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Bettia (pronounced bɛtiˈə; Arabic: Al-Batiyah; French: la Bettie) is a nation situated in the centre of the small continent of Luciterra, which is located to the south of Atlantian Oceania. Bettia shares land borders with its puppet nation Northern Bettia to the north, and with the area to the north-east formerly known as Cockbill Street. Elsewhere, it shares land borders with the New Montreal States to the west and the former nation of Hypocria to the east, with the Crystalikere Channel and Secocia Sea providing maritime borders to the north and south respectively. Bettia is renowned for its natural beauty, preserved through the environmentally-friendly policies of its provincial governments.
The country consists of seven provinces, with the capital Gabalfa located in the centre. The majority of Bettians are Muslim and the country operates as a decentralised Islamic democracy. Bettia was the regional delegate for Atlantian Oceania on two separate occasions, and is a member of the Atlantian Oceania Regional Defense Organisation (AORDO). It has also become known as a sporting nation, with its national football team becoming noted for their playing style and winning the World Cup on two occasions.
Prehistory
The earliest evidence of human occupation within what is now Bettia are human remains dated from around 15000 years ago, found on the central parts of Gwlad Teg. A number of cave paintings depicting men and what appear to be domesticated Aroras hunting Woolly Mammoths have been found in this area. Numerous primitive artefacts have also been discovered in the Banastran rainforests.
Establishment of Islam and trade routes
Islam is first recorded being practised in the country in 247 AH (861 Common Era). Society gradually developed in all parts of the country as a number of small kingdoms and sultanates until 624 AH (1227 CE) when Sultan Amir of Gabalfa and his western allies triumphed in a war against King James III of Clodien and conquered his lands. A royal charter was drawn up to combine these conquered lands with their own to effectively create a single nation, the nation of Bettia, albeit with smaller borders than today.
Secularisation and revolution
Muslim and Jewish communities in Gabalfa banded together to organise an official opposition movement named the Bettian Religious Freedom Party, aimed at establishing a true democracy with the freedom to worship as its central doctrine. Overwhelming public support for the resistance meant that the nation's government was overthrown for the second time in less than a century. A new Islamic Republic was established during a revolution known as the Ahlil-Kitab (People of the Book) Revolution.
Present-day republic
Following the revolution, Bettia stabilised under democracy. It officially entered the region of Atlantian Oceania and cultivated a number of strong alliances and friendships, particularly with its immediate neighbours Nedalia and Hypocria. An epidemic of Arora flu affected a large proportion of the population. Despite this disruption, the nation was still the regional delegate in the World Assembly. It was only after the disease was finally under control that the quarantine was officially lifted and Bettia was able to re-establish its international ties.
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