Khazaron
| |
| Flag of Khazaron | |
| Motto: "Peace through power." | |
| Most Current Map | |
| Region | Atlantian Oceania |
|---|---|
| Capital | Archon City |
| Official Language(s) | English, Khazaronian |
| Leader | James Khara |
| Population | Over 700 Million |
| Currency | Domin |
| NS Sunset XML | |
History
Khazaron, in one form or another, has existed for 250 years. Initially founded as a multitude of trading ports by profiteers, they eventually evolved into full-blown countries of their own. The greed of the leaders of these countries would lead to a series of bloody conflicts known by manys names, most commonly The Thousand-Fief War. Out of that conflict the foundations for the Republic of Khazaron where lain. For a great many decades the republic toke care of the people and ensure prosperity, but eventually its' leaders became corrupt. About 45 years ago the corruption forced the feelings of the people to come to a boiling point when they passed the Corporate Domain Laws, effectively politically disenfranchising anyone who didn't support the corporations. This caused a series of revolts against corporate power, primarily funded by the disenfranchised masses. The end-result of all of this was the outbreak of the Six-Month War, in which the republic was overthrown and an autocracy was installed. To read a more in-depth look at Khazaronian history, you can view this article: History of Khazaron
Country
Country Name
Long Form: The Dominion of Khazaron
Short Form: Khazaron
Country Code: KH or KHZ
Internet TLD: .kh
Capital
Archon City, Sairion District
Districts
At the founding of the Republic of Khazaron the nation was split up into 13 official government districts. Under the current government each of these has a Governor, appointed by the Patriarch, to run the day-to-day operations of the district. Beneath the district level though, the citizens are allowed to elect whoever they want into office. Such candidates must undergo a series of tests to ensure that they are loyal and upstanding citizens of Khazaron, before they may run for office in the lower echelons of the Khazaronian government. Each district has a capital to serve as the center of its' local bueracracy. Archon City serves as both the capital of the country and of the district of Sairion. The 13 districts, with their capitals in italics, are: Sairion (Archon City), Amaria (Yeor), Viskari (Unton), Nustia (Hunkan), Mustari (Casai), Woten (Thatani), Iftarin (Lacusi), Lenuhan (Kalak), Janar (Furar), Khatos (Sparsus), Sundai (Duny), Omak (Aska) and Golensk (Poturik).
National Holidays
Unity Day: August 8
Celebrates the day the hostilities between the Loyalists and the government ceased, and a new united Khazaronian state was formed.
Coronation Day: August 31
This holiday celebrates the coronation of the reigning Patriarch.
Patriarch Day: October 12
Patriarch Day celebrates the birthday of the reigning Patriarch.
Feast Day: November 21
A day for celebrating good-fortune, good harvests and good friends. The Khazaronian equivalent to Thanksgiving.
Renewal Day: December 30
This is used as a day for looking back on one's actions throughout the year and trying to improve upon them in the following year.
People
The people of Khazaron come from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds. Where some nations may a dominant trait throughout their culture, due to a common ancestry, Khazaron boasts of a plethora of traits and unique qualities. Much of this is owed to its early days serving as ports of call and trading outposts. Travellers and traders from all across the world would come to Khazaron to do business, and many of them would become enamored witht he opportunity that could be had by staying and setting up shop. The want of profit outweighed many of the previous ethnic squabbles these immigrant groups had gone through, and forged a new, multi-faceted, land.
Population: Over 700 million
Religion
- Atheism: 10%
- Agnosticism: 5%
- Christianity:40 %
- Islam: 24%
- Judaism:16 %
- Other: 5%
Languages
- English
- Khazaronian
Government
Government Type
Autocracy
National Government
The current executive branch of the Dominion of Khazaron is modeled after the Antonine Dynasty of ancient Rome. The leader of the country, the Patriarch, rules for life and has absolute authority over the policies of his government. What often happens though is that the Patriarch will allow for substantial decision making to go on in the National Assembly, as constant overseeing of his government tends to get rather tedious. The Patriarch's heirs are chosen by himself from a list of qualified individuals who have served next to him and helped him in running the government. The use of primogeniture in determining heirs has been outlawed in Khazaron.
