Amestris

Amestris (アメストリス, Amesutorisu) is the country that serves as the principal setting of Beliefs of Amestris

Amestris is a [.org/wiki/Unitary_state Unitary State], with a population of about 50 million and a Parliamentary Republic type of Government. The Head of State is the Commander-in-Chief of the Military who holds the title of "Führer" (大総統, Daisōtō in Japanese, a form of "Generalissimo") and who concentrates the ranks of Head of State and Head of Government.

It seems the country was composed by several former nations, quite diverse in culture and religion, but incorporated by the expanding state of Amestris. The administrative regions of the country seem to reflect those differences. The country has five administrative divisions: South Area, West Area, North Area, East Area and Central Area.

The East Area is the most diverse, sheltering a nation of a different ethnicity called Ishvalan. The province of Ishval is ethnically and culturally different of the rest of country: the people there being religious; most of them renounce alchemy, which brought many conflicts with the Central Government in the past and has culminated in the Ishval Civil War.

Government
Amestris is an Unitary State with a Parliamentary Republic type of government. It's unknown whether it's a bi-cameral or a unicameral Parliament. What is known is that, since the creation of the State, the Parliament has been used as a mere facade to an authoritarian mandate. The government is almost completely centralized by the Military. The Central Command, located at Central City, allocates the regional governments at its own accord, with no known election to speak of. It appears that the only elections held in Amestris is for the legislative positions in the Parliament, but its power is irrelevant to the decision making process. In practice, the Government is composed of nominated positions.

Its authoritarian type of government makes it hard to distinguish between the government institutions and the military, but that domain is constantly questioned and confronted by the general population, which is rarely friendly and even belligerent towards the military regime.

The regional offices of the government are directly subordinated to the Central Command and have little freedom of action. However, politics are very common among the leaders of each region within their own level of hierarchy, bringing a lot of competition between regions.

Technology
Amestris' technological level has been described as the highest in the region, suggesting that it can reasonably be taken as the level of the world's technology as a whole. Just out of the twentieth century's first decade, Amestris appears to have recently undergone an industrial revolution of sorts, with steam engines and automobiles beginning to overtake horse-drawn carriages as the most prominent mode of transportation (though the horse-and-buggy is by no means uncommon). Incidentally, most cars are of a style reminiscent of the Ford Model T. Electric power, while abundant, has not completely replaced gas-lights in some of the more rural areas and coal remains a major fuel source. However, automailexistsas a clear outlier from the standard technological fare of the age, existing as sophisticated robotic prostheses that not only function with the precision of machinery roughly a century ahead of its time, but is compatible with biological forms in a manner that transcends our own understanding of bio-robotics. Due perhaps to the nation's high level of alchemical prominence, great strides have been made in the fields of chemistry and metallurgy, allowing for a rapidly evolving technological identity.

In terms of weaponry, firearms range from simple pistols to woodstock rifles and machine guns but the Amestrian State Military has developed a new type of weapon called a "tank" at the Research and Development department of their Briggs Fort.

State Military


The only armed force of Amestris is the army since the nonexistence of aerial vehicles and the landlocked nature of the country preclude the need for marine or navy.

The military administration has its General Headquarters based in Central City and four others which garrison the units across the country in the capitol of their respective regions. The army from the Eastern Headquarters as well as the army from the fortress of Briggs are considered the best divisions of the army. Briggs specializes in defense, while the Eastern Army specializes in attack.

It appears as if the infantry is the main branch of the army. They are supported by artillery, tanks, and the most important and prominent weapon: the State Alchemists.

The division of State Alchemists is parallel to the normal ranks of the army. They are automatically assigned the rank of major upon recruitment. They have their own symbols, titles, and undergo different treatment and supervision from other military personnel.

National Symbols
The official flag of Amestris is a rectangle, with a argent dragon rampant in a field of vert.

The dragon is also present in the symbol of the State Alchemists, which bears it inside a hexagram (replaced with an Auseklis-like cross) and a wreath of laurel leaves. A variation of the flag is also used as a badge on military uniforms.