™Even if you gave me as much gold as the entire world, let alone the 150 million English pounds in gold, I would not accept this at all. I have served the Islamic milla and the Ummah of Muhammad for more than thirty years, and never did I blacken the pages of the Muslims- my fathers and ancestors, the Ottoman sultans and caliphs. And so I will never accept what you ask of me. - Abdülhamid

GEOGRAPHY
In the many centuries that the Ottoman Empire has existed though, it has come into the possession of many different kind of landscapes, ranging from the mountainous landscapes of Anatolia and the Balkans, to the flat lands of the Levantine and North African coasts. At the current time, the lands held by the Ottomans are the rough and hot land of Anatolia, where the empire is based out of, with the mighty Black Sea to its north, and the east and west separated by the Bosphorous Strait in Istanbul. The neighboring Balkan Peninsula bears much resemblance to Anatolia in its mountainous lands and hot climate save for its northern most regions. This is in stark contrast to the Levantine regions, which have a rather flat land complemented by rolling hills in many parts along the coast. However, once one travels further east in the Levant, the mountains show up once again, covered in forests.

POPULATION
32,350,000

LEADER
Mahmud II - Mahmud is a very innovative sultan, rising to power after a grevious attempt on his life and attempting to continue the reforms of the country that were ended when Mustafa IV came to power in the empire. Although his vicer was killed in 1808, which convinced the Sultan to abandon the reforms, Mahmud has once again resumed the reforms of the empire. That being said, not all are pleased with the ideas of Mahmud's reforms, least not the conservative Janissary Corps.

GOVERNMENT
The Ottoman Empire is an absolute monarchy lead by the Ottoman Sultan, who also holds the title of Caliph, or leader of Islam. Everything the Sultan proclaims is law without question. As the throne is passed to the next legitimate male heir, the Sultan has a personal collection of wives, concubines and slaves, collectively known as the Imperial Harem, to ensure that his lineage will live on. Indeed the House of Osman is nearly unrivaled in its unbroken heritage from the first Ottoman Sultan. Next come The Divan, the Sultan's court of advisors.

Below the Sultan, the Government is divided into two dimensions of purpose, Military and Civil administration. The basic division of the empire is based around a system of administrative units, administered by hereditary governers called Bey. On a judicial level, they were divided into small municipal or rural units called kazas administered by a qadi (kadı). Since a Bey did not have the authority to administer judicial punishments like a Qadi, they were considered to balance each other out. At an even more local level are millets, a separate legal court pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim Sharia, Christian Canon law, or Jewish Halakha) is allowed to rule itself under its own system.

POLITICS
The biggest players in politics in the current Ottoman Empire, even more than the Sultan himself, are the Harem, The Divan, and the Janissaries. It is well known that the Harem, filled with women tied to the Sultan, will influence his descisions, so much so that for a while the nation was known as the "Sultanate of Women". Beyond that, the Divan, with its advisors communicating and plotting will always be a source of interesting politics. As for the Janissaries, well they serve as what was once a military elite who now leech off of the empire and murder anyone who gets in their way.

ECONOMIES
A shift has begun to occur to rural female labor with guild organized urban-based male labor less important. The global markets for Ottoman goods fell somewhat with certain sectors expanding. However, any changes were compensated by an increase in domestic consumption and demand. Mechanized production even at its peak remained an insignificant portion of total output. The lack of capital, as in other areas of the economy, deterred the mechanization of production. Nonetheless, a number of factories did emerge in Istanbul, Ottoman Europe and Anatolia. Guilds operating prior to the 18th century did see a decline through the 18th and 19th centuries. Guilds provided some form of security in prices, restricting production and controlling quality and provided support to members who hit hard times. Fine textiles, hand-made yarns and leathers are in high demand outside the empire.

MILITARY
At the current moment the Ottoman Military, while strong, is in severe need of a reform to keep up with its european contemporaries. Only one problems stands in the way of reform, The Janissaries. Any Sultan who has tried to reform the Military has been killed, leaving the military to remain inefficient and rapidly lagging behind its contemporaries.

CULTURE
The Ottoman Empire is a muslim state through and through, which has lead to a great deal of tension between the ruling Turks and their many non muslim subjects. The amalgamation of many different ways of life from the East and West has made the Ottoman Empire a land of very rich culture. The Poetic and Literary traditions of the Empire show great influence from the Persians, as is the architecture so prominent throughout the land.

The music of the Ottoman Empire is built upon many unique systems of melodies and rhythms. In addition to the court music of the Empire, military bands can be found amongst the soldiers of the Empire.

HISTORY
The Ottoman Empire has a long and glorious history stretching back to the founding of the nation by Osman Bey, in the year 1299. In that time, nothing more than another beylik in the swath of turkic Anatolia, the nation was changed by what would be known as Osman's Dream. In it, the leader of the Osmani Beylik saw a vision of his land containing 4 rivers and being surrounded by 4 mountain ranges. Feeling the need to make this vision a reality, Osman brought his empire ever closer to the dying Byzantines. When the Ottomans finally took down the Byzantines with the capture of Constantinople.

From there the Empire only continued to grow. Through a campaign of conquest, the Ottomans came to own vast territories of Europe and Africa. Though the control of major trade routes into Asia, the Ottomans became rich off of traders and tariffs.

Under Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottomans made their way to Belgrade in Serbia and established rule over parts of Hungary. They got as far as Vienna before being defeated. The nation's military power was unmatched, being both a dangerous force on land and in the sea.

Eventually, however, poor leaders arose to the throne, and the empire began to weaken. With Europeans looking for ways around the Ottoman controlled routes, they lacked need for them in the first place. Slowly but surely the Ottomans began to fall behind Europe though a growing expression on religious and intellectual conservatism. By this time the empire was stagnating, and the growing population was beginning to become a problem.

The nation soon fell into the period known as the Köprülü Era, where the country was de facto ruled by the grand visers of the divan. Eventually the nation was returned to the Sultan's power, but the Ottomans were suffering from a growing stagnation. Facing wars with Russia and a multitude of failed reforms, plus the declaration of independence by Greece, the future of the Empire does not look bright. The Europeans often cite the empire as a "Sick Man". But with all hope, the new Sultan Mahmud, will be able to fix these problems.

INFRASTRUCTURE
The infrastructure of the state is mostly defined by its administrative divisions, as described in its government tab, and its access to many great trade lines and naval vessels.

SCIENCE
While by no means technologically backwards, the Ottomans are indeed suffering from a period of Stagnation. It is not beyond repair, but for most it seems that if the Ottomans continue on this path of intellectual conservationism, that they will never catch up to the Europeans.

DEVELOPMENT
The Ottomans are a rather developed nation, and have been for some time now.

GOALS
Stability, and reforms to the government that will help in ending this period of stagnation and let the Ottomans live up to their rivals in Europe.