Qarai

Qarai (' ', Qarayan: 𐤒𐤓𐤀, romanized: Qaraii), officially The Qarayan Republic(Qarayan: 𐤄𐤀𐤌𐤇𐤓 𐤟 𐤄𐤒𐤓𐤀) or The Republic of Qarai is a country in Northern Kesh. It is located between Nasiria to the west and Alva to the east and borders HCCK in the south. To the north it is bound by the Eurybian Sea. Its location is central to the Eurybian Sea which solidified its position as a culturally diverse hub. The Northern Kesh mountain range cuts through the south of the country and splits into several smaller mountain ranges, the two largest of which are the Liat Mountains Range and the Daye7a'a Mountains Range. The mountains are home to many unique ethnic groups, some of which, were isolated for thousands of years.

Most of the country is semi-arid and arid with few vegetation, most of the water supply and population concentrates at the delta of the Diyat River where the capital city, Isari sits. To the south of the country across the Northern Kesh Mountains lays the Ketail region of Qarai, a unique region that unlike the rest of the country sits on a tropical climate. This region is also home to dozens of unique ethnic and religious groups some of which are unique to the region. Qarai is home to a around 30 million people in an area size of 576,950 km sq (222,760 sq mi). Qarai is a  with its capital in Isari, the largest city and the seat of power of the largest metropolitan area in Qarai, also known as Isari Metro. Other major urban areas include Liqat which is directly connected to Isari through the urban sprawl, and Mashik which sits on the Dazbag Straits on the northern coasts.

The earliest human settlements in Qarai predate written history and is found in fragments of pottery and ancient weapons, some of which was traced back to 5000 BCE. Isari is thought to be one of the oldest cities on the planet with a rich history dating back to those early settlements. The city used to be the capital of the original Isari Kingdom which ruled the region as evident by written stone tablets. The Isari Kingdom was an indigenous kingdom ruled by the native Qaraites, formed as a confederation of several tribes. The kingdom reformed and centralized the worship of the Qarai faith, a monotheistic religion that originated in the same area and is thought to originate in the old Qaraites tribes. Today, the Qarai faith is split into several sects with the two biggest ones being the Banai sect and the Asai sect. It is thought that the kingdom lasted for 3900 years since around 3000 BCE to 900 CE at the dawn of the Haqiqatan era and its conquest by the Maerifas, but more modern scholars only agree on 1400 BC as the starting point of the same continuous kingdom. The two major sects, Shiatsu Hasan and Shiatsu Nizar took roots in Qarai and today they compose as much as half of the total population. During the Haqiqatan era of Qarai a massive influx of Qara'aha settled Qarai and many of the ethnic Qaraites converted to Haqiqatan leading to the demographics seen today where Haqiqatan is the second largest faith in Qarai. Modern Qarayans are considered a hybrid between Haqiqatan Aravan and Qaraites which evolved on its own in the region, unique from the Aravan people to the east of Qarai. After the collapse of the Maerifas rule over Qarai in the late 11th century, several Haqiqatan emirates and Qarayan tribal leaders took local power over separate regions. During that same period of time missionaries had first arrived to the shores of Qarai, building monasteries, some of which still stand today like Hisan-A-Dzur near the modern day city of Sha'afel. At least one tribal leader in Fa'ashuk had converted to the faith and until today there still are some major Messianic communities across Qarai.

Qarai is governed by a unique system of where each religious group has reserved executive offices, legislative seats and judiciary positions in addition to a portion that is either democratically elected or appointed. This power-sharing agreement was put in place to avoid violence and internal conflict and thrives to strengthen the national identity of the country. One notable example of this system is the requirements of the President of Qarai to be a Qarai Banai, the Prime minister, to be a Qarai Asai and the Speaker of Parliament to be a Haqiqatan Shiatu Nazir. Economically, Qarai is considered a moderately developed country with a decent and functioning economy. There is a stark contrast between urban and rural regions in Qarai, with the urban areas being much more developed and more prosperous compared to their rural counter parts, where in some places, even basic utilities such as water and electricity don't reach. The socioeconomic difference has pushed a drive for urbanization and migration of rural populations to cities that has been ongoing since the 60s. Qarai is a primarily a economy with  and  falling behind due to lack of arable land and the extensive urbanization which leads more educated people to the cities where most people are employed in the services sector. The current national unemployment rate sits at around 7% of the population with most unemployed coming from poor socioeconomic backgrounds and live in urban and suburban regions where it is difficult to find jobs for unskilled labour.

