization to recognise same-sex marriage. Under the equality Act of 2003, Conversion Therapy is strictly illegal. Under Gassasinian law, one can legally change their gender without necessarily having to undergo reassignment surgery before a Gender Recognition Panel made up of medical practitioners, psychologists and lawyers. Furthermore, anyone over the age of 18, or 16 with consent from the Gender Recognition Panel, can undergo sex reassignment surgery.
Gassasinia has strong legislation to protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of disability, race, gender, economic status, marital status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or religion, Furthermore, Gassasinia has strong laws in the areas of worker's rights and accommodation for those with disabilities. Much of this legislation was passed during the 1990's, before being finally succeeded by the Equality Act of 2003 which combined all this legislation into one act intended to modernise equality law, while labour laws were accumulated into the Worker's Rights Act of 1999. Gassasinia protects Freedom of Association under the 1979 Constitution.
While free-speech is protected under the 1979 Gassasinian Constitution, there are specific speech - in particular, inflamatory, threatening, offensive, pro-terrorist or hate speech - which are specifically not protected, and have been banned by the Unconstitutional Parties and Symbols Act of 1984 and the Threatening and Hateful Speech Act of 1979. Gassasinian inflamatory and hate speech laws have been subject to criticism. While rare, there have been high-profile cases where people have been prosecuted for making offensive jokes. Furthermore, there are accusations that despite attempts to ensure equal opportunities, those from a lower-class background and women are still subject to economic disadvantages. Several political ideologies in Gassasinia - notably, Ba'athism, Fascism, Leninism and Islamism - are not allowed within the Gassasinian political system. Those who publicly associate with such ideologies are disqualified from holding government office. Furthermore, symbols representing such ideologies, such as the Hammer and Sickle are illegal outside of "artistic, scientific, academic, educational and historical purposes" under the Unconstitutional Parties and Symbols Act of 1984.
Gassasinia is considered to be a surveillance state. Requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 1979 have revealed that the National Security Council, a co-operative service between National Police and Defence Agency, has maintained a system of mass surveillance, maintaining a centralised intelligence database and monitoring communications without warrant, an act considered a grave violation of the Right to Privacy by many. There is currently several lawsuits submitted against the Gassasinian government over the mass surveillance system. In recent years, the Constitutional Protection Department of the National Police has attracted rciticism for what is considered by many to be heavy handed enforcement of censorship laws against individuals considered to hold views contrary to liberal democratic and constitutional values.
Military
As of 2020, Gassasinia has an army of 80,000 active-duty soldiers with 45,000 reservists on stand-by who can be deployed as needed to fill demands. Equipped with 400 tanks and 528 infantry fighting vehicles, along with 282 combat aircraft, the Gassasinian Defence Force is well-equipped, well-trained and well-organised. Military spending in Gassasinia is at about 3.24% of the national GDP.
Since the 1980's, the Gassasinian Defence Force has been highly active in foreign deployments for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. A Quick Deployment Force is kept ready to be mobilised with Gassasinian Royal Air Force C-5 Galaxy and C-17 airlift planes to provide technical help, humanitarian aid and peacekeeping forces across the world.
Gun Laws
Gun laws in Gassasinia are regulated by the Firearms Act of 1981, which replaced the Controlled Arms Act of 1965, and legislates the production, carrying and ownership of firearms, ammunition, explosives and firearms parts.
Firearms ownership is based on a may-issue basis by which the National Firearms Regulatory Agency takes in requests for a firearms licence and reviews them, and often rejects licences requested by those who are considered to hold extremist political views. To acquire a firearms licence in Gassasinia, one must attend firearms training lessons and prove that they can properly keep the weapon stored safely and securely. In Gassasinia, there are three levels of licensing that one can acquire from the National Firearms Regulatory Agency.
- Level 1 "Sporting Arms" Licence: A Level 1 licence allows one to acquire simple hunting weapons such as bolt-action rifles, hunting shotguns and low-calibre semi-automatic rifles such as the .22LR Ruger 10-22.
- Level 2 "Tactical Arms" Licence: A Level 2 licence allows you to acquire semi-automatic handguns, revolvers, semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. These firearms must be locked and stored at a licenced shooting club maintained by at least a Level 3 Licence holder.
