Mlango Bahari

Republic of Mlango Bahari Mlango Bahari
Flag
Internal map of Mlango Bahari
Capital and largest city	Mlinzi
Official languages	Ugallan
Recognised national languages	Ugallan
Recognised regional languages	Yinya, Kuonan, Laurenian, Mbar, Urset
Ethnic groups	Ugallan, Yinya, Kuonan
Demonym(s)	Bahari
Government	Republic
• Chancellor	Yahya Kigwangalla
Legislature	National Congress
Area
•	1,233,361,350 km2 (476,203,480 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	86.107 million
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	998,700,000,000
• Per capita	11,578
HDI	0.674 medium

Mlangao Bahari is a republic, though far from perfect democracy. It's capital is located on the densly populated Ugalla Peninsula, in Bahari Manhale. The republic's center of power lies primarily in northern Manhale and the coast of Kuu Rukwa just across the D'ada Strait. The republic maintains a much more tenuous grip over its periphery provinces in the D'tombe wetlands and the industrial eastern coast of Kuu Rukwa. The republic's frontiers on the northern coast of Kuu Rukwa and the island's interior are not well controlled and are very autonomous. Within the Bahari core, however, the republic is powerful and well centralized.

The legislature is unicameral, the only house being the National Congress, and features many different political parties, but is dominated by the Utajiri Union Party. The Union party is a powerful coaltion of worker's unions and Bahari capitalists running on a platform of economic growth, industry worker solidarity, and national stability. The party originally formed as a result of dealings between wealthy capitalists and the nation's powerful worker unions after a period of national instability, poor worker safety, and economic stagnation. Congress members are elected based on proportional voting once every 5 years. The executive branch of the republic is strongly empowered with the tools to maintain stability and order throughout the country. The Chancellor of the republic has at their disposal a combination of an extensive survellence state and a highly centralized police force that is built primarily with inward stability in mind. Social media is monitored and local media is regularly censored against 'misinformation' and 'moral depravitudes'. The Chancellor is appointed by the leading parties once government is formed after an election.

The republic's judicial system is fairly independant and is often used to investigate the corruption of politians and officials disgraced by the political establishment. The courts know, however, that they do not have the power to persecute the political establishment directly. Court officials are appointed directly by local officals but many are regularly shuffled from province to province. The location of their next assignment is decided by the central government, and the republic uses this as a means of maintaining loyalty to the government in Mlinzi rather than local officials. This does have the positive effect of making it easier for the court to persecute local officials.

The Utajiri Union Party, however, has lately been under pressure from a rising opposition behind the Uhuru Party, a socially liberal pro-democracy movement critical of corruption and censorship by the Union Party. Uhurists have built a broad coalition of non-metal-workers, general consumers, and the poorest working class. The future of this political movement is yet to be seen. Could it bring liberalization and a reintroduction of personal rights to Mlango Bahari, or will its oposition frighten Unionists into stricter measures?

History

The Mlango have been traders for a long time. The ancient Kingdom of Ugalla served as a center of trade between the northern continent, and peoples and resources further inland, through the D’ada strait. The country grew from food supplied by plains of Mahale, and soon the Ugallan people expanded east down the Mahale coast of the D’ada strait, and across it onto southern Kuu Rukwa. There they conquered the coastlines, and expelled the indigenous Southern Rukwans further into the interior. As time continued, Ugallan colonization expanded east to the D’tombe wetlands and the Binamu coastlines of Kuu Rukwa. The indigenous people of Southern and Southeastern Kuu Rukwa were expelled and eventually annihilated by the Ugallans. Indigenous people of the interior, and the more northernly part of Kuu Rukwa fared better, though they now life in poverty, mining their land's military wealth for the Ugallans. This is a large driver of outrage among the Kuu Rukwan people.

(Possible colonization by an overseas power)

(Expand with medieval and early-modern history later)

The Kingdom would come to an end during the Long Crisis. This was a period ranging from 40-25 years ago. During this time, the country was racked by economic stagnation, poor worker conditions, and national instability. Part of the cause was that, following the generally well regarded Queen Kinaya, she was succeeded by the incompetent King Busar. Basar was known for a decadent lifestyle, frequently traveling abroad in luxurious expense, and an overindulgence in foreign culture during a time of national turmoil. He was overthrown by a military coup near the end of the Long Crisis orchestrated by Mlango Bahari elite, who used the opportunity to destroy the monarchy and ensure their control over the nation by negotiating with high-level worker unionists. King Basar disappeared during the coup, having attempted to fleet the capital by ship.

