Haralkia

Haralkia
Flag Emblem
Motto: “Autonomy Above All”
Region	New Warsaw Pact
Capital	Akkan
Largest city	Sutel
Official Language(s)	Haralqui
National Animal	Black-banded Lynx
Demonym	Haralquian
Government	Jauchi autocracy Single-party state
- Shouxa	Kokina Hahras
Establishment
- Unification under the Pahak Dynasty	April 18, 560 BCE
- Rui Reformation	May 24, 1820
Area
- Total	≈180,000 km2
- % water	3%
Population	≈42,000,000
GDP
- Total	≈$252 billion
- Per capita	≈$6,000
HDI rating	0.620 (medium)
Currency	Kimma (Km)
Timezone	(+10 GMT)
- Summer (DST)	not in use
NS NSTracker Sunset XML

Haralkia (Har-al-kee-yah, sometimes transcribed as Haralquia) is a sovereign state in east New Warsaw Pact. It is among the older nations in New Warsaw Pact, but has so far avoided any major involvement in regional affairs. Haralkia's 'official' classification changes regularly between 'Iron Fist Consumerists' and 'Father Knows Best State', but neither of these really captures the more-than-slightly unusual nature of the Haralkian autocracy. Haralkia is similar in many ways to North Korea, without the pretensions to Socialism, or Edo Period Japan, but in the modern era; 'isolationist' scarcely even begins to describe the Haralkian national character. Very little reliable information about the country is available to foreigners; even the most basic facts, such as the population size and the state of the economy, are derived more from educated guesswork than officially-released information.

Contents 1 History 2 Government and Politics 3 Foreign Relations and Military 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Culture 7 Out-of-Character Note 8 See Also

History

The isolated region of modern Haralkia has been inhabited since prehistory. Inhabitants of the area have had discernibly unique 'Haralkian' cultures and ways of life as far back as historical records have been discovered; outside ways were slow to trickle in when they did at all. For most of its 'civilized' history the region was home to dozens, even hundreds of tiny, squabbling fiefdoms, until around 200-500AD, when the group known as the Haralkis began to gain cultural, political and military dominance. Eventually, all the people of the region considered themselves 'Haralkis'.

This united national character became galvanised by many, many conflicts with Haralkia's nearest international neighbour and most hated enemy, Triuvia. Actual territorial gains and losses were negligible over the centuries-long grudge, which today has, if anything, only intensified, but it certainly contributed to Haralkia's impressive culture of paranoia. During the era of international exploration, trade and, eventually, rampant colonialism, Haralkia's fear and distrust of outsiders expanded to include the entire world - all foreign trade was eventually restricted to one artificial island in the harbour of Pekqui, and any foreigners discovered anywhere else without the explicit blessing of the emperor were killed on the spot.Despite the hostile attitude toward all things foreign, Haralkia did undergo a rapid industrial revolution and scientific enlightenment; in fact, they quite readily embraced these new ideas and soon fitted them in to their rigid national religion/philosophy. The hostility to outsiders, however, remained as strong as ever.

During the Great War of the 1920's, the new Grand Army of Triuvia attacked, and for the first time in history, successfully conquered Haralkia. The centuries of pent-up mutual hatred made it a particularly brutal conquest, and the Triuvian Shah openly expressed his intentions to 'eradicate' the Haralkians. They had made no small progress toward this brutal goal by the end of the war, when the Triuvians' ill-fated attempt to invade Aezakmi failed disastrously, and the Aezaks' counter-attack forced a surrender. With Aezak support, the Haralkian resistance had managed to drive the remnants of the Grand Army out of their country, and to this day Aezakmi remains one of the only countries that Haralkia will even teach children the existence of.

Government and Politics

Haralkia is an autocratic regime, headed by the Emperor who not only rules by divine right, but is actually considered part-God and forms the centre of Haralkian religion. Administration is mostly handled by the Emperor's bureaucracy, containing many sub-agencies but known collectively as the Salgwat.

Foreign Relations and Military

Haralkia infamously does not have any foreign relations at all if it can possibly avoid it. The nation is completely, even fanatically devoted to isolationism; foreigners are not allowed in and Haralkians are not allowed out, the economy is in a rigid state of almost total autarky, learning a foreign language is forbidden and even looking at something written in a foreign language can land a person in prison.

Accordingly, a disproportionate chunk of the national budget is spent on the military, particularly on border defence. The Haralkian-Triuvian border is one of the most fortified places in existence. It is said that the fortifications are so extensive that a patient person could travel from one end of the Haralkian border to the other - more than 1000 kilometres - without once going above ground. This is probably an exaggeration, but given the state of Haralkian relations to the outside world, it is impossible to be certain.

