Difference between revisions of "Bettia"

Revision as of 12:02, 1 September 2005

Bettia

Flag of Bettia
Motto: Bettia am byth
Map of Bettia
Region	Atlantian Oceania
Capital	Gabalfa
Official Language(s)	English, Arabic, Welsh, Indonesian
Leader	President Amir Brooks
Population	160,245,041 (May 2005 census)
Currency	Groat (غ) = $0.46
NS Sunset XML

The Country

The Blessed Realm of Bettia was formed as a breakaway republic from it's former oppressors. It further broke away when the government took the bold step of transporting the entire country from its former landlocked location to a cluster of islands knows as Atlantian Oceania, mainly for footballing reasons but also because the president fancied a bit more sunshine in his back garden.

The country is split into five provinces:

• Maes Canolog in the centre
• Clodien in the South
• Banastra in the East
• Al Maghrib in the west
• Gwlad Teg in the north.

Bettia is reknowned for its natural beauty (in particular its large forests and stunning rolling highlands), and this is preserved as much as possible by the environmentally-friendly policies of the local governments. Its national animal is the Arora Aboombas, which is generally described as 'bloody wierd'.

Bettia doesn't have a national anthem yet, mainly due to the lack of musical talent within the country. The flag of Bettia is green and yellow quarters, with a white crescent imposed on a green circle in the centre. The quarters and central circle respresent the five counties of Bettia. The crescent represents the dominant religion. The green is said to represent the lush green grasslands and forests, and the yellow either represents the golden sands of its beaches, or the striking yellow heather which grows in the highlands - no-one knows exactly which one it is, and quite frankly not many people care because yellow goes very nicely with green. Lets be honest, thats all that matters.

Bettia is bordered by Nedalia to the west, Bedistan to the north, Cockbill Street to the north-east, and Hypocria to the south-east. Most of Bettia's coastline lies to the south, with a small coastline lying to the north sandwiched between Bedistan and Cockbill Street.

Towns and Cities

The major towns and their populations of Bettia are:

• Gabalfa = 10,066,350 (national and provincial capital)
• Lorshill = 5,290,354
• Grappenhall = 4,418,274 (provincial captial of Banastra)
• Akani Sands = 3,049,790 (provincial captial of Clodien)
• Ceffinton = 1,706,126 (provincial captial of Y Gwlad Teg)
• Tamrida = 905,092 (provincial captial of Maghrib)
• Sukatra = 631,676
• Porthbalfa = 643,543
• Whitchurch = 549,336
• Downton = 497,242
• Roath = 496,696
• Treebrook = 487,544

Public Holidays

April 2nd: Bettia Day
A celebration of the foundation and independance of Bettia.

May 17th: Jubilation Day
A celebration of all things good, this day is marked by street parties and parades throughout the country.

August 4th: Courtship Day
Traditional day of declarations of love, proposals and weddings.

20th Ramadan to 3rd Shawwal: Last ten days of Ramadan and Eid Ul-Fitr
The holiest days of the Bettian calendar, totalling 13 days. Most of the muslim population take this opportunity to take time off work and reflect on their spirituality. Of course, this usually means that the country grinds to a halt during this time.

Transportation

Road

Bettia has a developing road network based around three major motorways. The M1 connects Gabalfa with Nedalia's captial city Kafra to the west, heading southwards to Akani Sands before heading east to Pylos, Hypocrium and Thraxus in Hypocria.

The M2 connects Gabalfa with Ceffinton to the north, turning eastwards towards the port city of Porthbalfa, before veering north again to connect with the road network in Bedistan's southern provinces.

The M3 is Gabalfa's main ring road.

Rail

Gabalfa is the main hub of the Bettian railway, with branches running to Ceffinton and Portbalfa to the north and Grappenhall to the east. An international railway links Bettia with Nedalia and Hypocria, with a newly-constructed undersea tunnel linking Bettia with the island of Spruitland.

Air

There are two major airports situated in Bettia, located in Gabalfa and Akani Sands. Gabalfa International Airport provides regular flights to Nedalia, Hypocria and Lamoni, with a proposed zepplin service to Cockbill Street in the pipeline (operated by the Streetian Airlift Compony).

The People

The vast majority of Bettians (around 93%) follow Islam, and have a reputation for being kind, charitible and a little bit eccentric. They also say "well" a lot in conversations, which sounds alright when spoken but looks odd, not to mention unprofessional, in writing.

The main language is Bettian (which looks and sounds remarkably like English), with Arabic and Welsh also spoken in certain parts of the country.

The remaining 7% is made up of Jews and Buddhists, mainly refugees fleeing religious persecution some years ago and subsequently welcomed into Bettian society.

Provincial Quirks

The people of Bettia exhibit some provincial 'quirks'. Gabalfans, living in and around the capital city and generally being richer than their more rural counterparts, are sometimes regarded as being arrogant and out of touch with the rest of the country.

Gogleddwyr, or northerners, are sometimes wrongly regarded as being a bit backward, although they also have a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness. They also love their rugby.

The eastern region of Banastra, being the home to a number of fine universities and centres of learning, is home to many of the greatest minds in Bettia. It is also home to some of Bettia's greatest eccentrics.

People from Clodien, like their northern counterparts, are more rural and are therefore regarded as being less intelligent, despite the fact that the chairman of Bettia's Intellectual Society was born and bred on a farm just outside Ceffinton. The Clodis are reknowned for their hospitality and kindness, and this is reflected in Clodien being the destiniation of choice for many tourists..

