Almaneia

## Flag

> Sunneigh Islamb, 19%

> Shear'a Islamb, 2%

> Haymidian Islamb, 2%

> Lunar Islamb, 1%

Celestialunarism, 21%

> Orthodox Harmonism, 10%

> Celestianism, 6%

> Equestrian Harmonism, 4%

All others, 1%

The Principality of Almaneia (informally Almaneia) is a recent addition to the Exalted Equestrian Empire and its Special Observer of Islambic Religions, having semi-recently won its independence from the Trottoman Empire alongside the rest of the Bullkan states. It is located on the Neighdriatic sea occupying most of its northeast coast. It borders Koltsovo and Marxedonia in the west, Roamaneia in the north, and Haylenica in the south. Notably, just off its shores lie an island occupied by the Imperium's Equites Solarii.

The three largest cities are Tireina, Durres, and Bearat. The capital city of Tirena, in addition to being the center of government, holds the meeting place of the Marediterranean League and is an incredibly busy trading port.

Despite being a monarchy, the country is run largely as a meritocracy. Various ministers, a practice adopted from the Trottoman system, handle the country's extensive bureaucracy, much of which is related to Almaneia's trade. There is not a significant noble caste, which likely has contributed to recruiting the ministers from the general populace. Due to Almaneia's extensive trade links, the population is incredibly diverse. Although the state religion is Syncretic Islamb, this is not enforced upon the populace - there is a great deal of religious freedom. Although Almaneian society has been ethnically mixed for quite some time, there have recently been an influx of refugees from various parts of the globe thanks to Almaneia's reputation as a relatively safe country to live in.

## History

### Pre-Trottoman Era

Almaneia was one of many states that broke off during the decline of the Bitzantine Empire. During this time, moderate religious divisions plagued the nation, as the schism between Equestrian and Orthodox Harmonism had soon occurred, with Almaneia on the border between the two halves of Harmonism. Around the same time, many of the Bitzantine breakaway states were conquered in short order by the rising Trottoman threat. Seeing the writing on the wall, Almaneia's monarch, Dhimitër Pongoni, decided to swear fealty to the Trottoman Empire. However, not soon after, Dhimitër died heirless. The Trottoman government decided that Almaneia's head of state was to be from then on a Pasha, a governor-like position appointed directly by the Trottoman government. There is a great deal of speculation as to Dhimitër's cause of death.

### Trottoman Rule

Avoiding war proved to be extremely lucrative for Almaneia. It was allowed to keep a great deal of autonomy as a consequence - Tireina soon served as the Trottoman port of entry for many goods from the west. This allowed it to grow wealthy despite being under foreign rule. Unlike many other Bullkan nations, a majority of the population converted to Islamb - perhaps to avoid taxation, perhaps due to a more favorable view of the Trottomans than the rest of the Bullkans. This, together with the small Almaneian army, led to increased trust by the Trottoman administration, which enabled the formation of the Marediterranean League a few decades before independence.

### Brief Independence

To the surprise of many, Almaneia participated in the war for independence. Scholars debate the reason behind this - it may have been opportunism, unseen tensions between Tireina and Istanbull, or even fears of losing territory should the other parties in the independence war succeed without Almaneia. Regardless, most of Almaneia's contribution to the independence war was naval, what with the country lacking a sizeable army. Although loyal Trottoman territories left the Marediterranean League around this time, plans were formed to add additional Neightalian states to the League. During the peace deal, Almaneia incorporated a swath of unorganized Trottoman territory to its north. In addition, Koltsovo petitioned for becoming an Almaneian vassal, which Almaneia accepted.

### Part of Equestria

Alongside the rest of the Bullkan nations, Almaneia petitioned the Exalted Equestrian Empire for entry. It accepted Almaneia without any conditions. Almaneia became the first and thus far only majority-Islamb nation in Equestria - as well as the only non-Harmonist one. During the the Third Equestrian-Imperium War, Almaneia took part in naval actions against the Trottoman Empire, but its small army meant little when it came to ground combat. The only ground action of note is when Almaneian marines killed Pope Pegasius during a the occupation of Cyprance. The reasons for this remain unclear, but the soldiers responsible were executed soon afterwards, so it may not have been sanctioned by the Almaneian government. Almaneia avoided occupation during the war due to the Bullkan parties signing a peace deal. Almaneia's terms were light, compared to the others - Koltsovo would become independent, and the Trottoman Empire would be provided fleet basing rights for fifteen years. Since then, Almaneia was the site of the reappearance of Prince Parmezani, where he was provided passage back to Neighpoli.

