Ruritania
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CIA World Fact Book 2001
Ruritania |
Geography: Ruritania is a country 1,041,927 square km, located in equatorial cyberspace. It is bordered in the East and West by the Gulf of Cyberia and shares borders with all other states in Equtorial Cyberspace. In the North are Brynania and Icasia. To the East lies Udem, and in the South are Concordia and Uqamistan.
The northern regions of the country are heavily mountainous, covered by the Neuromancer range. The highest peak is Mt. Gibson, which reaches a height of 4 223 metres. The climate progresses from semi-tropical in the area south of the mountains to arid and semi-desert in the centre of Ruritania. The coastal areas are sub-tropical and the Southern region is covered by plains suitable for cultivation.
Demography: The total population of Ruritania was estimated by the UN at 28.5 million in 1995. The most recent census in 1991 showed that approximately 55% are ethnic Ruritanians, 18% Icasians, (concentrated along the northern border with Icasia), 17% Zaharians (concentrated near the southern border with Brynania), and the remaining 10% a mix of Brn, Rayniers, Orman, and others. Since the start of the Brynanian civil war, large refugee camps have formed along the border north of Port Wilicka. The ethnic composition of the refugees is largely Zaharian, but exact figures cannot be determined.
Approximately 38% of the population is urban. The largest city is the capital, Helena, (c4,400,000) located in the centre of the country, followed by the western city of Port Wilicka (c1,000,000). Also important is the mining centre of Wawa in the North (c860,000). The provincial capitals are Meta, Western province (c900,000), Zeta, Southwestern province, (c745,000), Theta, Southeastern province (c230,000), and the port of Beta, Eastern Province (c85,000).
Economy: Ruritania has the highest GNP in Equatorial Cyberspace at USD$28 billion and the second-highest GNP per capita at $1,120. Ruritania's economy is highly dependant upon energy, which at 40% of GDP makes up the bulk of the national wealth. Its largest export is natural gas, which accounts for 72% of foreign sales. Ruritania also possesses the largest petroleum reserves on the continent, and has recently begun exploiting these through partnerships with various oil MNCs. The so-called RCB ("Ruritania-Ciku-Biku) pipeline connects the central energy producing area with neighbouring Brynania, although the pipeline has been inactive since the early part of the Brynanian civil war. The large energy stores have provided Ruritania with significant hard-currency reserves.
A second pillar of the Ruritanian economy is the diamond trade, supplied by mines in the North. This makes up roughly 10% of GDP and 20% of foreign trade. Ruritanian diamonds are exported exclusively by industry giant DiaCo, which controls all local mines through exclusivity agreements. There was an attempt by the government in the early 1980s to nationalize some mines and operate them independently on the world market, but the policy was reversed under pressure from the US and the threat of capital flight by foreign investors. The Ruritanian mines all returned to DiaCo control by 1986 and there have been no disputes since.
10% of Ruritania's GDP is drawn from gold mining activities in the Southeast. The inaccessibility of the region makes these resources difficult to extract, but highly lucrative.
Transportation: The country's primary transportation network is well established between major area. Portions of the interior and other peripheral areas are still under-serviced, however. The country's major port is Port Wilicka, although this remains in need of modernization. As a results, some exports are also shipped through Port Royal in Concordia. Access to Mcgilldishu in Brynania has been interrupted by the civil war there, and Ruritania has closed its southern highway into insurgent-controlled areas of that country.
Ruritania's new international airport at Helena, completed in 1993, is a modern facility superior to any other in Cyberia. Meta and Beta both have older facilities dating from the 1960s. The interior of the country is littered with minor airstrips.
History: The lands which now make up Ruritania were conquered by the legendary figure Amadou Ruritan during the third century A.D. The empire lasted as a political unit for the next eight centuries. The area was colonised by the British in 1876, under the colonial governor Cecil Wilicka. His policy of including Ruris in the highest echelons of colonial administration won favour with the locals. Despite this, he was assassinated in 1894 by a armed opposition group known as Ruritanians United in STrength (RUST). The British responded with an iron fist and smashed RUST through the imposition of martial law. For the next 20 years, various colonial administrators ruled Ruritania with little tolerance of dissent. World War I weakened British rule, and Ruritania gained a degree of autonomy in 1923. During the remainder of the inter-war period, the Ruritanian home-rule administration began to exploit the vast mineral resources of the North, but World War II forced an end to these forays as the nation's industrial production was shifted to war production.
