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Terraformed Mars is the breadbasket of the Solar System, as well as the home for most humans remaining here. In the 2040's, GEA officially abandoned the terraforming efforts of Mars and Venus as pointless, instead focusing on the evacuation to 34 Tauri. Roughly 100,000 people involved in the Mars Project disagreed, and remained on Mars to continue. They saw evacuation as risky and unnecessary. As the decades rolled on, their modest effort was joined by various dissident groups. Mars was used as a dumping ground for groups that did not want to follow GEA for various reasons, but also did not want to remain on Earth. These included Mormon sects from North America, whole towns from North Africa, and members of dozens of other smaller groups. By the 2080's, Mars' polyglot population had reached two million people. In the 2090's, GEA sent crews to retrieve valuable terraforming equipment for the Arks, they were met with fierce resistance. Even this effort was eventually abandoned as pointless, and the Arks departed by 2100.
After a period of chaos and disorganization, the disparate ethnic groups have blended into the modern Martians by absorbing one central idea - Mars as “New Jerusalem”. This idea was developed and spread by the “Third Prophet”, S. Blake Moghadam, a scientist turned religious leader of Anglo-Persian ancestry. According to his highly syncretic dogma from the 2130’s, humankind was judged and found wanting for its wicked ways. The sun’s instability, Earth’s destruction, the exodus of the vast majority of people, and the growth of new life on Mars are all fulfillment of of Biblical, Quranic, and even Zoroastrian prophecy. The presence of any particular group was seen as proof of membership in a new covenant, that “the tribes should mingle their seeds and prosper” rather than feuding or separating. This new faith (called "Mareekhism") led to the various Martian cultures cooperating and blending into one, relatively unified and prosperous world, once terraforming was completed in the 2200's. It has been two and a half centuries since then, and Mars has grown steadily since then. Mars is now a cool, somewhat dry planet with about 45% surface water and a population of over eighty million people. Mars has a high agricultural output, but is relatively poor in natural resources. As a result, it usually trades with the Belt and Jupiter for metals and hydrocarbons, in exchange for foodstuffs and finished technology. Most of Mars is governed by a single global government called the "United Mareekh Authority" (UMA). This entity came to power in the 2390's, after a series of small wars of consolidation. There are a handful of small regional states that do not recognize the UMA, and maintain suspicious relations with it. These states include the People's Republic of Hellas, the Kingdom of Mangala Valles, and Noachian Free Communities. None of these small states is larger than a few million people, and all are physically isolated by culture, landforms, and simple distance from the main population centers in the north. Several other groups fled Mars entirely rather than submit to rule by the UMA.
The various ethnic groups of Mars cooperated under the leadership of the original settlers, who now are regarded as sort of idealized "founding fathers". Most Martians mostly speak a heavily anglicized dialect of Arabic called “Mareekhi”, and share cultural traits common to much of the Middle East albeit with some oddly North American affectations; overall they are somewhat moderate by 21st Century standards. Offworlders are regarded as sinners who escaped judgement for a time, especially those who fled Earth in the Exodus. Attitudes towards them vary widely, with some urging tolerance, and others calling for a crusade. Mars in general has a lower level of technology than Saturn or the Belters, but holds considerable power by dint of having the largest population in the Sol system.
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