Sultanate of Zahle سلطنة زحلة Սփլտանատո դե Զըհլե | |
|---|---|
Emblem
| |
Anthem: كلّنا للوطن ¡Տոդոս նոսոտրոս, պոր նփեստրո պաձս! "All of us, for our country!" | |
| File:ZahleMap.png Location of Zahle | |
| Capital and largest city | Busra |
| Official languages | |
| Recognized minority languages | |
| Ethnic groups |
|
| Demonym(s) | Zahlean |
| Government | Unitary constitutional monarchy that includes confessionalism |
• Sultan | Kaleem bin Amini |
| Samin Fahid | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Consultive Assembly | |
| People's Assembly | |
| Establishment | |
| 1981–1999 | |
| 1999 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,487.06 km2 (2,118.57 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate | 2,109,374 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | ₵ 22.3 Billion (41st) |
• Per capita | ₵ 10,575 (38th) |
| HDI |  0.712high · 39th |
| Currency | Zahle Dinar (ZDI) |
| Time zone | ZST |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .zh |
Zahle, officially the Sultanate of Zahle, is a country located in southern Ecros. The country borders Enjola to the west and north, Pavulturilor to the east and the Romanyan Sea to the south. Zahle is home to a population of 2.1 million and covers an area of 5,487 square kilometers, making it the second smallest country in the world. The country's capital and largest city is located in Busra.
Etymology
While the exact origin of the name Zahle is disputed, most historian agreed it is derived from the Romanian god Saturn, whose name in Arabic is transliterated as Zahal.
During the Romanyan Empire's rule, the area of Zahle was a part of the province of Yacaria. Busra (at the time called Bostra) was home to a school of astronomy, which according to records had particular focus on the planet of Saturn. Additionally a large temple to Saturn was also located in Busra. Following the muslim conquest of the region, the area around the city of Busra began to be referred to as Zahala, meaning "land of Saturn". Many historians postulate the name originates from either the temple or the school of astronomy, both of which were regionally known. The area eventually became known as Zahle when the Sulayhid dynasty rose to power in the region.
History
Antiquity
Muslim conquest
Sulayhid dynasty
Mahra dynasty
Industrialization
Zahle Civil War
Democratization and recent history
Geography
Government and politics
.jpg)
Zahle is a unitary state with a democratic parliamentary monarchy that includes confessionalism. The Spring Pact, created following the 1999 revolution, is the foundational uncodified agreement between Zahle's ethnic and religious group used to draft the Constituion of Zahle. The pact mandates a proportional say for all of Zahle's ethnic and religious groups within its government. This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict and to represent fairly the demographic distribution of the country's ethnoreligious groups in government.
The Sultan, currently Kaleem bin Amini, is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Defense Forces. Prior to the 1999 revolution, the Sultan ruled Zahle as an absolute monarch. Since the revolution, the Sultan's powers have been diminished but he still retains wide-ranging powers such as appointing the Prime Minister, veto, pardon, convening/dismissing the legislature, calling elections, appointing judges, and appointing members of the upper house of the Parliament, the Consultive Assembly. Almost of all these powers are seldom used or used on the advice of other bodies such as the Prime Minister or the Council of State. Parliament has the power to remove the Sultan with a 2/3rds vote in both chambers if he is found to be "threatening Zahlean democracy".
The Prime Minister, currently Samin Fahid, is the head of government of Zahle. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Sultan. Traditionally, the Sultan picks the member nominated by the People's Assembly, often the leader of the largest party of a majority coalition, though he is not constitutionally bound to do so. The Prime Minister does however require the confidence of the People's Assembly, and if the People's Assembly indicates it's lack of confidence in the government, the Sultan is constitutionally bound to remove them. The Prime Minister offers advice to the Sultan on how to exercise his royal powers, de facto exercising those powers himself in most cases. The Prime Minister also appoints the Cabinet, who are in-turn with the Prime Minister responsible for running the Government of the nation. The Cabinet is also confessional, constitutionally bound to be proportioned out along ethnoreligious lines at the same proportions as the People's Assembly. The office of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Speaker of the People's Assembly are all constitutionally bound to represent all three of Zahle's major ethnic groups (Arab, Creeperian, and Pavulturilori) and all three of Zahle's major religious groups (Christianity, Islam and Judaism). This has typically taken the form of an Arab Muslim Prime Minister, a Christrian Creeperian Deputy Prime Minister and and a Jewish Pavulturilori Speaker of the People's Assembly.