- Level 3 "Armourer" Licence: A Level 3 licence allows one to handle any variety of armaments held by an organisation for "historical, media or commercial purposes". Level 3 licences requires thorough vetting by the National Firearms Regulatory Agency, and requires one to work for an organisation which is certified to handle such arms, such as an armoury or museum. Businesses handling such arms are required to closely control and log the use of arms. Level 3 Licences only have to be renewed every ten years, but cost $25,000 to acquire. Generally, at least part of this expense is handled by the business for which one works.
The marketing of firearms is highly restricted. Marketing imagery and language is expected to be "practical and to the point", and should not be "inflammatory, violent, fantastical or heroic".
Level 1 and 2 licences cost $3,000 and $7,500 respectively, and must be renewed every two years. Furthermore, each firearm owned is taxed at $1,250 each per year and all purchases of munitions and arms are subject to a sales tax of 35%. All purchases of controlled munitions equipment must be logged on a database maintained by the National Firearms Regulatory Agency.
License holders convicted of criminal acts can be temporarily - or even permanently in some repeated or severe cases - have their arms licence seized and all munitions equipment seized by police.
Private Military Industry
Under Gassasinian law, private military companies are allowed to hold military hardware - including armoured vehicles and combat aircraft - given that they submit to restrictions by the Gassasinian government and are kept under cautious watch by the Ministry of Defence. Furthermore, Gassasinian mercenaries are allowed to fight in foreign wars for money - albeit they are not allowed to support factions committing heinous warcrimes, or terrorist groups. However, most Gassasinian private military industry is rather mundane - running armed security for ships, aircraft and other vulnerable assets.
The most notable Gassasinian private military company is the SPECRES Group. Formed by veterans of the Insurgency in Western Gassasinia, the company is notable for providing a wide variety of services ranging from experienced fighter pilots to mundane security consultancy.
Police
The Gassasinian National Police is the police force of Gassasinia. Formed in 1978 by the National Police Act, the National Police replaced the Royal Police, who were accused of supporting far-right paramilitaries and police brutality.
In spite of the abusive actions of its' predecessor, the Royal Police, today the Gassasinian National Police is recognised as one of the most professional and responsible police forces in the region, upheld by adherence to policing by consent principles, a strong and independent judiciary which seeks to fairly prosecute and investigate police abuses and training to ensure professionality in officers, along with the promotion of a professional and approachable public image. The National Police is also known for its' policy of not regularly arming its' constables since it was founded in 1978.
Civil Defence Force
The Gassasinian Civil Defence Force is the government agency responsible for firefighting, rescue and emergency medical response in Gassasinia. Additionally, they organise and co-ordinate ambulance response through the National Ambulance Service, a child-agency of the Civil Defence Force which facilitates co-operation between the Civil Defence Force and volunteer aid organisations such as the Red Cross.
Geography
Gassasinia's climate is mainly characterised by a Mediterranean-esque climate featuring long, moderately hot, dry summers and cold, rainy and snowy winters, with the mountainous arid Qaroun Desert in the north.
hereas much of Gassasinia's geography is hilly and mountainous, with a few plains in the lower portion of the country. To the south-east of the country are fertile plains, whereas the north and west is characterised by hilly and mountainous terrain. The highest peak in Gassasinia's northern mountainous region is Mount Ghassan, a snowy mountain which from which Gassasinia lends its' name, and measures in at about 3,100 kilometres above sea level. Gassasinia is famous for it's vast forests of Cedar trees, which are the national tree of Gassasinia.
Economy
Gassasinia's economy is a developed social market economy dominated by the services economy, featuring a highly competitive free market, a high rate of innovation, straight-forward and business friendly regulations, and a relatively low level of corruption. The main exports and industries of Gassasinia include electronics, computer software and hardware, pharmaceuticals, phosphates and refined metals. Before the 1970's, Gassasinia was considered an emerging economy and many predicted that Jabiyah would become a major business centre by the 1980's. However, this was partially disrupted by the outbreak of the Insurgency in Western Gassasinia in 1972. Regardless, after the end of the Insurgency in 1975, the country quickly got back onto the road of recovery, and since the 2000's, Gassasinia has become a major trade and economic centre within the region.