Cabinet
The Patriarch relies on nine cabinet-level positions, appointed by himself, to aid him in the running of the government of Khazaron. Each of these ministers controls what is felt to be a vital section of Khazaronian society, and oversees countless others in their operations. Directly beneath the ministers in the power-structure are the Administrators, who oversee the various sub-sections of each of the major cabinet level position. Further down the chain-of-command are numerous functionaries and commitees that oversee the smaller aspects of each department. Any particular service that is deemed vital enough to the continued health and safety of Khazaron can be elevated to a cabinet position and given its' own minister. The ministers serve for life, until they are found lacking in ability, or until they request a release from their position. The current ministers are:
Minister of Defense: Michael Arani
Minister of Education: Jennifer Calari
Minister of Transportation: Gabriel Furo
Minister of Commerce: Adam Kum
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Danielle Uram
Minister of Internal Affairs: Laurence Amar
Minister of Health: Andrew Insar
Minister of Communication: Roger Hanim
Director of The Special Service: Stephen Acaran
National Legislature
Khazaron’s National Assembly
Total Number of Members: 26
Current First Archon: Alexander Dinu
Members of the Assembly serve a three year term and can go up for re-election once. The Assembly is lead by the First Archon, who casts the tie-breaking vote and calls the Assembly to order. The First Archon is elected by the people, serves a six-year term and cannot be re-elected. The Assembly’s official job is to bring the concerns of the people to the Patriarch. However, they generally oversee and enact any legislation involved in running the country, unless the Patriarch takes an interest in a particular issue. Members of the Assembly are called Archons and each district is allowed to elect two Archons to send to the Assembly.
Political Parties
Nationalist Party
This party is seen as generally supporting the positions of the executive branch of the government. They also tend to be on the conservative side, being strongly against capitalism and for strict government control over the economy and major service industries of the nation. The extremists of the party tend to be warkhawks. (10 Seats in Assembly)
Democratic Alliance
These people are an amalgam of the democratic movements that built up in Khazaron in the aftermath of the Six Month War. They favor very liberal policies towards the economy and civil rights. In foreign policy they tend to favor diplomacy first, and military action far last. Extreemists of the party tend to rabidly oppose most positions of the Nationlist Party, and are pushing for the democratization of the whole government. (8 Seats in Assembly)
Workers Party
The Khazaronian equivalent to a communist party. The difference between the Workers, and a normal communist party, is that the Workers are less militant in their ideals. They realize that if the push to much they could be outlawed. (No Seats in Assembly)
Federal Party
This party basically serves as a half-way point between the Nationlists/Democrats, and the more extreme Workers. They believe in a much less strict form of government regulation over each district. Instead of only the central government appointing overseers and local officials, they want the power passed to the local governors. The name of the party comes from the emphasis of the local federal districts being able to decide for themselves. (3 Seats in Assembly)
Economic Reform
The Khazaronian Party for Economic Reform’s ultimate goal is to seek out legislation and international means to turns Khazaron’s faltering economy into a powerhouse. All other concerns come secondary to them. They believe that once the economy seems to stabilize, the other important issues will follow. They tend to remain neutral in political quarrels. (5 Seats in Assembly)
Judicial System
In order to ensure that the law of the Patriarch and the National Assembly is carried out, Khazaron has a series of individuals known as Arbiters that function much like judges do in other countries. They oversee disputes of the law, set precedent, and declare verdicts. The major difference from most nations is that it is the Arbiter alone who decides what should be done, trial by jury does not exist in Khazaron. To counteract this though, Arbiters will often act in a council to oversee cases, especially one’s involving particularly heinous crimes. Generally speaking, the number of Arbiters needed in a council is dependant upon the seriousness of the crime. The more serious, the more Arbiters. All that is needed to convict an individual is a majority verdict by the council.
There are five different levels of courts in Khazaron. The lowest level is the city level, these Arbiters are elected by the people from a list of pre-approved government candidates. Above the city level is the county level, covering multiple metropolitan areas, these arbiters are chosen much the same way as the city level ones are, except that only the city officials of the county may vote for them. The third most prestigious court in the land is the District level court. These Arbiters, usually chosen from a group that has proven to make wise decisions time and again on the lower courts, are chosen by the Archons from their district. Finally, the highest court in Khazaron is the Council of Arbiters, functioning much like a Supreme Court would in other nations. There are 13 members, one chosen from among the wisest Arbiters of each district. The leader of the Council is known as the Chief Arbiter and is generally considered to be the wisest and most just Arbiter in the land. They are all directly chosen by the Patriarch. All Arbiters at all levels serve for life or until they choose to step down or are found incompetent.
Foreign Relations
While the Khazaronian people have maintained an isolationist policy in the past, recent events have conspired to catapult her onto the international scene. As such, she has begun to open her doors to foreign diplomats and even international alliances. This all started with the Latao Invasion, and the alliance of Khazaron with Lamoni and Nedalia against the Confederacy of Latao. The government saw in Latao what could happen to nations that ignored and isolated themselves from their neighbors. And it also saw the power it could achieve by allying with like-minded individuals. It is the hope of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that this new open-door policy of the Khazaronian government will lead to a brighter and stronger future for the people of Khazaron.
Alliances
Khazaron currently only has alliances with Nedalia and Lamoni.
Embassies
Having just opened its' doors to the possibility of international relations, Khazaron doesn't have that many foreign embassies. All foreign embassies in Khazaron are located within the foreign sector of Archon City. Those that it does have are listed below.
