Baileneu Ma

Baileneu Ma is a nation in central Avalonia with an area of 'x'km2. Formerly an Modrovian colony, it gained independence in 1967. Ruled by a decentralized agrarian socialist government called the Sowan Workers Union, the majority of decision making is made by council of representatives of the seven largest tribes in the nation. However, the actual power of the government is questionable as due to Sowan beliefs, there is deep-rooted distrust with political organisation. Because of this, tribal chieftains and community leaders are responsible for local collectivization and infrastructure planning. The official religion is Sowani, which led to many laws being created by the SWP to enforce its principles, such as a strict adherence to peace, which is why the nation has no official armed forces. The capital and largest city is Masazi, however, the majority of the population lives in rural areas, as the dense rainforest that covers most of the nation restricts the size of urban settlements.

Williamson's Rule
After Baileneu Ma gained independence, Sir Williamson Robertson III became the new president of the nation, coming from a family of rich land owners of 'colonizer ethnic group' descent. During his rule he imposed several laws restricting the rights of native ethnic groups, such as the 'Native Legal Restriction Act' which prevented Sidr and Nam people from prosecuting 'colonizer ethnic group'. Williamson was very unpopular with the majority of the population, appealing only to the colonial elite, this led to mass protests against his rule. The largest demonstration was held in 1979 where nineteen thousand people took part in protests outside the presidential palace, during the demonstration seven people set themselves on fire to protest his most recent law passed which preventing Sidr people from owning property. The mass civil unrest led to a huge military crackdown against the protesters, where roughly four hundred people died as a result of police and military personnel attempting to break apart the demonstrators. Despite attempts to create a media blackout surrounding the protests from the government, footage of the brutality reached international news channels and there were calls across the globe for the resignation of Williamson, however, no official action was taken until June 12th 1985, when Albaterriano forces, during a military intervention ordered by Leonardo H. Sapateiro, deposed Williamson due to his oppression of the Catholic minority in Baileneu Ma. Initially, there was lots of celebration surrounding the arrest of Williamson and a national holiday was created on June 12th to celebrate the incarceration of the tyrant.

Albaterran Rule
Following the deposition of Sir William Robertson III, the Albaterran government created a new regime in Baileneu Ma, with Pedro Oliveira as the new president. The forces also continued to occupy regions in the east of Baileneu Ma that contained the majority of the nation's gold mines.This continued until an official treaty was signed on November 3rd 1985 between Oliveira and Sapateiro that gave the land to Albaterra. Oliveira became unpopular with the majority of the population as he began to reform and create new laws that reflected on his Catholic beliefs, representing the will of a small minority. This led to his policy of 'Peaceful Conversion' in 1987, where religious leaders were kidnapped by his palace guard and tortured until the converted to Catholicism. This led to more civil unrest, particularly in Masazi, where an attempted assassination on Oliveira led to a police lock down of the city until the perpetrators were caught and publicly hung. Militant groups from various folk religions began to operate across the nation, lynching catholic priests and bishops and sabotaging local infrastructure. This led to increased paranoia from the Government and Oliveira imposing martial law in villages suspected of housing insurgents, however, the army would often act with extreme prejudice against the locals and there were many mass killings of natives. The Seronbana Temple Massacre is the most well-known incident, where members of Oliveira's Palace Guard stormed a Sowan temple and killed over six hundred people with chlorine gas on the 26th of January 1991. Oliveira's reign of terror continued for several years until he was killed by a car bomb outside his palace, planted by the Nam militant group The Red Brotherhood, on the 18th of August 1994.

An Age of Prosperity
Following the collapse of Oliveira's regime, the Sowan Workers Union was voted in by a national election, promising to repeal the discriminative laws created by Williamson and Oliveira. The party offered compensation for those who had been badly affected by the former regime, as well as introducing a local collectivization scheme, where local representatives, mainly tribal chieftains, would be responsible for the distribution of resources in their area. The excess resources that were not needed were then given to the government to be redistributed to others in need, this policy was very effective as it made sure that everyone was fed and provided with the resources they needed. Several infrastructure policies were also enacted, such as the creation of national roads and motorways to ensure that isolated regions could stay connected with the rest of the nation and enjoy the benefits of the collectivized resources. The abolition of the armed forces was also another popular decision made by the new government, instead giving power to local authorities power through the creation of Municipal Militias, which helped build trust with a nation that was weary from the last two tyrants, as well as followed in the beliefs of Sowani. In the early 21st century the Sowan Workers Union began a policy of conservation, creating 63 new national parks and 104 conservation parks, as well as converting almost entirely to green energy, using hydroelectric power from the vast river networks that span across the nation.