## Economy

### Trade

Trade is where most of Almaneia's income arrives. Almaneia is head of the Marediterranean League, which is a network of trade partners that agree to have no tariffs between them, instead making their money through regular sales taxes as the goods propagate throughout their markets. Almaneia often serves as the gateway between Eastern and Western goods, frequently exchanging Eastern silks for Western metals, and other such exchanges.

### Taxation

Since independence, Almaneia has done away with the Jizyah tax on non-Islambic people. One thing that Almaneia is known for is high estate taxes, with very wealthy estates being taxed at 90% above a certain amount. This is perhaps an effort to prevent a noble class from developing, as extreme generational wealth is difficult to create, although nobody from a wealthy family will be left needy. Income taxes are kept low - most of the money is made via sales taxes on the goods that flow through Almaneia.

### Natural Resources

Almaneia's small size dictates that it cannot rely on natural resources to hold up its economy. However, the forests present in the recently annexed northern territory provide excellent timber for ships. In addition, gemstones were recently discovered in the mountains on Almaneia's eastern border, which are often fashioned into jewelry and exported to nobles across the globe, stimulating that sector of the Almaneian economy.

## Government

Almaneia has kept the ministerial system invented by the Trottoman Empire. Hiring is meritocratic, rather than going to influential persons - partially because those are in short supply in Almaneia. Almaneia is a unitary state - there are no feudal lords that govern subsections of the country. Cities have their own mayors - these are typically elected, but do they do not enjoy inherent protection, so there is nothing stopping their removal by Tireina, although this has never occurred. Typically, lower-ranking bureaucrats rise slowly through the ranks until they are selected for a ministerial position, rather than the Eastern system of tests. Kota Pasha's powers are currently ill-defined, due to his previous position having been what amounts to the governor of Almaneia. A line of succession, therefore, has not been established, nor have any restrictions on Pasha's power.

### Foreign Relations

Almaneia is hardly internationally famous, although it briefly drew eyes following the death of Pope Pegasius. However, almost every leader on the planet likely has at least an elementary familiarity with Almaneia, due to its critical importance in global trade. Unsurprisingly, relations with the Trottoman Empire, however, remain poor, due to the independence declaration. Relations with the Imperium, surprisngly, appear neutral - in fact, it was considered so neutral by the Imperium that they agreed to hold the peace negotiations for the Third Equestrian-Imperium War there despite Almaneia having been in the war just a few months prior.

### Current treaties

Other members of the Marediterranean League include Veneightzia, Ragaitsa, Haylenica and, Aegyptos.

Almaneia also holds alliances with Roamaneia and Haylenica.

It also provided foreign aid to Eponus and Bullbearia, but these treaties are most likely defunct.

Almaneia's independence is guaranteed by Griffonstone. The reasons for this are unclear, but scholars are quick to point out that the offer came soon after the Haylenic conquest of much of Marxedonia.

## Military

There is little to speak of when it comes to the Almaneian army. Most of it acts as marines, which means that it prioritizes small, well-equipped forces over larger ones that engage in line battles. However, a lack of a solid military tradition means that even these troops are middling at best, although they demonstrated surprising speed during the occupation of Cyprance.

The Navy is much larger. Almaneia prefers moderately-sized, speedy ships, used to protect merchant vessels up and down the Marediterranean. Experience stamping out piracy in the sea has led to a much more diverse naval tradition than on land. The Almaneian fleet specializes in projecting its force well beyond Almaneia's home waters, thanks to careful planning of supply lines.

## Notable Characters

### Kota Pasha

Kota Pasha is the mild-mannered, relatively young prince of Almaneia. He is not known for making many public appearances, so his popularity is hardly fanatical, although few have anything poor to say about the stallion. He is known to be personal friends with Voivode Vlakulesti of Roamaneia.