The Kingdom of Merstone is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by King Stuf with an even hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, punitive income tax rates, and restrictive gun laws. The compassionate, democratic population of 14.885 billion Merstoners are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of East Bury. The average income tax rate is 95.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Merstonean economy, worth a remarkable 2,254 trillion pounds a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Cheese Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 151,462 pounds, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Foreign governments are threatened if they so much as mention the word "election", belief that King Stuf is a lizard-person from outer space has reached an all-time high, racehorses move a lot slower these days, and children are often observed making 'sand angels' in bunkers. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Merstone's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is pagan.

Merstone is ranked 4,339^th in the world and 1^st in Wihtwara for Lowest Crime Rates, with 119.98 law-abiding acts per hour.