Qarez

Qarez

Flag of Qarez
Motto: "Death Before Dishonor"'
Region	Zurich
Capital	Qarez City
Official Language(s)	english, arabic
Leader	Emperor Malik Rashad
Population	~380,000,000+
Currency	the credit
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The Holy Empire of Qarez is a huge, safe nation, renowned for its complete absence of social welfare. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 383 million are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Defence, Law & Order, and Commerce. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 42%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Automobile Manufacturing, Arms Manufacturing, and Gambling industries.

A National Academy regulates grammar and usage, senior citizens can usually be found doing heavy manual labour, artists are pillars of society, and children as young as eight can be found working in factories. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Qarez's national animal is the scorpion, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the credit.

Modern Qarez

Qarez is a rapidly evolving, econonmically powerful nation. Qarezians pride themselves on their well-funded and efficient military, their extensive public transit system, and rich history.

Government

The government is a essentially a dictatorship, though it is run by an emperor, not a techincal dictator. The nation is divided up into seven regions, based on the seven ancient tribes, with each region being represented by a Consul, roughly the American equivalent of a governor. Each city or town is run by a Sultan, or mayor. The government system in unique in that Qarez is run on mostly Western principles such as free trade, no cencorship etc, but is run by an Emperor and an unelected council.

Six of the seven consuls serve on the Holy Council as decision makers, with the seventh member serving as the Judiciary Head. The emperor can, at any time for any reason, propose a new law, decision or idea. The six council members then vote, in private on the decision. If there is a tie, the Emperor is the deciding vote.

The Judiciary Head is the equivalent of a one man supreme court, making the final ruling on any court cases that reach his desk.

While Qarez is a dictatorship, the current line of emperors, including the incumbent, Malik Rashad, have been widely regarded as fair and peaceful. It is this line that has built Qarez up to its current economic and military propserity. Though there have been some (quited) calls for an alternative government, the majority of Qarez seems content with their structure.

Organization

                        Holy Emperor of Qarez                            
     /       /          |            |             \             \          |
 Region A  Region B Region C     Region D       Region E      Region F   Region G  
    |       |           |            |             |             |       _ _ | _ _
 Defense Industry   Enviornment Transportation Public Services Humanity |Judiciary|   
                                                                         - - - - -

Legal System

The Qarez legal system is similar to most Western legal systems. Accused criminals are innocent until proven guilty, and may appeal the case up several courts until a final verdict is reached. However, police receive much less punishment for arresting an innocent, and the Judiciary Head makes final decisions on court cases, leaving all of the power in the hand of one man.

Military

The Armed Forces of Qarez, or AFQ is a large, extremely efficient national military, dedicated primarily to defense of Qarez's borders, shores and skies. With its recent economic propserity, and defense minded leadership, Qarez has gained the ability to project force abroad, as indicated by the purchase of a Nimitz class Air Craft carrier, as well as the rumored purchase of several nuclear submarines.

Qarez spends a plurality of its funds on defense, nearly 32%, according to recent budget reports.

The military is currently structured into 5 main branches, with 2 secondary branches.

The 5 main branches are the

• Qarez Marine Corps (Army)
• Qarez Air Guard (Air Force)
• Qarez Naval Guard (Navy)
• Qarezian National Guard (National Guard)
• Department of Intelligence (CIA/FBI)

The 3 supplementary branches are the

• Qarez Support Corps
• Qarez Emergency Response

Culture

Qarez combines an entirely unique blend of rich middle-eastern mystery with the western concepts of capitalism and glamour.

Popular Culture

Movies

Hollywood affects Qarez as much as it does the rest of the world. American blockbusters are wildly popular, and the stars are followed by teen Qarezians nationwide.

Recently, however, Qarezians have begun to produce their own movie industry. The recent national hit Man of Honor, about the nations nameaske Sayid Al-Qarez took in over $100 million at the box office. More and more films are being made in the wake of the first ever Qarezian hit, and the Qarez indie industry is flourishing like no other.

Music

Conversely, there is little original music originating in Qarez, and what there is conservative folk and world music. A few rock bands have begun to gain attention, but struggle to compete with the multitude of other entertainment options, and the countries old-fashioned music tastes.

TV/Radio

Until recently, most of the TV was funded and controlled by the Qarez Broadcasting Network, a government run entertainment group. However, with the success of the Qarez International News Network abroad QINN has branched out into entertainment at home, and for the first time several homegrown sitcoms, dramas and original entertainment will premiere on TVs across Qarez.

Radio never caught the popularity in Qarez it did internationally, and there are more satellite radio subscribers then AM/FM. Airspace is devoted mainly to folk music, news programs and religious broadcasting.

Sports

Qarez is known as being an athletic nation, particularly in basketball, boxing, and competitive shooting. The national sport is basketball, a rarity for the region, and Qarez is a perennial contender in the championship. Boxing and marksmanship embody the warrior spirit within Qarezians, and Friday Night Boxing is extremely popular.

Football (soccer), baseball and rugby are also popular.

