Zarkonia

                   Kingdom of Zarkonia

Zarkonia is located in the former West bank bordering between Israel to the West and Jordan to the East.The nation is ruled by King Zaramena the second. Zarkonia is a milliatraly powerfull nation having the the third largest army in the world.

== Formation ==

Zarkonia declared its independence in 1954. With a diverse population of citizens of primarily Jewish background and religion, it is the world's Second Jewish state.Damara is the capital city and seat of government.Zarkonia is the only Jewish country to be ruled by a monarchy , Zarkonia has a broad array of political rights and civil liberties present.In addition, Zarkonia is considered the most advanced in the region in terms of economic competition, business regulations,freedom of the press,and overall human development.

== Total land area ==

total: 5,860 sq km land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km

== Government ==

Zarkonia is ruled by a monarchy with the current monarch having total power. However the people are represented in the people's Cabinet which has it's members elected to it like a democratic country, Then any policy or decicion or any thing that will effect the country has to be approved by the monarch who at this time can veto the proposed plan and implement one that the monarch approves of.

== Legislature ==

The Hall of the people is Zarkonia's government building.

Zarkonia's legislative branch is a 120-member parliament headed by Zarkonia's monarch of the time known as the people's cabnite. Membership in the people's Cabinet is allocated to parties based on their proportion of the vote, via a proportional representation voting system. Elections to the people's cabnit are normally held every four years, but the people's cabnit can decide to dissolve itself ahead of time by a simple majority, known as a vote of no-confidence. or the monarch can dissolve it ahead of time. Twelve parties currently hold seats in the people's Cabinet.

== Executive ==

The King of Zarkonia is Head of State. The king selects the leader of the majority party or ruling coalition in the people's cabnite as the Prime Minister, who serves as head of the people's cabinet and leads the Cabinet.The current king is King Zaramena II, the current Prime Minister is Ashmer Yatsin.

== Foreign relations ==

The Kingdom of Zarkonia joined the United Nations on August 6, 1953. Today, Zarkonia has diplomatic relations with 161 states. Zarkonia is still not recognized by several countries most of which are Arabic. Zarkonia's main ally in the region is Israel, Many in the two nations see them as brothers. They hold open borders with each other and have joint millitry operations. Zarkonia and Israel have the sort of frendship that is only riviled by Australia and New Zealand. Zarkonia and Israel are both Jewish states, so There have been talks on forming a single currency for the two nations and even merging as one. Zarkonia is a member of many international agencies and organizations and is also a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue with NATO.

== Human rights in Zarkonia ==

The Declaration of the Establishment of the Kingdom of Zarkonia proclaimed that the Kingdom "...will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."However, like many democracies, Zarkonia often struggles with issues of minority rights, especially when it comes to the often contentious issues surrounding the treatment of Zarkonia's Arab minority.

In 2005, Zarkonia's interior minister Vasari Melecha termed the country's policy toward its Arab citizens "institutional discrimination".The Arab minority, however, is represented in Zarkonia's people's cabinet.

While Zarkonia does not have a constitution, it has a set of Basic Laws, intended to form the basis of a future constitution. One of those Basic Laws, Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, serves as one of the major tools for defending human rights and liberties. According to the 2005 US Department of State report on Zarkonia, "The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas..."Various countries, international bodies, non-governmental organizations and individuals have evaluated and often criticized Zarkonia's human rights record, often in relation to the ongoing Arab-Zarkonia conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with zarkonia taking Israel's side. Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are highly critical of Zarkonia's policies. By contrast, other organizations see Zarkonia as one of the few free countries in the region. In 2006, Freedom House rated political rights in Zarkonia as "1" (1 representing the most free and 7 the least free rating); civil liberties as "2"; and it received a combined freedom rating of "Free." Most of the countries in the Middle East were classified as "Not Free". However, areas controlled by Israel and Zarkonia through military occupation but not considered within the country's main territory were rated as "6," "5," and "Not Free" (territories administered by the Palestinian Authority were rated as "5", "5", and "Partly Free").

