Amestris

Amestris is the country that serves as the principal setting of Fullmetal Alchemist in both animes and the manga.

Amestris is a unitary State, with a Parliamentary Republic type of Government. The Head of State is the Commander-in-Chief of the Military; titled as 'Führer' (Daisoutou from the Japanese), who concentrates the ranks of President and Prime Minister of the country; who also controls Parliament.

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 being divided in 5 provinces: 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 its 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, since its power is irrelevant to the decision making process, in practice, the Government is composed by nominated positions.

Its authoritarian type of government makes it hard to distinguish between the government institutions and the military, but, at the same time, its domain is constantly questioned and confronted by the general population, which is not rarely unfriendly 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. It's subordinance towards the Central Command, in the other hand, is unquestionable.

History
It's uncertain when Amestris was founded (some estimates put it around 1550). However, it is certain that it would never have been so influential and powerful in the world had it not been for its practice of Alchemy. It is told that a 'Man from the East' came to the country more than 400 years ago and taught the Renkinjutsu (Alchemy); this brought power and growth to the country, but also battles with the neighboring countries as Amestris' territory expanded.

Since its inception, Amestris has been a powerful country, promoting conflicts with its neighbour States and maintaining an extremely authoritarian, centralized government. The basis of the country's political and economic stability has become strongly connected to war, boosting the Military to the highest ranks and prestige positions within the government.

By around the year 1894, the prominent general King Bradley (considered a War Hero) was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the country (Daisoutou from Japanese, a form of "Generalissimo", translated to English as Führer).

There have been conflicts in all areas of the country since then, resulting in many massacres and heavy civil wars, always under the command of the Central's Army. The control of the provinces is held by the influence and manipulation of the Central Government and through the military, which has in some regions (notably Youswell) turned the populace against the military and its rule.

Geography
The geography of Amestris is quite diverse, varying from desert areas in the East to an icy mountain range in the North and plains to the West and South. Amestris is a mostly land-locked nation, with no access to any known sea, as it seems to be bordered completely by other countries (Creta, Aerugo, Drachma, and the East Desert, followed by the country of Xing). It is currently unknown what lies beyond all these nations, whether that's all there is to the continent or if there are countries other than those. It is told that there is a water route from Xing to Amestris (considered to be "the long way around"), but its location is unknown.

It seems to be a quite extensive country with a large countryside population and low, but growing, urban concentration.

The biggest city is the capital, Central City, that also has the largest buildings and busiest urban life. Each province has its own capital as their main city. The population seems to concentrate itself in the east, south and central areas, being the north quite isolated and the west with very sparse cities.

The climate is also highly diverse and can vary from a typical Mediterranean climate near the southern border to near glacial in the region of Briggs. But most of the country varies between a temperate and a subtropical climate.

Population
Amestris' population has been noted at roughly fifty million, but population density varies around the nation between urban areas, rural areas and frontier areas. As an expansionist country, Amestris comprises many different nations and many different ethnic groups. The most prominent ones are "Caucasian" (dark hair and eyes and light skin tone), "Middle Easterns" (brown eyes and hair, red eyes in the case of Ishvalan, and tanned skin), especially in the East Area, including the region of Ishval (and, in 2003 anime, Reole), and "Nordic" (blond hair and blue/green eyes). The dominant ethnic group in Amestris are Caucasian although they too vary a lot. The "Nordic" group seems to be exclusive of Amestris, not appearing in any surrounding country other than the ancient Xerxes in the east.

Although these ethnic groups are similar and even inspired by the ones in our world, it should be noted that they have no mention to these specific ethnic groups in the story and it's even unknown how the Fullmetal Alchemist world understands the concept of ethnicity and their groups and names.

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, automail exists as 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.

Foreign Relations
As an expansionist country, Amestris has absorbed many smaller nations over its history and has therefore amassed a rather diverse populace made up of many different ethnic, religious and cultural groups, becoming a "melting pot" society of sorts.

Drachma, Amestris's neighbor in the north, recently signed a non-aggression pact with the nation, though relations are strained at best. However, the two countries are separated by the Briggs Mountain Range, which helps the two countries in hindering another full-scale engagement, due to the fact travel across the mountains is dangerous, which makes it hard and risky to wage a war over them.

Far to the east, beyond the Great Desert, lies the country of Xing, which is ruled by an imperial government, and its people use alchemy strictly for medical purposes, versus that of Amestris, who use alchemy for military and civilian purposes. There weren't any mentions of conflict between these two countries, probably due to the distance of their territory and the infertility of the Eastern Desert, making it an unattractive land to either. However, in the last chapter, Amestris has recently started to discuss trading deals with Xing.

State Military
The only armed force of Amestris is the Army, since the non-existence of aerial vehicles and the land-locked nature of the country remove the need for an air force or navy.

