Persia

Persia is a Middle Eastern regional power controlled by Veoline. Persia is known for its consolidation of resources and liberalization under the reign of its Shah, who in 1971 organised the first free elections since the 1920's, leading to the drafting of a new constitution, making the country a constitutional monarchy. Since the political and economic liberalization began in 1970, the country has been undergoing a major cultural revival, coupled with an important modernization and devellopment of the country and economy, leading to it reemerging on the world scene, in which it tries to maintain the balance of power. It was awarded the organization of the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Etymology of the name
Currently two names are used to designate Persia. That name is used internationally, and internally the name Irân is used.

Persia comes from the latin Persia, referring to the Parthian Empire, which itself comes the Old Persian Pārsa, the endonym of the people ruled by Cyrus the great, utlimately the ancestors of the current Persian nation, through the intermediary of Greek.

Irân and the words it derives from have been used by persophones since at least 1000 BC. It comes immediatly from the Middle Persian Ērān, first attested during the Sassanid period, which meant the Iranian people, rather than the state. This locution is the gentilic formation of Old Persian Arya (of the Iranians), which referred to the Persian people. The most ancient form of the word is Aryānām, in Proto-Iranian, meaning "Land of the Aryans".

Geography of Persia
With a total surface area of approximatively 3,311,582 km2, Persia is the 12th largest country in the world. Persia lies between latitudes 16° and 43° N and longitudes 44° and 67°.

Persia consists of the Persian Plateau with the exception of the coasts of the Caspian Sea and Khuzestan Province. It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaux from one another. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Caucasus, Zagros and Alborz Mountains; the last contains Persia's highest point, Mount Damavand, at 5,610 m (18,406 ft), which is also the highest mountain on the Eurasian landmass west of the Hindu Kush. The northern part of Persia is covered by dense rain forests called Shomal. The eastern part consists mostly of desert basins such as the Dasht-e Kavir, Persia's largest desert, in the north-central portion of the country, and the Dasht-e Lut, in the east, as well as some salt lakes. This is because the mountain ranges are too high for rain clouds to reach these regions. The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where Persia borders the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab (or the Arvand Rūd) river. Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman

Climate
Persia's climate ranges from arid or semiarid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests. On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain) temperatures rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid for the rest of the year. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29 °C. Annual precipitation is 680 mm in the eastern part of the plain and more than 1,700 mm in the western part.

To the west, settlements in the Zagros basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters with below zero average daily temperatures and heavy snowfall. The eastern and central basins are arid, with less than 200 mm of rain, and have occasional deserts. Average summer temperatures exceed 38 °C. The coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in southern Persia have mild winters, and very humid and hot summers. The annual precipitation ranges from 135 to 355 mm.

Provinces and cities
Persia is divided into eight autonomous regions, themselves divided into a total of twenty-two provinces (ostān), each governed by an appointed governor (استاندار, ostāndār). The provinces are divided into counties (shahrestān), and subdivided into districts (bakhsh) and sub-districts (dehestān). The autonomous regions and their subdivisions are as follows:

1-Azeri Autonomous Region(Azerbaijan province)

2-Kurd Autonomous Region(North Kurdistan & South Kurdistan provinces)

3-Luri Autonomous Region(Loristan province)

4-Persian Autonomous Region(Qazvin and Qom, Tehran, Semnan, Esfahan, Yazd, Fars, Kerman, Hormozgan, Baluchistan, Khorasan provinces)

5-Arab Autonomous Region(Khuzestan, Arabistan, Trucial States, Masqat, Dhofar provinces)

6-Baluchi Autonomous Region(Baluchistan province)

7-Turkic Autonomous Region(Asghabat & Amu Darya provinces)

8-Caspian Autonomous Region(Caspian province)

Persian is a mostly rural country, with roughly 64% of the population living in the countryside, and 36% in cities. The country is however knowing an important, and accelerating urbanization process, as only 21% of the population was urban in 1950. The largest city in Persia is Tehran, whose metropolitan area has a total population of 3,956,495 inhabitants(1975). The growth of the population has greatly slowed since 1975, though, due to the announcement of the change of capital to Esfahan, slated for 1985, the government being the main employer and motor of the local economy. The second city in Persia is precisely Esfahan, with a population of 1,842,385(1975). The third city is Tabriz, with 1,128,485 inhabitants(1975). The following seven cities are Mashhad(1 million), Asghabat(0.8 million), Shiraz(0.7 million), Qom(0.5 million), Bandar Abbas(0.5 million), Dammam(0.3 million) and Masqat(0.2 million).