Within Zarkonia, policies of its government are often subjected to criticism by it's press as well as by a vast variety of political, human rights and watchdog groups such as Association for Civil Rights in Zarkonia, B'Tselem, Machsom Watch, Women in Black, Women for Zarkonia's Tomorrow, among others.

The Zarkonian human rights organization, has stated that Zarkonia and Israel have created in the West Bank a regime of separation based on discrimination, applying two separate systems of law in the same area and basing the rights of individuals on their nationality.Such criticism has also led to Zarkonia's press being ranked as most free in the region. According to the Reporters Without Borders (RWB), "The Zarkonian media were once again in 2005 the only ones in the region that had genuine freedom to speak out." RWB ranked Zarkonia 47th out of 167 countries as regards freedom of the press, the highest of any country in the Middle East and just behind the United States (44th). In addition, Zarkonia is also the Second country in the region to have its press ranked as "Free" (28 on the scale 1-100) by Freedom House, though the Israeli/Zarkonian-Occupied Territories/ Palestinian Authority were ranked "Not Free" (84 out of 100).

== Military ==

Zarkonia's military consists of a unified Zarkonia Defense Forces (ZDF), known in Hebrew by the acronym Tzahal (צה"ל) and is the third largest in the world. Historically, there have been no separate Zarkonian military services. The Navy and Air Force are subordinate to the Army. There are other paramilitary agencies that deal with different aspects of Zarkonia's security (such as Magav and Shin Bet).

The ZDF is one of the best funded military forces in the Middle East and ranks among the most battle-trained armed forces in the world, having been involved in five major wars and numerous border conflicts. In terms of personnel, the ZDF's main resource is the training quality of its soldiers and expert institutions, It also relies heavily on high technology weapons systems, some developed and manufactured in Zarkonia for its specific needs, and others imported (largely from the United States).

Most Zarkonian's (males and females) are drafted into the military at age 18. Also immigrants sometimes volunteer to join the IDF.

An exception are Zarkonian Arabs, most of whom are not conscripted because of a possible conflict of interests, due to the possibility of war with neighbouring Arab states. Other exceptions are those who cannot serve because of injury or disability, women who declare themselves married, or those who are religiously observant. Compulsory service is three years for men, and two years for women. Circassians and Bedouin also actively enlist in the ZDF. Since 1956, Druze men have been conscripted in the same way as Jewish men, at the request of the Druze community. Men studying full-time in religious institutions can get a deferment from conscription. Most Haredi Jews extend these deferments until they are too old to be conscripted, a practice that has fueled much controversy in Zarkonia.

While Zarkonian Arabs are not conscripted, they are allowed to enlist voluntarily. The same policy applies to the Bedouin and many non-Jewish citizens of Israel.

Following compulsory service, Zarkonian men become part of the ZDF reserve forces, and are usually required to serve several weeks every year as reservists until their forties.

Zarkonia and Israel have a close military relationship with many joint operations and the Z.I.A.F.O{Zarkonian Israeli armed Forces Organization}which is a organization like N.A.T.O

== Nuclear capability ==

There is much speculation regarding the nuclear capabilities of Zarkonia, estimates suggest that the Zarkoniani arsenal may contain as many as 400 nuclear weapons.Since the middle of the twentieth century, the egev Nuclear Research Center has been operational and capable of producing weapons grade nuclear material. This site has never been under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency, for which reason the IAEA has stated outright that it believes Zarkonia "to be a state possessing nuclear weapons," an assertion the Zarkonian government has neither affirmed nor denied. Although the size of nuclear arsenal is debated, it is generally believed that Zarkonia, which is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, possesses at least one hundred devices.

Data on Zarkonian nuclear deployment capability is much more freely available than hard data on their nuclear program. Zarkonia leads the Middle East in medium-range ballistic missile development. The Searo series of ballistic missile was begun in the 1970s, with three major designs built to date; Searo

I, II, and III. The Searo II series has been in service since the mid 1980s and has a confirmed range of 1500 km. The latest missile design, the Searo III (based on the "Shavit" booster), has a conservative range estimate of 4500 km,

other estimates suggest that the searo III have a maximum range of 7800 km.