Ever since before King Bradley was elected Führer of Amestris, the military has been the country's primary focus, and it has cemented its power over every aspect of Amestrian life. Its most well known battle is the Ishval Civil War which ultimately decimated the Ishval race. The Amestrian military also conducts border skirmishes against the neighboring countries Creta and Aerugo.

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 its respective region. The army from the East HQ as well as the army from the fortress of Briggs are considered the best divisions of the Amestrian Army. Briggs is specialized in defense, while the Eastern Army is specialized in attack.

It appears as if the infantry is the main force of the Army, backed by artillery, tanks and the most important and prominent weapon: State Alchemists.

The division of State Alchemist is parallel to the normal ranks of the Army, being automatically assigned the rank of Major upon recruitment. They have their own symbols, titles and undergo different treatment and supervision as other military personnel.

National Symbols
The official flag of Amestris is a vert (green) rectangle with a rampant argent (white) dragon at its centre.

The dragon also takes part in the symbol of the State Alchemists, which bears it inside an cross similar to the Auseklis and wreath of laurel leaves. A variation of the flag is also used as a badge on military uniforms.

In the 2003 anime it is highlighted in two scenes in the series, once at Brigadier General Maes Hughes funeral and again being torn apart by an angry mob, but is pictured regularly in the manga and 2009 anime series.

Conspiracy
The manga's later chapters reveal that Amestris had its growth and strengthen orchestrated for a precise purpose - the creation of a giant Nationwide Transmutation Circle, much like the one Father used in Xerxes. Over three hundred years before the events of the manga, a man known as the 'Eastern Philosopher' (actually Father) taught the basics of alchemy to the then tiny country, which then began using the techniques to conquer its neighbors. In recent years, there have been numerous incidents of mass death incited by the Amestrian State Military, forming a pattern identical to a circle found under the Fifth Laboratory used to create Philosopher's Stones. The circle is nearing completion - the final remaining point of bloodshed is the fortress Briggs, which has been assaulted by a very much outmatched Drachman force. Meanwhile, the Homunculus Sloth has completed a giant tunnel he has been secretly digging around the entirety of Amestris, in the form of the transmutation circle used to create the stones.

2003 Anime
The last episodes of the 2003 anime and the movie indicate the close parallels between Amestris and the Weimar Republic in Germany. Part of the movie is set in 1924's Munich, during the historic episode called Munich's Putsch (where the recently created Nazi Party tried to revolt and take power, resulting in the imprisonment of Hitler and many of his followers).

Although at that specific time in history Germany was actually a parliamentary republic (and yet to have the Nazi's Coup more than 10 years later) rather than a military dictatorship, there's usually brought the presence of a Military President and a military-controlled state as being a similarity between the Nazi Germany and Amestris.

In the movie Conqueror of Shambala, the Elric brothers have no difficulty communicating with Germans once they arrive in 'our world'. However during the first time when Edward came across the gate he landed in London (but it should be noted that he had at that time travelled into his alter worlds body, which could account for his appearing in London).

Manga
In the manga, however, there are no direct real world parallels to any particular time and space in History.

The author, Hiromu Arakawa, has stated she didn't use any specific countries or cultures to create Amestris, but rather a combination of several European countries from several different periods between the 17th and 19th centuries and, more specifically, the changes that occurred in the Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution (she said she was greatly inspired, but not only, by England), which is reflected in the machinery and automails from the series (and also brought the steam-punk feel to it). There's no implied relation, according to her, to any specific country, time nor government.

Notable Places

 * Central City: The bustling capital of the country and seat of power of King Bradley. From here, Central Command also runs the political affairs of the nation.


 * East City: Located in a backwater region near the desert, East City was the home base of Colonel Roy Mustang and his entire outfit for most of the early portions of the anime and manga. It's reasonably close to Reole and Resembool, making it a sort of central hub for some of Ed and Al's early adventures.


 * South City: Hub for all southern regions. Currently at war with the bordering nation of Aerugo.


 * West City: Rocky, dry territory at war with Creta.


 * North City: The quiet, snowy locale at the foot of the Briggs Mountains. Medical and supply center for the Briggs Fortress.


 * Briggs: Located in the northernmost corner of Amestris. This fortress guards the country's borders from Drachman invaders.


 * Reole: A small desert city that holds a powerful secret. The home of Leto's Church


 * Resembool: This far-flung town is the home of the Elrics, and a great deal of important events happened here. This is where Winry and Pinako live and the site of the Elrics burned down house.

Trivia

 * Amestris was the name of the wife of Persian Emperor Xerxes. The country was named as an easter egg from Arakawa, who also named the other central country of the series, Xerxes, after the Emperor himself.