Parliament is the legislature of Zahle. It is composed of two houses both proportioned out confessionally. The upper house, the Consultive Assembly, is made up of "significant" Zahleans in the nation's religious, royal and academic institutions. Of the Consultive Assembly's 50 seats, 30 are reserved for religious figures, 15 to members of the royal family, and 5 to secular academic professors. The 30 seats reserved for religious figures are further divided to 13 Muslim imams, 12 Christrian priests and 5 Jewish rabbis. All 50 members of the Consultive Assembly are appointed by the Sultan with advice and consent of the Council of State. The Council of State is made up of the two most senior members from each of the five cliques of the Consultive Assembly to form a 10 member council. The Council of State also advises the Sultan on judicial appointments. The Consultive Assembly's power is limited, traditionally only giving advice to the lower house and the Sultan on acts of government, being capable of merely delaying laws rather than outright veto.
The lower house of the Parliament is the People's Assembly. It is made up of 120 members elected to four year terms on the basis of sectarian proportional representation. Seats are reserved along religious and ethnic lines, with members identifying with one or most often both of the categories. Along religious lines, 45 seats are reserved for Christrian members, 45 for Muslim members, 10 for Jewish members and the remaining 20 seats are not reserved for any group. Along ethnic lines 55 seats are reserved Arab members, 45 seats for Surian members, and 10 seats for Pavulturilori members with the remaining 10 seats not being reserved. This system of confessionalism has led to the extreme fracture of Zahle into a multi-party system. The current People's Assembly is made up of 19 parties, with the largest party controlling 17 seats of 120.
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
Military
Economy
Demographics
The population of Zahle was estimated in 2024 to be 2,109,374 according to research from the Terraconserva Council of Nations. The last census held in Zahle was in 1980. The census was unable to held during the Zahle Civil War. The current Constitution mandates a census every twelve years, but a census has not been held since the constitution's implementation in 1999 due to protests about the classification of the country's ethnoreligious groups.
Zahle has a population density of 384.4 people per square kilometres of land area, making it the most densely populated country in the world. The country's population is heavily concentrated in the capital city of Busra with 66% of the country's population living within the city's metro area. Other major population settlements include Sderot, Iaat and Fatqa.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, Zahle has seen large increases and decreases in population owing to the country's migration waves and length periods of sectarian violence. The largest population increase came during the industrialization of the country in the 30s and 40s when refugees from the Creeperian Civil War were brought over to serve as laborers. Many of these refugees were then forced to remain within the country and become integrated within the country as Creeperian Zahleans. The countries population faced a notable declined towards the end of the 20th century due to the violence Zahle Civil War which saw hundreds of thousands flee the country or were killed in the violence. Since the end of the civil war in 1999 and the country's democratic transition, the population has steadily risen.
Largest cities or towns in Zahle
2024 estimates | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Metropolitan Statistical Area | Pop. | |||||||
 Busra  Busjadid |
1 | Busra | Busra | 824,239 |  Arsal  Sderot | ||||
| 2 | Busjadid | Busra | 287,185 | ||||||
| 3 | Arsal | Busra | 101,093 | ||||||
| 4 | Sderot | Sderot | 97,244 | ||||||
| 5 | Iaat | Iaat–Fatqa | 83,678 | ||||||
| 6 | Fatqa | Iaat–Fatqa | 50,340 | ||||||
| 7 | Zaarourieh | Busra | 49,876 | ||||||
| 8 | Kfour | Busra | 48,569 | ||||||
| 9 | Tebnine | Busra | 31,123 | ||||||
| 10 | Srifa | Busra | 23,557 | ||||||
Ethnicity
Zahle is one the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, with no ethnic group making up a majority of the country's population. According to the most recent estimate by the TCN, the country's two largest ethnic groups are Arabs, making up approximately 44% of the population, and Creeperans, making up approximately 31%. The remaining 25% of the population is made up of Pavulturilorians at 12%, Arameans at 3%, Kavardans at 3% and various other ethnic groups at 6%. A large portion of the Zahlean population also consider themselves to have multiple ethnic origins, though research estimates on the number vary heavily.
