Urud-Anbar
| Formal Name | Urud-Anbar |
|---|---|
| Capital | Urud-Anbar |
| Head of State | Irkalla Rukannur |
| Government Type | Monarchy |
| Cultures | ~1.9 millions Midian, ~80,000 Zamari |
| Religions | Mostly Midian |
| Population Density | Extremely High |
| Population | 2 millions |
Urud-Anbar is a small city-state located on a small island at the mouth of the Midian Gulf. The state of Urud-Anbar is renown for its production of iron and steel, and its name - Anbar, is synonymous with iron and steel in the language of the Midians.
Urud-Anbar were historically subject to the dominions of various more powerful city states on the Midian coast, but regained independence when they broke free from the Ninurmah Empire upon the Tilai invasion of Midia. The city-state is a tributary of the Tilai Khanate, and send tributes in the form of weaponries, iron and steel ingots up the river Narzu to the Khan in exchange for his protection. The tribute however, is only a small proportion of Urud-Anbar's production.
History
Urud-Anbar has a very long history, but it was renown as a place where iron was produced for at least fifteen centuries. The island had plentiful forest to work with, and extremely abundant hematite deposits which are worked in large open pit mines. The iron supply is practically inexhaustible - especially for pre-modern (our world's modern age, that is) standards. Deforestation however, was a different problems. Around 400 P.S., Urud-Anbar was starting to run short on woodland it could cut for charcoaling. As a result, the city of Urud-Anbar put down stringent requirements on maintaining its existing woodland for charcoal supply, and started digging deeper - into the caverns itself.
Urud-Anbar successfully exploited and opened a passageway to the caverns underneath Urud-Anbar over the next century, and established it as a secondary base to produce high quality charcoal - but charcoal were difficult to produce, so eventually it would also be Urud-Anbar that independently invented the process of coking - which is now widely used to provide an inexhaustible source of fuel for Urud-Anbar's outsized metalworking industry.
Government
Urud-Anbar is ruled by a King or Queen based in the city of Urud-Anbar itself with a tightly controlled bureaucracy and state-funded army. The government is largely funded by a mixture of produce taxed from the countryside and tariffs on iron exports and most luxury imports including textiles - which are collected at the various port of entries on the island itself. The King / Queen is considered divinely inspired and in Urud-Anbar, has absolute supremacy over the state-funded priesthood and in theory, the warrior classes too.
Economy
Urud-Anbar's ironworking industry take up a disproportional amount of its economy, and it is estimated that this tiny island is responsible for perhaps over 65% of the entire Midian region's iron production, and perhaps up to 80% of the steel. Urud-Anbar is home to a large amount of highly specialized, knowledgeable iron and steelworkers, colliers etc. that supports their livelihood. Urud-Anbar produce high quality and relatively inexpensive iron and steelware that are exported all over the world - often in the form of ingots to non-Midian nations.
The underground cavern of Urud-Anbar are known for their harsh working conditions and bountiful riches, and the city imports labors from the rest of Midia to fund its continued exploitations.
The city of Urud-Anbar proper has a population of around 200,000.
Military
Urud-Anbar's military are well-funded and the city-state has a standing army & disproportional to the city-state's size, funded by efficient taxation. The Urud-Anbar army numbers over 40,000 and consists of a mixture of well-trained gunpowder troops, supporting armored soldiers and a large amount of summoners and constructs. Urud-Anbar utilize constructs widely for wars and is known to field mechanical wolves, bears and even drakes like creatures in its army. Of all of the Midian army, Urud-Anbar is the one that utilizes gunpowder weapons the most widely.
Urud-Anbar also has a powerful standing navy with over 20,000 sailors and an even larger merchant fleet that can be pressed in time of war, tasked with patrolling its water and protecting it from any amphibious invasion.