The Republic of Izern 178 is a massive, orderly nation, notable for its parental licensing program, public floggings, and suspicion of poets. The compassionate, cynical, devout population of 1.887 billion Izern 178ians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 71.8%.

The all-consuming Izern 178ian economy, worth 194 trillion banks a year, is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Information Technology, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 103,272 banks, with the richest citizens earning 9.6 times as much as the poorest.

The nation's reputation for treachery has left it sidelined on the international stage, contrails and thunderous rumbles have returned to the skies above, politicians and casino owners who so much as wander into the same room are arrested on the spot, and all screens are equal but some are more equal than others. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Izern 178's national animal is the card, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Izern 178 is ranked 255,983^rd in the world and 710^th in Izern for Largest Black Market, with 152 billion Standard Monetary Units.