For most of Zahlean history, the country had a large Arab majority with a significant Pavulturilorian minority. The country's ethnic makeup changed dramatically during its industrial revolution in the 30s and 40s, as the government enacted a policy to bring over refugees of the Creeperian Civil War as laborers. The country also saw similar programs with Kavardan and Aramean refugees during the Progressive Revolution in Terranihil, albeit much smaller. By 1981, Creeperian Zahleans had come to make up a plurality of the country's population. The Zahle Civil War resulted in a large displacement of the country's population either as refugees or casualties in the war, culminating in a decrease in the country's Creeperian population by the war's end in 1999. Since the end of the war, Arabs have remained as a larger plurality than Creeperans.
Religion
Religion in Zahle
Along with its ethnic diversity, Zahle is also one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world. Exact numbers on the size of the country's religious groups are extremely difficult to determine as the country has not held a census since 1981. The most recent research study by the TCN in 2024 concluded that Christianity was the largest religious sect in the country, at approximately 40% of the country, while Islam trailed closely behind at 37%. The two other largest religious affiliations were Judaism at 12% and Irreligious/Atheism at 5%. While the country recognizes a number of different Christrian and Mulsim sects, Catholicism and Sunni Islam hold a large majority in the respective Christrian and Muslim population of the country. The country's catholics are divided ethnically, with much of the Creeperian population following the Creeperian Catholic Church while the Arab Christrian population mostly follows the Malkite Catholic Church. Both are in full communion with the Pope.
Before the country's industrialization in the 30s and 40s, Zahle was a largely muslim country, with significant Jewish and Christian minorities. The importation of Creeperian refugees during the Creeperian Civil War saw a sharp rise in the country's Christian population as the refugees were almost entirely Christian. The arrival of Creeperians also triggered a rise in the popularity of Christianity in the Arab population, with Malkites rising as a percentage of the population until 1981. By 1981, Christianity has risen to a majority of the country's population. The Zahle Civil War saw a decline in the Christian population as many left either as refugees or were killed in religiously targeted attacks. While no census has been conducted since the war's end in 1999, estimates continue to show Christianity holding a plurality within the country.
The country's Muslim population is primarily concentrated in the countryside and in the city centre of Busra. The Arab Christrian population is spread out through the country but is concentrated in specific areas such as the Batroun neighborhood of Busra. Creeperian Christrian residents live largely in the suburbs and sister cities of Busra such as Busjadid. Jewish Zahleans are primarily in the north of the country near the border with Pavulturilor.
Language
The Constitution of Zahle defines both Arabic and Creeperian as co-official national languages of the country. The constitution also recognizes Pavulturilori, Hebrew, Aramaic and Kavardan as local minority languages that hold co-official status in the regions they are predominant, such as Pavulturilori and Hebrew in northern Zahle. Due to the lack of any official census in the country since 1981, exact numbers on the predominance of languages in the country is difficult to determine. Languages are heavily divided among ethnic lines and thus most researchers use the country's ethnic estimates as substitutes for language distribution numbers.
The most common form of spoken Arabic in Zahle is Zahlean Arabic, while Modern Standard Arabic used mostly in published writing and broadcast media. Within the Creeperian speaking community, Creeperian script is the official recognized Creeperian writing style of the Zahlean government, however many Creeperian speakers also use Iberic script.
The country has extremely high rates of bilingualism as teaching of both Creeperian and Arabic is mandated in schools in Zahle. According to a TCN estimate, nearly 90% of the population is bilingual.