Etymology
The ancient Qaraites were a tribe native to the region who settled in what is today's Northern Qarai. It is thought to originate from the word Qurai (: "قرائ") which can be translated as "Readers". The name dates back to the 800s - 900s from Haqiqatan literature, the earliest written records referring to the region and its natives that does not come from the region itself. The name possibly stems from to the fact the Qaraites were known to read and write when it was not common outside of religious and administrative officials.

Prior to that, the Qaraites would've refereed to themselves as A-Um possibly meaning "The People" or "The Nation". The name can be found in several stone tablets and surviving fragments of texts.

A-Umhuri roughly translates to "Free People" or "Free Nation" and is used as a native word for

History
The A-Qas region of Qarai has traces of human habitat as early as 5000 BCE with many clay poetry items, primitive weapons and stone carvings. The region is a semi-arid oasis near the delta of the A-Qas river surrounded by the vast desert of Qarai. It is possible that initially the inhabitants were a fishing community who later evolved to agriculture when it had reached the area utilizing the delta's fertile arable lands to grow wheat and some vegetables.

The city of Mara at the southern tip of Qarai also has a long history of habitat but it is evident that the region had not developed agriculture at least until 300 CE and had been isolated from the rest of the country. The isolation sprung forth several ancient cultures and languages, most of whom are extinct with the only remnant surviving is the Baal Al-Il faith, which is still debated whether it had even originated in the area.

Ancient Qarai
The oldest basin of civilization in Qarai can be placed in the Isari region and it's surrounding plains and mountains, ample water supply that flows through the region and rich arable lands make it a perfect place for ancient humans to inhabit and develop agriculture. The cities of Bisaw'ug and Quhas in particular each have traces more than twenty different settlements built on top of each other forming mounds known as. Bisaw'ug has traces of a walled city dated to 5000 BC which indicate an exceptionally developed civilization during that time, that has been able to construct fortified defenses against external threats as well as being one of the oldest walls in history. Some of the writings indicate that this civilization was united under a single dynasty of rulers and is known as the Old Isari Kingdom.

Other than agricultural societies Qarai is also home to fragments of ancient humans habitats in several caves in the A-Nisir valley in today's A-Qafin National Reservation (Also known as The Caves Reservations). the two most notable sites are Qaf-A-Namir, a cave with remnants of stone tools and harsh signs of burning fires and Ayn-Kfraq, a small natural water well with signs of early stone houses. These are dated back to the 2nd millennium BC and though to have been the home of some of the oldest hunter-gatherers societies in Qarai. The lack of human habitation in A-Qafin in later centuries and years meant that some of these ancient fragments, especially the ones found in caves, were naturally preserved very well from other humans and outside environmental elements.

The traditional Isari Kingdom, or Neo-Isari Kingdom, is thought to have been formed some time around the late bronze age and early iron age in 1400 BC, starting at that time point, an increase in written tablets, old archeological sites, pottery and weapons can be found. Whether the Neo-Isari Kingdom and the Old-Isari Kingdom are the same is a topic deeply debated today. The writings found from the Isari Kingdom are written in an old version of the modern Qarayan alphabet which indicates that the written language has changed very little to the point of some ancient texts being entirely readable to the average Qarayan speaker. That being said, there is no doubt great grammatical changes did take place throughout the language's history but the core vocabulary and root words have indeed originated in the Isari Kingdom and have been kept largely unchanged by native Qarayan speakers.

Looking at the evidence, economically, Isari was a diverse kingdom with developed agriculture, olive oil processing, hunters and fishing, providing a wide variety of foods to the population. Isari traders have left written marks all throughout Qarai and even outside of it to places they had been and at its peak, the kingdom expanded across the entire coast of the Isari Bay, leaving large archeological sites of cities, towns, religious sites and military garrisons and forts. As time went on, it is believed the Isari Kingdom's influence waned and eventually independent city-states were established and replaced the Kingdom rule.

