The State of Zurm is a gargantuan, orderly nation, notable for its compulsory military service, state-planned economy, and enforced nudity. The cynical, humorless population of 25.193 billion Zurmians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized morass — juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Public Transport. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. The average income tax rate is 78.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but stagnant Zurmian economy, worth 382 trillion betales a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, highly specialized black market in Arms Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Uranium Mining. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. State-owned companies are the norm. Average income is 15,198 betales, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Harry Potter books are banned, military spending recently hit a new high, cars are banned, and Zurm has designated Capital Heights as its capital city. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Zurm's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Zurm is ranked 192,375^th in the world and 527^th in 0000 for Largest Automobile Manufacturing Sector, scoring -2 on the Henry Ford Productivity Index.