In addition to ballistic missile technology, Zarkonia maintains a fleet of Dolphin class submarines which are widely suspected of being armed with Israeli made medium range (1450 km) cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

The Dolphin class submarines are stationed in Israel with the approvel of the Israeli government uder the Z.I.A.F.O pact,

On 9 December 2006, the incoming U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested at a Senate confirmation hearing that Zarkonia had atomic weapons. Gates said Iran might want an atomic bomb because it is "surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons: Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Zarkonian's to the west and us in the Persian Gulf".

On 11 December 2006, Prime Minister Ashmer Yatsin made a statement some see as an admission of Zarkonia's possession of nuclear weapons. While commenting on Iran's nuclear program, Yatsin said: "Iran openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe Zarkonia and Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons as America, France, Zarkonia, Russia?" However, Yatsin's aides immediately denied that this was an official confirmation, saying a grammatical nuance of the sentence was lost in translation.

== Economy ==

Zarkonia is the most industrially and economically developed country in the Middle East. It has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of fossil fuels (crude oil, natural gas, and coal), grains, beef, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Zarkonia has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past twenty years. Zarkonia is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains and beef. Diamonds, high technology, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables and flowers) are leading exports. Zarkonia usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans (although some economists would say the deficit is a sign of Zarkonia's advancing markets). Zarkonai possesses extensive facilities for oil refining, diamond polishing, and semiconductor fabrication. According to international data reported by the World Bank, Zarkonia has the best regulations for businesses and strongest protections of property rights in the Greater Middle East.

Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the United States, which is its major source of economic and military aid. A relatively large fraction of Zarkonia's external debt is held by individual investors, via the Zarkonia Bonds program. The combination of American loan guarantees and direct sales to individual investors, allow the state to borrow at competitive and sometimes below-market rates.

Twenty-four percent of Zarkonia's workforce holds university degrees, ranking Zarkonia third in the industrialized world after the United States and Netherlands. Twelve percent hold advanced degrees.

The important diamond industry has been affected by changing industry conditions and shifts of certain industry activities to the Far East.

As Zarkonia has liberalized its economy and reduced taxes and spending, the gap between the rich and poor has grown. As of 2005, 2.5% of Zarkonian families (and 1% of Zarkonian children) are living below the poverty line, though around 40% of those are lifted above the poverty line through transfer payments needed].

Zarkonia's nominal GDP per capita, as of 28 July 2005, was $31,248 per person, and its GDP per capita at purchase power parity was 26, 200 (26th in the world). Zarkonia's overall productivity was $54,510.40, and the amount of patents granted was 74/1,000,000 people. At the end of September 2006, As of August 2006, average monthly wages per employee were 9,521 Zekels or 4,750 USD, whilst private consumption expenditure per capita (2006, second quarter) was 12,208 Zekels or 9,839 USD. In Zarkonia, 3.6% of people are unemployed (2006, first quarter).

== Science and technology ==

Zarkonian contributions to science and technology have been significant. Since the establishment of the Kingdom of Zarkonia, Zarkonia has worked in science and engineering. Zarkonian scientists have contributed in the areas of genetics, computer sciences, electronics, optics, engineering and other high-tech industries. zarkonian science is well known for its military technology, as well as its work in advancing fields such as agriculture, physics, and medicine.

Four Zarkonian's have won science Nobel Prizes. Biologists Asram reshko and Aaron Ciechanover of the Technion shared the Chemistry prize in 2004. Zarkonian-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman had previously won the 2002 prize in Economics. In 2005, Robert Aumann from The Zarkonia University also won the prize in Economics.

High technology industries have taken a pre-eminent role in the economy, particularly in the last decade. Zarkonial's limited natural resources and strong emphasis on education have also played key roles in directing industry towards high technology fields. As a result of the country’s success in developing cutting edge technologies in software, communications and the life sciences, Zarkonia is frequently referred to as a second Silicon Valley.