Although located in the [MIDDLE EAST], Gassasinia was thought to be mostly devoid of significant natural resources other than phosphates. As such, Gassasinia was forced to work hard to build up a diverse, industrialised economy with a well-educated population. Although Christian populace of Gassasinia is better off economically than the Muslim populace, it is generally agreed that in the past and even after the liberalisation period of the late 1970's, Gassasinia was at least partially built upon the backs of cheap labour from the lower class, composed disproportionately of immigrants and Muslims. Most economists put the transition from an emergent developing economy to a developed economy around the late 1980's to the early 1990's.
As of 2020, Gassasinia has an unemployment rate of 4%. Although generally considered a high-income country, Gassasinia has a history of stark economic inequality, and despite the measures instituted in the 1980's meant to even the disadvantage between the poor and privileged, even today Gassasinia suffers from income inequality.
Gassasinia has strong trade relations with Bakyern, Mehrava and New Sebronia, amongst other developed nations. Gassasinia is home to a wide variety of modern high-tech industries including: Computer hardware and software, electronics, fruits and vegetables, communications equipment, optical equipment, ship-building, precision and scientific equipment, tourism, medical equipment and technology, refined materials, phosphates, metallurgy, plastics, textiles and chemical production. On the other hand, Gassasinia's main imports are fossil fuels - particularly diesel and petroleum, along with natural gas, raw metal ores, motor vehicles, foodstuffs, meat, miscellaneous raw materials and consumer goods.
Gassasinia is home to a moderate variety of major international and regional businesses including Zhayed Heavy Industries, Hacohen Microsystems, Al-Haddad Business Computers, George and Sons Textiles, MEDTEK Health Solutions, SARACEN Industries, Bariq Communications, SuperSouq Supermarkets, BlueCross Pharmaceuticals, amongst others.
Gassasinia is a trade partner of Gorabo and Mehrava, who both have strong economic ties with eachother and Gassasinia and form the single market of the Midwestern Thrismari Co-operation Organization. Mehrava is an important business partner of Gassasinia, giving Gassasinian companies a large cheap labour and industrial base, while Gorabo is important for its' role in providing for Gassasinia's energy and commercial needs.
In recent years, Gassasinia has started to focus on building its' relations with the small nation of Sofrezia, which lies across the Sofrezi Channel from Gassasinia.
With the recent election of the Labour Party to a coalition with the Liberal Party, the Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to build a National Co-Operative Business Fund to provide government investment into worker-run co-operatives.
Until around the mid 1990's, Gassasinia was a wide-scale manufacturer. However, nowadays, much of manufacturing by Gassasinian companies has been outsourced to cheaper countries as Gassasinia became a higher income country, inflating costs of labour. Nowadays, most Gassasinian manufacturing is outsourced to Mehrava and Neferheim where labour costs are much lower.
The currency of Gassasinia is the Gassasinian Dollars ($GSD), with a value of about $1 GSD to $0.20 ACU.
Taxation and Welfare
Gassasinia's taxation and welfare system is based mainly upon economically liberal values, which aim to provide a social safety-net for the poorest of families while also encouraging self improvement, economic development and minimising unnecessary bureaucratic processes.
This unique system of liberal social welfare and taxation is based on the ideas promoted by key liberal economists throughout the 1950's and 1960's, including the Liberal Economic Forum, a Gassasinian think-tank that emerged in the 1920's amongst economists in Jabiyah. Throughout the 1980's, the Liberal Economic Forum heavily influenced the Liberal government's reforms of Gassasinia's complicated, inefficient and often corrupt taxation and welfare policies, which are argued to have propelled Gassasinia's rapid development during the 1980's.
Mandatory Provident Fund Board
Each Gassasinian citizen and permanent resident has a Mandatory Provident Fund Account which is managed by the Mandatory Provident Fund Board. This system is intended to reduce the spending impact of state welfare while encouraging saving, long-term planning and ensuring a social safety net. This mandatory saving account is restricted in what purposes money can be withdrawn for, and is paid by a 20% contribution paid both by an employee and their employer.
The Mandatory Provident Fund Account is made up of three funds, which can be used to pay for specified important expenses:
- Ordinary Fund - The Ordinary Fund is intended to be spent on housing, investment, insurance and education.
