The Most Serene Republic of Balto is a huge, genial nation, renowned for its museums and concert halls, frequent executions, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, democratic population of 661 million Yognaughts are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Seaportattleland. The average income tax rate is 70.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Baltoan economy, worth 38.9 trillion Jaffa Cakes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is dominated by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Basket Weaving, and Cheese Exports. Average income is 58,806 Jaffa Cakes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The government has been criticized for giving away Balto's territory to anyone who claims it, environmentalists have found an unusual ally in soldiers of fortune, it's been a banner year for local vexillology, and anti-government political posters adorn every building like wallpaper. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Balto's national animal is the Crab People, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Balto is ranked 279,089^th in the world and 5,896^th in The North Pacific for Most Corrupt Governments, with 0.67 kickbacks per hour.