Pre-RP History
[Pending]

The Great War and Unrest(1926-1954)
Following the Great War, in 1926, Ahmad Shah Qajar repealed the 1908 constituion, returning Persia to an absolute monarchy. Immediatly, a civil war commenced, first taking the form of civil manifestations, then turning to an all-out war. After the intellectuals escaped the cities where a brutal repression started, they established themselves in the countrysides, most prominently in the Alborz and in Esfahan province.

At first, the Monarchy seemed to be able to crush the rebellion within a short laps of time. But after 2 years of stalemate, the rebels in fact took the upper-hand, after taking Esfahan and Bandar Abbas, along with their respective provinces. By May 1929, they occupied half of the country, including the entire western half of the country, and Azerbaijan province. Then, the Crown changed tactic. They encited the major minorities, mostly the Azeris and Kurds to attack the rebels, who it said wanted to dilute the minorities' culture into the larger Persian one, which the government had never attempted. The government also presented itself as the representative of the faith, guarding Persia against the atheist rebels.

It is then that things changed in favor of the Crown. So much so that by late 1931, the rebels were reduced to the territories immediatly around Esfahan and a few caves in the Alborz.

But dividing the nation had effects which could have been foreseen. The minorities kept pushing, asking for more rights. And so, by early 1933, the government retained only Tehran, Gilan, Golestan and Turkmenistan, as well as Kirman province, with the rest of the country divided between the rebels, who had retook control of all the provinces between Esfahan and Hormozgan, except Khuzestan and Kirman, and the various minorities.

Seeing its end approaching, the Monarchy called all Muslims to choose between it or Hell. Supported by the Clergy, fearful of the Rebels, who were now shaping into socialists, the nation once again sided with the Shah. Before the government could gain momentum, however, the rebels and the minorities decided to attack Tehran, in August 1933. The siege raged for 2 months, and at one point the attackers even entered Golestan Palace, the siege of the government, but eventually they were defeated, with the support of the most orthodox believers. A call to the jihad by the mullahs of the Shahdom sealed the fate of the opponents of the regime, who started fighting amongst themselves once again.

By February 1935, the civil war was finally over, after 9 years of fighting. In the meantime, Ahmad Shah Qajar had died, in 1932, leaving the Peacock throne to his son, Fereydoun Mirza, thereupon known as Fereydoun Shah Qajar. Only ten at the time, he was put in the care of the mullahs, who, for 8 years, until 1938, virtually controlled the State, establishing Islamic law.

In 1938, upon reaching his majority, Fereydoun decided to end the ascendancy of the clergy, by forcefully abolishing the Council of Mullahs. Fighting soon ensued. Until 1945, war raged, and the resistance was extinguished only in 1952. Martial law, proclaimed in 1946, was only lifted in 1954.

Stagnation(1954-1970)
During this time, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company continued to amass riches, taking hold of any oil field newly discovered. As an indispensable financial support, no side dared to attack it, and it became extremely powerful, even organizing its own private army, to protect its facilities and enforce its law in the surrounding regions. Once the Civil War was ended, it had become a state within the state, controlling more wealth than the government.

During the 16 next years, Persia would be relatively stable, with most rebellious currents dormant, yet still powerful. With most of the oil revenues going to the Company, the government was left with little money to invest in the infrastructures or the economy, leaving it backwards. By the end of this period, the autocracy, at the head of the country, refusing to reform itself, was wearing off, after having been rejuvenated by the civil war which necessitated a strong state.

