BACKGROUND
The first attempt I made to create a country on Harrawi's current location was the Kingdom of Guban (1997), an Italian speaking kingdom, which had a royal family tree and a large hand drawn map, but not much more. The material of Guban is probably lost (at least I can't find it) and it was only thirteen years later, in 2010, that Harrawi saw the light. Like many of my other countries, I designed the language first (in this case: a modern offspring of the ancient Hittite language) and then went looking for a suitable location. Harrawi is of course not very close to where the Hittites originally lived (Asia Minor, present day Turkey), but I figured that tribes and peoples wandered more often in history and if they had stayed there, their language may not have survived - the Hittite language didn't, after all!

PEOPLE
In Harrawi live slightly more than one million people, 273,000 of which reside in the capital. Other important cities are Hurunn (ca. 206,000 inhabitants), Malaa (132,000), Erim (124,000) and Neesh (102,500). The country is divided in ten provinces. The larger part of the Harrawi people consists of ethnic Harrawi (86%), but there are also Arabs (5%), Britons (3%), Somali (2%) and Afar (2%). The Harrawi language is the official language of the country, but Arab, English, Somali and Afar can be heard as well on a regular basis. Some 71% of the Harrawi know how to read and write and 96% is Sunni Muslim.

Harrawi has two universities (in Oryaa and Malaa). National holidays are 15 April (Day of Democracy), 30 May (Independence Day, since 1978) and 6 October (Founding of the Republic, since 2002). The Harrawi national anthem is "Way'arai, su nass Harraay" ('Awaken, People of Harrawi') and was written by Muwasay Tusalyiabon (1937 - 2005).

ARMY
The supreme command of the Harrawi army lies in a dialogue between parliament (represented by the chairman) and the heads of the three divisions (army, navy and airforce). Parliament is considered to be a coordinating institution in this matter, but the day-to-day business is normally put in the hands of the defense ministry.

The army's equipment is in a condition of 'continuous improvement', as it is officially called by the ministry. This means that since 2003, the ministry has been trying to modernise the antiquated stock, which doesn't proceed very fast. Many supplies that normally service other sectors of society and the economy (such as harbours, factories and sometimes also residential areas) have a secundary military function and can be requisitioned by the army. Most of the equipment was acquired thorugh South-Yemen from the Soviet Union in the eighties.

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Harrawi has the same climate as the surrounding countries. It is hot and dry, and rain falls very irregularly. The country isn't very suitable for intensive agriculture, so extensive agriculture and cattle-breeding is more common. Relatively many inhabitants of Harrawi live in the cities. The highest point of Harrawi is the Yaumaa Hushuun or Hushun for short, a mountain of 1516 meters high. It lies east of the capital Oryaa, in the province of South-Harrawi. The two other named mountains are called Yaumaa Eepiyoon or Eepiyon (915 m.), also east of Oryaa, but in the province of North-Harrawi; and Yaumaa Boosaau or Boosau (873 m.), in the province of Malaa. Apart from the small mountain range to which these mountains belong, Harrawi is rather flat.

A number of smaller islands are also part of Harrawi. In the west, there is a small archipelago called sh'Wei Naas sh'Nabeey or 'The Prophet's Four Islands', consisting of four large and several smaller islands that are part of the province of Hurunn. In the north, there is the Nas er'Raash, 'The King's Island' or 'The Sultan's Island', and in the east there is the Nas Hason or the 'Red Island'. None of these islands are permanently inhabited, although fishermen use them regularly. The Nas er'Raash is army property.

The country also contains the centuries old city of Malaa, which is already mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei, some kind of gps-system in times that there weren't any human constructed satellites to navigate with. The country is flat and has little heights, but has been well defendable against foreign invasions by numerous fortifications along the coast and, more impressive, the Wall of Waau, which originally extended between the city of Waau through Bumaa until Yerusa, but which now has partly collapsed or demolished. The unofficial neighbouring country of Somaliland thinks that this wall should be the official border with Harrawi, and that Harrawi illegally occupies the scarsely populated area outside this wall. In 1992 an armed conflict almost escalated between the two countries, but neither party went through with it and the Somalilandic claim currently only exists on paper.