Middle Ages and Haqiqatan Era
Around the time of the 10th century, the spread of Haqiqatan had reached Qarai and its close proximity meant it was targeted by the Maerifas. During the time of the Third Maerifa, Hazin Jundi Al-Salam hostilities broke out and an army of 9,000 soldiers invaded the Isari states and the remnants of the Isari Kingdom. Most of the Qarayan states fell to the conquest but some well-known pockets of resistance are well documented, including a short-lived resistance in the cave of Qaf-A-Ma7atab, which was used as the headquarters for an alliance of surviving city-states to defend against the Haqiqatan armies and coordinate internal chaos and resistance within the Maerifa's Realm. Some of the last pockets of resistance eventually fled and inhabited the region of Ketail alongside the Baal Al-Il and Kodeshi communities.

By the early to mid 11th century, Qarai was firmly held by the Maerifas and almost no independent Qarayan states have existed at the time. The city of Isari was temporarily renamed to Dihabiya in, a mark of prosperity the city has given to the Haqiqatan realm, and an attempt to subdue native Qarayan influence over the region. It is thought that pockets of resistance persisted in the mountainous region of Ras-Henaya. Under Haqiqatan rule many of the natives were converted to to the faith as well as many migrants had arrived to the region. The Haqiqatan rulers managed to construct aqueducts, wells and expand their territory into the vast deserts of Qarai. Some of the biggest Haqiqatan population centers in Qarai today were built utilizing these infrastructure projects including the cities of Masak, A-Nisir and A-Madba.

With waning influence and support by the late 11th century the Maerifas lost control over various portions of Qarai eventually leading to a total collapse when a confederation of Qarai warlords invaded the city of Isari, which was called Dihabiya and razed most of it. The Qarai Confederation rebuilt the city a new and renamed it back to Isari and brought forth a new era of small states in what is today's modern Qarai.

A-Hadeshai Period
The term A-Hadeshai in Qarai roughly translates to "The Renewal" or "The Reconstruction" and is used to refer to the period after the Haqiqatan realm in Qarai collapsed. It is identified by a variety of smaller emirates, states and confederacies of countries throughout the region of modern Qarai. The most prominent of these countries was the Qarai Confederation which ruled the region around the A-Diyat river and the reconstructed city of Isari. The western portion of modern Qarai was predominantly ruled by Haqiqatan emirates and a few various Qarayan States also existed at the time.

The A-Hadeshai period also marks the start of modern Qarayan culture and the centralization of the Qaraite faith, which split to the two major sects of Banai and Asai, the two largest Qarai sects today. The Haqiqatan population after the rule of the Maerifas also split along the lines of Shiatu-Nazir and Shiatu-Hasan, named after the supposed Maerifas that were supposed to succeed the last Maerifa, a succession that never happened in practice before the collapse of the realm.

In terms of terminology, most of the Haqiqatan states were called emirates and ruled by an emir and the small Qarayan states were called Mashila and ruled by Mashil, roughly equivalent to the same terms in or Duchy/Duke in the common language. One of the exceptions to this is the Qarai Confederation which was ruled by a Shofat, which is the term used to refer to a ruler who is involved both in national and international(within a confederation) matters. The Shofatin were elected rulers from the individual tribes they ruled over. This political system is similar to an where the electors are the rulers of the individual states within the confederacy.

During the A-Hadeshai period in addition to the schisms that occurred in the Haqiqatan and Qarai faiths, missionaries had also begun to arrive from the continent of Artemia and set up missions in various Qarai states. Fa'ashuk and Mara in particular attracted many of these missionaries and were considered flexible when it comes to faith leading to many conversions and a welcoming attitude towards the Messianics.

Geography
Qarai is composed of 576,950 km sq of land, located in the center of Northern Kesh on the southern edge of the Eurybian Plate. From east, to south, to west, going clockwise the country borders Alva along the coast, Kodeshia south of the North Kesh Mountains, HCCK across the southern border and Nasiria throughout the west border. The south of the country is dominated by the Northern Kesh mountains range and the north borders the Eurybian Sea alongside the Bay of Isari, Dazbag Straits, A-Yir Bay and Ras-Yisnak Bay. The country also has several islands off the coast.

Within Isari there are also 6 islands: Isari 7th, or Isari VII is an island that houses the Isari city's seventh district and is connected with several bridges to the city's mainland areas, Sa'abaqok, Sa'afetal, A-Dimadzur, Lenawa, which are all sparsely populated islands off the coast and lastly Dazbag Island which sits right in the center of the Dazbag Straits as a strategic point of control over them. Dazbag, today is also populated very sparsely but has old sites of old fortresses and entrenchments that used to be active on the island.