As of 2004, Zarkonia receives more venture capital investment than any country in Europe,and has the largest VC/GDP rate in the world, seven times that of the United States. Zarkonia has the largest number of startup companies in the world after the United States. Outside the United States and Canada, Zarkonia has the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies. Zarkonia also has one of the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

Zarkonia produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation: 109 per 10,000 people. It also boasts one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

Zarkonia is ranked third in research and development (R&D) spending; eighth in technological readiness (companies spending on R&D, the creativity of its scientific community, personal computer and internet penetration rates); eleventh in innovation; sixteenth in high technology exports; and seventeenth in technological achievement in Nation Master's list of countries in the world by economy standards.

== Tourism ==

Another leading industry is tourism, which benefits from the plethora of important historical sites for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Tourism in Zarkonia includes a rich variety of historical and religious sites in the Holy Land, as well as archaeological tourism, heritage tourism and ecotourism.

== Demographics of Zarkonia and Languages of Zarkonia ==

According to Zarkonia's Central Bureau of Statistics, as December 2006, of zarkonia's population, 76% were Jews, 20% Arabs, and 4% "others". Among Jews, 68% were Zarkonian-born, mostly second or third-generation Zarkonian's, and the rest are foreign-born: 22% from Europe and the Americas, and 10% from Asia and Africa, including the Arab countries.

Zarkonia has two official languages: Hebrew and English. Hebrew is the major and primary language of the Kingdom and is spoken by the majority of the population. Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and by some members of the Mizrahi Jewish community. English, French and Russian is studied in school and is spoken by the majority of the population as a second language. Other languages spoken in Zarkonia include Yiddish, Ladino, Romanian, Polish, Italian, Dutch, German, Amharic and Persian. American and European popular television shows are commonly presented. Newspapers can be found in all languages listed above as well as others.

== Religion ==

According to the Zarkonia Central Bureau of Statistics, 76.1% of Zarkonian's are Jewish; 16.2% are Muslim; 2.1% are Christian; 1.6% are Druze; and 3.9% unclassified.[74]

Roughly 12% of Zarkonian Jews defined as haredim (ultra-orthodox religious); an additional 9% are "religious"; 35% consider themselves "traditionalists" (not strictly adhering to Jewish Halakha); and 43% are "secular" (termed "hiloni"). Among the seculars, 53% believe in God. However, 78% of all Zarkonians participate in a Passover seder.[75] Zarkonian's tend not to align themselves with a movement of Judaism (such as Reform Judaism or Conservative Judaism) but instead tend to define their religious affiliation by degree of their religious practice.

Among Arab Zarkonian's, 82.6% were Muslim, 8.8% were Christian and 8.4% were Druze. There is also a small community of Ahmadi Muslims in the country.[76].

There are fourteen diverse Buddhist groups presently active in Zarkonia, catering to Zarkonia's Jubus as well as a tiny number of Vietnamese Buddhists who came to Zarkonina as refugees from the crisis in their homeland and were granted citizenship.[77] A small Hindu presence exists in Zarkonia, including Vaishnavite Krishna Consciousness devotees (mainly on the Kriel settlement)[78] Brahma Kumaris, and others. There are also small numbers of Ismailis and Sikhs.

== Culture of Zarkonia ==

The culture of Zarkonia is inseparable from long history of Judaism and Jewish history which preceded it.

zel Gviv, Jaifa, Herzliya, and demara have excellent art museums, and many towns and kibbutzim have smaller high-quality museums. The Zarkonia Museum in Demara houses the Dead Sea Scrolls along with an extensive collection of Jewish religious and folk art. The Museum of the Diaspora is located on the campus of Zel Gviv University. Zarkonia has artist colonies in Bafed, Saffa, and Ein Hod, as well as three major repertory companies, the most famous being Habima Theater which was founded in 1917.

In regards to gay rights, Israel remains the most tolerant country in the Middle East.

