NationStates Jolt Archive

Zeal Without Knowledge is Fire Without Light

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/the_united_taifas__0.jpg

The United Taifas

Background

To all intents and purposes, the history of the United Taifas begins early in the second decade of the eighth century, with the Umayyad conquest of Iberia. The history of Al'Andalus in the generations following this conquest is well known, and it is on only the southern three quarters of the Atlantic coastline of this peninsula that said history survives in living form.

Following the fall of Al'Andalus as a unified entity, the Moorish lands that covered most of Iberia were consolidated under a great many Taifas, or minor kingdoms, all independent and none able individually to repulse the hostile interest of the Catholic kingdoms to the north, nor indeed successive Muslim empires of the Maghreb. Early in the eleventh century, civil war shattered the Muslim lands and ruined the Umayyad Córdoba Caliphate that had previously come to prominence, and so dawned the first era of the Taifas. Catholic aggression prompted some to invite help from the Maghreb, successively the Almoravid and Almohad Caliphates, which only resulted in conquest by these more reactionary Muslims, disgusted as they were by the debauched liberalism they perceived in Al'Andalus.

Catholic-dominated Portugal wasted little time in establishing itself as a global power by maritime might, and, though Catholics were matched in number by Hebrew citizens and both were swamped by Muslims, Catholic Portuguese culture was carried to South America, Africa, and East Asia, impacting upon the whole world.

In 1755, however, a catastrophic earthquake approaching a magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale struck Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. Tens of thousands perished, and the quake was felt as far away as Scandinavia. Up to one fifth of the city's population may have perished in the quake and the fires and tsunamis that followed. The fact that the quake struck on the Catholic holiday of All Saints Day was not lost on the increasingly despondent Muslim majority, which lept upon this opportunity for revolt. The city's cathedral and the Basilicas of São Paulo, Santa Catrina, São Vicente de Fora, and other churches were totally destroyed by the disaster, and many took this as evidence of the corruption of the empire and a sign that it was time to drive the Christians back out of Al Andalus.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/Chivtv/NS1/Lisbon1755hangingdetail.jpg
*Catholics are hanged in the aftermath as a great 'witch-hunt' sweeps the decimated region

The revolt by the Muslim majority took on an ordered form through long-underground religious leadership and contacts in the similarly persecuted Jewish community, from where significant funds were derived for a major campaign to drive Catholicism out of Portugal. The effort to restore Muslim control over Iberia fell short, but as the tsunami receeded and the dust of war settled, what had briefly been Portugal was once more divided between numerous Muslim Taifas, and a land where Muslims, Jews, and, in time, Christians could all live, if not always as absolute equals, then at least without fear of deadly persecution.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/Chivtv/NS1/538px-Higueruela.jpg
Muslim and Jewish soldiers fight side by side to drive back the Catholic elite

Factbook-
Geography, People, Government (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14253130&postcount=4)
Military (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14259294&postcount=5)
Economy (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14259300&postcount=6)
Society and Culture (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14325997&postcount=9)
Notes (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14259303&postcount=7)

*Again, thanks for the hosting that I couldn't be bothered to set up, sir.

I love it. It explains everything that it needs to. Now, I just want to know what this nation looks like now.

Wow, you and I are not going to get along AT ALL! The only thing we really have going for each other is that we're both monarchies, but aside from that, I don't think either of us would pull any punches. Too bad I'm many times bigger than you and right on your doorstep. This will be interesting.

Geography

Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Roman Empire
Geographic coordinates: 39 30 N, 8 00 W
Area: total- 92,391 sq km land- 91,951 sq km water- 440 sq km
Borders: Roman Empire, 1,214km
Coastline: 1,793km
Climate: maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south
Terrain: mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in the south
Elevation extremes: Atlantic Ocean 0m, Jabal al-Nour (Azores) 2,351m
Natural resources: iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, fish, forests, arable land, hydropower
Land use: arable land- 17.29% permanent crops- 7.84% other- 74.87%
Irrigated land: 6,500 sq km
Natural hazards: Azores subject to severe earthquakes
Environmental issues: soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas
Geography note: Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar

People

Population: 10,676,910
Growth rate: 0.305%
Life expectancy: total population- 78 years male- 74.75 years female- 81.5 years
Nationality: Andalusian, Taifan
note- particular sub-nationality granted to residents of particular Taifas
Languages: Arabic primary language of state; Hebrew, Portuguese, Mirandese official; English widely understood in cities; Latin, Spanish often taught as second or third languages
Ethnic groups: Widespread mixing of races over several centuries and self misidentification by many people of Berber stock as Arab, as well as a lack of relevant surveys in many Taifas make compilation of accurate data impossible. Berber, mixed Mediterranean stock, Arab, Jewish, black African, and other European populations all exist in varying degrees of assimilation
Religions: Muslim 84%, Jewish 7%, Roman Catholic 5%, other Christian 2%, other or none 2%
Literacy: total- 99% male- 99.5% female- 98.5%
Education expenditure: 7.8% of GDP

Government

Country name: conventional long form- The United Taifas of Al Andalus conventional short form- The United Taifas local long form- Al'Tawā'if al'Andalus al'Muttahidah local short form- Al'Andalus abbreviation- UTA
Government type: federal Sultanate with specified powers delegated to Sultan of the UTA and other powers reserved to the Emirs of the member Taifas
Capital: Al'Išbūnah (Lisboa, Lisbon)
Independence: 27th November, 1755- first restored Taifa (Balata) proclaimed
Executive branch: Chief of State- Sultan Abu Saifullah Abdulhadi Wafi ibn Sabur al'Andalusi Head of Government- Sultan Abu Saifullah Abdulhadi Wafi ibn Sabur al'Andalusi Heir Apparent- Al'Cid Abdulfattah Saifullah ibn Wafi ibn Sabur al'Andalusi Cabinet- Supreme Federal Council comprised of the 9 Emirs and veto-holding Chief Vizir, who is appointed by the Sultan
Legislative branch: National Federal Council comprised of 18 Ministers appointed by the Emirs, which reviews but can not change legislation
Judicial branch: Union Supreme Court comprised of judges appointed by the Sultan

Military - Jeish al'Andalus

Manpower fit for service: males age 16-49- 2,099,647 females age 16-49- 2,060,559
Manpower serving: active- 75,000 (45,000 volunteer, 30,000 conscript ), reserve- 225,000, Paramilitary- 50,000
Expenditure: 5.25% of GDP, US$14bln
Branches: Army including Army Aviation, Air Force including Air Defence Force, Navy including Marines

Overview: The Jeish al'Andalus, the national armed forces of Al'Andalus, is organised under the supreme authority of the Sultan, who is Commander-in-Chief. Manpower is raised by the Emirs on a Taifa-by-Taifa basis, with significant national prestige afforded to those rulers who manage to fill the largest portions of their federally-mandated recruitment quota with volunteers rather than conscripts. The Taifas also compete to be known as home to the finest warriors, and several support independent arms industries that attempt to better one another with new equipment offerings, sometimes engaging competing foreign firms in extravagant attempts to out-do their rivals. Facing the overwhelming numbers of a hostile Roman Empire, Lisboa has been unable to end conscription, but retains -partly through the above mentioned mechanisms- a high proportion of professional recruits, and enforces a significant reserve obligation on former professionals and conscripts. Spending is high, but not cripplingly so, and a strong domestic arms industry -necessitated by centuries of cultural and attendant political, economic, and military isolation- turns out equipment at lower cost than would be the case were the nation entirely reliant on arms imports.

Army
Manpower: active- 50,000 reserve- 220,000

Air Force
Manpower: active- 10,000 reserve- 4,000

Navy
Manpower: active- 15,000 reserve- 1,000

Economy

GDP per capita (PPP): US$24,000
GDP (PPP): $267bln
GDP real growth rate: 3%
Labour force: 5.618 million
Budget: US$110bln
Agricultural products: fish; grain, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, swine, poultry, dairy products
Industries: textiles, clothing, footwear, wood and cork, paper, chemicals, auto-parts manufacturing, base metals, dairy products, wine, porcelain and ceramics, glassware, telecommunications, ship construction and refurbishment, defence equipment, tourism
Oil production: 9,500 bbl/day
Oil consumption: 290,000 bbl/day
Natural gas consumption: 3.5 billion cu m
Exports: US$60bln
Export commodities: agricultural products, food products, wine, oil products, chemical products, plastics and rubber, skins and leather, wood and cork, wood pulp and paper, textiles, clothing, footwear, minerals and mineral products, base metals, machinery and tools, vehicles and transportation equipment, optical equipment
Imports: US$65bln
Import commodities: oil and gas, fuels, minerals, base metals, household goods, automobiles, food products
Trade partners: descending order- Britain and Empire, Germany and Cassanos, Scandinavia, US, BDR, Roman Empire

Notes

-If anyone wants to offer pointers or corrections on Arabic or other personal or place names, even that of the nation itself, please send me a telegram!

