Basra (Vegetarian World)

Basra is an Islamic nation situated in the Mesopotamia region of. It is a nominal democracy, though in practice, power is in the hands of powerful Shiite elites, and minorities are heavily discriminated against.

History
Mesopotamia has a long history, and is one of the first agriculturally-based societies. However, thousands of years later, Basra is no longer at the forefront of civilization, but now lacks basic infrastructure, though is not as poverty-stricken as Iraq. Taken over by Baghdad in 1988, it was incorporated into the newly-named country of "Iraq". However, after Iraq attacked Kuwait, and an international coalition fought against Iraq, Kuwait, and then Basra were liberated. A democratic government was set up at that time, though a huge upswelling in Shiite nationalism led to Shiite leaders gaining control of most government offices. Although freedom of religion is in the constitution, in reality, non-Muslims, and especially Sunni Muslims face constant threats and discrimination.

Religion

 * 95% Muslims
 * 05% infidels*

*Infidels include Bahai, Druze, Alevi, Christians, and others. Though to boost the percentage of Muslims, the 5-10% of Sunnis are counted as Muslims, they are officially discriminated against like the so-called "infidels".

Ethnic Groups
97% Arabs 03% others (Persians, others)

Languages

 * 98% Arabic
 * 02% others (Persian, etc)

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


 * 95% Non-Vegetarian
 * 05% Vegetarian