- Retirement Fund - The Retirement Fund is drawn upon once someone reaches the age of at least 62, and can be used to pay for investments and insurances relating to retirement.
- Healthcare Fund - The Healthcare Fund is drawn upon to pay for medical expenses, including insurance.
After one retires, one's Ordinary Fund and Retirement Fund are merged into a Post-Retirement Fund.
Along with each fund's intended purposes, money can also be fully or partially withdrawn if:
- The account holder is moving to a foreign country.
- The account holder renounces their own citizenship or residency.
- The account holder dies.
- The account holder is certified as temporarily or permanently unfit for work.
Provident Fund Supplement Scheme
Although generally effective, the Provident Fund Board System has been criticised for being ineffective at protecting the lower percentage of income-earners from financial trouble and poverty, due to the fact that it relies on the income one already gets. In response, the Provident Fund Supplement Scheme was established in 2000 under a Labour Party government, which sees the government make supplementary payments into the Provident Fund Accounts of lower-income Gassasinians. The money paid into this account is equal to 10% of the difference between their income and their calculated National Income tax Living Wage Baseline.
Negative Income Tax
Gassasinia's welfare system is mainly a system of Universal Basic Income based on the Negative Income Tax model by which those who earn under a certain calculated basic living wage receive a stipend instead of being taxed. This system is one of the first Universal Basic Income systems in the world, and was implemented by the Provisional Government under the Household Welfare and Taxation Act 1976. This system does not require one to be employed or seeking employment to receive their subsidy.
This system is intended to reduce excessive bureaucratic processes while granting more freedom and responsibility to low-income earners.
The average National Income tax Living Wage Baseline - the baseline calculated for an individual which decides the boundary between negative and positive tax is estimated at about $200,000 (or $40,000 ACU).
Land Value Tax
A significant source of tax for Gassasinia's government is Land Value Tax, which is a property tax based on the unimproved value of land, rather than the improved value of land which includes infrastructure and buildings. This tax system is intended to incentivize development of land by costing those who sit on undeveloped plots of lands.
The responsibility for evaluation of land value lies with the Land Valuation Board. In some municipalities, land is mostly state-owned and rented out to private entities on long-term contracts. Land Value Tax and the Land Valuation Board were introduced in 1981 through the Land Valuation and Taxation Act 1981.
Other Taxes
Gassasinia has a corporate tax rate of 18%. Critics argue that this corporate tax rate is not enough to ensure sufficient welfare to all, and that the corporate tax rate should be raised to accommodate for the income inequality in Gassasinia. New businesses started by those earning less than $500,000 a year are subject to a five-year 50% corporate tax exemption.
Income tax in Gassasinia is progressive, and ranges from 0% to 22%.
Carbon Pricing
National Health Insurance Board
Gassasinia has a public health insurance system called the National Health Insurance Board which is provided at little to no cost to children, the elderly, those with disabilities and severe health issues.
The National Health Insurance Board was formed by the Health Insurance Act 1977. This act reformed health insurance with the aim of making healthcare coverage affordable and accessable to the average citizen. Furthermore, it stablished the National Health Insurance Board to cover vulnerable individuals for whom health insurance might prove difficult to acquire.
Housing Grants Board
Communal Mutual Aid Groups
Another aspect of Gassasinian welfare is Communal Self-Help Groups, local government-guided organisations organised along municipal lines. These communal groups are funded by a token $10 payment from one's State Provident Fund Account, along with charitable donations and membership fees. These aid societies are lead by locally elected councils, who decide on a more localised level on how to allocate welfare and social services, and also serve to provide free or affordable financial and legal advice for their constituents.
The first such organisation was formed in 1972, and quickly gained recognition and support. The Community Mutual Aid Group Act 1984 established such groups in every municipality in the country with government support. By default, all citizens are a member of these groups.
While generally effective in smaller municipalities, such groups are often criticised in larger municipalities for being too large and thus less capable of their goal of efficiently allocating welfare and social support.
