The Federal Monarchy of Pekares is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Queen Alba II with an even hand, and remarkable for its public floggings, suspicion of poets, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 14.34 billion Pekaresians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass — juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Poshep. The average income tax rate is 71.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Pekaresian economy, worth 899 trillion Peks a year, is highly specialized and led by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Soda Sales and Tourism. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 62,713 Peks, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

There's a shortage of swinging hot spots as land development grinds to a halt, the nation's infamous boot camp is more brutal than most battlefields, religious classes are compulsory for all school students, and citizens are permitted to carry concealed handguns. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Pekares's national animal is the Sheep, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Catholicism.

Pekares is ranked 99,858^th in the world and 14^th in The Great Experiment for Lowest Crime Rates, with 65.94 law-abiding acts per hour.