The Secular Province of The Holy Rat is a massive, efficient nation, ruled by Governor Abdollah with an iron fist, and renowned for its fear of technology, ubiquitous missile silos, and national health service. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 3.907 billion Lafarians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The enormous, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Spirituality. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ratome. The average income tax rate is 82.5%.

The frighteningly efficient Lafarian economy, worth 512 trillion Lafari Zaids a year, is quite specialized and mostly made up of the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Woodchip Exports, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 131,162 Lafari Zaids, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.5 times as much as the poorest.

Police drones follow every suspected Peeping Tom, neighbourhood gossips whip up controversy about those receiving adult merchandise, lawyers turn down litigation cases and corporate work in order to focus on lucrative public defence work, and chalkboards are replaced with billboards in the classroom. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. The Holy Rat's national animal is the Rat, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is De Jure Secular De Facto Ratholicism.

The Holy Rat is ranked 283,689^th in the world and 4,906^th in The East Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring -143.57 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.