Umbar
Umbar is the nation of which Umbar Baharbêl is the capital. The Cape of Umbar is the nation's political center, but Umbar is larger than the cape itself, having holdings both north and south along the coast, as well as a smaller area inland. Umbar borders Harad in the east, and Gondor in the north across the Bay of Belfalas. Umbar has nominal claim to the Shield Isles, but those islands are de facto self-governing, and in fact, stand in political opposition to the forces that rule from the City of the Corsairs.
Lore
The Havens of Umbar are the home of the Corsairs of Umbar. Founded by the Men of Númenor during the Second Age, Umbar soon became enemies with the realm of Gondor to the north. Gondor conquered Umbar multiple times, but lost it again during its decline. By the time of the War of the Ring, the Corsairs had blended with the Umbari, becoming a mixed people where Númenórean blood was mostly gone.
Forty years before the War of the Ring, the Gondorian captain Thorongil set sail from Pelargir, and in a surprise attack managed to burn down the Corsair fleet. During the War of the Ring, the Corsairs were led by four brothers who named themselves the Heirs of Castamir. These were Azruthor, Dolgimil, Azgarzôr, and the eldest, Balakhôr the Scourge. Having sworn bloody revenge, the Corsair leader Balakhôr unleashed the sea-faring power of Umbar, successfully blocking the port of Dol Amroth in Western Gondor and conquering Pelargir and the main fleet of Gondor at the Anduin Delta.
Following the War of the Ring however, the Kindred of the Coins ousted the Ordâkhai from their nation, and took back control of Umbar. Led by seven different leaders, they forcibly usurped Balakhôr's family, including his wife Saklaphêl, and his son Balakhâd, who was imprisoned in the dungeons below Umbar Baharbêl. Umbar Baharbêl was proclaimed a "Free City". While its people still held little love for Gondor, the active war against that distant nation was suspended in favor of consolidation of its home shores. Just east of Umbar, the lands of Ambarûl, who held ancient ties with Umbar, similarly cast off the yoke of their Ordâkhai suppressors and became an independent region once more.
