The Empire of Margala is a huge, safe nation, remarkable for its museums and concert halls, keen interest in outer space, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 613 million Margalais are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The large, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Education, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Yamaranyapura. The average income tax rate is 70.1%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Margalan economy, worth 62.4 trillion Gildas a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 101,808 Gildas, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.1 times as much as the poorest.

Future forecasters fearfully discuss grey goo and human obsolescence, over a third of the seats in sports stadiums have been removed to make room for female-only commodes, the law is more interested in punishing crime than preventing it, and a primitive society is being eroded as its youth flock to the modern world. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Margala's national animal is the Bone Sarpa, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Margala is ranked 35,001^st in the world and 27^th in Hell for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 197.25 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.