The Free Land of Lydia is a massive, safe nation, notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, parental licensing program, and compulsory military service. The hard-working population of 3.77 billion Lydians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The relatively small government prioritizes Defense, although Welfare, Education, and Administration are also considered important, while Spirituality and Environment are ignored. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 14.4%.

The very strong Lydian economy, worth 272 trillion kronor a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Automobile Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. Average income is 72,402 kronor, with the richest citizens earning 8.9 times as much as the poorest.

The law forbids arson, murder, and low-quality cheese, cassocked priests and choirboys believe that what happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors, every day has been a surprise since weather reporters turned to consulting ancient totems for their seven-day forecasts, and disadvantaged youths often commit felonies to enhance their educational prospects. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Lydia's national animal is the dolphin, which can occasionally be seen avoiding garbage in the nation's murky oceans.

Lydia is ranked 128,955^th in the world and 64^th in Serenity for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 828.65 on the Gilded Widget Scale.