The country can be split into eight geographic belts of similar climates, topography and environments. The North Kesh at the south of the country has smaller off-spring mountain ranges that naturally create this split into belts of mountain ranges and valleys or flat desert plains. From the eastern most edge of the country to the west the belts are as follows: Isari Plains, Lait Mountains, Dazbag Bay, A-Nisir Valley, Dayeha'a Mountains and the Western Coastlines. In addition to these six belts the North Kesh mountains are also considered a single belt that is perpendicular to the six main belts and another belt directly south of the North Kesh mountains is the entire region of Ketail, which is also considered a belt. Known for it's more tropical climate and unique environment separate from the rest of the country.

Hydrography
Qarai's dry and water-lacking climate requires most population centers to have reliable sources of water to sustain themselves, the largest of which are the A-Diyat River, which feeds the entire metro area of the capital Isari and most of A-Qas region as well as the city of Dzir-Buta, west of the capital. And the A-Qaf freshwater lake which lays on the outskirts of the city of A-Mafras and has been used as a source of water for irrigation and aqueducts moving it's water south to some of the driest places on Qarai, allowing for a reliable source of clean water and irrigation water in places where there are no other water sources.

Throughout Qarai there are three year-long running rivers with active flow all year round. A-Diyat River is the longest of the three rivers and starts at the peak of Ras-Diyat on the North Kesh Mountains flowing down through Masak and eventually Isari City, the capital of Qarai. Kfraq is the second longest river which starts between the Ras Daye7a’a and Ras Lait mountains in the Lait Mountains Range, flowing down to A-Nisir and into the Dazbag Straits. Dzashkor is the shortest of the rivers, it starts south of the country in the western side of the Qarayan North Kesh Mountain Range and flows through Ma’alu eventually forming the international border with Nasiria before pouring into Ras-Yisnak Bay.

Natural water springs can be found throughout Qarai's mountainous regions in places where geographic layers form a sedimentary floor that doesn't let water drip through usually on the steps of mountains and hills. Humans for long had utilized these geographic features to create man-made reservoirs that collect and keep the little rain water that falls on the more dry regions and allow for easy access to water.

Biodiversity
The fauna, flora of Qarai varies between the geographic belts due to the drastic changes in altitude and climate. There are several unique examples of wildlife present all throughout Qarai including the, , , and the  and. Near the major rivers and coastlines where the weather is more temperate some of the rarer sights are of the, , and even the  although the latter are in great danger of extinction.

It is estimated there are as many as 150 different species of throughout Qarai, over 500 species of, around 1,700 species of  and over 3,000 species of plants as well as many more species of various.

Climate
The climate of Qarai is mostly hot and dry with several smaller regions of hot  that experience more rainfall than the rest of the country and is home to Qarai's unique vegetation and foliage. The southern-most edge of the country is special due to it sitting on and experiences dramatically heavier rainfall than the rest of the country. The climate is mostly influenced by the North Kesh Current, a cold current that pushes into Isari from the north-east and cools the majority of the north-eastern coastlines, where the capital and the most populous regions sit. The offshoots of the North Kesh mountains block most precipitation and wind from going towards the A-Nisir valley and the north-west coastlines creating a harsh hot desert climate. The higher altitudes of the mountains help reduce the heat creating a colder which eventually turns into  on the peaks.

Qarai has all year round warm to hot temperatures throughout most of the country and little precipitation during winter with the exception of the more moderate climate regions. In the A-Nisir valley temperatures can easily reach 43 °C (109 °F) in the summer while on the opposite ends the peaks of the North Kesh mountains usually reach as low as 1 °C (33.8 °F) in the winters and enjoy snowy peaks throughout the year.

The region of Ketail has unique sub-tropical climate that ranges from a with dry summers and wet and warm. The region gets exponential more rainfall than the rest of the country and temperatures are lower than the desert regions.

Tectonics
The North Kesh mountains have resulted from the convergent drift between the Kesh Tectonic Plate and the Eurybian Tectonic plate, while most of the country sits on the Eurybian Plate, the region of Ketail sits on the Kesh Plate. The convergence rate between the two plates is considered to be very high at a rate of more than 10 cm / year which causes high seismic activity in the area. the cities of Ta'atuva, Masak and Qedil in particular suffers from earthquakes which occur between one and three times a year. By average, catastrophic earthquakes which cause loss of lives occur once every 50 years in Qarai.

