Zanoma Regional Administration

The Zanoma Regional Administration - ZRA (Zanoma Do-ro'ik Vong), is a province of League-occupied Varshan located in the northeast region of the country. It is bordered by Nechaxa to the east, the Urcean occupation zone to the west, the Alstin occupation zone to the south, and Daxian Xisheng to the north. It has a population of 41.7 million of mostly ethnic Varshani natives, and its capital is the city of Tizro. Created under League of Nations auspices after the end of the war in Varshan, it is governed by the native Party of Varshan Democrats with the military support of its Daxian benefactors. The region was heavily devastated by the war, including from radioactive contamination from the Atomic bombing of Shimrra; much of the region is heavily depopulated. The ZRA flag depicts a solar device based on the Solar God of State Arzalism.

History
The territory administered by the ZRA was previously known as the Daxian Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (DOETA) and encompassed twelve Varshani districts captured during the Xisheng offensive, later merged and consolidated into just seven. The military occupation authorities handed over administrative control to the forces of the Party of Varshan Democrats in 2027. Since the city of Shimrra was too irradiated to be occupied, the newly prefabricated city of Tizro was chosen as the alternative administrative center. Daxian ground troops mostly pulled back across the new border to Xisheng, handling security control to Cooperative Varshan Army units. They continued however to provide air support against the Army of the National Homeland insurrection and Zurgite remnants.

Almost immediately upon taking over, regional administrator Nas Mecama ordered the closure of the regional borders citing security concerns and a lack of means to feed and house any further refugees from other parts of the nation. The Tizro Refugee Center built by Daxian military authorities was overflowing, housing at least twice the originally designated amount of people. Up to half a million more were eking out an existence in makeshift camps with no running water, electricity or sanitation services. The administration's top priorities are guaranteeing local food supplies by ensuring enough manpower is available for the seasonal harvest, restarting some semblance of an economy and taxation(currently completely dependent on Daxian financial aid) and sustainably settling the refugees already inside the region, while keeping tabs on possible radical Arzalist and ANH supporters. Zanoma's regional administration has been accused by human rights groups of stacking its bureaucracy with figures and cadres linked to the old regime, supposedly after undergoing a reeducation course. This has been done to bolster and supplement the PVD's own lack of governing experience and experts.

Politics
Politically the ZRA functions as a one party quasi state, nominally under the League occupation authorities based out of Anzo. The reality is the Party of Varshan Democrats governs mostly without input or instructions from anyone, save for its Daxian BSP handlers. The party was cobbled together from Varshani politically fringe groups during the Daxian advance; groups that refused to fall in line or objected to Daxian designs were simply liquidated as Zurg loyalists. Organizations known to have been folded into the PVD include the Varshani Peoples Democratic Organization, the Tokoman Democratic Current, the North Varshan Democratic Movement and the Party of Acuaname Autonomy. The ZRA's top political and military authority is Regional Administrator Nas Mecama, a former bureaucrat working for the Tizro Registry of Identification and Civil Status, her involvement in anti-regime activities during and prior to the war are not known.

Economy
The regional economy was completely decimated by the war and the emancipation of the slave population. The burning of millions of hectares of forest during the Daxian offensives hit the local timber industry hard. A League funded program of tree planting is in the initial stages of implementation, with a goal of planting three million trees by 2030, hoping to rebuild the timber sector in a sustainable way. The destruction of the city of Shimrra wiped around 45% of local GDP, so most new economic development is being planned in and around Tizro. Mimban Corporation has bought the concessions to several emerald and tin mines in the area, recruiting internal refugees to work in them. Daxian businessmen have also begun establishing many factories producing a range of products for export including garments and textiles, cleaning products and palm oil and derivates.

Zanoma region was a leading region of cardamon production before the war disrupted operations of most cardamon processors. Nowadays only around a third of prewar production levels have been achieved but the Audonia Development Bank is in talks with local producers to get involved in granting financial assistance to boost the sector back to normal production. Other cash crops that are popular are bananas, melons, cabbages and legumes.

Society & Culture
The ZRA's society in the postwar period is one that is currently in turmoil due to the devastation of the war and its deleterious effects on the people. While the vast majority of the population(over 95%) is ethnically Varshani, the large intakes of refugees from other regions have brought people of all classes and backgrounds from the rest of the country. Cultural influences from as far as Telonaticolan and the Copacaban Republic are also to be found in the ZRA. Small numbers of Daxian bureaucrats, advisers and entrepeneurs have made their way to the ZRA but they tend to keep apart from natives and only normally interact with the upper governing crust.

The religious makeup is varied, authorities are half heartedly promoting the adoption of the sanitised State Arzalism as a sop to occupation authorities, altough without quite persecuting Orthodox Arzalism and those who practice it for pragmatic reasons. Many refugees are followers of M'acunism, a religion some think to be more primordial in its origins than Arzalism. Christianity also exists in the ZRA but due to worries of Urcean religious colonialism, it is ridiculed in media as a 'white man's religion' and proselytism is currently not allowed, anyone caught doing so subject to heavy fines and expulsion from the ZRA if found relapsing.

Military
The ZRA as a subordinate entity and at least in theory an integral part of Varshan, has no official independent armed forces. However for the purpose of maintaining security and providing defence against threats, the ZRA counts on the Cooperative Varshan Army-CVA. The CVA fought against the old Zurgist regime and was firstly organized as an irregular guerrilla force and later as a regular, uniformed force outfitted with Daxian surplus gear and equipment. The CVA has a modest array of older Daxian wheeled and tracked fighting vehicles, artillery pieces and light infantry arms that enable it to patrol the ZRA state borders and provide security to government installations. It has no combat air component, relying on the Daxian air force to provide support on this area.

The CVA has incorporated many thousands of soldiers and officers formerly under the Northern Command of Shai Malan-Zar; who himself has been granted amnesty and taken on a military adviser role under the CVA. The CVA currently has a standing force of around 35,000 men with a probable reserve of 200,000, a number that can probably be increased much higher by press ganging refugees into service.