Addressed to His Majesty Akakios Soter, King of Royal Seleucid

   Old friend, allow me to congratulate you on marring your forth wife. She is a very beautiful woman and I am sure she will make you very happy. I can't believe it's been so long since we got a chance to talk face to face in a less formal manner. Last time we had a private chat you never mentioned anything about a fourth wife. So please, come to Djerb for a short private visit, we have a lot to catch up. I won't take no for an answer. Not after the "international context" forced me to stay away from your wedding.   
   I look forward to seeing you as soon as possible.

Your dear friend,
Abbas Safavid
Emperor of Tamora

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The Empire of Tamora traces its origins in the XI century, when the then Kingdom of Tamora conquers the neighboring kingdom of Altai. In the following centuries, Tamora has expanded though conquest adding a total of five other kingdoms to its Empire. The most recent of them, in 1958, is the Kingdom of Attica.
The expansionist policy of Tamora is fueled by the Manist religion. A faith specific to Tamora that teaches the entire world must have one ruler and that all nations must bow to the Emperor of Tamora.
The Empire of Tamora is a federal absolute monarchy ruled the Emperor  (called King of Kings) which sits at the top of a feudal system. Just below him are the five kings of the historical kingdoms that were annexed while the bottom of the pyramid is reserved for the serfs and slaves. Tamora was a major buyer of slaves from Royal Seleucid.

With a population of almost a quarter of a billion people, present day Tamora is a large and diverse country having several religions (and many sects), nations and numerous jurisdictions with different laws and customs. Its institutions are largely unreformed and its political class seems unwilling to initiate even minor reforms despite the fact the country is going through a long period of economic stagnation and suffering an increasing brain drain. The Empire maintains an isolationist streak, avoiding membership in international government organizations and focuses its attention on its neighbors and the countries close to it. The expansionist tendencies of Tamora have not abated and it remains to be seen if in the interconnected Mundus of the XXI century, Tamora will be able to use its large military to expand further or the nations of Mundus will keep Tamora at bay.   

      


Population:-:- 249,962,635
Capital City:- Djerb (9,456,524)
Area: 3,245,965 sq km/1,253,274 sq miles.
Demonym:- Tamorans

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The economy of Tamora is driven almost exclusively by the private sector, the nobility are not allowed to own or operate companies. The country is rich in natural resources, has a strong but uncompetitive manufacturing sector and a somewhat underdeveloped service sector.

The main strengths of Tamora are its low taxation ( including no taxes on income or profits), few regulations, cheap slave labor and large deposits of natural resources (oil, gas, coal, ferrous and nonferrous metals and minerals). The most competitive industries and services in Tamora are: agribusiness(crop production, animal husbandry, farm machinery, agrichemicals, GMO etc),  pharmaceuticals, healhtcare and arms industry.

The kingdoms of Tamora are not allowed to impose restrictions on the movement of goods ( including slaves) and services between the kingdoms effectively creating a common internal market. The kingdoms can however impose restrictions on immigration from other kingdoms.
The main weaknesses of the Tamoran economy are its relative lack of innovation, high tariffs on imports, very low foreign investment, lack of legislation allowing limited liability for company shareholders (which cripples entrepreneurship).

Lagging behind

From 2000 onwards the Tamoran economy has experienced slow economic growth, averaging 2.1℅ per year, less than half of the growth experienced in the previous decades. Almost all of this growth is due to the increase in population.  Economic experts have yet to agree on the exact causes of the Empire's economic stagnation but have named the following as the most probable causes: a large slave population that hinders innovation, huge defense spending, high tariffs, low participation of women in the workforce, the lack of limited liability for companies which discourages entrepreneurship and foreign investments. Despite almost 20 years of low growth, the leadership of  the country has refused to engage in any reforms.

Welfare system

The Empire offers almost no government welfare: there are no public pensions, healthcare or education nor does the government pay for them. Instead religious institutions provide this services in Tamora. With huge differences in approach and style, religious institutions own and run the overwhelming majority of schools, universities, hospitals and welfare centers in the Empire. It is estimated that private welfare in Tamora accounts for 6-8% of GDP with over 80% coming from religious institutions and organizations.