In regions which are regularly affected by earthquakes, building regulations dictate that structures must be viable to survive in earthquakes of up to M w  5 although the regulations are rarely enforced with the exception of large commercial and industrial buildings, leaving most residential houses highly vulnerable to earthquakes of even smaller magnitudes. The last earthquake with human lives loss occurred in 1978 and killed 102 people in the affected regions, an exceptionally serious loss of lives compared to earlier earthquakes of the same scale.

Government and politics
Qarai is a with characteristics of. The parliament is divided into allocated regional seats per ethno-religious group and nationally elected seats. The government and executive branch are also restrained by confessionalist power-sharing and Judges throughout the country are appointed by regional administrations which usually also adhere to ethno-religious divisions. For example, in Qarai, the President has to be a Qarai Banai, the Prime minister, has to be a Qarai Asai and the Speaker of Parliament has to be a Haqiqatan Shiatu Nazir. The system is intended to foster cooperation and deter a potential power-grab by one community.

The current political framework has been established based on the 1955 Qarayan Constitution that dictated the confessionalist lines. The president of Qarai, currently Tamil Ma'awan, is also the head of state and functions on an almost purely ceremonial and representative role. The prime minister of Qarai, currently Ibraham Dzura'ani, is responsible for the executive branch and the day-to-day running of the government. The speaker of Parliament, is currently Hussain Ahemed, and is responsible for the legislative branch and the Parliament itself.

The inner-workings and the mere existence of the system spur debates throughout the country with some arguing that the system should be abolished in favour of proper national democratic elections that are not restricted by sectarian lines.

Executive branch
The executive branch of Qarai consists of the Prime Minister, his cabinet of ministries and the governing coalition in parliament. All three are elected by a majority vote in the parliament, usually after national general elections, and the signed approval of the president of Qarai. The cabinet of ministries is appointed by the prime minister and approved by the president from the members of Parliament, and the governing coalition is an unofficial term used to refer to the political parties affiliated with the prime minister and his ministers.

The president of Qarai is the head of state and is mostly a ceremonial role that represents the country as a unified entity. He is obliged to remain neutral on political issues and be pragmatic when representing the country in foreign affairs and international events. In addition to the foreign relations role he is also ceremonial in internal affairs, often opening various national ceremonies and offering apolitical speeches, pragmatic to the country.

Legislative branch
The parliament of Qarai is made up of 128 members, also known as MPs (Members of Parliament), which are elected seats chosen by the people of Qarai in their constituencies, with votes being distributed proportionally. The constituency lines follow the governante administrative divisions lines and the citizens vote directly for parties in a matter that dictates how many seats each party receives, then within this seats allocation, the parties choose MPs to be elected based on the demographic requirements of the constituency as dictated by the confessionalist system. Political parties must pass an that is currently set at 4.5% of the total share of votes. It's important to note that the electoral threshold is directly dictated by the legislative branch and can change from election to election.

Judiciary branch and laws
Qarai law is based on with the exception of personal religious matters which are governed by a set of religious laws for each of the major religion groups and religious courthouses. In addition to the national judiciary each of the religions have their own judiciary branch and council for writing these laws. The religious laws are diverse in the systems on which they are based and differ from one courthouse to another, being largely independent.

The secular national courts system is divided into a three-tiers system of district courts(also known as first-instance courts), governante courts(also known as appeals courts) and a single national supreme court. In addition to the three-tiers there is also a constitutional court which rules on legislatures and executive matters.

Military
The Qarayan Armed Forces (QAF) has 288,000 active personnel including 4,400 in the air force and 4,000 in the navy. The primary mission of the Qarayan Armed Forces is to protect Qarai's sovereignty, defend its citizens, maintain social stability in the country and conduct mass scale humanitarian relief operations in the country when needed, utilizing the military's resources.

The military specializes specifically in large logistical operations, search & rescue and disaster relief although it also maintains large amounts of resources towards military security and protection.

