The Holy Empire of Gretchenn is a very large, orderly nation, notable for its strictly enforced bedtime, complete absence of social welfare, and spontaneously combusting cars. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 142 million Gretchennians are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The tiny, moralistic, pro-business, well-organized government is dominated by the Department of Defense, with Law & Order, Administration, and Industry also on the agenda, while Social Policy and Welfare aren't funded at all. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 7.0%.

The thriving Gretchennian economy, worth 9.62 trillion karens a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Gambling, Woodchip Exports, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Average income is 67,753 karens, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 524,621 per year while the poor average 2,292, a ratio of 228 to 1.

Suppression of pro-democracy protests is a daily occurrence, genetic research is temporarily tied up in government red tape, legions of police officers force people to move into massive urban apartments, and funding for education has been redirected into the military. Crime is a problem, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Gretchenn's national animal is the birdies, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Gretchenn is ranked 100,638^th in the world and 1,717^th in The East Pacific for Largest Cheese Export Sector, scoring 2,541.01 on the Mozzarella Productivity Index.