The Republic of Thorn563 is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its disturbing lack of elderly people, frequent executions, and keen interest in outer space. The hard-nosed, cynical, devout population of 1.586 billion Thorn563ians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The medium-sized, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 46.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Thorn563ian economy, worth 99.3 trillion guilders 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, fairly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, Cheese Exports, and Soda Sales. 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 62,595 guilders, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Reflection is vital for badly behaved politicians, the government has outlawed extremist parties, citizens live in superstitious fear of the mysterious glowing clouds that float over Thorn563, and it's been a banner year for local vexillology. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Thorn563's national animal is the cobra, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Thorn563 is ranked 84,512^th in the world and 1,598^th in Suspicious for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 1,999.24 on the Gilded Widget Scale.