Administrative divisions
Qarai is divided into 13 governorates which are further divided into 129 administrative regions which fall into several classifications, some regions are classified as several types at once:
 * National Capital (Isari City / Isari I, 1 Region)
 * National Capital Quarter (Isari I - VII, 5 Regions plus 1 National Capital plus 1 Island, total of 7)
 * Governante Capital (13 Regions)
 * Metropolitan Region (19 Regions plus 13 Governante Capitals, total of 32)
 * Municipality (36 Regions)
 * Unadministered (49 Regions)

The National Capital region is unique since it doesn't have a regional government, instead, being directly administered by the parliament. The National Capital Quarters do have their own city halls and councils, but are tied to the parliament. Governante Capitals are also tied to their governorates. Metropolitan Regions are sometimes tied to other regions but usually have their own city halls and councils. Unadministered regions have no halls or councils other than local cities, towns and villages and are directly administered by their respective governorates.

Economy
Qarai boasts a with very little  aside from subsiding basic supplies. In foreign trade, government intervention is near to non-existent and low tax rates encourage foreign investments in the country. The treatment towards foreign investments is a deeply debated topic in the country. The Qarayan economy has a nominal of $29.808 billion and an average yearly growth-rate of around 9% during the period between 2000 - 2020. Qarai has a diverse economy with the mining industry being the largest at one fourth of the GDP, agriculture and manufacture each take up one fifth of the GDP and services is a growing sector that currently consists of one sixth of the country's GDP.

In the 60s, Qarai had poor economic performance after decades of stagnation due to lack of access to natural resources and external imports. For much of the years following, massive infrastructure projects funded by foreign investments brought the agricultural industry to a constant growth and brought valuable water, electricity and roads infrastructure to localities that used to be completely isolated from the rest of the country. Since the 90s the Qarayan communications infrastructure also saw rapid growth on par with the rest of the world but many places are still isolated and lack communications like cellular networks and land-lines. After the adoption of more liberal market policies foreign investments in the country grew rapidly and gave access to Qarai's labour manpower for the national services industry which had since grown to be the largest sector.

The reasons for the large growth of the services industry can be attributed to the inherent need for economic growth in the face of lack of natural resources. The country realigned itself as a tourist and professional workforce hub by utilizing government programs to educate and provide professional certificates for the working population at the cost of government expenditures, a gamble that eventually paid off and lead to constant economic growth until the start of the 21st century.

Energy
Qarai's energy market is mostly based on and oil with secondary sources of energy coming from hydroelectricity and renewable sources. Qarayan natural gas is found off the coasts in the Isari Bay and the Western Coastlines which are used directly for energy consumption or converted to for long term storage in emergency reserves. Qarai's oil is imported from the surrounding countries with some being produced locally in a single oil drill located in the A-Nisir Valley.

The rest of the electricity consumed is produced at the hydroelectric dam of the A-Diyat river and from several wind turbines and solar panel arrays scattered throughout the country. Less than 10% of the country's electricity is produced from renewable sources but there are plans on expanding the country's solar energy array to at least 20% of energy consumption until 2030, an effort which has been undergoing for the past 10 years. One of the biggest challenges the project faces so far are the abundance of dust storms in areas with the most year-round hours of sunlight which block or even disable solar panels arrays completely, often for days at a time, making solar energy expensive in constant maintenance.

Energy efficiency is an important goal the Qarai Ministry of Energy had set for itself in 2010 and the ministry plans to reach this goal by building a network of automatic load balancers using artificial intelligence to try and predict spikes of energy consumption, days and even weeks before they occur. Such a network could potentially save 40 to 50% of the wasted electricity produced.

Infrastructure
Water supply has always been an issue in Qarai history and even in present day, a small percentage of village still do not receive fresh clean water. Today's modern water pipe lines found its roots in the Haqiqatan era which saw the construction of aqueducts and water channels to more remote areas and allowed the expansion of the realm into the interior of Qarai instead of sticking to the coastlines. Most of the water in Qarai is supplied from underground aquifers in the coast regions or small springs and oasis's located in the interior mountain ranges. The modern water supply pipe lines and reservoirs system bring together several sources of water to centralized locations of high density populations and allows for constant and steady flow of clean fresh water. The most notable examples of urban areas fed by complex networks of water pipes are located in the regions of Fiqawya, A-Tawba and Ria'as which use a mixture of aquifer water, springs and reservoirs to fulfill the water demands of their urban areas.

In terms of electric the country has running electricity and in almost every household with the exception of several off-the-grid communities living in unrecognized villages without utilities. Communications infrastructure is slightly less common with internet and cellular networks being available in urban regions and their outskirts for the most part while lacking even in some recognized remote towns and villages. Since 2010 there has been an undergoing effort to connect the entire country's population to cellular networks even at the cost of land infrastructure.