ECONOMY
The Harrawi currency is the kush, which, apart from a small relapse in 2001-2002, has been relatively stable for thirty years. At the moment the kush has a value of slightly more than €0.02. In 2009 there was an inflation rate of 6% and an unemployment rate of 9%.

Since the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea which resulted in independence for the latter, the attraction of Harrawi and Somalilandic harbours by Ethiopia has risen strongly. Berbera (Somaliland) and Hurunn (Harrawi) benefit from the transit trade from and to Ethiopia. But for other countries too, Harrawi is an excellent transshipment location. In Harrawi itself a modest amount of oil is gained.

Harrawi has been benefiting as well from the international hunt on tax paradises; as western countries with a banking secret had to change the rules so that they wouldn't loose their international reputation, the financial system of Harrawi hasn't become much more transparant. The government did take however some (according to critics very weak) measures in order to satisfy some western countries. It's a public secret that a number of Harrawi banks has some dubious clients, and according to the named critics this number has only grown since the international financial crisis.

Tourism is a expanding industry in Harrawi too. Already in the eighties some holiday colonies rose at the beaches of the Gulf of Aden around the city of Shamary. These colonies are forbidden for ordinary Harrawi citizens, because they could affect the islamic innocence of civilians, according to the government. The ministry of tourism tries to improve the interest in the urban culture of Harrawi: apart from the capital of Oryaa, the cities of Malaa and Puns, both in the eastern part of the country, are known as tourist attractions.

TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
In 2006 a four lane highway between Oryaa and Erim was completed. There already were some good highways between Oryaa and Hurunn as well as from Oryaa, through Bumaa until half-way Waau. The latter is the connection to the Somalilandic city of Berbera, which eventually should have four lanes along the entire distance. Between Malaa and Yausaa too, there is a small amount of four lane highway. Between Oryaa and Malaa there is a regular bus connection twice a day. From Oryaa in the west and Malaa in the east, buses drive more frequently to smaller towns in their respective regions.

In the west there is a railway connecting Heleg, Yerusa and Oryaa. There are plans for a railway connection between Oryaa and Malaa as well as between Oryaa and Erim, which were officially launched in 2014, but it seems improbable that these will be finished within ten years from now.

There are ferries between Hurunn and Heleg, and internationally between Hurunn and Djibouti and between Hurunn or Erim to Obock (Djibouti). From Malaa, Yausaa and Neesh you can reach Berbera by ship. From 1992 to 2004 there also was a ferry connection between Hurunn, Erim and Aden, but this has been cancelled.

From Oryaa there are frequent connections by air with Cairo, Nairobi and the Arab Emirates (Dubai and Sharjah) and, closer to home, with Sanaa, Aden, Addis Abeba and Khartoum. In Europe, Paris (Orly) is a common destination, but most of the Harrawi aircraft are on a European blacklist.

EDUCATION
Officially, the ministry of education of Harrawi is responsible for education and normally has 10% to 15% of the nation's budget allocated to this end. There are however some private schools, mostly based on islamic values, that manage to organise their own funding. Students of European and American origin normally attend the international school in Oryaa.

As in many other countries, the Harrawi school system consists of three stages. The first six years of the eight year primary school are mandatory; the rest of the educational traject is optional and in practice hardly 20% of the students who have completed the first six years continue their scholastic instruction. In the first six years there are eight compulsory subjects: Harrawi language, Arab language (starting in year 4), Islamic studies, mathematics, science (including e.g. biology and agriculture), social studies (including e.g. history and geography), arts and crafts and physical education (gymnastics, health care). The instruction language is Harrawi, except in the Arab language lessons and Islamic studies. In the seventh and eight year, English language is added to the curriculum. The primary school is intended for pupils between 5 and 11/13 years old.

The secondary school normally lasts four or five years for students aged 13 to 17/18. Mandatory subjects taught in this stage include: Harrawi, Arab and English languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history and Islamic studies. Optional subjects include: French; Somali; Amharic; economics and business studies; music, literature and arts; physical education. Due to lack of students, not all optional subjects can be followed everywhere. Harrawi is the instruction language of all subjects except the language subjects and Islamic Studies.

After completing the secondary level, students may choose to continue their education at a so called 'technical school' or at a university. Harrawi has two universities: the State University of Oryaa and the Islamic University of Malaa, and two technical schools, in Oryaa and Neesh, the latter having a branch in Puns if enough students apply.