The Republic of Alick is a colossal, cultured nation, renowned for its disturbing lack of elderly people, keen interest in outer space, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 9.017 billion Alickians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Defense, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 76.5%.

The frighteningly efficient Alickian economy, worth a remarkable 1,505 trillion 9003s a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized, fairly diversified black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, and Woodchip Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 166,915 9003s, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.2 times as much as the poorest.

Dog breeding has been banned in accordance with recent animal experimentation laws, family trees become bare as entire branches are lopped off, parents seeking custody have to write a five-thousand word analysis of their child's imaginary friend, and artists from across the nation compete to renovate the restrooms of old government buildings. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Alick's national animal is the 9003, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Alick is ranked 12,475^th in the world and 1^st in accident for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 8,883.28 on the Gilded Widget Scale.