NationStates Jolt Archive

The Republic of Orezia

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/7351/oreziamap1nw.png

KEY
Yellow lines indicate the highways of Orezia. At present, there are only a few in the country. The railway lines follow roughly the same track as the highways.
The dark green represents the very dense jungle which covers most of Orezia.
The olive areas indicate savannas and places of less forested areas.
The blue is the Atlantic Ocean and the rivers of Orezia. The northern river is the Frica River, while the southern is the Shiiti River.
The grey area to the east is the Nelson Mountain Range.


[OOC Note: This thread is a reference thread to the nation of Orezia. Please do not post in this thread. If you have questions, please ask them via telegram at NationStates (http://www.nationstates.net/orezia). Thank you in advance.]

Geography

Area: ~875,000 square kilometers
Cities: Etir (capital)( 2,800,000), Olana (1,600,000), Phiste (680,000), Haraam (500,000), Falson (250,000)
Terrain: Narrow coastal plain; hilly, heavily forested interior (about 92% forested); some savanna regions in northern and southern interior.
Climate: Hot and humid all year with one rainy season and three dry seasons.

People

Nationality: noun and adjective – Orezian
Population (2006 census): 7,000,000
Annual growth rate (based on 2006 census): 7,9%
Ethnic groups: Dwel (largest), Nzebi, Myene
Religions: Catholic (94%), Protestant (4%), Other (2%)
Languages: English (official), Dwel, Nzebi, Myene
Education: Years compulsory – to age 18. Attendance – 94%. Litteracy – 87%
Health: Infant mortality rate- 27/1,000. Life expectancy – 65 years
Work force (4,000,000 estimate): Agriculture – 42%; industry and commerce – 37%; services and government – 21%

Almost all Orezians are of Bantu origin. Orezia have at least four ethnic groups, with separate languages but for the most part almost identical cultures. The largest of these ethnic groups are the Dwel (approximately 69%), Other ethnic groups include the Nzebi and Myene. Ethnic group boundaries are almost non-existant in Orezia than elsewhere in Africa. English, the official language, is a unifying force. More than 90,000 people of English decent lives in Orezia, most of them having ties back to when Orezia was an English colony.

Government

Type: Republic
Independent: August 17, 1960
Constutition: April 5, 2006
Branches: Executive – President (head of state and government) and appointed Council of Ministers (current government of 21 appointed March 2, 2006). Legislative –legislature (Parliament). Judicial – Supreme Court
Administrative subdivisions: 9 provinces
Political Parties (including number of seats in Parliament elected in 2006) : Orezian People’s Party (58), Right-Side Party (17), Liberal Party (8), Labour Party (17), Left-Side Party (15), Independents (5)
Suffrage: 18 years

History

During the last eleven centuries, Bantu ethnic groups arrived in the area from several directions to escape enemies or find new land. Little is known of tribal life before European contact, but tribal art suggests rich cultural heritages. Orezia’s first encounter with European visitors were through English explorers who arrived in the 16th century. The coast became a center of ivory trade, and although some slave-trade was preformed, the Orezians resisted and killed anyone trying to capture slaves. Fighting in the very dense jungle, the Orezians prevailed and slavery was stopped in Orezia. It was through this resistance that the Orezians became known as fierce warriors and someone who should be treated well.

England assumed the status of protector by signing treaties with Orezian coastal chiefs in 1735 and implemented Orezia in the Second Empire as a colony in 1810. In 1859, Englishman James Taylor became the first to explore the interior of Orezia, and discovered that Orezia was a land filled with riches. In 1905, the first oil was found in Orezia, but due to the find being in the middle of the jungle, no expedition to try to extract the oil was successful. During World Wars I and II, Orezian soldiers fought on the side of the British as members of the Kings African Rifles regiment, and showed once again that Orezian warriors were men to be frightened of.

In 1960, Orezia achieved its independence as the British Empire crumbled. A council of leaders met and decided upon the form of which Orezia would be governed. They established a Parliament with 120 seats, and decided that the majority leader would be given the title of President and be made Head of State and Head of Government. The capital city of Etir, meaning “freedom” in the Orezian tribal language of Dwal, was founded as the new place where Orezia would be governed from, setting aside old strifes between the various ethnic groups. The first President of Orezia was Damien Mbali of the Labour Party. He entered office on May 1st, 1961 and started his first four-year term as President of Orezia.

For the next sixteen years, Mbali sat as President of Orezia, having been elected into office four times in a row. During these sixteen years, Mbali lifted Orezia from the quagmire it had been in since the British left and built a real model society. Poverty had been greatly reduced, people were in jobs, the crime was low, people got a decent education and everyone felt safe and happy to be Orezians. It was also during his rule that the vast natural resources of Orezia were discovered.

The constitution of the time allowed the President to be reelected three times, something which happened in the case of Mbali. However, when Mbali stepped down as President, things took a turn for the worse. The new government, headed by a coalition of the Communist Party and Labour, Communist Party leder Sam Llani tried to turn Orezia into a communist state. This started a fifteen year time of turmoil and disagreement in the government, civil unrest and repeated attempts by the government to turn Orezia into a communist country. This culminated with the establishment of a secret police based on the Soviet KGB in 1986 and the assassinations of several political figures in late 1991. In early 1992, the civil war was a fact. A group of disgruntled citizens started taking action against the government, leading to the government sending the Army against the rebels. Portions of the Army joined the rebels and the people started taking sides. One Orezian province, Aniile, took the opportunity of declaring their independence when the civil war broke out and established themselves as an independent nation.

For the next twelve years, Orezia was completely destroyed by the civil war. The once prosperous population of twelve million was slaughtered and the worst in man was displayed. The fierceness of the Orezian warriors was never doubted, but it was Orezian versus Orezian with the terrible results which it yealded. At the end of the civil war in 2004, more than five and a half million people had been killed and the society devestated. However, a peace treaty was signed and the surviving leaders of the former communist regime fled the country. Those who remained were killed by either the angry mobs or the victorious rebel Army.

After the war, Orezia started rebuilding. However, much of society had been destroyed and crime was rampant. Drug smugglers had started using Orezia as a link for their activities due to the geographical location of Orezia and the lack of law enforcement. With the establishment of the National Police Force, the interim government hoped to be able to eventually rid Orezia of crime.

In the elections in 2005, the first ones after the civil war, Orezian People’s Party leader Joseph Mbabwe was elected President at the head of a coalition government consisting of the Orezian People’s Party, the Right-Side Party and the Liberal Party. This coalition have the majority of the seats in Parliament, with some 83 seats. President Mbabwe quickly established diplomatic ties to foreign nations such as Aequatio, Cravan, Automagfreek, Bretling, McKagan and several others. He has also started allowing foreign companies to extract the natural resources in return for sorely needed funds in hard currency. There are also some talks about returning Aniile to Orezia, if necessary by force. That will have to wait until Orezia is strong enough to manage itself though.

Military

Please refer to the Orezian Armed Forces (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=478007)' presentation for information on the Orezian military and the equipment which it uses.