Cildania

Cildania (Gziri: Qildanja), officially Kingdom of Cildania (Qildari: םםלך של קלדר, Gziri: Renju ta-Qildanja), is an island nation considered to be part of the continent of Majatra. Al'Badara lies to the south-east with Selucia to the north-west, both of which are also island nations. To the east is Saridan which is part of the continent of Seleya.

Etymology
The term Cildania derives from the ancient name of the most-important city-states of the Qedarites, Qart Qildar, today capital of Cildania. The civilization and the Qedarite Empire created by the city were named after it.

Geography


The island of Cildania consists of a rocky mountainous interior surrounded by a flat fertile coastal plain. The climate of Cildania varies with altitude and latitude. Despite around half of the island experiencing a sub-tropical climate the far north of the island is home to equatorial and tropical conditions and Cildania's highland peaks endure heavy seasonal snowfall.

Government


Cildania is a Constitutional Parliamentary Monarchy. The government is headed by the Prime Minister who is elected directly by the people and act and lead the executive representing the head of state, the King of Cildania. Legislative power belongs to the Parliament of Cildania, a 300-member body elected every four years by universal suffrage which has the task to appoint the cabinet which will assist the elected Prime Minister.

States
Cildania is divided into six autonomous and States, each headed by an Governeur. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Cildania in 3978, the original five subdivisions of the country became six, with the establishment of a separate State of Velieres covering the so-called Velieres Strip, an area of Seluco-Cildanian majority. A separate Velieres province had been proposed centuries before, but this was the first time that idea was implemented in practice.

Defence
Cildania enjoys the protection of a well trained, equipped, and paid military. The Armed Forces of Cildania are divided into four co-dependent branches:
 * Cildanian Army
 * Cildanian Navy
 * National Cildanian Airforce
 * Sacred Band

International Relations
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Cildania, excluding honorary consulates:

Artania

 * Dorvik
 * Luthori
 * Malivia

Dovani

 * Dranland
 * New Englia

Keris

 * Trigunia

Majatra

 * Beiteynu
 * Selucia
 * Badara
 * Istalia
 * Zardugal
 * Vanuku
 * Solentia
 * Cobura
 * Kafuristan

Seleya

 * Valruzia
 * Gaduridos
 * Saridan

Multilateral organizations
Since 4266 Cildania is member of the Majatran Alliance.

Economy
Cildania has elements of a modern mixed economy, having both heavy industry as well as a thriving technological sector. Agriculture is the most important element in the economy, with crops being grown for local consumption as well as export. The fishing industry is well established consisting of mainly small to medium sized firms.

Cildania produces many world-renound wines, such as the Echo Valley Red. Tabacco production dominates the north-west while Helibon booms on the back of coal mines and offshore oil.

One of the largest hi-tech employers in the country is Hydrotech Industries which specialises in renewable energy especially tidal and dam based generation.

There are significant oil reserves off the southern coast in the Sea of Majatra, these are currently being exploited by the Offshore Industry Limited Company (OILC) A government-owned company, the Alliance of Oil and Energy Worker's Unions (AOEWU), and The Imperial Cildanian Energy Corporation is the country's largest energy company.

Cildania also have an extensive defence technology and defence industry, two of the largest defence industries are the Cildanian Imperial Military Industries and ImpCorp Aerospace a sub branch of the ImpCorp .

Transport and Travel
Cildania has a large efficient and well integrated national transport network. Thanks to extensive ferry links this is also tied in to neighbouring countries. The national highway network is in the process of being modernised, while it successfully links all the major towns and cities, and most minor ones, it is prone to delays and traffic jams especially at rush hour. It is a sore point for some that although built with taxpayer's money the highways mostly charge tolls for use. All provincial and local governments maintain their own roads and usually charge lower tolls than the national government. There is an extensive high speed rail network that is fully state owned and operated by CilRail that national rail company, it tends to be expensive, but is considered to provide one of the most comfortable rail experiences in the world. Many municipalities run their own local elevated or underground light rail network, though some of these are old and crumbling and have been sold off to private companies.

Media
The Cildanian media was historically dominated by the Circle Corporation which held a virtual monopoly over Television and Radio media as well as owning the majority of the Tabloids, for many years. A notable exception were the The Morning Sunrise newspaper, and Cilavision TV. Now the media is state controlled, and censorship prevents independent expression.

Ethnicities
Cildania has an ethnically and religiously diverse society. Two majority ethnicities dominated Cildania, the Qildaris [descendants of the Ancient Qedarites (Semites)] and the Hebileans, while Yeudis, Majatrans and Seluco-Cildanians constitute significant minorities. Together the Qildaris, Hebileans, Cildanian Majatrans, Seluco-Cildanians, and Cildanian Yeudis are considered to constitute the Cildanian ethnicity. Ethnic differences between the Cildanian component groups have in time lessened, particularly as a result of the destructive effects of the Cildanian Civil War, which affected the dominant urban Qildari ethnicity far more than all others. The internal displacement of millions of refugees during the war, the decline of the old middle class, the immigration of large numbers of Majatrans from Badara, the decades of Hebilean independence, the rise of a new multi-ethnic middle class after reunification, as well as deliberate government policy all resulted in the rapid loss of fluency in the Qildari language and the emergence of the local Cildanian dialects of Selucian and Majatran as inter-ethnic languages of communication, culminating in the rise and eventual adoption of Gziri, a local Selucian-influenced dialect of Majatran, as the Cildanian national language. The emergence of a new multi-lingual and multi-ethnic elite in the aftermath of Cildanian unification had the effect of lessening the cultural differences between the ethnic groups on the island, but it also led to a linguistic split between a Selucian-centred west and a Majatran east.


