Balhoragia

Balhoragia, officially the Balhoragian Republic of the Glorious People, is a country in the North-West of Africa (Áifriskos). It is bordered by 5 countries, of which 3 are its allies and 2, its enemies, its allies being Tamanaracian Republic, Mythis and Ilvorican Sahara (Ilvorica), and its enemies being Democratic Republic of Sahhalja and Kingdom of Algiers.

Before Colonisation
Before colonisation, the land mass of Balhoragia today was inhabited predominantly by the Mande tribe and the Fula tribe, as well as Arab people groups in the North. The area was very sparsely populated with less than 2 million people occupying the entire current surface area, compared to the 43.7 million today. The most important city of the area was Timbuktu, which was the most important trading hub, flourishing from the trade of salt, gold, ivory and slaves. None of the land Balhoragia currently owns today was unified in any way and huge religious and cultural differences separated the tribes.

Colonisation
As the British were taking over the island of Ireland in the 17th century, a large group of Irish men and women fled the country to try to escape from British rule and start up a new life for the Irish. This group came from the town of Drogheda and sailed to the Canary Islands where they settled for several years. More Irish settlers arrived from Drogheda and its environs soon afterwards and the Canary Islands developed a sizeable Irish minority (±3,000 people). In the Canaries, the settlers learned from the Spanish and Portuguese traders about the African continent and how huge parts of it were free to take with few native inhabitants. Attracted by the free land, the Irish settlers decided to try to bring more people from Ireland to attempt to colonise a part of land on the West African coast, aided by some of the Spanish settlers on Tenerife.

In December 1709, the first Irish colonisers landed on an uncolonised piece of land south of the Portuguese colony of Arguin, at a natural bay at the modern day town of Numamaga (Nouamghar), which they named "Béal na hÓige", or the Mouth of Youth, which later gave name to the country. Unlike other colonial powers, the colonisers didn't attempt to kill off the natives and reclaim their land, but instead they bought the right to the land and let the natives live in peace inside of it, starting inter-racial marriages and offspring, the first case of the Balhoragian Irish race (Mulatto category). Independence was declared for the new colony, with the anglicised name of Balhoragia and the population rose to 20,000.

Birth of the Balhoragian Nation
Balhoragia developed hugely during the 18th century, and thanks to skilled traders who owned caravels at Cuan na n'Óg (Cunanog City today), the capital of the country from 1718 to 1802. The population of the new country, which gained country status in 1717, rose to 200,000 by 1790 and its borders reached around 500,000 squared kilometres.

Enriched by commerce, the leaders of the country managed to buy land from different colonial powers, such as France, and thus doubled the land mass, and quadupled the population, which was rising quickly due to a high birth rate. Facing aggression from nearby lands, a 10 year military service was made compulsory for Balhoragians aged between 17 and 34, which helped scare off anyone wanting to take land. One famous instance of a short-lived invasion of Balhoragia was the Battle of the Niger, in which the Toucouleur army invaded the southern part of the country. The Balhoragian army outnumbered the Toucouleur army 16 to 1, and the Toucouleur army surrendered after 34 minutes of being at war.

20th Century and World Wars
During World War I, the Balhoragian army, to build up trust with the British and French government, decided to help the forces against the Germans, thus stopping any French or British attempt to colonise the country, which succeeded. From then, Balhoragia became an ally of these countries, as well as the United States. They were confused but amused to find a country with people of mixed Irish-African ancestry, speaking an Irish patois in the middle of West Africa.

During the Irish War for Independence, Balhoragia supported the Irish rebels, which put a strain on their relations with the United Kingdom at the time, especially through the Great Depression when the United Kingdom's economy was particularly vulnerable. Luckily for Balhoragia, the tension was released when the country once again fought alongside the allies against Nazi Germany in World War II.

The Balhoragian military helped enormously in World War II, and at the end, the French government, to recompense Balhoragia for their war efforts, gave several large chunks of their colonies to the country, giving Balhoragia a land mass of around 1.65 million sq km. Balhoragia was also given its first colonies, Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha from the British the same year, which became Balhoragia's first and only colony.

Immediately after the war, Balhoragia became once again prosperous, thanks to the abundant natural resources from the territory given by France. The country had a governmental change, in which it became a Republic following democracy, rather than a semi-dictatorial republic as it had been for as long as the country existed. Corruption was almost completely wiped out and many of the corrupt politicians were either fired or imprisoned for fiscal fraud and other crimes.

The country was mainly happy, until the lack of an iron fist in the country took a toll, and the liberty given to the people stretched too far, and rebel groups and guerrilla armies started lurking in the deserts and forests from the beginning of 1967.

1971 Rebellion
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Balhoragian Government of the Glorious People
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Modern History - 21st Century
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Demographics
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Administrative Divisions
Balhoragia is divided into 10 provinces, and 3 overseas provinces which make up Balhoragia's only colony: The Balhoragian Glorious Overseas Atlantic Islands (BGOAI). The 10 provinces make up Metropolitan Balhoragia, whilst all the provinces as well as the 3 overseas provinces makes up the Balhoragian Republic of the Glorious People.