Borundia

Not to be confused with .

Borundia (Borundian: Ħəberündi [ħɑpːerɯnði]), officially the Democratic Republic of Borundia (Nəserenkicomhurijat Ħəberündi [nɑsereŋiʤɔmːurijat ħɑpːerɯnði]), is a country in the Nesionytan Islands, located southwest of Gezirnus, northeast of Nuhinba, north of Awanzoria, and northwest of Shimbori Islands. It has a total of twelve islands, with eight being inhabited, and including four main islands. It was the center of the Borundian Federation, until its dissolution in 1983. Its capital is Kinkina, located in the Cincinea island of Borundia, and its largest city is Banonkor. Its former capital was Aloktiena, which currently serves as the capital of Nuhinba.

Borundia's Pipangoti island was one of the first islands in the Nesionytan Islands to be settled by the Nytans in the 3rd century BC. The northerners isolated itself from the southern islands and formed its own civilization, which is different from the mainstream Nesionytan one focused in the south. Due to trade with India and the Akhamics, the northerners were seen as richer than the southerners, and the Banonkora Empire was formed, which dominated northern Nesionyta until the introduction of in the archipelago by Arab merchants in approximately 1352. The religion became dominant in the north and the Barundi Sultanate was founded, centered in the Borundian island of Silamiyat. The Nutaderramis were persecuted and fled to the south. Due to corruption, the Barundi sultanate was replaced with the Kamhadi Sultanate in 1729, which allowed more religious freedom and equal rights. The sultanate continued its existence until 1895 when it was overthrown and replaced with the Republic of Kamhadia, retaining the former sultanate's territory, but was renamed to the Borundian Federation in 1932, after the Barundi sultanate, which itself was named after the Borundian poet, Muhammad Abu Jalil Barund, who was the first in the archipelago to convert to Islam. In 1964, Gezirnus was expelled from the Borundian Federation due to several cultural differences which led to the rise of Gezirnusi nationalism. On August 12, 1983, the federation was split into five countries, including Borundia itself. It was ruled by dictator Abdul Anas Khaliq, commonly known as AAK, from Borundia's creation until his resignation in 2004, after he feared that his country would fall the same fate as if he continued to rule.

Borundia is a, dominating northern Nesionyta in terms of economy and living standards. It was the last country in the Nesionytan Islands to join the, that previously refused doing so until 1996. Majority of Borundia's economy is made up of tourism and jute industry, and is the largest producer of jute in the archipelago. It is a multicultural state with Borundians and Latawei gaining equal recognition as official ethnicities in the country. It is a member of the, , Federation of Nesionytan Islands, and the.

Etymology
The name, 'Borundia', has multiple origins. It may have originated from the Latawei phrase, bau n'dia, which means 'five islands', when only five of Borundia's islands were discovered. Another conspiracy is that Borundia was named after the aforementioned Borundian poet, Muhammad Abu Jalil Barund, whom the Barundi sultanate was named after. It is also believed that Borundia is named after, although both of their etymologies are different.

Republic of Kamhadia (1895-1932)
Main article: Republic of Kamhadia

On September 21, 1895, Nasir Assad and the KRF overthrew the sultanate and established the Republic of Kamhadia, named after the former sultanate. At this time, the ethnic Barundis started to be known as Kamhadians. The first constitution of the country was written in 1897, and the first roads were constructed in 1899. Assad's government renamed the capital's name from Ayasan to Habyajan, to match its Awanzori pronunciation. More cities in Kamhadia were established to control its overcrowded population in the capital, namely Tihari, Khayoj, Bahradami, and Hillahdal.

The oldest radio transmissions in the Nesionytan Islands were commenced in Kamhadia on January 10, 1902, under the station HJ8K which broadcast on 800 kHz. In 1904, Assad died in office, and was replaced with Khalid Meshrafi, who turned out to be a corrupt politician. Meshrafi banned all political parties and converted Kamhadia into an authoritarian one-party state, with the nationalist KWK being the sole legal party, in 1910. He was later deposed and life sentenced for his abuse of his power. As a part of modernization, in 1919, Kamhadia gradually replaced the writing system brought by the merchants during the Islamic period with, which skyrocketed the country's literacy rate. The country also opened its first university in Khayoj in 1921 to further increase their literacy rate.

On July 3, 1924, a gas explosion occurred in the town hall of Tihari, killing thirty people, including Meshrafi's brother, Abdul Meshrafi, who was the mayor of the city at the time. This had a huge impact on the Kamhadian economy, which was already struggling due to its unstable agriculturual-based economy. In 1927, Farouq Ibrahim was elected president and rapidly industrialized the country. Ibrahim began reforming Kamhadia in many ways, including more rights to minorities, the Kamhadian ethnicity started to be referred to as the traditional 'Borundian', and Kamhadia itself being renamed in 1932.

Borundian Federation (1932-1983)
Main article: Borundian Federation

On July 31, 1932, after federalization and industrialization of Kamhadia by Farouq Ibrahim, the country was renamed to Borundian Federation. Its capital was shifted from Habyajan to Aloktiena due to Habyajan's overcrowdedness. Ibrahim implemented the 'Sadeqan' (all in one) policy, which encouraged ethnic unity and peace among other religions. As a part of heavy development, television was introduced in 1937, with the beginning of test broadcasts, but was later ceased as the country had to join the to fight against the Nazi-allied separatist movements. The Gezirnusi Independence Front, with Japanese support, occupied most of the Janmazar island of the Gazirnus state, but the Borundian Federation suppressed them with aid from the Allies in 1944. After World War II, all of the Borundian states were given autonomy, and supported the during the.

