Hejaz (Vegetarian World)

Hejaz is an Islamic kingdom situated on the west coast of Arabia. It contains the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, but its largest city and capital is Jeddah. Known as possibly the most religiously conservative country in the world, citizenship is not granted to non-Muslims. In fact, citizenship is revoked from citizens if they renounce their religion, and they are treated as permanent residents without many of the rights that citizens have. The few churches and non-muslim temples that remain in the country are off limits for worship, and are not allowed to be repaired. Also, women do not enjoy many rights in Hejaz.

Despite its claim that Wahhabi Islam soothes the mind, and that other countries are corrupt and immoral, it is well known that the crime rate (including murder and rape) is among the highest in the world. The government has been accused of covering up the problem because it does not release (or even take) crime statistics.

Hejaz is known both in and outside of the country as the "Nation of Peace". However, inside the country, this slogan is believed, whereas outside the country, it is used in jest. This has infuriated the Hejaz government, as now popular comments like, "With Peace like that, who needs war?" and "Never trust anything that's capitalized and shouldn't be." (in reference to the word "Peace", as well as to the word "Truth" and other such world that are capitalized and used in religious propaganda) have circulated far and wide, and the government is fully aware that it is being made fun of.

One of the largest problems for Hejaz at the moment is having a stable economy without becoming "corrupt like the rest of the world". Unlike the, Hejaz has always had few oil reserves, and so was unable to take part in the oil boom (which jump-started the PGT economies) before the global move towards clean energy. Muslim pilgrims to Mecca have been a main source of income, however lately, many of the more liberal Muslims have "indefinitely put off" their trips to Mecca until there is more freedom in Hejaz. Some have said that they can visit Mecca in spirit without ever physically going there. These attitudes (seen as highly heretical by Hejaz) are straining the government. In addition, the League of Nations has had sanctions placed on Hejaz for many decades now. Finally, there have been nine attempts at a coup d'état in the past 50 years (all of which have failed), leading the world to believe that there is a strong rebellious faction within the nation, and that the government has to continually fight to hold onto power.

Religion

 * 100% Believers in the one true God (=Muslims)*
 * 0% infidels*

*Interestingly, the government makes a point of showing that it has no "infidels" among the believers. However, the government's report is known to be incorrect. An estimated 1-2% of Hejazis are not Muslim, though they do not have citizenship or they keep silent about their beliefs. It is estimated that a large percentage of Hejazis are of the radical Wahhabi sect, and most of the rest are Sunni.

Vegetarianism
Note: This is estimated, as there are no government statistics.


 * 98% Non-Vegetarian*
 * 02% Vegetarian*

*Perhaps the majority of people in Hejaz do not eat meat most days, but this is almost always due to poverty instead of vegetarianism.