Politics & Government
Baileneu Ma is an agrarian socialist nation, led by the Sowan Workers Union made up of a council of representatives from each of the seven largest tribes in the nation, who are elected every 4 years. Due to the distrust in the government from the majority of the nation, the SWP avoids making internal decisions, instead giving power to local authorities to make decisions. No parties run against the SWP, due to their popularity and the religious teachings of Sowani, which instructs people to avoid involvement in politics and to instead look to God for guidance. The SWP is unwilling to get involved in international affairs, favoring an isolationist approach to global politics.

Religion & Government
The official religion of Baileneu Ma is Sowani, with many laws supporting its views, such as the outlawing of synthetic pesticides and herbicides in accordance with Sowani teachings surrounding food cleanliness. However, the SWP has also been very careful not to isolate other religious groups and has started a religious studies course in schools to teach tolerance towards the many religions in Baileneu Ma. The SWP passed a series of laws from 2005-2011 that essentially outlawed hunting of animals and unsustainable deforestation as well as other practices such as mining and trawling that are deemed 'unsustainable', this is partly due to Sowan beliefs surrounding nature and wildlife. This caused a huge surge in illegal activity surrounding poaching and mining due Baileneu Ma's mineral wealth and its rare animals, to combat this local militias have now been tasked with dealing with these activities.

Albaterriano Border Conflict
The border shared between Baileneu Ma and Albaterra has been a recent source of tension, as the Albaterriano police alongside the army have began running counter-smuggling operations in order to stop the flow of cannabis and psychedelics into Albaterra. This led to fierce resistance from the smugglers and the local militias, resulting in an even stronger armed presence from the Albaterran Presidential Army, with intensive security checks at the border, as well as secret service involvement in order to eliminate big smuggling cartels. In response to this, the smugglers have began using more complicated and violent methods in order to overcome these obstacles, such as drones and gliders, as well as using children who can slip past the border guards easier. In April 2018, tensions reached international levels when four teenagers were arrested by border security and imprisoned despite having not committed any crimes. This led to protests outside the border check from locals, calling for the release of the teenagers, and on the 17th of April, a member of The Red Brotherhood militant group threw a Molotov cocktail at Adriano Cardoso, a sergeant in the Albaterran Presidential Army, killing him. This led to a violent response from the Albaterriano authorities, who were reported to have used CS Gas for crowd control alongside high pressure water hoses to disrupt the protests. As the protests persisted and grew in size, the order was given to the border forces to break up the protests decisively, and so riot police charged the demonstrators, using batons and shields to beat and dishearten protesters. During this push by the police and army, Muztawa, a local religious and tribal leader, was beaten to death by Albaterran authorities, which led to a huge outcry by Bailenese citizens, calling for justice to brought. The protests further grew in size, attracting citizens from across the country to sizes of over 300 hundred, as well as drawing the attention of Bailenese extremist groups, such as The Red Brotherhood. This resulted in an attack from an unknown group on the 23rd of April, where four technicals mounting stormed the border, killing four policemen and injuring many more. This was accompanied by several other attacks on other border checkpoints across Albaterra, where suicide bombers detonated, killing 52 people. This led to heightened security across all border checkpoints, with members of the Crusader Force patrolling the surrounding regions, tensions remained until the ringleaders were arrested and executed. Despite pressure from the Albaterran Government, the SWP never condemned the actions of the militant groups, instead condemning the Albaterran security forces for the death of Muztawa, stating it to be 'a prime example of neo-colonialism' and evidence that Albaterra is 'a fascist dictatorship'.

Agriculture
Agriculture is the main source of employment in Baileneu Ma, with crops such as rice, watercress and water spinach being the most common due to the large wetlands that span across the nation. Due to restrictions on pesticides and herbicides and the banning of genetic modification, large amounts of farmland are required to feed the population, meaning that crop fields is the largest land use in the nation. Agroforestry has been used for thousands of years in the nation, particularly in the swamps and mangroves of coastal and central regions. Livestock agriculture is very uncommon in Baileneu Ma, as most of the population is vegetarian due to cultural and religious beliefs, as well as the heavily forested land makes it very difficult to control large quantities of animals.

Lumber
Baileneu Ma offers various luxury woods such as Mahogany, Ebony and Dalbergia, which sell on the international market for high prices due to the good quality of the timber. These exports are responsible for 16% of the nation's exports and offer lots of employment to unskilled workers. Tupelo, Cypress and Oak trees are also a major part of Bailenese silviculture, typically grown in the swamp and bayou regions of the nation, as their hard, dense wood is used for construction across the world. Due to severe restrictions on tree farming, there are extreme limits on annual wood production for tree plantations, in order to encourage sustainability and to reduce the nation's carbon emissions.