-List of trade partners preliminary and exclusive of NPC nations. The lack of active Muslim nations presents something of a problem that I hope may be rectified in time. I have assumed that some trade would persist with Rome despite a history of poor relations, but have kept it to a relatively low level. Trade passed both ways through the so-called Iron Curtain during the Cold War, and I don't see why it wouldn't cross the inner-Iberian frontier, too. If Rome chooses to seal the border, that will be another matter. I considered contacting each player individually, but that seemed close to spamming, and I didn't want to be waiting on replies from one or more just so that I could make a factbook post. If you want to discuss these preliminary OOC assumptions, once again, please telegram me!

Well, I don't see any problem. More trade for me!

Society and Culture

Overview

Andalusian society is famous the world over for the many triumphs of its high cultural life. For several centuries the nine Taifas and their princely dynasties have vied for recognition of their artistic and scientific supremacy over one another, and this has resulted in many marvels beyond compare. Most obvious are the architectural jewels of the princely palaces, public and royal gardens, madrasahs, and great mosques, as well as public fountains and other monuments and statues, military facilities with all the aesthetic weight of medieval castles, and sporting stadiums that often over-shadow the competitions and displays hosted within.

Background

Though there was a time, following the Almohad invasion, in which his name was all but a heretical utterance, the ideas of Abū 'l-Walīd Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rushd -known in Christian Europe as Averroes- were belatedly reappraised during the Muslim resurgence in western Iberia. Though religious conservatism has reared its head at numerous time in various Taifas over the subsequent quarter of a millenium, a sort of analytical Islam and scientific rationalism have generally prevailed in Al'Andalus ever since.

Amir Santarémi Abu Wafi al'Sabur ibn Yusuf (née Sabur ibn Yusuf al'Santarémi) became Sultan Abu Wafi al'Sabur ibn Yusuf al'Andalusi after forces loyal to his unifying cause siezed the Lisboan capital on the 25th of April 1974, leading to the 1976 adoption of a new constitution and a strengthening of central authority over the often disunited Taifas of al'Andalus.

Al'Sabur initiated a series of gradual reforms aimed at modernising a national economy inhibited by princely monopolies, infighting, and barriers to international trade worsened by Roman exclusions and other penalties.

Status

Sultan Abdulhadi Al'Wafi, second ruler of the Saburid Dynasty, presides over a nation bordering on de facto secularism and profiting from the fruits of three decades of growth that leaves it today enjoying a high income economy with room for further expansion. Growth remained above the European average for most of Sabur's reign, as it has under the current Sultan, but the Andalusian economy is in per-capita terms still one step behind Roman, British, and German output.

It may be said that the Andalusians are the champions and guardians of the finest aspects of Islamic and Arabic culture, their social resurgence in the European west having been in sharp contrast with an economic and military decline in the power of Islamic states in the Asian east occuring in the same period, but this contention has the potential to be misleading, as it is not exactly beyond reason to suppose that many in the United Taifas may consider themselves as much a part of European life as anything else.

In the Taifas, the sponsorship of the Amirs has created a league of elite educational institutions, the Madrasahs of al'Andalus, not unlikely to be mentioned in the same breath as Oxbridge or the Ivy League et cetera. It is next to ridiculous for a scholar of poetry in the global age to be considered legitimate without their having first studied in al'Andalus, and the nation's architectural colleges are some of the finest on earth.

Sport has a place in Andalusian society, and the national football (soccer) side has gone from strength in recent years, bolstered by several football academies again sponsored by rival Amirs. The national competition, containing ten sides at the highest level (one from each Taifa with a Sultan's outfit sharing Lisboa), ably displays the differing approaches that it is still possible for individual Amirs to take in tackling challenges, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses in the Union system. While some princes have sunk millions of dinars into attacting talent from Brazil and around Europe, others have invested in developing domestic talent, building excellent coaching programmes and well-appointed facilities by which to mould Andalusian youth players. Consequently, some Taifas offer little opportunity to local aspirants, and a match between Lisboa and Mértola may see Lisboan fans cheering nine Brazilians and two Englishmen against six Mértolans, a Béjan, and four Lisboans supported by Mértolan fans.

In the Union, de facto citizenship in a particular Taifa comes easily with honour and glory, and the property of a Taifa is that which it can capture and protect. In an extension of this fact, Andalusians often have subtly different ideas about national sovereignty than have developed in other countries. Much as they may pine for the past greatness of Moorish Spain, many would as happily rebuild its magnificence in a new Andalusia upon entirely different territory if it could be conquered while Iberia could not.