1970-Present
The tipping-point in the modern history of Persia was the death of the Shah, Fereydoun Shah Qajar and the Shahzada(heir presumptive) Hossein Al-din Mirza, in Tabriz, on December 8th, 1970, at exactly 5:43 PM, killed by a grenade during a state visit to the city. The assassination, carefully planned by independentist Kurds, did not, however, yield the expected result. The second-in-line, the Shah's third son, Ali Mohammad, took the reins of the state, after a short and orderly transition period, crushing any hopes of the secessionists of the state collapsing. Ali Mohammad, now Ali Shah Mohammad, much more liberal than both his father and elder brother, then took on the dauting task of reforming and modernizing Persia. He inaugurated his reign, and a new era for the country, by a historical allocution to the nation, the در اين نطق پادشاه آينده ملت, or King's speech on the nation's future, on December 12th 1970. He then followed on the path of modernization and strengthening of the flailing monarchy by abolishing the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and its privileges, and enforcing this decree in a bloodless takeover of its holdings, on December 13th of the same year. The company, traditionally backed by Great Britain and the USA, was powerless to resist, as the former was still in turmoil after half a century of anarchy and the latter was embroiled in a conflict with Canada and the Republic of North Florida, not to mention the popular uprisings, fueled by decades of resentment towards the company, seen as the great enemy of Persia.

This sudden turn of events allowed for progress to be made in growing the middle eastern nation into a powerhouse. The Shah, desiring to cement the people's support of the regime by returning lost Persian lands to the nation, ordered a general mobilisation of the army on December 19th, targeted at Turkestan. But on December 28th, India, suddenly, began an invasion of Arabia, by sending several fighter wings to bombard the southern ports. This prompted an immediate response of the Persian government, which moved its troops, massed in the north-east, to the Persian gulf's shores, and organized its navy across from Bahrain. India, several days later, announced that it was doing this to stop the expansion of the Ottoman empire, Arabia being a close ally of it. Ethiopia, on its side, decided to intervene to protect the holy sites from the Hindu infidels. On December 30th, finally, the Persian fleet attacked Manama, before troops were disembarked, and the city taken. Then, Dammam, Abu Dhabi and Doha were attacked, and promptly taken. Oman, and rest of the Arabian east coast up to Al-Kharj were taken over the next 10 days, with the peace treaty being signed in Dammam on January 10th, 1971. This ligntning offensive, now named the Arabian war, having lasted only 11 days, signaled the return of Persia on the global scene. Now in control of Arabia's oil, Persia became the world's biggest oil producer. In late 1975, moreover, some journals leaked that a possible reason for the incoherent actions of the government prior to the war were in fact a ploy, the Intelligence services having had information on a planned Indian offensive, but the government not being willing to be the first to act. The government has not commented yet on these rumours, however.

Despite centrifugal forces still vivid in the country, the Shah had managed to reinforce both the government's rule and the country's cohesiveness in just over a month of rule, paving the way for the rise of Persia.

In 1971 he convinced the Mullahs to accept the liberalization of women's rights. In addition many infrastructural projects are underway across the kingdom. Several government complexes were ordered built in Tehran as well as restoration of important locations such as the Naghsh-e Jahan Square. Elsewhere, Tehran hopes to increase its industrial capabilities with the construction of factories such as a car factory in Esfahan. A rail system begun in 1971 would better connect the cities of Tabriz, Tehran and Mashhad, and run between Esfahan and Bandar Abbas.