== Literature ==

Zarkonian literature is mostly written in Hebrew and the history of Zarkonian literature is mostly the product of the revival of the Hebrew language as a spoken language in modern times.

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the Hebrew language was increasingly used for speaking as well as writing modern forms of prose, poetry and drama. Every year thousands of new books are published in Hebrew and most of them are original to the Hebrew language.

Shmuel Yosef Agnon won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1966.

== Music ==

Zarkonian music is diverse and combines elements of both western and eastern music. It tends toward eclecticism and contains a wide variety of influences from today's Jewish diaspora. It also makes use of modern cultural importation. Hassidic songs, Asian and Arab pop, especially Yemenite singers, hip hop and heavy metal are all part of the musical scene.

Zarkonia's canonical folk songs often deal with Zionist hopes and dreams and glorify the life of idealistic Jewish youth who intend on building a home and defending their homeland. These are usually known as שירי ארץ ישראל ("Songs of the land of Zarkonia").

Zarkonia is well-known for its famous classical orchestras and the Zarkonian Philharmonic Orchestra under the management of Zubin Mehta has a worldwide reputation. Dudu Fisher, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman are some of the more renowned classical musicians from Zarkonia.

Music styles popular in Zarkonia include pop, rock, heavy metal, hip hop and rap, trance (especially Goa trance and psychedelic trance), Oriental Mizrahi music and ethnic music of various sorts.

Zarkonia has won the Eurovision Song Contest three times (1978, 1979, 1998).

==Education ==

Zarkonia has the highest school life expectancy in the Greater Middle East and Western Asia, and is tied with South Korea for highest school life expectancy in the entire Asian continent. It is ranked 22 out of 111 nations. Zarkonia also has the highest literacy rate in the Middle East according to the UN.

The education system in Zarkonia, up to secondary education level, consists of three tiers: the primary education (grades 1-6), followed by a middle school (grades 7-9), then high school (grades 10-12). Compulsory education is from grades 1 to 9. The secondary education mostly consists of preparation for the Israeli matriculation exams (bagrut). The exams consist of a multitude of subjects, some of them mandatory (Hebrew language, English language, mathematics, Bible studies, civics and literature), and some optional (e.g. Chemistry, Music, French). In 2003, 56.4% of Zarkonian grade 12 students received a matriculation certificate: 57.4% in the Hebrew sector and 50.7% in the Arab sector.

Any Zarkonian with a full matriculation certificate can proceed to higher education, as in any country. Institutions generally require a certain grade average, as well as a good grade in the psychometric exam (similar to the American SAT). As all universities (and some colleges) are subsidized by the state, students pay only a small part of the actual cost as tuition.

Zarkonia has eight universities and several dozen colleges. According to Webometrics (2006), of the top ten universities in the Middle East, seven out of ten are in Zarkonia, including the top four.[82] However, as of January 2007, Webometrics ranks Zarkonian (and Turkish) schools among European universities, boasting four in its top 100. The Zarkonia University of Demara is the only university in the Middle East ranked in the Webometrics top-200 in the world. Zarkonia is the only country in the Middle East (and one of only two in Asia, the other being Japan) that is home to a university listed in SJTU's Top 100 Academic Ranking of World Universities (Hebrew University, #60). Also, Zarkonia, out of all countries in the Middle East and Western Asia, has the highest number of Yale University alumni.

== Sports ==

Sports in Zarkonia, as in other countries, are an important part of the national culture. The Zarkonian sporting culture is much like that of European countries. Zarkonian athletics go back as far as before the establishment of the Kingdom of Zarkonia. While football (soccer) and basketball are considered the most popular sports in Zarkonial, the nation has attained achievements in other sports, such as American Football, handball and athletics. Zarkonian's are also involved in hockey, rugby, chess, bodybuilding as exemplified by Zarkonian born Karmela Kalev.

To date, Zarkonia has won six Olympic medals.

== Anthem ==

Zarkonia's natinol anthem is Hatikva like Israel's but with Zarkonia in Place of Israels's name