The State of Pearl River is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by the Governor with a fair hand, and notable for its complete lack of public education and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 21.905 billion Pearl Riverians enjoy frequent elections, which are uniformly corrupted by big-spending corporations buying politicians who best suit their interests.

The minute, moralistic, pro-business government, or what there is of one, is solely concerned with Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.4%.

The powerhouse Pearl Riverian economy, worth 943 trillion betales a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is quite specialized and led by the Gambling industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 43,071 betales, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 147,769 per year while the poor average 9,214, a ratio of 16.0 to 1.

Voting is voluntary, Pearl River has designated Capital Heights as its capital city, and The Governor has just been declared ruler of Pearl River in an international press conference. Crime is a serious problem, probably because of the absence of a police force. Pearl River's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Pearl River is ranked 193,595^th in the world and 1^st in Special Administrative Regions of China for Nicest Citizens, with 10.55 average smiles per day.