Geography

A look at Haralkia's geography makes it easy to see why the culture became isolated. Haralkia basically consists of a large, southwest-northeast oriented peninsula, joined to the mainland in the northeast by a relatively narrow but very mountainous stretch of land. The north coastal region of the peninsula is likewise highly mountainous and rugged; most of the coast is sheer, craggy cliffs which face onto a cold, continuously storm-tossed ocean. The central and southern parts of the peninsula are flatter and more fertile, and face onto the relatively calm Haralkian Sea. Unfortunately this sea is formed by a dense archipelago of small, mountainous and rocky islands, which forms a rough semicircle from the western tip of the peninsula to the mainland near the border. Safe passages through this hull-tearing labyrinth of ragged rocks are rare, difficult to navigate and rigorously guarded. The entire landscape of the Haralkian peninsula is a formidable natural fortress, and it seems to have impressed an extreme fortress mentality on its inhabitants.

Economy

With so little information readily available, it is difficult to precisely assess the relative size of the Haralkian economy, but the available evidence suggests that compared to modern developed nations Haralkia is fairly poor. Haralkia's population is thought to be quite well-educated, at least in terms of professional skills, and the Haralkian general population is relatively well-fed and healthy. Innovators and entrepreneurs are respected and encouraged; while there is extensive state control over the major industries, small, local-level businesses are apparently common and thriving. Even so, much of the country's infrastructure is outdated (particularly in terms of small electronics), there are many things that Haralkia cannot produce but will not import, and the domestic market is more or less stagnant since most Haralkians have very little 'disposable income'.

The country's industrial and agricultural productivity is severely limited by the almost complete ban on exports - small quantities of rare minerals or similar commodities are occasionally exported to Aezakmi, the country's sole trading partner, and Haralkia does occasionally import Aezak goods, mostly in order to study them and, if possible, produce them domestically. The Aezak government does not object to this practice; Haralkia receives quite a lot of discreet support from Aezakmi, mostly in the form of medicines and, significantly, weapons. Aezakmi views Haralkia as a bulwark against international Triuvian aggression. Compared to Triuvia, at least, the average Haralkian commoner is healthy, wealthy and secure.

Culture

Jauchiism is usually cited as the 'national religion' of Haralkia, although it is more accurately described as a national philosophy, or way of life. Like anything to do with Haralkia, foreign access to information is extremely limited, but, unusually, Haralkia did permit Dr. Josik Hobengravt, one of the handful of foreigners ever allowed into the country, to author and publish a short book on the nation's culture in 1904, titled Across the Forbidden Nation. According to Dr. Hobengravt, the simplest definition of Jauchiism is 'the Haralkian way'; there are no converts, no holy texts, no preachers and no prophets; anyone born in Haralkia is a follower of Jauchiism by default.

The fundamental principles of Jauchiism centre around society and how individuals fit into it. The idea of 'mutual existence' is central; Haralkians hold that individuals are formed by their society just as much as a society is formed by its individuals; one cannot exist without the other. Jauchiism also emphasises the concept of self-reliance: too much reliance on others is held to be weakening and undesirable, turning societies into predators and individuals into parasites. Haralkians therefore tend to place high value on personal health and the accumulation of knowledge and skills. Education is a high priority and tends to be very practical; for example, the ability to make or at least repair one's own clothes is seen as a basic self-reliance skill that every Haralkian should have.

One of the more 'religious' aspects of Jauchiism is its strong tradition of reverence for ancestors. Proper memorial of the past is seen as essential, and Haralquis take it very seriously. The National Archives of Haralkia are some of the largest and most comprehensive of their kind in the world, and most Haralkians can trace their ancestry back at least a thousand years or more. Haralkian funeral ceremonies are quite elaborate, and mostly involve ensuring that a proper memorial is set down; families and friends gather up their records, and the actual funeral service consists of lengthy and lively discussion on what should be most prominently archived. 'Funeral scribes' are always on hand to note down any significant and trustworthy anecdotes that are told of the deceased. Funerals for particularly famous or notorious Haralkians have been known to carry on for weeks, and funerals for particularly despicable criminals can stir up very heated controversies. The actual corpse is usually not of much concern to the proceedings, by tradition the cremation is finished before the 'funeral' even begins.

Out-of-Character Note

Haralkia is a 'puppet nation' to Aezakmi. However for all IC purposes, Haralkia is independent of Aezakmi; they are merely owned OOC by the same person.

See Also

Haralkia (NationStates)

New Warsaw Pact (NationStates)

New Warsaw Pact (NSWiki)

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Nations of the New Warsaw Pact
Nations: | Aezakmi | Altaggannah | Atheist Libertarians | Australien | Damanucus | Haralkia | Igomen Vudorii | Lower Hesse | Nullarni | Speculine | The Shinnian Islands | The Tempest of Taubate | Triuvia | Wonderchicken |
NEW WARSAW PACT Projects
| Joint Defence Acquisitions |
NWP Arbiter's Court Cases
| Australien v Nullarni | New Warsaw Pact v The Shinnian Islands |