The People's Republic of Povel is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Comrade Alekk with a fair hand, and notable for its rampant corporate plagiarism, state-planned economy, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 16.715 billion Povelians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Paven. The average income tax rate is 83.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but inefficient Povelian economy, worth 942 trillion Shoes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is dominated by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology and Book Publishing. Average income is 56,391 Shoes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Almost all of Povel's water is piped into the country from abroad for exorbitant prices, artists are pillars of society, anyone who so much as frowns risks being referred to a mental health unit, and business meetings across the country are interrupted by the sound of squeaking whoopee-cushions. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Povel's national animal is the Squid, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Povel is ranked 11,014^th in the world and 1^st in Northlandia for Safest, scoring 119.92 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.