The Old Forest of Stork is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Big Bird with an even hand, and remarkable for its daily referendums, ban on automobiles, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 49.14 billion Storks have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass — prioritizes Environment, with Law & Order, Welfare, and Public Transport also on the agenda. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of ChimneyTop. The average income tax rate is 75.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The enormous but inefficient Storkian economy, worth a remarkable 1,743 trillion fish a year, is extremely specialized and mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 35,472 fish, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.0 times as much as the poorest.

Invasive species are hunted by the gendarmerie, marketing departments of corporate giants compete to sponsor little league teams, 90% of active duty SAF personnel have been laid off and replaced by robot kill-drones, and heavy industry grinds to a halt as new equipment must be biked in. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Stork's national animal is the stork, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Catholicism.

Stork is ranked 313,975^th in the world and 3^rd in Vatican II for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 8,619.85 Standard Monetary Units.