The People's Republic of Botto is a large, genial nation, remarkable for its punitive income tax rates, devotion to social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 129 million Bottoans are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 76.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Bottoan economy, worth 3.62 trillion florins a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Soda Sales. Average income is 28,059 florins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Roadside walls are being built and mother nature is paying for it, bemused citizens are encouraged to sing foreign-language hymns of religions they have never heard of, exterminators swarm Bottoan homes, and older citizens lament over the loss of law and order. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Botto's national animal is the porpoise, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Botto is ranked 271,644^th in the world and 454^th in The Leftist Assembly for Highest Unexpected Death Rate, scoring 26 on the Bus Surprisal Index.