The Republic of Vurk is a mammoth, efficient nation, ruled by Director with an even hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, absence of drug laws, and compulsory gun ownership. The compassionate, humorless population of 5.529 billion Vurks are prohibited from doing almost everything but make sure no one in government gets away with anything either.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Kinigin. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient Vurkian economy, worth a remarkable 1,463 trillion VCRS a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is an amazing 264,616 VCRS, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The latest electric jet fighter has almost enough battery charge to reach cruising altitude -- provided you don't use the radar, universities spend millions removing ivy from their walls to avoid accusations of elitism, children spend all morning taking out a comma and all afternoon putting it back in again, and spectating AI chess fans heckle players when they miss a mate-in-twenty-seven opportunity. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Vurk's national animal is the Owl, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is forgotten.

Vurk is ranked 1,046^th in the world and 37^th in Europe for Most Developed, scoring 98.55 on the Human Development Index.