Ruritania regained its home-rule after the war, and was decolonized in 1961. The Prime Minister at the time of independence was a former commander in the Armed Forces, William Gates. Accused at first of being a military ruler, Gates liberalised Ruritanian laws to near-western standards to deflect criticism and placed great limitations on the nation's military. His policies, however, were viewed as weakness by Ruritania's largest neighbour, Icasia. The final blow to Gates' rule came in 1966 when border clashes erupted with Icasia. Gates' vacilating response infuriated the military, and in June he was overthrown by officers associated with the nationalist Rath Party. General Anwar Begin became the country's first president under a revised constitution, and the military and Rath party rapidly consolidated its hold over almost all public institutions. Gates died peacefully on September 4, 1993. He was replaced by his loyal deputy, Gallit Dobner, who won 99.6% of votes cast in a 1994 plebscite to confirm her position.
Foreign Relations: The British ties remained strong in Ruritania after independence and until the 1966 coup. Thereafter, the Rath Party charted a more independent course, highlighting the historical legacies of ancient Ruritan empires, emphasizing the value of greater Cyberian unity, and stressing Ruritania's central role as "the beating heart of Cyberspace." Many countries have viewed Ruritanian policy with growing suspicion, seeing in it the seeds of regional hegemony.
One manifestation of this suspicion was growing tension with the Brynanian government after the 1973 Arvanitidis coup in the latter country. Ruritania responded by lending support to the nascent Zaharian rebellion in southern Brynania. In this it found support from the US, which was alarmed by Brynania's growing Soviet ties. The result was a warming of US-Ruritanian relations, marked by the growing investment by DiaCo and Exxon in the country's diamond and oil resources respectively.
With the Hamra coup in Brynania and the cooling of Brynanian-Soviet relations, Ruritania undertook a striking reorientation of its regional policies. Support was withdrawn for the Zaharian insurgents, and instead growing military assistance was provided to the new government in Hamraville. Increasingly, Ruritania wants no part of the masses of Zaharian refugees who have fled over its border, and tight restrictions have been placed on the refugee camps in this area.
Relations with Icasia have improved significantly since the 1960s, and treatment of the Icasian minority which remains in the border area is not a major point of contention. Ruritanian-Concordian ties have been strained since 1995, when the Democratic People's Party came to power in the latter nation. Its pro-PFLZ sympathies have caused friction given the Ruritanian government's support for the Brynanian administration. Periodic tensions have also surfaced with Udem, with Ruritania being particularly critical of the continued presence of French military bases in that country.
Perhaps most serious of all, however, has been the war of words waged between Uqamistan and Ruritania since the 1982 revolution in the former. Ruritanian leaders have denounced Uqami foreign policy as "adventurous" and "destabilizing", while Uqamistan has provided stepped up support for the Zaharian insurgency in Brynania. the border area between the two countries remains tense.
Armed Forces: Ruritania possesses what is by far the largest force on the continent, with an estimated 58,000 troops. 45,000 of these are in the army, which consist s of three mechanized infantry divisions, and 12 independent infantry regiments and smaller units, equipped with an estimated 90 M-60A1 MBTs, 300 M-113 and MOWAG Piranha APCs, 105 mm and 155mm towed artillery, and HAWK SAMs. The navy is 7,500 strong with 1 Type-12 Leander class frigate, 3 Knox-class frigates, and 2 Italian-built Lupo-class frigates (all deployed at Port Wilicka), and 6 Chinese-built Shanghai-class fast attack craft (based on the east coast). The airforce has 6,500 men with 24 F-5 fighters, 12 A-4 attack aircraft, 4 Canberra bombers, 6 Puma and 12 Lynx helicopters, and 6 C-130 transports.
