The Republic of Nordwald is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Bundeskanzler Lutz Ostwalder with a fair hand, and renowned for its otherworldly petting zoo, sprawling nuclear power plants, and anti-smoking policies. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 5.787 billion Nordwaldians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The enormous government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Südwaldstadt. The average income tax rate is 98.5%.

The frighteningly efficient Nordwaldian economy, worth a remarkable 1,141 trillion Walders a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 197,264 Walders, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

People reciting Shakespeare have become a common sight, military pilots spend more time scraping feathers off their engines than flying their aircraft, 10-year-olds who struggle with integrating by parts are considered slow learners, and endangered species are effective hostages against the Nordwaldian military. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Nordwald's national animal is the Baummarder, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Nordwald is ranked 3,210^th in the world and 129^th in The North Pacific for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 17,885.75 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.