Mr.Mustafa Winton is the Bettian ambassador to Khazaron, while Mr.Stefan Inris is the Khazaronian ambassador to Bettia.
Mr.Alex Davis-Princeps is the Ratlean ambassador to Khazaron, while Mr.Maxwell Turan is the Khazaronian ambassador to Ratlea.
Mr.Roger Pash is the Khazaronian ambassador to Lamoni.
Mr.Mustapha il-Haddad is the Nedalian ambassador to Khazaron, while Mr.Warren Tuvin is the Khazaronian ambassador to Nedalia.
Armed Forces
The total might of the Khazaronian military is 2.5 million persons strong. This includes all command staff and soldiers throughout the various branches of the service. Such a large number of persons is due to the fact that after graduating from highschool all Khazaronian citizens are to enlist in the Armed Forces and remain active with them for no less than 2 years. Exemptions can be made in the case of a debilitating illness or injury that prevents them from contributing in a meaninful way to the Armed Forces. Also, in times of peace, the Khazaronian government is usually a little more lax in allowing exemptions, as a high number of military forces is not needed. Those who apply for exemptions in such times usually will recieve them, if they can show that they are contributing to society in a meaningful way. In truth this compulsary service isn't as bad as it seems. Due to the relative inexperience of these young recruits they are usually assigned to guard duty back home in times of war. During peace times they are usually found running mutliple defense drills under the instruction of their more experience fellow soldiers.
Citizens may choose what branch of the service they wish to enter into and are welcomed, greatly encouraged to in fact, continue their service to their country after their initial obligation is up. Those who choose to return to the service are usually given some form of monetary compensation.
Military
Total Number: 800,000
These guys are the work-horses of the Armed Forces. When something needs to be invaded, or an affront to Khazaronian society taken care of, they are there. The majority of the current military are veterans of the Six-Month War and have been loyal servants of James Khara since his support of them against the old Republic regime. About 700,000 of their number are veterans. Some 50,000 or so of them are members of the old Loyalist militas that have since been integrated into the Khazaronian military, after the Treaty of Lamoni helped end the hostilities between the government and Loyalists. The remaining 50,000 are new recruits that have either enlisted for various reasons, or are part of the 18 year-old demographic that must complete their civic obligation.
Total Number: 1,000,000
Many would argue that even more important in defending the Khazaronian borders, is defending the Khazaronian waterways. Being an island-nation means that the primary method of transportation, indeed the primary method of how Khazaronians make their livelihood, is through the seas. In order to better protect their shipping interests and various ports throughout their country, the Khazaronian government generally gives a generous compliment of their defense budget to the Navy. Not suprisingly, due to the prestige and importance of the Navy, many new recruits choose to join up with them when they enlist.
Air Force
Total Number: 400,000
The Khazaronian Air Force mainly serves as a support role to the two other branches of the Armed Forces. Their duties usually involve scouting and strategic bombing to soften up enemy positions. Large-scale air battles are not the way the Khazaronian Armed Forces, as a much greater emphasis is placed on winning battles on the ground. As such, the Air Force recieves the least ammount of funding fromt he defense budget, and has a chip on its shoulder as it considers itself to be the "black sheep" of the Armed Forces family. Rarely are they called into any major engagements, and most often are they put under the command of either a General or Admiral, never their own commanders.
Special Forces
Total Number: 300,000
The Special Forces are roughly equally distributed amongst the three major branches of the Armed Forces. The elites of the military are known as the Raiders, and they tend to perform the raids on enemy camps and supply lines, attempting to cause general chaos amongst enemy forces. Elites of the navy are called the Leviathans and serve as demolition experts mainly. Their job are to storm enemy ships and either disable or destroy them. They also do an excellent job of night recon. The air force elites are the best pilots and are used to do long-range bombing missions and covert strikes on remote areas. They typically have excellent stealth capability in their aircraft. All Special Forces are placed under the command of the Director of the Special Service, who reports directly to the Patriarch.
The Sandmen
Not much is known about these individuals, not even their exact numbers. Rumors say though, that they range as much as 1,000 strong. They are the best equipped, best trained, and most fanatical of all of the Khazronian Armed Forces. Their training regimen is said to be so harsh as to have a 75% mortality rate, and requires the prospective to sign a waiver before applying. Only the best of the best are allowed to even think of applying. In fact, it is said that you don't apply to them, they apply to you. Rumors state that part of The Sandmen initiation is to make a death pledge to defend the Patriarch and Khazaron no matter the cost. They can typically be seen serving as bodyguards to the Patriarch, as well as going on special missions during times of war. As far as skills are concerned, basically they can do whatever is needed. The reason they are called The Sandmen is said to be that they always strike when their enemies are asleep.