(potential for surviving royalist taking refuge in foreign countries)

Politics and Government

Military

The Mlango Bahari navy makes heavy use of submarines. The republic maintains a large submarine naval base west of Gairu, where submarines can quickly escape beyond the continental shelf into deeper water. Bahari maintains 2 classes of naval submarines: the larger Nondo class SSN and the smaller Fira class SS. The Nondo class is the nation's flagship naval class, and provides most of the country's power projection strength. The class boasts a competative stealth profile, a capable suite of heavyweight torpedoes, and a collection of VLS tubes for cruise missiles and AShMs. It's VLS tubes give Mlango Bahari the capability of trans-oceanic strike missions and special forces insertion operations. Above all, though, the Nondo is a well-optimized hunter-killer submarine meant for deep, ocean waters. The smaller Fira class, in comparison, is a conventionally powered diesel-electric submarine. It forgoes the VLS tubes of the Nondo, though it can launch lightweight AShMs using its torpedo tubes. The class is primarily designed for ambush tactics, waiting near the sea floor for a hapless enemy to stumble upon its trap. Approximate equilivents: Nondo: a deeper-diving Flt III Los Angeles class, Fira: an improved Kilo class.

Beyond these the Bahari navy primarily relies on destroyers, frigates and corvettes. The Jumaane class destroyer is a relatively small AA/AS destroyer intended for protecting the Mlango Bahari coastlines from aircraft intrusion and encroaching enemy ships. The smaller Tambo class ASW frigate accompanies Jumaane destroyers and protects them from submarines. While both are ocean-capable, they are not optimized for engagments far from the Bahari coastlines. Without assistance from Mlango Bahari air and coastal assets they would not survive long against capable enemy naval forces. Regardless, however, they do complete missions on the open oceans during times of lessened danger to Mlango Bahari. When they are dispatched in the open ocean one should bet on a Nondo accompanying them.

The country is know to have a respectable indigenous naval shipyard industry. The Turi Bay and southwestern Kuu Rukwa are the location of most of the nation's naval and commercial shipyards. More specifically, the cities of Mlinzi, Udugu, Eldoret and Maswa are the primary shipbuilding cities. The city of Eldoret in particular is known for producing the country's Nondo class submarines, and Udugu produces the Fira and Jumaane classes.

(950K military personnel)

Mlango Bahari possesses a land army to garrison Kuu Rukwa, and to defend Mahale. Most (2/3) of the army is stationed in Mahale, due to the limited strategic depth of the region vis-a-vis the nation's important natural and artificial resources, as well as the flat terrain border. The army stations substantial tank forces along the northern coasts of Mahale, primarily consisting of the Urla Main Battle Tank. Substantial infantry garrison forces are stationed in the D'tombe wetlands, and the Ugalla Peninsula. To the north, in Kuu Rukwa, the armed forces are scattered around the island, primarily in the populated areas in the south and east of the island, as well as the interior. Along the coast, substantial numbers of coastal AShM batteries and anti-aircraft vehicles are hidden in the interior forests, and hilly terrain. On Mahale, radar installations ranging from just west of Camalingot, Unguja, to the west of Uyovu form a shield to protect the population centers along the D'ada strait from any assault by sea, usually hosting several Fira class submarines waiting for prey.

While the country has been successful in fostering a sufficient naval defense industry, other defense industries have been less successful. The country’s Air Force is too small to support domestic manufacturing and design efforts, and isn’t helped by the complete lack of a domestic commercial aircraft manufacturing industry. Instead, the country relies on export aircraft for its defense. In the armored and infantry defense sectors, Mlango Bahari used to be much more self sufficient, however, the major acquisitions catastrophe regarding the Suran Main Battle Tank, combined with the rising cost and declining quality of Bahari firearms turned out to be a death blow for swaths of the Mlango Bahari defense industry. Only support from the country’s modest commercial shipbuilding industry, and panicked assistance from the government preserved the country’s naval shipyards.