Farouq Ibrahim was assassinated by Kaledor Rahman, a Nuhin nationalist, in 1950, at his residence in Aloktiena. He specifically stated that Ibrahim was oppressing the native Nuhins of the Nuhinba state and believed that the Borundians would take over Nuhinba sometime in the future. Nuhinba state's autonomy was revoked in 1951 and became a fully government department of the Borundia state, which the Nuhins heavily protested against. Protests later escalated into the Nuhinba War, after the protesters established the Nuhin Liberation Association. The war ended with the government victory in 1952, and gradually restored Nuhinba's statehood. On August 10, 1955, the Borundian military overthrew the democratic government and abolished the constitution. The military heavily endorsed Borundian nationalism and a pure Borundian state, which only 4% of the population at the time had voted in favor.

In 1957, for the first time, the country opened up for tourism, by opening two airports in Aloktiena and Banonkor. But over the years tourism in the country had been relatively low, with only 8,000 visitors in 1960. Due to rising ultranationalism in the Gazirnus state, the government feared that another conflict similar to Nuhinba might happen, so they decided to expel Gazirnus on December 15, 1964, with the State of Gezirnus being officially established. Borundia planned to control its population since the country started to overcrowd in the mid-1960s, so three artificial islands, which are the Khanjena Islands near Banonkor, were created, and 10% of Borundia state's population were sent there. Borundia's relations with Ulakisonia began to sour after the communist victory in the Ulakisonian civil war in 1969, and cut ties with them after invading Toalugi. The military leader, Abdus Heram, resigned in 1972, as the country began multiparty elections.

The new president elected in 1973, Wadod Kashir, announced democratic reforms and Borundia opened its economy up for foreign investment. They also donated $2 million to other Oceanian countries for further development. Kashir also abolished Islam as the state religion of Borundia and introduced secularism, and even banned the burqa and niqab in 1975, as they were seen "overly-religious". Borundia's economy skyrocketed and became one of the richest countries in the Nesionytan Islands. Despite this, Kashir was often criticized for corruption and unfair elections. He was an ethnic Awanzor, who secretly supported an Awanzori state. Kashir attempted to shift the capital of Borundia to Vourinlat, which has a predominantly Awanzor population, but later scrapped the idea.

In 1980, Borundia borrowed a $10 million loan from Isandarual, but since they wanted the money back by 1982, Borundia was severely indebted, which led to the crash of the economy. The debt resulted into the dissolution of the Borundian Federation on February 23, 1983, since the rest of the states did not want to be involved in the debt crisis. Kashir later became prime minister of the newly-created Awanzoria.

Borundia (1983-present)
The Republic of Borundia was established on February 23, 1983, after the Borundian Federation was dissolved. Abdul Anas Khaliq, often known as AAK, took office as the prime minister of Borundia. He tightly controlled the country due to AAK's strong ultranationalism and closed the country. Islam made a return of being the state religion and private media was outlawed, thus making Borundia TV the only legal television channel at the time, and Radio Borundia being the only radio channel. On April 9, 1985, AAK executed 300 of his opponents, which became to be known as the 4/9/85 massacre. AAK changed the country's official name to the Democratic Republic of Borundia. He strongly supported Ulakisonia during the Second Nesionytan War. Borundia objected to the US invasion of Ulakisonia in 1989 and AAK called for his people to "burn every US flag". In 1991, after the dissolution of the, Borundia had no choice but to reopen their economy for outside investment, but was only limited to the , Ulakisonia, and. The country started to boost relations with the west, and opened its US embassy in Kinkina on July 4, 1992.

was illegal until 1993, during Borundia's tenth anniversary of being an independent country. Elections made a return in 1995, but AAK was often accused of unfair elections, which led to AAK's victory in every one of them. He, however, was first elected president in that same year. On July 1, 1996, after previously refusing to do so, Borundia officially joined the, and became the last UN member state in the Nesionytan Islands. In 1998, the country was upgraded to a high-income economy, although it started to decline over the early 2000s. After the, AAK resigned from the government, fearing that Borundia would feel the same fate as Iraq. The hardliners from AAK's party, Hazab Nasberundi, put him under house arrest and attempted a coup in 2005, but was suppressed by the civilian government. After a Latawei-ethnic president, Faizur Yehia, was elected in 2009, the Latawei people gained official recognition as a main ethnic group and their language became official. The Borundian language academy was dissolved and was replaced with a bilingual academy in 2011, which encouraged the use of both Borundian and Latawei.

In 2014, Islam was once again abolished as the state religion, making Borundia the only secular state in northern Nesionyta. This was later followed by the Shimbori Islands, which dropped Nutaderram as their official religion.

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Borundia

Borundia, as of 2021, has a population of 3,295,600, which is a rapid growth comparing a century ago with the same territory only having 549,481 people. The human sex ratio is 975 women per 1,000 men, and has an average life expectancy of 75.45 years, with 77.6 for women and 73.3 for men. Borundia's literacy rate is 87.65%, with 93.4% of men being literate, and 81.9% of women being literate.

Ethnicities
Ethnic Borundians comprise about 78% of the country's population, making them the dominant ethnic group. The Borundian Government estimated that there are 2,570,568 Borundians and 296,604 Latawei living in the country. Other ethnicites include the Latawei, Awanzori, Bawi, Nuhin, and Unbadimin. Before the dissolution of the Borundian Federation, Borundians composed 70% of the Borundia state's population.

Languages
Main article: Languages of Borundia

Borundian and Latawei are the two official languages of Borundia. Prior to 2009, Borundian was the sole official language, until the Latawei gained status of a main ethnic group. The Banonkora dialect of Borundian is the most widely spoken, and is the regulated standard dialect by the Haberundiborbak Akademiye. is the writing system used for both languages, adopted in 1929 replacing and Khamsan respectively. Latawei is the only language spoken in the Nesionytan Islands.