Serriel

Kingdom of Serriel
Flag
Motto: Tanrı, Millet, Kibar God, Nation, King
Anthem: "Royal Anthem of Serriel"
Capital and	Serriel
Official languages	Serrin (Turkish)
Recognised national languages	Suhari (Arabic)
Demonym(s)	Serrielan
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• King	Muharrem II
• Prime Minister	Selim Ozcelik
Legislature	Parliament
Area
•	66,720 km2 (25,760 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	9,210,600
• Density	138.05/km2 (357.5/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	NSD 140.3 billion
Gini	48.8 high
HDI (2017)	0.827 very high
Currency	Serrielan Lira (SRL)

The Kingdom of Serriel is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy in Neria in the International Democratic Union, comprising the large metropolitan city of Serriel and arid surrounding areas. The nation borders the Tenebric Ocean to the west, and the Sultanate of Iskiram to the east. The urban strip surrounding the city of Serriel is extremely prosperous and developed, but much of the country consists of unproductive desert. The city of Serriel is a prosperous and developed financial center with a major focus on free-market policies, although the nation's income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) is among the largest in the IDU, and slums and rural areas remain largely underdeveloped. Serriel is notable as a constitutional monarchy with a semi-democratic political system, as the location of one of Catica's preeminent stock exchanges, as a major tax haven, and as the only Muslim-majority nation currently in the IDU.

History

Serrielan early history is largely passed down through oral tradition, making history from the period difficult to uncover. Various nomadic tribes, including the Serrin (a people of Turkic origin) and the Suhar (believed to be related to the Arabs), existed in the region. Islam arrived in Serriel around the year 740 CE, and during the Usman wars (755-770) the Suhar warlord Tarik Usman united much of modern-day Serriel under the Usman Caliphate, a strong Islamic state known for its fine arts and pottery.

Serriel had little contact with foreign nations until 1780, when traders from the then-French colony of Terre-Haute (present-day Laeral and High Fells) established a trade settlement along the coast, where they traded with the Suhar. Throughout the 1800s, foreign traders hailing from Laeral, Shuell, Zamastan, Slokais Islands, and many other nations reached Serriel's shores, shaping the new nation and leading to the development of railroads, bridges, and other infrastucture.

In 1884, the Bey Mansur Hazinedar, a Serrin noble who ruled the city of Karakent (modern-day Serriel City) used his army, equipped with weaponry that they had traded for with Laeralian and other foreign traders, began an extended campaign of conquest against the ruler of the city of Pasimit and the various Suhar tribes of the desert and highlands. Hazinedar succeeded in unifying a large coastal region under his rule, but faced opposition in the interior from the Sheikh Zuhayr Bilal, who had unified many of the Suhar tribes. Bilal himself was captured, and many of his warriors were sold into slavery, following the Battle of Assarrah in 1891. Hazinedar declared himself the Sultan of Serriel (meaning 'land of the Serrin') in a coronation in 1892.

In 1912, a Suhar uprising led by Khaldun Bilal (son of Sheikh Zuhayr Bilal) led to continuing conflict with the Hazinedar Sultanate. The death of Sultan Mansur in 1937 led to Islamic religious figures (known as the ulema) to assume a greater role under his son, Sultan Yaşar. (war with Iskiram sultanate)

Following the war, Marshal Evram Sarraf, a renowned military leader, deposed the Sultan with the encouragement of foreign intelligence services. King Evram proved a moderate, pro-foreign leader, notably crowning himself as King rather than Sultan. During his reign, he secularized the nation and worked to attract foreign investment. The House of Sarraf has led the nation ever since. King Cemil I adopted a new, democratic constitution in 1992.

Geography

Serriel's interior is arid and inhospitable.

Despite Serriel's small area, two major biomes are represented within the nation. The coastal region around Serriel's interior is temperate and fertile, although the expansion of the city itself limits large-scale agriculture. Further inland, the predominant terrain becomes desert and mountainous highlands, inhabited by desert flora and fauna ranging from foxes to saker falcons. The desert highlands are sparsely populated in comparison to the coastal belt, where over 75% of the population lives.

The city of Serriel is the dominant population center, with roughly six million of the kingdom's nine million people living in the city proper or its suburbs. Other cities include Pasimit and Nasah.

Economy

Within the city of Serriel, the service sector is dominant among the middle and upper classes. Financial services, such as stock brokerage, banking, and accounting, make up a substantial portion of the economy, centered on the city's Financial District. Other service areas, such as customer service, hospitality, and the tourism sector, also make up portions of the urban economy. Menial labor, such as construction and domestic help, is supplied by a large and growing workforce of guest workers, particularly from the Serrielan highland areas and developing nations such as the Sultanate of Iskiram.

Outside of the city itself, agriculture, jewelry-production, metalworking, and pearl-diving are major industries as well. The oil and gas sector, centered on the inland highlands regions, represents another avenue of economic development.

Politics

Serriel is a parliamentary democracy conducted under the auspices of a constitutional monarchy, with the King as head of state. Under the Constitution of 1992, voters in 110 single-member constituencies elect members of the national parliament, the Şura Meclis, under a first-past-the-post system, while the King selects a total of 20 MPs to represent women, the elderly, and other groups. Elections are held every five years, or sooner if Parliament is dissolved.

The King of Serriel, currently Muharrem II, is a position passed by patrilineal succession through the House of Sarraf. The King retains the power to nominate a Prime Minister and the authority to dissolve Parliament, as King Muharrem II did following the 2014 elections. The large and extended royal family retains significant wealth and influence in business.

Since the advent of democratic politics in Serriel, government have been formed by the All-Serriel National Union-Progressive Front (ASNU-PF), which has consistently won an outright majority in national elections. ASNU-PF is a moderate, big-tent political party, generally in favor of free-market economics and moderate secularism and social liberalism. The main opposition party is the Islamic Action Front, an Islamist party which, along with a minor Islamic party, won over 60 seats in the 2014 elections, prompting King Muharrem II to call fresh elections. Various minor parties also exist, notably the Democratic Alliance, a liberal party calling for wide-ranging reform to the Serrielan political system.