Republic of Elyra

Overview
The Republic of Elyra, or its more official name, The Serene Republic of Elyra, was formed during a large scale colonization and emigration effort from south western asia and northern africa during the early years of space colonization from Pre-Alliance Earth. It is made up of 4 inhabited star systems with an inhabited planet in each of these systems. It's national motto is "For Greatness We Strive". It's official language is Tau Ceti Basic, though several old-earth languages cling to life in small enclaves, such as arabic, persian, and farsi.

Population
The total population of Elyra is 1,553,343,800 based on the 2458 Census. This population is spread out over the nation's 4 planets.

Perispolis
The capital planet Perispolis, in the New Ankara star system, has roughly 1 billion residents. The planet was originally an arid planet with a modest atmosphere and stubborn native ecosystems already present. Original Alliance-funded terraforming efforts transformed the planet into an Earthlike planet within a decade, allowing the population to flourish before and after independence. Commercial and service sector jobs remain the highest employer, second to refineries processing phoron or other minerals transported to the planet's orbit.

Medina
The second most inhabited planet with 250 million people, Medina resides in the Jedeed Isfahan system. The planet has a thin yet breathable atmosphere which makes prolonged physical effort difficult without respiratory gear. However the planet is incredibly rich with mineral wealth due to its active geological history. Settlements on the planet are built to compensate for the high frequency of earthquakes.

Bursa
In the Cairo United star system Bursa carries 200 million people. The planet sits farther out from the star than usual and thus has a predominately frigid climate year-round. Paradoxically hydroponic farm companies remain the highest employer on the planet, second to the shipyards that circle the planet. Several Elyran Defense Force bases also dot the surface, taking advantage of the harsh winters for wilderness survival training.

Edirne
Colonized after independence and sitting in the Serene Riyadh system, the dwarf planet of Edirne carries only 50 million people. With the lack of an atmosphere the vast majority of the population lives in the various biodomes that dot the surface or in the orbiting space stations. Most of the inhabitants work as space miners taking advantage of the systems high concentration of phoron wealth.

Government
Type: Parliamentary Democracy

Executive: Prime Minister Rasheed Tatenda Tau Kwadwo Daniyah Latifah Andile Nabil
 * Current Prime Minister:
 * Minister of the Army
 * Minister of the Navy
 * Minister of Diplomatic Affairs

Legislature: Parties in Parliament Elyran Freedom Party - A liberal party supportive of Nanotrasen. Currently holds the majority of seats.
 * Upper House: High Parliament
 * 550 Representatives; Two for every territory; unicameral legislature

Judicial: High Court of Tranqulity
 * 8 Seats; Serve for life

Military
Elyra maintains a modest, volunteer based army with a small fleet. It has 23 corvettes, 10 destroyers, 4 cruisers, and 1 carrier.

Economics
Official Currency: Colonial Dollar

Accepts Union of Sol Credit: Yes

Standard of Living: Medium, with growing economic stratification and disparity.

Societal
Ethnic Groups:
 * 44% Colonial Arabic (Human descended from Inhabitants of Arabia)
 * 31% Colonial North African (Human descended from Inhabitants of North Africa)
 * 12% Colonial Persian (Humans descended from Persia - Iranian)
 * 11.3% Other (Humans of other heritage)
 * 2% Alien (Skrell, Tajara, Dionea, Other)

Religion: Secular; Religious Freedom; Variety of Religions

= History =

The Republic of Elyra was formed during a large scale colonization and emigration effort from south western asia (Middle East) and northern africa during the early years of space colonization. Sitting on some of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, nations of Arabia and northern africa found uncommon cooperation between one another to push their own space programs. This economic and scientific partnership soon encompassed even the nations in west africa with little or no petroleum reserves, as it gave them a competitive edge to the West. This was a matter of necessity and survival, as it was clear that the powers of the West would not willingly share resources that they were raking in from their advances into the resource rich final frontier.

