The Community of The Touched is a titanic, efficient nation, ruled by Zephyr Alexis Navine with an even hand, and renowned for its multi-spousal wedding ceremonies, pith helmet sales, and absence of drug laws. The hard-nosed, hard-working, devout population of 11.544 billion Touchedians 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 medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Saint Romaulda's Orphanage. The average income tax rate is 27.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Touchedian economy, worth a remarkable 1,056 trillion Spores a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Retail. Average income is 91,554 Spores, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.9 times as much as the poorest.

Remote-control hang-gliding scarecrows patrol the skies to keep songbirds from leaving the nation's borders, it's surprisingly hard to find pictures of the bad haircuts from Zephyr Alexis Navine's childhood, abortions are routinely performed in the nation's hospitals, and the optimally efficient parking strategy for business commuters is referred to as the "traveling salesman problem". Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. The Touched's national animal is the Galanthi, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Predestination.

The Touched is ranked 229,699^th in the world and 6^th in The Nevers for Nicest Citizens, with 11.33 average smiles per day.