Taxation

The Emperor does not directly levy taxes and instead demands from his kings a tribute of 10℅ of their kingdom's GDP. The kings are free to pay that tax from whatever mix of taxes they desire but income taxes or profit taxes are banned by imperial decree. As such most kingdoms levy a sales tax, property tax and excise tax.
When added together, the total taxation income reaches approx 20% of GDP.



Currency:- Dinar
GDP per Capita:- $10,965
Unemployment Rate:- 2.5%
GDP (nominal) $2.74 trillion
Budget (imperial, regional and local): 20% of GDP
Budget surplus : 1% of GDP
Public debt: 0%
Foreign-exchange reserves: 50% of GDP.
Tariffs: high taxes on all imports.
Foreign investment: foreign citizens are not allowed to invest or own any sort of property in Tamora.
Tourism: while visas are required, they are easily granted and at a very low cost. No other restrictions apply.
subsidies and government aid: there are no government subsidies of any kind. No Tamoran company (or individual for that matter) is given any sort of aid from the government (be it local, regional or federal).



Main exports: oil, gas, coal, minerals, metal, cash crops, farm machinery, agrichemicals, livestock, pharmaceuticals, clothing, footwear,vehicle parts.
Main imports: machinery, electronics, medical equipment, chemicals, plastics, vehicles.

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There are many ethnicities inhabiting the present day Empire, each with its own customs, languages and religions. This is the result of the constant expansion of Tamora into neighboring countries. While the Empire has no official nation language, Parthian is the lingua franca of the empire because of the large number of Parthians as well as their huge political influence as the original native people of Empire and having the Emperor as an ethnic Parthian.
The Empire has a large number of religions, with its native religion of Manism enjoying the status of majority minority in the Empire.
The Empire enjoys a high fertility rate of 3.01 per women. Analysts have yet to reach a definite conclusion as to the reasons why but it seems to be related with ultra conservative social norms of the Tamorans (abortion is banned in most of the Empire and remains highly taboo, sexual education while not forbidden is generally avoided and not having children is generally seen as a stigma) as well as lack of a government welfare system which forces parents to rely more on their children for help at old age.
Two underclass exist in Tamora: slaves and serfs.
 
Slaves represent the lowest social status in Tamora, enjoying no rights other than what their masters give them (chattel slavery). Any citizen can be enslaved once their net assets become negative (as a results of increasing debt , drastic decrease in value of their assets, incurring liabilities as a results of fraud etc). Prisoners of war in Tamora are also enslaved. In the past, Tamora was also a major buyer of slaves from the Royal Seleucid. Today, over 90 % of slaves belong to companies or private citizens with the rest being owned by the nobility (which in Tamora is the government). Slaves make up approx 15% of the Tamoran population. 
 
Serfs enjoy all rights and privileges of citizens except not being allowed to leave the kingdom (province) of their masters without their consent and have to pay 25% of their income to their master. If one of the parents is a serf, the children also become serfs. Just as with slavery, a citizen must incur negative net assets in order to be forced to become a serf. The debt holders can choose to have the debtor turned into a serf rather than a slave. The reasons for choosing serfdom over slavery varies but it is usually related to moral issues or the fact that in some cases debt holders consider serfdom to be more profitable than slavery in the long run. Around 10% of the Tamoran population are serfs.


Ethnicity:- Parthian (RL Persian) 35%, Arabs 16%, Seleucid (RL Greek) 14%, Turks 10%, Slavs 5%, Armenians 4%, others 14%
Languages:- Parthian is the language of the Emperor and is widely used as the lingua franca of the Empire. However, the is no Empire wide official language, each kingdom has its own national language and various regional recognized languages.   
Religions:- Manism 48%, Islam 16%, Anahitaism 14%, Druze 10%,  Catholic 4%, Orthodox 3%, Other 5%
Average Life Expectancy:- 72
TFR: 3.01
Serfs: 10% of population
Slaves: 15% of population