So the loose coalition of nations formed their own faction within the Sol Alliance, but as with most of the nations of Earth developed the insatiable hunger for resources that began to exploit the colonists they had sent out. During the civil war with Earth, the colonies of Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait all declared their independence, storming understaffed Sol Alliance garrisons and outposts and seizing the ships and equipment. These planets and systems formed together out of necessity, creating the Coalition of Elyra. This name was taken from the elyra moth, which had been introduced to planets within the Coalition and bred exponentially, making it an extremely common sight in the colonies, and one of their shared characteristics.

After the First Interstellar War
Due to their distance, being farther out than most other factions, the Coalition was spared from most of the fighting. There were minor skirmishes, but for the most part the Coalition was left alone.

This left the colonies time to develop and observe, with many of the highest ranking Coalition officials noting the tactics and outcomes resulting from the conflict raging between the Sol Alliance and independent systems. General Abd Al-Hamid was one of these men: he called for the Coalition to transform into a Republic, claiming that no matter how the war ended, the Coalition would have to walk its own path. There was resistance to this notion, mostly from the old guard of colonists who had been born on Earth or were influenced heavily by those that were. It took three years and two constitutions being dissolved, but on December 1st, 2399, the Republic of Elyra that exists to the present day ratified its constitution. The constitution was broad sweeping, forming the basis of the government and Elyran society. It adopted the Westminister system of government, with a unitary parliament and a Prime Minister being the head of government as well as head of state. Prime Minister Fadl Hasim was the first to be appointed by his party, the Liberal Reform Party. Voting was briefly made compulsary, but the extreme resentment this carried had the plan being abolished a decade after it was instituted. The consequences of this are higher levels of political apathy, a problem that has began to show signs of giving power to major hard-line factions with the Elyran government.

Current Times
Elyra today is a modern, progressive nation struggling with identity. It carries neo-Islamic undercurrents in society and this religion remains the dominant faith - Sunni's, Shia's, and other sects are mixed in society as well as the other major religions of humanity. This mix of faiths has generally lead to a society of tolerance - this translates only in the major, progressive cities where there is a large educated middle class. Outside these cities where social investment is lower, religious and ethnic tensions exist that periodically erupt into violence. Domestically, the Republic is stable, enjoying positive economic growth in part due to its liberal policies and generally favourable relations with other independent factions. However, this growth is fueling the higher classes moreso than the lower classes - there is a growing trend of economic disparity beginning to rise, with the largest cities reaping most of the benefits at the expense of smaller cities and towns.

Bursa Memorial
The Bursa Memorial was an initiative conducted in 2458 by the Elyran Parliament to house the names of the fallen and missing soldiers along with civilians of the Serene republic of Elyra during the Lii’dra aggression. The site of this is the location in which the hive ship landed. The site itself is separated into walls of different sizes also divided into different sections. Section A is reserved to the land forces, B for the planetside Air Force, C for the navy and D for non-combatants. Sections A-C have their walls separated by their unit or vessel they were stationed in while Section D reserved for non-combatants is separated by place of birth. Like many other memorials of the fallen, this place has an honor guard posted in respect and reverence to the martyrs that have laid down their lives in the name of their Republic.

Relations with Trans-Stellar Corporations
Due to Elyra's location, they sit with some of the largest reserves of plasma in their systems. Nanotrasen was quick to notice this, and for the better part of a decade has been fighting tooth and nail to press claims on the deposits. The smaller systems that had initially depended on plasma mining and refinement found themselves muscled out by Nanotrasen, leading to a rising unemployment level and growing discontent about Nanotrasen policies in Elyran space. The Liberal Reform Party has attempted to pass tough legislation punishing Nanotrasen, but the Progressive party, in a coalition with the Workers of Elyra party, block these bills. There are rumours that Nanotrasen has many members of these parties in its pockets, and there have been some whistleblowers warning that Nanotrasen is corrupting Elyran democratic processes.

This has lead to sour relations with Nanotrasen, and Elyran military vessels repeatedly harass Nanotrasen shipping, attempting to either intimidate them or goad them into a confrontation to make it impossible to be politically viable to support Nanotrasen.