Natural Tourism
Natural tourism brings in many international tourists who come to see the natural beauty of Baileneu Ma. The diversity in biomes of the nation offers a variety of different experiences, such as: mountain retreats, rainforest hikes and wetland kayaking and canoeing. Official statistics from the SWP state that the many national parks attract over 100,000 tourists a year, with Mt. Okanbayu being the most visited park in Baileneu Ma. Natural tourism continues to bring in lots of money due to conservation efforts from the government, that ensure that the natural beauty of the nation isn't compromised by human activity.

Religious Tourism
Baileneu Ma draws thousands of religious tourists from across the world who come to visit the many Sowan temples, the most well-known places of worship being Kubbari Temple and Attaranya Jumbar. Seronbana Temple, once a site of Sowan pilgrimage, is now a memorial site for the tragic massacre that occurred in 1991 that attracts Sowans internationally, who come to mourn the incident. Many other Sowans come to the nation to experience the spiritual services that are offered, such as soul cleansing, cannabis and psychedelics consumption and Kinnupe. A recent 'repatriation' scheme has been offered to Sowans across Anterra, where the SWP has dedicated land to housing religious immigrants and tourists in order to encourage Sowans to unite globally and return to the homeland.

Geography
Much of Baileneu Ma is covered in tropical wetlands and rainforest, from the nation's hot and humid climate. Brackish mangroves and salt marshes are mainly found along the coast, with riverine bayous and fens spanning across the floodplains of the great Perkes and Agarak rivers. Swamps and rainforest are typically found more inland in the western regions, where most of the human population is found. In the northern territories, less dense subtropical monsoon forests are found in the northern regions, provided with huge amounts of water during months of seasonal rainfall. In the northernmost mountainous regions, chaparral and thorn forests are more common, due to the more arid climate that covers the Central Avalonian Rift. Much of Baileneu Ma is lowlands, due to most of the nation being in the basin of the vast Perkes and Agarak rivers, however, there is a small mountain range known as the Mustawa Highlands that spans across the northern border, created by the Central Avalonian Rift.

Languages
The official languages of Baileneu Ma are Heltic and Ektete, with Ektete being the most widely spoken language and is taught in schools. Heltic was introduced as the official of Baileneu Ma whilst it was a colony of Modrovia, however it is rarely spoken now, and is only used in reference to legal and historical documents. Ektete was introduced as a universal language, as there are many native languages spoken in Baileneu Ma, it is a combination of the three most spoken languages Kez'areshi, Teknabi and Donkethi, all of which are from the same ancient language family. Portuguese is also spoken in a few isolated eastern provinces where Albaterriano migrants settled.

Ethnicity
There are many different ethnic groups in Baileneu Ma due to the natural barriers created by the dense rainforest that covers the nation, this led to many communities becoming isolated and it is thought that there are still tribes who live deep in the tropical forests who have not been discovered. The main ethnic groups in the nation include the native ethnicities of Sidr people (23% of the population) and Nam people (19% of the population), as well as Fukyian Tribesmen (12% of population) and 26% of the population who identify as mixed or other native ethnicities. 12% of the population identify as Modrovian or mixed colonial and 4% of the population are Portuguese or mixed Albaterriano, with another 4% identifying as other.

Religion and Culture
The majority religion in Baileneu Ma is Sowani, with Sowans making up 84% of the population, however, Sowani teachings also allow followers to practice other religions as long as the beliefs don't contradict Sowan principles. It is estimated that around 36% of the population follow Sowan-folk religion beliefs, whereas only 6% of the population solely follow folk religions. The next largest religion is Catholicism, of which 8% of the population identify as Catholic, roughly 2% of the population are atheist or agnostic. Religion plays a large role in the lifestyle and culture of Bailenese citizens, with several national holidays centered around Sowan days of celebration with huge festivals held in urban centers, as well as a focus on obtaining spiritual knowledge rather than material wealth. There is a large focus on consumption of psychedelic plants in native cultures, with many farms dedicated to the cultivation of psychedelic mushrooms and herbs, this is due to the Sowan belief that the hallucinations and other effects caused by these plants bring the individual closer to God and allows them to communicate with them. Cannabis consumption and cultivation is also a major part native culture, believing that it inspires free thinking and liberates an individual of their mortal burdens and sins, this has become increasingly more popular in Albaterra on the black market due to the extreme sentences on cannabis production. Mythology is another huge part of Bailenese culture, as written language was only introduced to the region once Modrovian settlers arrived, this meant that stories were passed down through generations as a major tradition spanning for for thousands of years. The oldest and most well-known myth is the Kingdom of Baileneu, which was ruled by a divine king for years until he was overthrown by an army sent by the Devil. This kingdom is the basis of the Sowani principles, as Sowans believe that by following the practices of the king then they too can reach his level of holiness. It is unsure if this story is true as there is no physical evidence to prove it, despite many trying to find the ruins of the city deep in the rainforest.