The Undiscovered Country of Pel is a titanic, cultured nation, ruled by Mochi ChaCha with an even hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, conspicuous electricity pylons, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 20.976 billion Peli'i 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, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New Sojourner City. The average income tax rate is 85.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Pelian economy, worth a remarkable 1,967 trillion Dars a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology and Beef-Based Agriculture. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 93,792 Dars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Only 'organics' are permitted to be citizens, New Sojourner City's main city thoroughfare has been blocked by a row of leyland cypresses that mysteriously appeared overnight, people reciting Shakespeare have become a common sight, and jaw strain is an increasingly common ailment. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Pel's national animal is the clouded leopard, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is forwarding chain emails for luck.

Pel is ranked 6,907^th in the world and 2^nd in A Slice of Surreality for Most Extensive Public Healthcare, scoring 8,356.51 on the Theresa-Nightingale Rating.