The Republic of Eckslene is a very large, efficient nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 183 million Ecksleneans are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The minute, pro-business government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Education, Spirituality, and Law & Order. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 4.9%.

The very strong Eckslenean economy, worth 12.2 trillion euros a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Automobile Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Trout Farming, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. Average income is 66,840 euros, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 226,985 per year while the poor average 14,520, a ratio of 15.6 to 1.

A large-scale revitalization of the education system is underway, organ donation is compulsory, Tom and Jerry cartoons have cat and mouse resolving their problems with reasoned discussion, and the automotive industry soaks up huge government handouts. Crime is a serious problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Eckslene's national animal is the perican falcan, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Eckslene is ranked 251,995^th in the world and 215^th in Karma for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring zero on the Gilded Widget Scale.