Sanmra

Sanmra (IPA: /ˈsan.mɾa/), officially the Nation of Sanmra (Adıfas ni Sanmra /ˈa.d̪ɪ.fas ni ˈsan.mɾa/), is one of the largest and most influential dalar-dominated nations, with its enclaves located primarily in Asia and North America. While small compared to most human nations, Sanmra is the second-largest dalar nation (behind Tuanmali), with approximately 1.6 million inhabitants. An additional 50,000 Sanmra citizens live outside its borders, primarily in human nations.

The capital and largest city is Elten, located in the US state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with over 160,000 inhabitants. Elten is also one of the largest Sanmra enclaves, at 24.7 square miles. Sanmra has 96 other enclaves, for a total of 97. All enclaves are independently governed and typically consist of a single municipality, but a small number have separate communities outside the central settlement. Each enclave sends a pair of nuoda to the Leten ni Nuoda. These nuoda also participate in less-formal regional councils based on primarily on geographic location.

Sanmra is connected by a network of portals leading between enclaves. Most enclaves have permanent portals to at least one other enclave, although nineteen only have temporary portals and five have no portals at all. Twenty-five enclaves, including eight of the ten largest, cannot access the outside world directly, but only indirectly through other enclaves.

Over two thousand years ago, a large number of dalar lived in independent villages in Central Asia. Several banded together to form the Garsenian Confederation, which expanded under the leadership of Tirina to encompass several thousand dalar. While it did not come to be known by the name "Sanmra" until several centuries later, Tirina's ascension to become the sole ruler of the Confederation is widely considered to be the origin of the modern-day nation. The current political system, consisting of two sarda and an independent legislature (the Leten ni Nuoda, made up of the nuoda), developed gradually over time. It reached its current form in 1095 after the disastrous century and a half of assassinations and near-civil war known as the Kirapail ni Ato Enkarua (Great Warring Period), with ten sarda and three purges of the nuoda.

Etymology
The etymology of "Sanmra" is unclear. It almost certainly derived from one of the now-extinct Garsenian languages, but likely not Tirina. A large number of folk etymologies have been proposed, many involving the Old Tirina words sama 'my' and rama 'land', but are not seriously believed by modern linguists. The earliest recorded use of the modern spelling dates to the 1100s, but earlier forms with a wide variety of spellings (and, presumably, pronunciations) are attested to at least the 600s.

Military
For obvious reasons, Sanmra does not maintain a traditional standing military. Instead, the Army of Sanmra is divided into three main branches: the kasti, the ENE, and the len. They have no separate navy or air force, although the kasti do maintain a small force of helicopters.

Kasti
The kasti are the largest branch of the Sanmra military and fills a large number of civil service roles. While their primary focus is law enforcement and border patrol, the kasti has many subdivisions that also include the criminal court system, import/export control, domestic intelligence, and fire departments. Each organization within the kasti is semi-independent, under the oversight of a board comprised of representatives of each organization. The board is headed by a commander appointed by the sarda but approved by the nuoda, a reversal of most political appointees. The kasti is legally open to both dalar and humans, but in reality it is dominated by dalar and humans are rarely appointed to positions of power, generally being relegated to law enforcement in human neighborhoods. There are about 15,000 current kasti, across all organizations.

ENE
The Edaralni ni Enarlea (Office of Intelligence) is the Sanmran special forces, an elite group of operatives who gather and analyze foreign intelligence, as well as carry out covert ops outside of Sanmra. Their work and numbers are shrouded in mystery, but are generally assumed to be in the hundreds at most. Many operatives are ex-len (or dropped out of the len program). They employ both humans and dalar.

Len
The len are a famously strict paramilitary organization and security force that serves as security for government officials, as well as carrying out certain types of federal investigations, particularly relating to internal affairs. While technically under the oversight of the military, they function independently, answering only to their strict code of honor. The len have existed in one form or another for over a thousand years and are neutral, working for the good of Sanmra rather than for any specific political leader. Only dalar are eligible to join the len, with strict application requirements and grueling tests before an applicant is even accepted as a probationary candidate.