 * 85% Cildanians (including Qildaris, Hebileans, Cildanian Majatrans, Seluco-Cildanians, Cildanian Yeudis, and others)
 * 4% Majatran Asli
 * 2% Other Majatrans
 * 2% Other Selucians
 * 2% Augustans
 * 1% Turjaks
 * 1% Kalopians
 * 3% Other

Religions
All three major Qedarite (OOC: Abrahamic) faiths have the large presence and long history in Cildania, Yeudism was founded in the region by a Qedarite prophet, originally as an offshoot of the polytheistic Qedarite religion practiced on the island at the time, and it retains a major presence in Cildania; the community grew further when many Yeudish people found refuge in Cildania during the Qedarite Republic, leading to a significant community in Cildania. Hosianism became the dominant religion in Cildania in the 9th century due to the missionary efforts of the Kathuran Saint Sebastian, and Cildania has been a major centre of Eastern Hosianism ever since. Ahmadism too has been present in Cildania since its founding, and the nation played a major part in the history of the religion, due to its centuries-long conflict with the rising Caliphate and alliance with the Kingdom of Arakhim.

Before the emergence of Yeudism and Hosianism, Cildania followed the polytheistic religion of the ancient Qedarite pantheon, which received official patronage under the Qedarite Empire. The elastic and syncretic nature of religion in ancient Qedar remains visible to this day in the beliefs and practices of Selucian Paganism from neighboring Selucia, whose main deity, Sol Lucidus, originated as a Qedarite god.

Actual religious composition:
 * 73% Hosianism (69% Apostolic Church of the Isles, 2% Aurorian Patriarchal Church, 2% Other)
 * 13% Irregious
 * 8% Ahmadism
 * 4% Yeudism
 * 3% Other

Apostolic Church of the Isles
The Apostolic Church of the Isles is the major denomination of Hosianism within Cildania and the dominant religion of the nation both in presence, demographics and its role in Cildanian history and nationalism. The Church of the Isles was created in 3981 as the merger of the Apostolic Department of Cildania and the Badaran Apostolic Church. The Church is an autocephalous (independent) Eastern Hosian Church based in Cildania, with members spread throughout the world. Eastern-rite Hosianism came to the island from nearby Kathuristan in Barmenia and quickly established itself. The Church of the Isles uses Kathuran as its official and liturgical language, but in practice the vernacular languages (Gziri, Majatran, Selucian, Qildari, Hebilean) are far more frequently used. The church is led by the Patriarch of Qart Qildar. The Synod of Qart Qildar that created the Church of the Isles also granted its Patriarch the primacy of honor in the Eastern Hosian Communion, recognizing its increasingly central role in Apostolic affairs. For most of its earlier history however, the Department of Cildania was very inward-looking and on domestic and internal Departmental policy was entirely autonomous and differed significantly in a great number of points from the other Apostolic Churches, although it used to see itself as the superior church. The Church of the Isles is traditionally on the more conservative wing of the Eastern Rite and is Unitarian and Patriotic and, in Cildania, it retains much from the pre-Hosian Hebilean mythology and Proto-Qedarite Polytheism as well as a long record of divergence from the 'lesser branches' of the Eastern Rite, usually stemming from Cildanian exceptionalism. In time, especially after the recognition of Cildania's central role in the Apostolic Church of the East, these differences have lessened to some extent, although the Church of the Isles diverges somewhat from the liturgical practices of the Barmenian Apostolic Church, the other Western Kathuran Eastern Church, by the incorporation of Selucian elements and far greater use of the vernacular languages.

The current Patriarch of Cildania is David VIII.

Yeudism
Yeudism has always had a major presence in Cildania, the birthplace of its founder. This is also due to the fact that Cildania has traditionally been very open and accepting of the Yeudish people provided they put their Yeudish identity secondary to their Cildanian identity. To this day, the Cildanian Yeudi community remains an integral part of Cildanian culture, and the Yeudish minority consist of around 4% of the population.

Ahmadism
The presence of Ahmadism in Cildania dates to the early years of the religion. When Ahmadism was founded in Barmenistan, many Ahmadis faced persecution for their faith, several of whom finding refuge in the Cildanian principalities. Later on, the Ahmadi population in Cildania grew as a result of trade, as well as the presence of a large number of Majatran slaves. Following the Cildanian Civil War many more Ahmadis settled in Cildania, especially those fleeing the conflicts and massacres in neighboring Badara. The Ahmadi community in Cildania is distinguished by its relatively liberal nature, and most Ahmadis are fairly secular. A majority of Ahmadis in Cildania belong to the Israist school, and in Cildania the religion is closely connected to the Majatran ethnicity, although there are also numerous Hebilean and Qildari Ahmadis.

Irreligion
Non-believers have always retained a sizable minority within Cildania, often being the second largest religious group after Departmental Hosianism. Historically this his been accredited to the political dominance of the Department, especially in Akinawa and Hebilon and to the close ties between the Department and right wing nationalism in Cildania although in recent centuries foreign influences and secularism have taken the brunt of the blame.

Culture
The basis of Cildanian culture is formed by the mixing of cultures of the Ancient Hebilean tribes and the city-states of the Qedarites, as influenced by centuries of Cildanian history and most significantly, the Apostolic Department of Cildania. It also includes significant influences from continental Majatran and Selucian cultures, along with those of recent immigrants. Important festivals include Saint Sebastian's Day, First Sunrise and Divine Kingdom Day. More esoteric and exotic celebrations are held in several of the larger centres and the cantons retain strong traditions from before unification. The music and cuisine of Cildania are similar to that of other nations in Majatra, although both have some distinct Cildanian qualities.