Shakar
Shakar
LuDominmne aluShakar | |
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Province | |
| Province of Shakar | |
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The Province of Shakar (Packilvanian: LuDominimne aluShakar) is the largest province in Packilvania by area and the smallest by population. It borders Jumhurikesh to the northeast, Ukanar to the southwest, Kharyat to the south, and Ashura to the southeast. Some estimates suggests that it comprises 20% to 25% of the country’s land area despite comprise 4% to 6% of the population. Thus, with an area of over 1.2 million km², it is one of the largest administrative subdivisions by land area. It has a total population of approximately 86.23 million people. It has a fairly low population density of approximately 80 to 90 people per square kilometer however most of them are concentrated in cities likes Sharkol, the capital.
Shakar has one of the lower GDPs in Packilvania, about 700 billion KRB, yet it compares favourably with most nations in the world. After Ashura, Shakar has the largest petroleum, and gas reserves in the world. Nevertheless, it has one of the lowest GDP per capitas in Packilvania. Furthermore it contains the largest deposits of lithium and potash and other minerals in the world. Despite having the lowest population, it also has the top 2 highest carbon emissions in Packilvania after Fidakar due to its high output and reliance on fossil fuels. As with all other Packilvanian provinces, Shakar's predominant religion is Paxism yet small bands of folk religions are practiced syncretically by nomadic desert tribes.
Shakar contains the Packilvanian Cold Desert and a third of the Packilvanian Hot Desert, the former being one of the largest in the world. As a result, Shakar is the hottest and coldest place in the country. Shakar has an incredibly long geological history. It has the highest amount of fossilized dinosaur finds in the country. According to archeologists, it was once an inland sea then a lush rainforest. During the periods of Ice Ages and its movement northward, it desertified. Thus, the province relies on water from aquafirs that was captured during this period underground that rises in the form of oases.
History
The province is believed to have once been list when Yasteria was fused with Borea and Itur. Due to massive changes to the climate and several mass extinctions, most of ira biodiversity has been destroyed. Nevertheless, it has one of the largest abundance of dinosaur and other fossils in the fossil record with archaeological tourism being one of the largest non-fossil fuel industries in the area.
For the overwhelming majority of its history, it has been inhabited by nomadic hunter gatherers. It has the last area of prehistoric Packilvania to transition to sedentary settlements and agriculture. Given the high number of people who rely on nomadic pastoralism, historians have argued that the transition is not yet complete. It was among the last to break out of the stone age.
The province's Tumarid Highlands were the site of a civilisation known as the Tumarid civilisation which spanned over 3,000 years and ended around 300 CE. There are many ruins of pyramids made of stone. These large structures were burial mounds for their ancient rulers and they are believed to have practiced a polytheistic religion which include sentient sacrifice. Their rulers, known in modern Packilvanian as muFareeh were treated as deities on Urth. Their history is divided into 6 dynasties.
Most notably is the Shulamid dynasty which is believed in Packilvanian mythology to have kept the Yehudan people as slaves for over a 100 years before they were liberated by an Esma of Noi and led to Ashura where they founded the Kingdom of Yehudah which evolved to the Kingdom of Bakil from which the Iktanite dynasty originated. While the mass migration of people from the Tumarid civilisation during the reign of the Shulamid dynasty is known, it is unclear whether the Yehudan epithet applied to an ethno-religious group or all migrants who fled the historically known bronze age collapse that marked its end.
Shakar remained inhabited by nomads and small city states in the Southern Oasis Belt and the Tumarid Highlands. The Rabadim civilisation emerged for a brief period as people began to settle the Shakar Mountain valleys. That civilisations collapsed due to disease and drought however they left behind massive stone carved structures in the mountains caves. Their advanced masonry seems to have been known by the Kingdom of Bakil, suggesting that their collapse was around 600 CE.
The area was never formally invaded by the Iktanite dynasty in 675. In the 13th century, the province was incorporated into Packilvania and used as a staging ground for invasions into Musetszna. At the collapse of the Iktanite dynasty, most of nomadic tribes remained the same while the Principalities of Sharkol, Seerahel and Lehasa became dominant in their regions. They were overcome and conquered by the Zubraynite dynasty which led incursions into Musetszna from there. It took until the 17th century for the Demirite dynasty to assert control over the Province. During the Packilvanian Civil War in the 1970s, Shakar served as the base of the Carriers of Mercy and was the seat of their Provisional Government which gained international recognition as the government of Packilvania in the late 1970s with their base in Lehasa.
Geography, climate and biodiversity
Shakar is bordered by Musetszna to the north, Jumhurikesh and Ashura to the east, Ukanar and Kharyat to the south and Mekedesh to the southeast. It is the largest province by surface area in the country followed by Jumhurikesh. It is dominated by cold desert in the north, the hot desert in the south and the Shakar Mountains in the interior. The cold desert in the north has the second-lowest recorded temperature in the country at -10°C following - -20°C in the Jumhur Mountains. The second-hottest recorded temperature in the country is in the Shakar hot desert at approximately 49°C. The province receives less than 10mm of rain every year and it typically only rains sporadically.
The province has several oases in the south around which most of the province's population is concentrated. The province has significant reserves of fossil fuels, rare earth and ferrous metals, and precious and semi-precious stones. The province has 1% agricultural land, most of which is cultivated for wine grape production and around 3% of the land serves as pastoral land for agriculture. Most of the arable land is concentrated in the far south which is separated from the hit desert by the Tumarid Highlands. Although Shakar is often seen as lacking biodiversity, it has the largest concentration of endemic succulent plant species in the country. There are many species of antelope, desert foxes, jackals, vultures, hyenas, meerkats, mongoose, aardvarks, rattlesnakes, puff adders, rock lizards and other animals. The province suffers from water stress, dust and sand storms during the Harmattan season, and frequent droughts.