Companies
| Company | Headquarters | Serves | CEO | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gassasinia,  Gorabo, Sofrezia,  Qazhshava
|
Science and Technology
Tourism
Transport
The largest airport in Gassasinia is Jabiyah International Airport, located about 20 miles south of the city centre of Jabiyah, is responsible for handling international flights in and out of Gassasinia. Furthermore, Lawdada Airport and al-Saamira Regional Airport are important airports within Gassasinia, providing internal air-flight services, and running services to near-by countries - notably Sofrezia, Mehrava and Neferheim.
Energy
Gassasinian energy companies are mainly private companies who are regulated by the Energy Regulatory Commission. Most of Gassasinia's energy is generated in gas and petrol plants, and as such Gassasinia is partially reliant on Gorabo for fossil fuels imports, with further imports of crude oil and natural gas coming from Mehrava and Sofrezia, which is then locally refined into petroleum.
In early 2020, the Gassasinian government set out the Renewable Energy Plan for 2045, an ambitious plan meant to bring Gassasinian energy production to 100% renewable and nuclear sources within 25 years.
Gassasinia's first nuclear power plant started construction in 1971. However, due to civil unrest and the Insurgency, it was only finished in 1985. Gassasinia's nuclear program is completely peaceful, albeit estimates suggest that - if needed - Gassasinia could produce nuclear arms within about a year.
Healthcare
Healthcare in Gassasinia is a mix of private and public universal health insurance, which is paid in a ratio of 50:50 by the private individual and their employer. By law, all Gassasinian citizens and residents are required to have health insurance which covers all healthcare costs. Most citizens of Gassasinia have private health insurance provided by a non-profit corporation. Alternatively, children, individuals in state care, elderly over 65 and those with pre-existing serious health conditions are provided for by the National Health Insurance Department with costs being scaled based on calculations of one's disposable income after taxes, bills and costs of living.
Private for-profit health-insurance is generally only paid for by some middle-class citizens, along with most upper-class citizens. Private for-profit health insurance generally tends to get one seen quicker for less-urgent treatments and check-ups as private for-profit health insurance pays out much more, and often allows greater access to private clinics who often have a top-tier standard of care and shorter waiting lists.
About three quarters of hospitals and GP Practice clinics are run by non-profit corporations, whereas one in five are state-run by the Ministry of Health, often in poorer areas. On the other hand, about five percent of clinics and hospitals are privately-owned for-profit businesses. However, most of them are for non-emergency medical services as for-profit private ownership of hospitals is highly restricted.
The most common non-profit health insurance providers in Gassasinia are the Gassasinian Red Cross Health Insurance Initiative, Green Shield and the Gassasinian Health Coverage Society. On the other hand, the most common for-profit health insurance providers are Fupa Health Insurance, Gassasinian Insurance Services and TopStandard Health Services.
Ambulances, similar to hospitals, are run by the National Ambulance Service, which is a child agency of the Gassasinian Civil Defence Force which co-ordinates and sets standards for GCDF ambulances, along with ambulances run by non-profit health services. About three quarters of ambulances are operated by the Gassasinian Civil Defence Force, whereas the other quarter are operated by public organisations.
Medical Licensing in Gassasinia is generally rather relaxed. Compared to other countries, nurses can carry out certain basic medical care without the need for a doctor to be present.
Education
Even since the early 20th century, Gassasinia has had a relatively well-educated population. Between the 1900's and the 1970's, most education came from mainly Christian religious schools. This affinity for education in Gassasinia has carried on into the modern day, where Gassasinia has one of the highest rates of tertiary education in the world. Notably, Gassasinia pioneered computer literacy education during the 1980's and 1990's, as the Liberal Minister for Education Charles Kader recognised early-on the importance of Information Technology in the transforming technological world of the 1980's, which gave the kickstart that Gassasinia needed to pioneer the digital age.
Gassasinia's current education system dates back to the Educational Reform Act of 1977, which introduced standards for a standardised secular curriculum, with an education system based on helping students to succeed, and giving students a wide variety of methods to get to the correct answer without over-stressing them.
There are five levels of Gassasinian education: Primary, High School, College and University. Gassasinian children generally enter Primary School aged 5 in Year 1, and then leave for High School Year 7. Starting in Year 9, Gassasinian students start studying for the Standard National Educational Ordinary Levels, or O-Levels, which are a collection of mandatory and elective topics, and generally take their final exams in Year 11.