And lastly, the people of Maghrib tend to be more pious and are more religiously inclined than in other parts of the country. Some of Bettia's foremost clerics, scholars and rabbis are Maghribis. The lowest crimes in the country are enjoyed here.

Population Data

According to the latest census, approximately 58% of Bettia's population live in towns or cities with a poplulation of 20,000 or over. The average life expectancy is currently 62.23 years. 42.686% of the population is aged 21 or under, with 28.315% falling into the 21 to 40 bracket, 21.195% aged between 41 and 60, and 7.085% aged 61 and above.

Government & Law

Being a mostly-Islamic state, Bettia is run by a Shura or elected council which makes all major decisions jointly. The shura is made up of 10 members (two per region) elected every five years, although emergency by-elections may be held at any time.

The Shura is chaired by a President, who is directly elected by the people of Bettia at the same tie as the Shura and regional governments. The President has tie-breaking powers within the council and mainly performs an ambassadorial role.

Regional assemblies run day-to-day affairs, such as setting taxation levels and public spending. Like the Shura, these are elected every five years with emergency by-elections held whenever needed.

Bettia operates a legal system based around the Islamic shariah law. This is generally approved of by the population due to the low crime levels, although some non-religious groups are seeking to abolish this in favour of a more secular approach.

Crimes such as treason and murder can be punished by death. Adultery can be punished by flogging (but only if sufficient evidence is presented) - rapists can expect double this punishment. Theft can be punished by cutting off the criminal's right hand, but only in extreme circumstances (for example, they seriously harmed someone in a bank robbery). In most cases of theft, and most other crimes, the punishment is restitution (unpaid labour for the victim) or imprisonment if the guilty party is thought to be dangerous.

Foreign Affairs

After recently joining Atlantian Oceania, the Bettian government has taken steps to befriend their new neighbours.

Bettian Ambassadors

The following Bettian diplomats have been assigned as ambassadors to represent our fair country:

Bettian Ambassador and Atlantian Oceania Regional Delegate to the United Nations - Anisah Hopkins

Abattoir - Justin Harun
Hypocria - Amin Robson
Lamoni - Gary Shuttlewood
Latao - Amirah Abdul-Rahim
Lesser Ribena - Bertram Ta'if
Khazaron - Mustafa Winton
Nedalia - Abdul Brockworth
Starblaydia - Anwar Longlevens
Xile - John Hanson

Embassies

At present, all foreign embassies are based in the centre of Bettia's captial Gabalfa.

Abattoir: 7 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Hypocria: 12 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Lamoni: 10 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Latao: 11 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Lesser Ribena: 12 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Khazaron: 6 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Nedalia (represented by Mr Hasan Candle): 4 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Starblaydia: 9 Civic Square, Gabalfa
Xile: 5 Civic Square, Gabalfa

Armed Forces

Bettia maintains a medium sized army, a small air force and a small navy mainly for defensive purposes. All muslim citizens must complete one year of compulsory military service - this is optional for non-muslims.

The most notable aspect of Bettia military is the ban on weapons of mass destruction - these were deemed by the Grand Shura to be illegal under Islamic law due to their indiscrimate nature.

Bettia's armed forces are comprised as follows: -

• Number of Soldiers = 141,286
• Number of Officers = 68,672
• Total size of Staff = 209,958
• Military Bases = 4
• Air Bases = 1
• Anti Aircraft Missile Batteries = 5,025
• AntiTank Missile Batteries = 1,500
• Fighter Planes = 500
• Missile Interceptor Batteries = 2,569
• Short Range Missile Batteries = 5,137
• Mid Range Missile Batteries = 1,324
• Armored Vehicles = 150
• Helicopters = 2,604
• Interceptors = 1,553
• Jeeps = 150
• Light Artillery = 150
• Light Tanks = 150
• Heavy Tanks = 25
• Navy Missile Batteries = 500
• Navy Missile Interceptor Batteries = 500
• Destroyers = 5
• Radar Planes = 4

Sport & Leisure

• Bettia National Football Team
• Apex League (Bettian First Division
• BLOG (Bettian League Of Gridiron
• Bettian One-Day Cricket Championship

Of all the things that unites the Bettian people, it is sport (and in particular, football) which brings them together the most. Bettians are almost legendarily sports-mad, and this mania was certainly helped along when the Bettian national team won their debut international competition, walking away with the Baptism of Fire Cup after a thumping 7-0 win in the final.

The national football team (nicknamed the Aroras after the national animal) soon came back down to earth with a bump. They finished third in their qualifying group and so failed to qualify for the finals of World Cup 22, and finished bottom of their group in the first rounds of both AOCAF 8 and Cup of Harmony XIV. They also failed to qualify for the World Cup 23 finals, finishing fith in their qualifying group.

Although football is THE main sport, other sports also enjoy a degree of popularity. Rugby Union is very popular in the Welsh-speaking heartlands in the north. Bettia has entered a team into ice hockey's Cherry Cup tournament - perhaps a foolhardy venture seeing as some of the team don't even know how to skate.

An American Football competition wittily named the BLOG (Bettian League Of Gridiron) has been set up, and looks set to spread over the border with the inclusion of a team from Cockbill Street next season.

Inspired by the re-emergance of cricket in Cockbill Street, a Bettian one-day championship is due to start soon involving eight provincial teams and a squad from neighbouring Hypocria.