Republic of Elyra

General
Official Title(s): The Serene Republic of Elrya

Motto:
 * “For Greatness, We Strive”

Capital: Persepolis

Demonym: Elyran

Official Languages: Tau Ceti Basic

Population:
 * 2445 Census: 5,203,343,800
 * 2565 Est.: 5,204,452,210

Systems: Jedeed Isfahan, New Ankara, Cairo United, Serene Riyadh

Drives on the: Right

Government
Type: Parliamentary Democracy

Executive: Prime Minister

Legislature:
 * Upper House: High Parliament
 * 550 Representatives; Two for every territory; unicameral legislature

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

Military
Military strength: Advanced, volunteer based Army; Medium sized fleet

Power Projection Ability: Medium

Economics
Official Currency: Colonial Dollar

Accepts Union of Sol Credit: Yes

GINI Coefficient: 35.8

Standard of Living: Medium to High; medium economic 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 [WIP]
The Republic of Elyra was formed during the exodus of the western asia and northern africa during the crises on Earth in its final decades. 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.

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.

Elyra today is a modern, progressive nation. 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.

Then there is Nanotrasen. 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 make it politically viable to support Nanotrasen.