Upon graduating high school in Year 11, Gassasinian students will enter College, where they have the option of studying a range of courses specifically focused on between one to three subjects intended to prepare them for further study in university.
Gassasinian education is made up of five levels:
- Primary Education (5-11, Year 1 - Year 6)
- Middle Education (11-14, Year 7 - Year 8)
- Secondary Education (14-16, Year 9 - Year 11)
- Further Education (16-18, Year 12 - Year 13)
- Higher Education (18+)
Types of Gassasinian education facilities include...
- Universities - "University" generally refers to larger facilities which are dedicated specifically to Higher Education and research, but can occasionally offer further education. Universities tend to be private organisations (albeit some may be run by the local municipality) and are generally more prestigious, attracting students from across the country and even across the world.
- International Schools - International schools are generally private schools, which offer their education primarily in English, rather than in Arabic.
- State Schools - State schools are publicly-funded secular schools which are run by the local municipal government.
- Religious Schools - Religious schools are privately-owned schools which are run by religious organisations. Although religious schools are allowed to teach their religion, they have certain restrictions in that they cannot teach values which are "contradictory to tolerant and democratic principles". Furthermore, they are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of family and student religion, meaning that they cannot force their students to take part in religious activities or reject students on the basis of differing religion.
- College - "Colleges" are educational facilities often (but not always) run by the local municipal government, generally providing both Further and Higher education. Unlike universities, colleges are generally intended for a more localised area, and generally lack the prestige of large universities. "College" and "University" are often used interchangeably, in that some universities may call themselves a "college", but you will generally not see a college refer to itself as a "university" except when specifying their further education courses.
English and Arabic language education is mandatory for all students in Gassasinia from primary school all the way up to university. As such, a majority of Gassasinia's populace is fluent in English, and are often exposed to English through media before they have even reached primary school.
Gassasinia is renown for its' universities, especially in the areas of IT and chemistry. The Royal Jabiyah Technical Institute is considered one of the best universities to study IT and engineering topics at, while the Royal University of Jabiyah has educated some of the region's most successful scientists and doctors.
Other well-known Gassasinian educational institutes include the Saint Ignatius University, Jabiyah Metropolitan University, al-Saamira University, Al-Nasfan School of Economics and Business and the University of Western Jabiyah.
Finance
Demographics
The majority of Gassasinia's populace identify themselves ethnically as Arabs, but not all Arabs in Gassasinia come from the same point of origin, nor are all Arabs in Gassasinia really descended purely from Arabs. Gassasinia's native peoples are known to have likely been a mixture of early indigenous Arabs, Canaanites, Arameans, and Jews, who practised a mixture of Christianity, Judaism and paganism. However, these native peoples were conquered in the 6th Century by early Christian Arabs who had migrated from the deserts in the north in search of more fertile land and escaping from religious prosecution at the hands of local pagans.
Between the 6th Century and the 18th Century, the Canaanite natives of Gassasinia were assimilated into the Christian Arab populace, whereas the others generally assimilated into the Islamic Arab populace during Muslim rule in response to past forced assimilation on the part of the Christian Arabs. On the other hand, the Jewish presence in Gassasinia never really died out and has persevered into the 21st century thanks to their distinctive strong ethno-religious identity, which saw them retreat into the mountainous north as they fled Christian persecution.
As of 2020, it is estimated that Gassasinia has a population of about 15 million. Furthermore, Gassasinia has a moderate population density of 200 people per kilometre squared, much of which is centred around the urban regions in coastal areas and on the shores of Lake Ghassan.
Gassasinia is home to major populations of immigrant and naturalised Gorabonese, Sofrezians and Mehranis. In particular, Mehrani Arabs tend to migrate to Gassasinia due to the cultural similarities, along with the economic reasons of most other immigrants.
Religion
- Christianity 46%
- Islam 45%
- Irreligion 6%
- Judaism 3%
Other minor religious minorities in Gassasinia include Druzes and Ibadi Muslims.
Since the turn of the millenia, irreligion in Gassasinia has grown significantly, particularly amongst younger generations. As such, there is no longer any majority religious group in Gassasinia.
Gassasinia's official church before 1979 was the Church of Gassasinia. Under the 1979 Constitution, Gassasinia is a secular state, whose laws are based in secular values.