The Mlango Bahari Air Force is of a modest size. The airforce operates the AF-15 Fighter, the AA-12 Attack aircraft, and the AP-7 Patrol aircraft. The AP-7 is a regularly used ASW aircraft used to patrol the coasts of the country, and the ocean. The AF-15 and AA-12 are readied on the small airbases scattered throughout Mahale and Kuu Rukwa.

Economy

Mlango Bahari has an industrial economy centered on metallurgical refining and manufacturing. The large island of Kuu Rukwa is the source of almost all of the nations mineral resources. Large mining operations throughout the islands interior extract ores and transport them primarily by river or by rail to processing centers near the coasts of the island. The largest concentration of refining centers is in the southeast and east of Kubu Rukwa, with cities such as Nyeri, Madibra, and Chunya being major such examples. These cities can machine the metals into some components or products, but most of the processed metals are sent to the islands ports. Some of these metals are then exported to other countries, but most are shipped west to the industrial heartlands of the Ugalla Peninsula, where they are used in large scale fabrication of products ranging from mobile phones to massive cargo ship engines for the peninsulas shipyards. The Ugalla peninsula is also the home to many electronics factories and integrated circuit fabrication plants as well as a robust market spearheaded by large online retailers linking global consumers and small businesses to Bahari manufacturers.

Further to the east, the Dtombe wetlands are host to a significant chemical production industry, primarily specialized to produce industrial agents for the mineral processors on Kuu Rukwa. Most of the country’s farms lie in Mahala, stretching to the southern land border. These farms are primarily dedicated to the cultivation of Millet and Sorghum as staple crops for the nation. As a hot and in some places arid country, Bahari agriculture needs to be tolerant to the infertile environment. Worries about food security are known to government, as the country is dependent on imports for food. These worries drive research into agricultural genetic modification, agricultural efficiency, and urban agriculture.

The Mlango Bahari economy is dependent on large quantities of good transport. Raw ores are shipped east and south from the interior. They meet up with chemicals shipped from eastern Mahale, arriving in eastern Kuu Rukwa to produce refined metal alloys. Large quantities of tonnage are shipped every month around the southern tip of Kuu Rukwa to the industrial heartlands. The country depends on a sprawling cargo rail infrastructure throughout Kuu Rukwa optimized for bulk transport. This infrastructure has been well maintained by the country, to ensure the reliable and cheap movement of goods to maintain the economy. Similarly, the port and shipping infrastructure on the coasts of Kuu Rukwa and Mahale are efficient and well funded by the countries manufacturing corporations. All of this transport makes the D'ada strait a busy waterway. For passangers, in specific regions of the country the transport system is very good. The Ugalla precinct possesses excellent short-range rail and subway systems. Much of the rest of Mahale is linked together by an efficient high-speed rail system stretching from Camalingot along the coast to Longibo in the D'tombe Wetlands. Even the interior of Mahale enjoys an efficent, albiet more normal speed, train system. On the island of Kuu Rukwa, the quality of the passanger transport system is more geographically selective. The provinces of Arad'ada and Hrar precincts and the Kaliua and Binamu regions are good quality transportation networks. For the rest of the island, however, the quality can vary. Similar to rail transport, passenger ferry systems across the D'ada strait are efficient, though the country's air transportation network leaves much to be desired. Even the nation's flagship airport, Ugalla Central International Airport, located on the east coast of the Turi Bay, is well known for extreme overcrowding and plagued by poor airport design. It is usually far cheaper, and sometimes faster, to travel across one of the D'ada ferries. The Turi-Maswa, Turi-Eldoret, and Da'raum-Eldoret ferries are very popular and extrordinarily cheap, making them favorable to the poor Baharans. Overall, Mlango Bahari possesses a relatively excellent transportation infrastructure, though its air transportation networks are to be avoided.

The country’s power grid is largely made up of a combination of nuclear power stations and fossil fuel plants. Renewable energy is experiencing below-average growth due to competition from nuclear power, though it is likely to overtake it in due time. The country operates [30?] nuclear power stations across Kuu Rukwa and Mahale and is active in researching commercial nuclear reactors. These nuclear reactors are instrumental in providing large amounts of cheap electricity to the furnaces in Kuu Rukwa, maintaining the competitiveness of Mlango Bahari metallurgy. The adoption of nuclear power was also strategic by the Bahari government, as a means of reducing air pollution. Regardless, however, the country still uses fossil fuel power plants to bolster its power grid flexibility.