Alshar

Alshar is a continent and geographic region located in the Eastern Hemisphere of the globe. Alshar is bound to the south by the Pukhthun Sea, the Sea of Capelan to the north, the Ocean of Cathay to the east and the Audonian landmass and the Levantine Sea to the west. Through millenia of habitation it has been home to many empires and expansive civilizations. It is the second most populated continent and the third largest by total landmass.

It is divided into thirteen sovereign states with the most notable being Daxia, Metzetta, Huoxia and Tashi-Daypa. Two Levantine states are in possession of colonial holdings namely the Fiannrian territory of Soirwind and various islands owned by Burgundie in the continent's periphery. Central and south eastern Alshar are much more densely populated than the northern regions which are for the most part, endless grassland and steppes.

Name
The continent has several widely used names. The most commonly used, "Alshar", descends from the Arabic word الشرق (lit. "east", "alshrq"). The term is thought to have originated with Occidental explorers being sent to the continent east of Audonia, referred to by the explorers simply as the "eastern land".

Middle seas region
The Middle seas region, also known as the Middle seas, or the Audonio-Alshari Intercontinental Cultural and Economic Interface Zone (AAICEIZ, pronounced eye-kayz), is the areas of eastern Audonia (eastern Siphost and Daria) and western Alshar around the Aab-e-Farus and the Sea of Kandahar. It is so named because of the two seas it contains surrounded by the continental landmasses of Audonia and Alshar, the Aab-e-Farus and the Sea of Kandahar.

History
The Alshari landmass is home to some of the oldest civilizations known to man.

Religion
Alshar is home to a broad range of religious denominations. Islam was brought over to southern Alshar by the expanding Oduniyyad caliphate in the 800's and today both Sunni, Shia Twelver and smaller schools have large number of adherents in various parts of the continent. In similar fashion Christianity arrived by way of missionaries arriving with Levantine colonizers and while the majority of its current practitioners are of Levantine descent, smaller native congregations do exist under some of the more tolerant regimes. Forms of animism and ancestor worship are widespread. Daxia enforces an almost blanket ban on all religions thereby being one of the only nations to have state enforced atheism.