Transport
Qarai has a national highways network that runs through most of the country and even reaches some of the more remote locations. The network is actively maintained by the government and is in good shape. Rail infrastructure is much less common with only three continuous lines of 2 tracked railways mostly concentrated on the coastal regions and dense population zones, this is due to the fact, the rest of the country is highly mountainous and constructing tunnels is too expensive to justify the need for a large rail system. The Ketail region is considered the most disconnected from the rest of the country with only one highway connecting it and the rest of the transport infrastructure. The region is much better connected with Kodeshia and depends greatly on it.

Tourism
Qarai attracts more than 2,000,000 tourists every year. A major portion of tourists are religious pilgrims seeking to reach religious sites or attendance in monasteries and other spiritual retreats. More tourists arrive to visit archeological sites, experience the remote wildlife of Qarai and some even stay in the urban cities for the night-life and exotic cuisine and traditional arts. Qarai is considered mostly safe for tourism and exceptionally safe in areas that usually attract tourism, but some remote places and some peripheral urban regions are considered unsafe and it is recommended to avoid them. Ecotourism is especially popular for the average tourist and some agencies offer wildlife retreats in the deserts of A-Nisir, mountain climbing expeditions to the North Kesh peaks and guided tours throughout the reservations of Qarai.

The most popular destinations for tourists in 2022 were the capital city, Isari, the mountain top tomb of Qarb-A-Maerifa, the historical castles Hisan-A-Aqadi and Hisan-A-Dzur, the monasteries of Fiqawya and the sub-tropical wilderness of the Ketail region.

Data
The following table shows the main economic indicators throughout the years 2010 to 2022. The indicators for 2010 and 2020 are considered the most accurate due to the national census taking place. The rest of the years are considered only estimates.

Demographics
As of the 2020 national census, the population of Qarai sits at 39,419,491 nationals. All Qarai nationals are identified as Qarayans but differ in ethnicity and religious affiliation. The largest ethno-religious groups in order of size are: Banai Qarai, Shiatu Hasan Haqiqatan, Shiatu Nazir Haqiqatan, Asai Qarai and Baal Al-Il. The majority of the Shiatu Hasan Haqiqatan population lives at the south of the country at the border with HCCK while the majority of the Baal Al-Il minority live around the city of Mara. There are no clear demographic boundaries and most of the sects live together in Qarai's big cities.

Religion
Qarai is a religiously diverse country with 7 officially recognized sects: Banai Qarai, Asai Qarai, Shiatu Nazir Haqiqatan, Shiatu Hasan Haqiqatan, Ba'al Al-Il, Messianic and Xuanism. In general the Qarai faith population amounts to 48.1% of the population while the Haqiqatan faith populations amount to 38.4% which make up the 2 largest religious faiths in Qarai. Irreligious and atheists make up an insignificant portion of the population and most identify with at least one religious sect.

Religion in Qarai is an important aspect of life, dictating tribal affiliation, community and lifestyle. Legally the religious courts rule over personal and familial matters and can make judgements that effect a person's personal life up to expelling a person from a sect, giving them a mark for the rest of their lives. People who do not belong to any officially recognized sects are looked down on by the general population.

In recent years the Qarayan government has made a push to distance religious affiliation from external meddling, believing that it should only be a personal matter between oneself and since 2008 an alternative secular courthouse operates to replace the religious ones and any citizen can choose to go to the secular court for personal and familial issues instead of being forced to go to their sect's religious court.

Ethnic groups
The citizens of Qarai are called Qarayans by nationality but split into various different ethnic groups, the two largest of which are Qarai and Aravan at 48.1% and 38.4% respectively with the other 13.5% being separated into various other ethnic groups including Ba'al Al-Il, the Kodeshi Hui, Yi and Xiong as well as some Artemian ethnicities of immigrants.

Languages
Qarai officially recognizes Qarayan and Aravan as its two official languages with Aravan taking a marginalized status. As much as 86% of the population speaks Qarayan while only around 40% speak Aravan making it much less used outside of purely Aravan communities. Qarayan is the official administrative language of Qarai but all documents must be translated to Aravan. Road signs are another example of things that are written in both Qarayan and Aravan throughout the country by law.