Politics and government
The Province of Shakar is governed by Governor Tubida who was appointed by Sultan Thumim V in his capacity as the Regent and Crown Prince of Packilvania in 2022 following the resignation of Prince Sajahal. As the other provinces of Packilvania, the Governor appoints the Premier and the Provincial Council of Ministers which executes and proposes legislation. The power to make laws over issues shared with or granted exclusively to the province lies with the Provincial Legislative Council and the Provincial Consultative Council. Shakar has the fewest number of municipalities which have received a clean audit from the Office of Financial Discipline. It has the largest amount of government income and resources lost to misexpenditure (corruption and waste) at around 21% of its budget.
Law and order in the province remains relatively average and the province has a below average level of organised crime although illegal intimate relations remain the highest in the country and it is the largest exporter of intoxicating substances in the country due to its high production of poppy plants. The province has the lowest tax collection in the country with only 5% of the population paying income taxes. It has the highest dependence on transfers from the Imperial government at around 50% of its annual budget with the rest coming from fossil fuel royalties.
Economy and infrastructure
Most of the population of Shakar subsists on animal husbandry and reside in rural areas through sedentary settlements or nomadic tribes. As such, over 45% of the Shakar population live below the national poverty line. However the number of people living over the international poverty line is negligible. Unemployment figures for Shakar are very difficult to ascertain as most of the population is involved in the informal economy which is believed to comprise over 35% of the economy. The province has the lowest labour participation rate especially among women in the country and unemployment is estimated to hover around 20% to 30% of able-bodied work-seeking adults. The province has the highest reliance on remittances from family members working in other parts of the country, at about 17% to 25%.
Shakar is highly dependent on fossil fuels which comprise 40% of the economy and 60% of exports. The provincial government relies on 45% of its annual budget on royalties from fossil fuels as such the government budget can suffer from fluctuations and makes it difficult to finance the extensive social grants that it pays out to its large population. A further 60% of its economy relies on mineral extraction and 80% of the exports consist of mineral exports. Shakar has not yet implemented a minimum wage unlike other provinces and it has very few labour protection laws. It does has a flourishing wine production industry that is concentrated in the valleys of the Tumarid Highlands and is disproportionately controlled by the Akuanist minority giving rise to Akuanists controlling over 10% of the economic output despite comprising only 2% of the population. Other than wine, the province is arguably the largest producer of poppy plants in the world and subsequently the largest producer of poppy-based intoxicants which the government is struggling to tackle.
Rail infrastructure is concentrated toward the transport of minerals and fossil fuels. The province is the origin of the highest-volume pipelines in the country. The Sharkol International Airport is the largest airport in the province.
Demographics
The province has the highest population of Akuanists, most of whom are concentrated in the Tumarid Highlands wine-growing region, at 2% of the population. Shakar is the least densely populated province on average, although 60% of its population is concentrated in the far south on in the Southern Oasis Belt and the Tumarid Highlands. The rest of the population is disbursed in mining towns or living nomadic lifestyles in the deserts. The population has the highest fertility rate in the country at 5.6 children per woman. The population has the highest instance of underage marriages at 4.5% of marriages and the Shakar government has not introduced regulations banning the practice. The population has the highest infant mortality rate in the country at 4.5 births per 1,000 births, the highest rate of mother to child immune deficiency viral transmissions and the lowest life expectancy in the country at 65 years of age.
It has the highest proportion of people who rely on government subsidies and grants in the country at around 55%. It has the lowest doctor to 1,000 people ratio in the country at 2 doctors per 1,000 people, giving rise to the most overcrowded and underresourced hospitals in the country. Shakar has by far the lowest literacy rate in the country, at around 60% of the population. The Shakarian population has the highest concentration of speakers of non-standard variants and dialects of the Packilvanian language at over 3,400 estimated dialects and variants. It has by far the lowest concentration of high speed trains to due its relatively small affluent and urban population.
Sharkol, Seerahel and Lehasa are the largest cities in the province by population. 70% to 80% of the population reside in rural areas as nomads or in villages. Over 35% of the population rely on pit latrines and it is estimated that the province has on average 1 tap per 4 families. Many in the rural areas rely on water from boreholes and wells. Over 60% of the population lack regular refuse removal services.
Culture
The Province of Shakar has highly diverse culture due to its history and geography. The Nefadim people retain their hunterer-gather lifestyles. Thus, they live in tents made of animal hide, rely on hunting wild game and catching small animals as well as tubers, wild fruits, and the flesh of succulent plants for nutrition and moisture. They are regarded as the aboriginal people of Shakar and their populations are dwindling rapidly due to intermarriage with other groups and migrations to the cities.
The tribal pastoral nomads live in villages of up to 10,000 people and they tend to be self-sustaining. They tend to live in camps of several large animal hide and plant-fibre tents in the desert. They are less resistant to modern technology than the Nepadim. They are known as masterful weavers. They rely on their animals, namely camel and desert goats, for their food through their flesh and milk. They migrate to different areas of Shakar based on the season and weather. They tend to have the highest practice of polygamy and they live in multi-generational family structures. Rumours exist that they also do not conform to strict Paxist teachings about marital piety.
Most of the population in the south follows the strict traditional Paxist practices, fashion trends and architectural styles followed by the rest of the country. Architecture is deeply influenced by the geography. Scarce clay for brick making and limestone for concrete-making has forced a reliance on abundant sandstone, resulting in even large structures being made from the substance. As sandstone tends to be porous, it would be inappropriate for wetter climates. The province also lacks extensive highrises due to the difficulty of importing concrete and construction steel.