Freedom of Religion is a guaranteed right within Gassasinia. Furthermore, hate speech and discrimination legislation which have most recently culminated in the Equality Act of 2003 forbid discrimination based on religion in areas including but not limited to employment, education, government position, pay and provision of both public and private services, while also making inflammatory and hate speech against religious beliefs a summary, misdemeanour, or - if serious enough - even felony offence.
Ethnicity
Most of Gassasinia's populace identifies themselves as Arabs. However, this is not reflective upon the wide and varied background of Gassasinia's populace. While indeed, most Gassasinians are predominantly Arab, many Gassasinians also have strong Canaanite, Jewish, Mehrani and Sofrezi ancestry. Some argue that Gassasinians are not ethnically Arab and rather that this is a more cultural label.
Since the nineties, more than a million Mehranis have migrated to Gassasinia, some for temporary work and others for permanent residency. Mehranis in Gassasinia compromise the largest foreign-born population in Gassasinia, and are predominantly found within the major cities of Gassasinia, especially the metropolitan area of Jabiyah.
Although not considered a separate ethnic group, Bedouins are a distinct group within Gassasinian society. Most of Gassasinia's approximately four hundred and fifty thousand Bedouin citizens live a semi-nomadic lifestyle, living a nomadic lifestyle during part of the year, and returning home for work - often agricultural work. However, a small portion of bedouins in Gassasinia still live a completely nomadic herding lifestyle. Similarly, Gassasinia is home to a small minority of about 50,000 gypsies, most of whom . Although the Gassasinian government has started to work towards supporting
Language
The official languages of Gassasinia are English and Arabic.
The main language of day-to-day life in Gassasinia is the Gassasinian Dialect of Arabic, which is considered a mixture of Gorabonese varieties of Arabic, with influences from local varieties of Arabic and other languages, including English, Hebrew, Sofrezi and Aramean. Due to Gassasinia's largely billingual - even trillingual - population, code-switching between Arabic, English and other languages is not uncommon.
A vast majority of Gassasinian Jews are Musta'arabi Jews, who speak a dialect of Judeo-Gassasinian Arabic which is generally completely mutually intelligible with Gassasininan Arabic but sometimes written using Hebrew script and has a stronger influence from Hebrew language. A small amount of towns and villages in Gassasinia recognise Ladino, which was a popular language amongst Jews who came to Gassasinia in the late 15th Century after they were exiled from Thuadia.
Syriac Language and Hebrew Language are often spoken by some Christian denominations, and Jews respectively, but mainly only for religious circumstances.
The second most common language in Gassasinia is Mehrani, which is spoken mostly by Mehrani immigrant communities. Many first generation Gassasinian-Mehranis have at least a basic understanding of Arabic or English, and most second and third generation Gassasinian-Mehranis use Arabic as their main language.
English is the third national language of Gassasinia, and all services are required to be rendered in English. Approximately 85% of Gassasinia's population speaks English as an additional language, as English has been required to conduct trade internationally and communicate with tourists. Furthermore, English used to be considered the secondary language of the Christian upper-class before the 1980's.
Recognised minority and local languages of Gassasinia include:
- Mehrani
- Qazhshavan
- Sofrezi
- Kurdish
- Judeo-Arabic
- Lakkathan
- Encessi
- Aramaic Language
- Ladino
- Syriac Language
- Modern Hebrew
Gassasinian Arabic
Judeo-Gassasinian
Gassasinian Standard English
Gassasinian Standard English is the standard dialect of English that is taught in Gassasinia. The Gassasinian Standard English standard was created in 1988 by the Ministry of Education to guide teaching of English towards proper spelling, grammar and pronunciation.
On paper, Gassasinian Standard English is based predominantly on traditional spelling, pronunciation and grammar, in practise the English spoke by most Gassasinians has a wide range of influences due to popular media influences.
It is not uncommon for Gassasinians to code-switch between English and Arabic. Although Arabic is the day-to-day language of life in Gassasinia, English is considered the secondary language of education, pop culture and business, and also serves of the primary language of international business and finance, and tourism. English-language in Gassasinia tends to have a prestigious and cosmopolitan connotation, and is often used in marketing of luxury goods.