The Republic of Effazio is a gargantuan, genial nation, ruled by the Chancellery with an even hand, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, state-planned economy, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 27.457 billion Effazians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Arysoma. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient Effazian economy, worth a remarkable 5,190 trillion Crowns a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is extremely specialized, is mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology. Average income is an impressive 189,050 Crowns, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

It is said that the captain goes down with the ship but ecological protection goes up, voting is voluntary, bars are packed at all hours, and urban graffiti is hand-calligraphed in perfectly kerned elegant fonts. Crime is totally unknown. Effazio's national animal is the Dragon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Effazio is ranked 637^th in the world and 8^th in Forest for Least Corrupt Governments, with 98.1 percentage of bribes refused.