The Republic of B a B is a huge, cultured nation, notable for its frequent executions, compulsory military service, and parental licensing program. The hard-nosed, cynical, devout population of 580 million B a Bians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 32.6%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient B a Bian economy, worth 25.9 trillion pipoes 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 slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Book Publishing, Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Gambling. 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 44,623 pipoes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The police go to great efforts to seize contraband favored by politicians on the police oversight committee, it is believed that belligerence is a passing phase foreign leaders will soon outgrow, bleach is the nation's most common pesticide, and warfare increasingly resembles a video game. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. B a B's national animal is the panther, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

B a B is ranked 85,951^st in the world and 1,743^rd in The North Pacific for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 2,482.49 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.