In the education system, Qarayan is a mandatory subject for all Qarayan children and Aravan is only used as the education language in areas where the majority of the population speaks Aravan. Large cities and metropoline areas usually have a mixture of Aravan and Qarayan schools as well as mixed ones where both languages are taught.

Education
Qarai has mandatory education provided until the age of 18. It is separated into two tiers: primary education(grades 1 - 6) and secondary-tertiary education(grades 7 - 12) with the main difference being that in secondary-tertiary schools students already study in their major of choice for their diploma while in primary schools students are all taught a pre-approved curriculum and subjects. The school year begins on the 1st of September and ends on the 30th of June each year.

Qarayans views higher education as the key to higher mobility and socioeconomic status in society. Higher education does not necessarily refers to academic degrees but any post-school profession that students can learn. Qarai gives students an early choice in what they want to be taught starting from 7th grade in order to become professional by the end of 12th grade. The Qarayan government policy for a long time believes in employment options directly after schools and thus company involvement in public education is high. Often times, especially in tertiary schools, company sponsorship allows for specialized majors and educations programs fit for the company needs.

Health
Qarai has universal participation in healthcare and insurance programs. All Qarayans are entitled to basic healthcare as a fundamental right. The 1991 national healthcare bill requires all Qarayan citizens to be enrolled into one of four regulated private not-for-profit healthcare and insurance programs which are not allowed by law to deny membership of anyone who wishes to join them. Qarayans who wish to further improve their healthcare and insurance coverage beyond the national programs can join private healthcare programs that offer additional services for a cost. The mandatory insurance and healthcare programs come with a national tax called the "National Security Tax" that funds both the private healthcare and insurance organizations and the national healthcare program.

The national healthcare program covers all costs of medical diagnosis, treatment and recovery in the fields of family medicine, hospitalization (general, maternity, psychiatric and chronic), preventive medicine, surgery (including elective surgery), transplants, treatment for drug abuse and alcoholism, medical equipment and appliances, first aid and transportation to a medical facility, obstetrics and fertility treatment, pre-approved medications announced at the start of every year, treatment of chronic diseases and paramedical services such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and mental healthcare. Certain optional treatments that are not considered standard or life-saving are also covered up to 80% of the costs but these tend to change on a yearly basis and depend on the national healthcare programs fund. IVF treatments for the first two children up to the age of 45 and abortions are also partially covered by the program.

In 2018, there were 2.9 professionally active physicians per 1,000 population in Qarai. A moderately high number compared to the rest of Kesh which allows the healthcare programs to give its members choice to the closest or most favored physician in their area to be contracted by in case of injury or illness which requires treatment.

Largest cities
Qarai is a highly urban country with most of its population living in large metropolitan areas. The following table only refers to urban population and not metro population which is much higher for most of these. All populations are directly taken from the 2020 census and are exact numbers.

Culture
The culture of Qarai reflects thousands years of history and assimilation of different cultural groups, while there isn't one Qarayan culture, most of the practices are entirely unique to Qarai as a whole. Over the years the ancient Qaraite culture absorbed and assimilated with Aravan cultures, the Messianic faith and even picked up some aspects from Kodeshi cultures. Despite the differences in the populations of Qarai it could be said that there is one unique Qarayan culture that is unified an inherent to all Qarayan nationals.

Arts
In visual arts, Mawtafa Farrah was among Qarai's most prominent painters of the 20th century. Formally trained in Artemia, he exhibited in venues all around the world over his career. Many more contemporary artists are active, such as Walid Ra'ad, a contemporary media artist residing in Fa'ashuk. In the field of photography, the Qarayan Image Foundation has a collection of over 400,000 photographs from Qarai and North Kesh. The photographs can be viewed in a research center and various events and publications have been produced in Qarai and worldwide to promote the collection.

Media
Media in Qarai is usually depicted in Qarayan but regional channels and newspapers are also in Aravan. Radio channels throughout the country must run 33% of their run time only in Qarayan despite major push backs against the law. Qara is also a major source of documentaries and nature films thanks to the large wilderness the country hosts and the good environmental protection.

Holidays
Qarai officially celebrates both Qarayan and Haqiqatan holidays and exceptions are made for the other recognized faiths and they are allowed to take days-off on their respect holidays. In addition to the regular holidays there is also a practice among the Haqiqatan population of annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Qarb-A-Maerifa.