The Swirling Stars of Merethin is a mammoth, genial nation, ruled by Iris with a fair hand, and remarkable for its rampant corporate plagiarism, hatred of cheese, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 6.147 billion Merethinians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Merethin City. The average income tax rate is 99.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Merethinian economy, worth a remarkable 1,353 trillion golden coins a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing and Tourism. Average income is an amazing 220,117 golden coins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

People who eat pizza with lactase supplements are arrested by the flavour police, lost hikers look for the nearest hospital to find civilization, prisoners have been known to host cooking and home décor television shows, and celestial bodies that make revolutions receive revolutions. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Merethin's national animal is the axolotl, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans, and its national religion is Star Sister.

Merethin is ranked 315,866^th in the world and 547^th in Starlight for Most Devout, with 1.91 prayers per hour.