The Armed Republic of Varnesk is a mid-sized, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its triple-decker prams, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The cynical population of 50 million Varneskians are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The enormous, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 70.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The basket case Varneskian economy, worth 836 billion Vareks a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Furniture Restoration, Uranium Mining, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is 16,727 Vareks, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The state conscripts sociopathic orphan girls to train as professional assassins, the banhammer is a standard police sidearm, parents who refuse to vaccinate their children are given a short jail sentence, and churches frequently hold public 'contraception burnings'. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Varnesk's national animal is the Bear, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Varnesk is ranked 133,565^th in the world and 317^th in Edoca for Most Compassionate Citizens, scoring 43 on the Kitten Softness Rating.