Navy of Al'Andalus

Ships

Primary Surface Combatants
3x Zafar Class multi-role frigates
4x Leander Class multi-role frigates
9x Taifa Class escort corvettes

Submarines
1x Type 214 submarine

Patrol Boats
10x Argos Class large patrol boats
4x Centauro Class small coastal patrol boats
2x Albatroz Class small coastal/riverine patrol boats

Amphibious
1x Bombarda Class utility landing craft

Fleet Auxiliary
1x fleet oiler
1x oil recovery ship
4x survey ships
4x sail training ships

Future
2x Type 213 submarines building
-- Leander repalcement frigate requirement in prospect

Zafar Class frigates
MEKO 200AN built in Germany for Taifan navy.
Displacement: 3,200t
Length: 115.9m
Beam: 14.8m
Draught: 6.2m
Propulsion: combined diesel or gas, 2 shafts
Speed: 20 knots diesel, 32 knots gas boost
Range: 4,000nm at 18 knots
Complement: 180
Armament: 1x 100mm gun, 1x 20mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS, 6x 12.75" torpedo tubes (2x3), 8x RGM-84 Harpoon AShM (2x4), 8x RIM-7 Sea Sparrow SAMs
Countermeasures: Mark 36 Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff launchers
Aircraft: Hangar for 2x Super Lynx Mk.95 helicopters
Hulls: 3; Tariq ibn Ziyad, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, Ya'qub al-Mansur

Taifa Class escort corvettes
Designed and built in al'Andalus and tasked with fisheries protection, anti-smuggling and people-trafficking duties, and escort of naval and commercial ships.
Displacement: 1,600 tons full load
Length: 83.1m
Beam: 12.95m
Draught: 3.69m
Propulsion: 2x diesels, 2x electric motors
Speed: 24 knots
Range: 5,000nm at 18 knots
Complement: 35 peacetime, 67 full
Armament: 1x 100mm gun, 2x 30mm guns, 6x 12.75" torpedo tubes (2x3)
Aircraft: Helicopter pad
Boats: 2x ridgid inflatable boats
Hulls: 9; Antaniya, Balata, Baja, Kulimriyya, Labla, Martulah, Shantarin, Ukhshunuba, Yabura

Argos Class large patrol boats
Displacement: 210 tonnes
Length: 41.7m
Beam: 6.7m
Draught: 2.1m
Propulsion: 2x Maybach diesels
Speed: 17.3 knots
Autonomy: 1,660nm
Complement: 24
Armament: 2x 40mm/70 Bofors cannon, 7.62mm machineguns, grenade launchers
Armouring: Partial shielding of critical areas

Bombarda Class utility landing craft
Displacement: 635 tons full load
Length: 59m
Beam: 11.91m
Draught: 1.6m
Propulsion: 2x diesels, 2x shafts
Speed: 11 knots
Complement: 20
Armament: 2x 20mm guns
Hulls: 1, Bacamarte

Bérrio fleet oiler
Acquired in 1993, this was formerly RFA Blue Rover (A270) in British service.
Displacement: 11,522 tons full load
Length: 140.6m
Beam: 19.3m
Draught: 7.3m
Propulsion: 2x 16cylinder Peilstick diesels
Speed: 19 knots
Range: 24,000km at 15 knots
Capacity: 3,000m3 of fuel
Complement: 16 officers, 31 enlisted
Sensors: Racal Decca 52690 ARPA and 1690 I band navigation radars
Countermeasures: 2x Corvus and 2x Plessey Shield decoy launchers, Graseby Type 182 towed torpedo decoy
Armament: 2x Oerlikon 20mm guns, 2x 7.62mm machineguns
Aircraft: Helicopter deck
Hulls: 1, Bérrio

oil recovery tug
Displacement: 900 tons full load
Length: 56.1m
Beam: 10m
Draught: 3.8m
Propulsion: 2x diesels, 1x shaft, 2,400bhp
Speed: 14 knots
Complement: 54
Hulls: 1

ocean survey ships
Ex USN Stalwart?
Displacement: 2,300 tons full load
Length: 68.27m
Beam: 13m
Draught: 4.6m
Propulsion: 4x diesels, diesel-electric, 2x shafts, 3,200bhp
Speed: 11 knots
Hulls: 2

Andrómeda Class coastal survey ships
Hulls:2