Later that year, in July, the first elections since the abolition of the Majlis and the parliamentary regime were held. Of the 339 seats to be purveyed, the Party of Righteousness, a moderate islamist and royalist formation took in 124 seats(36.58%), the Communist Party of Persia got 107 seats(31.56%), the Formation for the Greatness of God in Persia, a more conservative and harder-line islamist party than the PR, 40(11.80%), the Azeri People's Party, 32(9.44%), the Kurd Block, 26(7.67%), whilst the 10(2.95%) remaining seats were distributed among several smaller parties. Following these results, the PR formed a slightly majoritarian government with the FGGP and OISP(Organisation for the Istallation of the Sharia in Persia, one of the smaller parties). One of the freshly elected government's first measures was the application of the Sharia in the country, befitting given the government was clearly a staunchly conservative and religious one. But in reaction to this, during the whole month of August, liberals and women demonstrated against this measure, until finally, the First Delegate of the Cabinet(roughly equal to the prime minister of a parliamentary monarchy, albeit with greatly reduced power, and mostly serving as the representative of the governing party and the liaison between the cabinet ministers and the Shah, the true head of the executive according to the new constitution), pressed upon by both the street and the Shah, decided to overturn part of this measure, and to apply only those tenets of the Sharia compatible with "modern civilization". Outraged, both of the junior partners of the government left the government, only to be replaced in earnest by the APP and KB. With the new government, things turned in an altogether different direction. In November 1971,, two major events happened. The first was the ratification of the new Constitution of Persia by the Shah on November 10th, and the second the government announcement that the country's administrative regions would be reorganized along ethnic lines on November 26th, thus giving rise to the Azeri, Kurd, Luri, Arab, Baluchi, Persian, Caspian and Turkic Autonomous Regions, each having its own Majlis, to which would be devolved the matters of education, public health, order and the handling of local affairs. This reform was effective starting from March(Persian new year) 1973. In the years to 1975, the government established a minimum wage, of 10,000 Rial(364 then$), a minimum retirement age, at 65, and a maximum legal weekly worktime of 45 hours, spread over 5 days. In 1975, elections once again took place, with the PR taking in 148 seats of 339(43.66%), the CPR 101 seats(29.80%), the APP 34 seats(10.03%), the KB 28 seats(8.26%), the Great Turkmenistan Party 12 seats(3.54%) and the remaining 17 seats being spread among a multitude of smaller parties. The PR again headed the new government, backed by the APP, the KB and GTP, this time just short of a super-majority of two-thirds. Since then, the Majlis has begun examination of a national health care system. {C In addition, in 1974 was taken the decision of transferring the capital from Tehran to Esfahan in 1985, for the bicentennary of the dynasty, although in practice most administrations should have been installed there by 1980, to perempt the risks of an earthquake hitting the heart of the state.

Conflict in India
Since 1971, and following the military coup in India, the country was divided among numerous petty warlords. From the ruins of the Republic arose The United Front for India, lead by a mysterious figure, "Mahatma", intent on reunifying the country under socialist guidance. The movement made slow headways, occupying a number of cities in the Gangetic plain, including Delhi, in 1976, following which "Mahatma" made a noted allocution. This announce greatly increased the UFI's visibility, and lead the Chinese to contact it. Shortly thereafter, the Battle of Dhaka, giving the UFI all of Bengal, cemented its role as the prime interlocutor of the Asian Socialist Bloc in India, after which was signed the Treaty of Beijing, by which the UFI joined the ASB. With the aid of its newfound allies, the UFI quickly expanded, and by the end of November 1976 had gained control of all of Northern India, from Bengal to Rajasthan, threatening the vital city of Ahmedabad, capital of Gujarat. The Persian High Command, which had up to then provided only minor aid to the generals fighting the warlords, decided to intervene massively in India, for the capture of Ahmedabad would have allowed the UFI to totally enclose southern India, as well as capture the Indus river valley in its entirety, which would have been a strategic threat to Persia. Persian intervention in the conflict was the first major international involvement of the country since the reforms of 1970, the Arabian war having been only an event of regional importance.

On December 7th, 120,000 Persian troops were sent to occupy Baluchistan, Sindh and Punjab, stopping at Amritsar on the 10th, to create a bulwark against socialist expansion. This occupation was done in accord with the local polities, the Persian government having guaranteed that it would not interfere in local affairs, and would retreat all troops after the cessation of hostilities. Starting December 2nd, the Battle of Ahmedabad had started, involving a number of Persian troops, aiding a much larger contingent of Indian troops. Due to the lack of preparation of the defending army, however, the city was lost by the end of the month. It did however freeze the front in Gujarat, and all of Western India, as the resistants, now aided by a foreign power, now had the means to block the advances of the UFI, but not roll it back.

On the 22nd of January 1977, the existence of the Punarjanam movement was unveiled by its founder, Kanda Timay Bagalkoti. This movement had as goals the regeneration of the country, hence the name. This goal was to be accomplished through the expulsion of the Chinese and the defeat of the UFI, whose socialism was criticized for disregarding age-old traditions of India, and as a tool to keep the country under Chinese control. Composed of extremely diverse elements, these were the sole common points of all the members of the movement. Aided by Persia, this movement rapidly became the main resistance force against the UFI, and the protectors of "Free India" as they termed the parts of India not yet dominated by the socialists.