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The Emperor of Tamora, as sovereign of the empire, has supreme authority and it is not restricted by any laws or customs. The Empire has no legislative body or supreme court and the emperor can issue decrees which are the laws of the empire. The Emperor also disposes of the imperial budget as he sees fit, can overrule any other laws and is also the supreme commander of the armed forces.
The Emperor delegates his powers to his agents: the kings of the realm. The Kings are hereditary rulers of the five ex countries that were conquered by Tamora during its history. The kings are the servants of the Emperor and are required to swear an oath to him on the coronation. As their master, the Emperor can dispose of the Kings as he sees fit, including incarceration or enslavement. Kings also need his permission to marry, divorce or change religion. Kings, like all nobles in Tamora, are not allowed to hold any other noble titles (ex: duchies etc). This strict and total subordination of the kings is a direct result of the reforms issued by the Emperor after a rebellion. The Emperor has taken away their residual sovereignty and has instead made him his agents in the realms. However, the reforms did not take away their powers and the kings still yield tremendous powers in their realms having few restrictions. The system in practice has been described as a dual federalism where the Emperor is in charge of the army, intelligence agencies and foreign affairs with the kings being in charge of everything else.
The strict pyramid of the feudal system in Tamora, has the kings as masters of the dukes ( which rule the counties of the kingdoms). The dukes themselves are masters of both counts ( which over rule cities) and barons (which rule over villages or towns). Just as the kings, lesser noble cannot have two titles. Furthermore, any change in title has to be approved by the Emperor (which he rarely) to prevent a concentration of powers.


Head of State:- Emperor Abbas Safavid
Head of Government:- Emperor Abbas Safavid
Name of Legislative Body:- none, power resides in the Emperor.

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"Forget what you're thought in political class, Tamora is not an Empire but a bottom up theocracy".
Bretonnian scholar

   Tamorans are among the most religions people in Mundis, with over two thirds claiming religion as very important in their lives. Religion influences everyday life in Tamorans and is a major part of Tamoran identity with 40% considering their religious identity as coming first before that of the empire or kingdom. The diversity of religious beliefs and the wide array of rituals and customs makes generalizations hard  but nevertheless some common aspects exist. Tamorans like to express their faith publicly and openly, one way they do it is through religious symbols on cloths, car stickers, public statues, festivals and public display of religious icons. Almost all stores, banks etc as well as private residences have religious icons on display. Praying in public is a common occurrence in Tamora especially during lunch breaks when people take a break for praying. Preachers are often sighted in crowded plazas or public transport stations.   
    Religious institutions dominate the education, healthcare and welfare services. They also have a large media presence (with many media trusts owned by the religious organizations) making religion ever present in the life of Tamorans. Concepts like separation of church and state or laicite are alien for Tamorans.
   Kingdoms have their own state religion, which is the religion of the reigning monarch, but are required by imperial decree to provide freedom of religion for the other faiths.  Nevertheless, the religion of the monarchs is given precedence over all the others. Priests of all religions are allowed almost complete freedom of speech when it comes to their sermons and are even allowed to incite to violence against other faiths. However, they are not allow to slander the Emperor, doing so usually results in the said priest disappearing.   

The kingdoms have their own holidays however there are three empire wide holidays where all Tamorans take part in.

Elders day: when Tamorans visit the elders of their families bringing them gifts and spending time with them.

Ancestors Day (or day of the Dead): when Tamorans go to the cemeteries to pray for their ancestors.

Thanksgiving day: when Tamorans thank the God(s) for being born in Tamora. It is the most important of holiday and can be considered the National holiday. Every year, during the evening, the Emperor and his family attend religious service where the entire Imperial family kneels and thanks God for blessing Tamora. According to protocol, it is the only occasion when the Emperor kneels. Since the advent of the radio and the television, a tradition has emerged that when the Emperor and his family are knelling, Tamorans do the same regardless of where they are: temples, at home, on ships, it the street or even abroad.

The religious diversity in Tamora does not necessary mean there is a cordial relation between religions. Most religious schools are segregated by religion or religious branch and inter faith marriage is rare. Religious violence while uncommon still happens and punishments for such acts are grave, generally resulting in the enslavement of the perpetrators.