Location: Lazarus

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Commonwealth of Arroza is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Dante Arceneaux with a fair hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space. Its hard-nosed, intelligent population of 6.366 billion 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 government -- a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass -- juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Public Transport. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Atalanta. The average income tax rate is 39%, but much higher for the wealthy. The private sector is almost wholly made up of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out.

Citizens are encouraged to report friends, family members or co-workers who seem depressed to the government for "counselling", cars are banned from built-up areas, Members of Parliament are often found living in cardboard boxes, and there's a shortage of swinging hot spots as land development grinds to a halt. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Arroza's national animal is the Armadillo, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the baht.

Arroza is ranked 2,276th in Lazarus and 75,335th in the world for Best Weather, with -24 Metres of Sunlight Above Expected.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and