The next major operation undertaken, and the first one involving the Punarjanam movement was the Battle of Baleshwar. Baleshwar is a key coastal city in northern Orissa, 193 kilometers north of the regional capital Bhubaneshwar, controlling the access to the coast, enclosed by the Eastern Ghats. Around the 20th of January the UFI completed the conquest of the city. On the 29th, Punarjanam soldiers, aided by Persian troops began the reconquest of the city. [Updates as events take place]



Demographics of Persia
[Pending]

Economy of Persia
[Pending]

Economic reforms since 1970
From 1971 to 1976, thanks to a better management of the economy and to the increased oil production enabled by the takeover of Arabia's oil fields, the proportion of the state-owned debt passed from nearly 100% of the GDP to 64%, with the interest rates plummeting from 11.8% upon the accession of Ali Shah Mohammad to 4.6% at the beginning of 1976, and the rating agencies' notation rising from CI to BB for S&P's. With the petroleum money, the government has seeked to diversify the country's economic activities, by investing heavily in the car and petrochemical industries, as well as in telecommunications, i.e. radios and televisions, telegraph and phone lines; and banking, through the newly created Persian Bank for Economic Devellopment and Bank of Persia, officially practicing ethic banking in concordance with Islamic law, whose goals are to allow Persian companies and individuals to have access to easy credit and to expand in Muslim areas first, and then the world, increasing Persia's economic clout and visibility. All these advances are made in the context of the "Plan 200", launched in 1975, whose goal is to significantly modernize the country for the bicentennary of the Qajar dynasty, so as to prove the newfound importance and reemergence of the country in international affairs. Within this same plan, the Persian army has begun a program of intense modernization and reform.

Culture of Persia
[Pending]

Government and politics
{C [Pending]

See Persian politics.

Foreign relations and military
[Pending]

Persia keeps a significant presence internationally, despite its official stance of neutrality. To reduce Ethiopian influence in Africa, it utilizes tribal and religious divisions to fight Ethiopia's influence on the continent. In doing so it is suspected it is responsible - either directly or indirectly - of the emperor's death and of the revolution in the Congo. The Imperial Service of Intelligence and Internal Security, the intelligence service of the state, has also actively seeked to gain information on Spain, now a major world actor, principally in North Africa, where it could very well bring to light the ethnic cleansing the Spanish performed on the native Tuareg population. Such knowledge could go a long way in condemning Spain's conservative party. Interests in Asia apply to the whereabouts of the Shah's brother Qoram, who is a devout communist and fled to China seeking asylum (and for a while receiving jail-time for trying to get enter China despite it's strict anti-emigration and immigration policy (such a policy leading to accusations of espionage or disloyalty in the case of its citizens)). On the Arabian peninsula, agents infiltrated Yemen, causing it to become autonomous from both the now greatly reduced Najd kingdom and Ethiopia, but at the same time ensuring its leadership is Pro-Persian, turning it into a Persian satellite state. Espionage in Turkestan and Afghanistan hopes to turn up the possibility of integration or influence of these nations, seen as being a part of what is termed "Greater Persia", historically and culturally Persian lands. Similarly, Iraq's Shi'a community has been attracted by the prospect of sharing in their religious and historical brothers' new prosperity, as well as remove the shackles of the age-old Sunni dominance. A significant momentum in favor of a reunification of the two countries, or at least part of them, has been building since 1971, although actively fought by the Turks, themselves eyeing the country and its oil ressources. Persia also has interests in the formation of an oil-production bloc and his discussing such an opportunity with the NWC. Such a deal would lead them to have a near-monopoly on oil production. Persia was critical of the invasion of Finland, accusing the Spanish and the NWC of grossly violating a foreign nation's sovereignty, especially in a region they had no interests in. Yet, they recognize that the existence of a communist state in the Old Continent could lead to a platform from which communism - and it is feared it could be Chinese Communism - could spring-board into Europe. But they remain neutral, in fear of provoking the communists, closer to home. In its immediate neighbourhood Persia is watchful of Turkey. Although it has become stagnant it is considered a threat to the power of Persia. A war between the two nations would throw the middle-east into chaos, though despite five years of tension it hasn't happened yet.