Hasek Lazir

Hasek Lazir is a basketball player in Qarez. As a 6'9" small forward he is an imposing prescence, and is known for his quick speed, outlandish dunks and vicious defense. At age 17, he brought home the Zurich Regional Athletic Games basketball trophy and became a national hero. He has applied to the NBA draft, and many scouts predict he may be taken in the first round, making him the first ever pro-athlete from Qarez. Because of this, and the international attention he has brought to Qarez, he has become a celebrity and national icon.

In an ESPN special about him he was nicknamed "the Lazer", and his number is #7.

Conventional Culture

Demographics

• 44% Arab
• 29% American
• 13% European
• 10% African
• 2% Persian
• 2% other

Religion

There is and never has been an official state religion, other than the widely accepted concept of deism. The "Holy" in "Holy Empire" is attributed to the belief that Qarez is eternally blessed by God, not a particular religious interpretation of God. Regardless, due to European and Arab influence there are large contingents of organized religion.

• 36% Muslim
• 36% Christian
• 18% deist
• 4% other
• 3% Buddhist
• 2% atheist

Note: 1% is unaccounted for

Language

The official language, and the primary language spoken in the government, businesses and taught in schools is English. However, Arabic is widely spoken and used commonly enough to be recognized as a secondary language. It is still spoken as the first language among large percentiles of the lower and working classes.

An impressive 45% of Qarez is bilingual.

Holidays

• January 1st New Year's Day Celebrated according to the western calendar
• April 10th Emperor Day A day set aside so that Qarezians may pay condolences to their ruler. In modern times this is little more than a day off and time to show patriotism.
• June 29th Day of pain Not as nasty as it sounds, this commemorates the day when Qarez rebels were defeated in battle by the Americans. They day is treated as a day to deal with pain and death. Many Qarezians are given the day off.
• June 30th Day of victory Celebrates the first victory in the revolutionary war by the same rebels. Many feast, party and give gifts. Most Qarezians are given the day off.
• July 1st Independance Day The day when Qarez became an independant nation. The most widely celebrated holiday all year. All but the most imperative of jobs are given the day off, and there are many parties, parades and festivals.
• October 7th Sayid Al-Qarez Day Celebrating the supposed birthday of Sayid Al-Qarez, the nations founder.
• December 25th Christmas Celebrated by the many Christians in Qarez.
• December 31st New Year's Eve A national holiday.
• Corresponding month Ramadan Celebrated by the many Muslims in Qarez.
• Corresponding day The Emperor's birthday The current emperors birthday is a national holiday, usually observed to the closest Friday.

Economy

The Qarez economy is an entirely capitalist, free-market system with a few exceptions:

Enviornmental restrictions to protect the earth, anti-trust laws to protect the consumer, standardized schools for social reasons, and a basic level of standardized healthcare as health is believed to be an inherent human right.

Police stations, many hospitals, fire stations, schools and public services are all payed for through taxes by citizens, any and all other services are privately run.

Economical Statistics

Exchange Rate: 1 credit= $1.5000
Gross Domestic Product: $6,635,820,756,495.56
GDP Per Capita: $30,300.55
Unemployment Rate: 2.57%
Consumption: $4,742,383,680,000.00
Government Budget: $2,192,215,579,200.00
Government Expenditures: $1,863,383,242,320.00
Goverment Waste: $328,832,336,880.00
Exports: $831,724,577,175.56
Imports: $801,670,743,000.00
Trade Surplus: $30,053,834,175.56

Transportation

The railway system is the pride of Qarez. There is no standard highway system in Qarez. For citizens to move city to city, trains are more efficient and cheaper than owning a car. Within cities there are many roads, but many citizens again opt for the better metro system. There are highways, but they are reserved for the government (to move supplies, troops etc.) and are rented by corporations to move supplies,

Geography

Qarez is a reasonably large nation, shaped roughly like Africa but closer in size to Saudi Arabia. While 85% of Qarez is desert, it has some distinguishable features. A large mountain range in the north-west housed one of the seven ancient tribes, and even today helps protect the nation from land invasions. To the north-east is a barren wasteland, little more than rocks and dirt. On the west and east coasts are two large beaches. The western coast houses the third largest city in Qarez, on the north part of the beach. On the east coast, adjacent to the largest lake in the nation, is the largest city in the country.

The most remarkable feature of Qarez is the large rainforest in the south-west, a rarity for a desert nation. This is the lifeblood of Qarez, as, excluding oil, it accounts for 65% of all exports. The capital city is located on the edge of the rainforest, near the coast, and another large city sits to the south, even closer to the forests edge on the south coast.

Enviornment

Qarez is a dry desert nation, apart from the tropical air to the south-west.

Largest Cities

The largest city, Qarez City, has a population of over 8,000,000 people. The capital city, New Baltimore, has close to 5,500,000 people.

History

Below is an outline of major eras and events in the history of Qarez. For more information, see

Main article(s): History of Qarez

.

Trivia

• Qarez's national animal is the scorpion.
• Qarez's national colors are black and gold.
• Qarez's national sport is basketball.
• Qarez is the home country of the Qarez International News Network.

Notable Qarezians

• Malik Rashad - current emperor of Qarez
• Sayid Al-Qarez - important historical figure and noted warrior
• Farik Wased - rebel in the fight for independance
• Hasek Lazir - pop-culture hero and NBA hopeful

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