The United Socialist States of Donauvolk is a huge, safe nation, renowned for its frequent executions, ubiquitous missile silos, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 256 million Donaus 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 enormous, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Education. The average income tax rate is 68.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The strong Donau economy, worth 16.4 trillion Donau Francs a year, is led by the Basket Weaving industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Trout Farming. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 63,876 Donau Francs, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

A favorite "life hack" for gap year backpackers is to pretend to be homeless for government handouts, biological warfare is used to solve small disagreements, many believe that Leader's head is big enough for the sun to orbit around it, and Leader claims to be the epitome of family values. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Donauvolk's national animal is the Finch, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Donauvolk is ranked 243,344^th in the world and 2,967^th in the South Pacific for Largest Populations, with 256 million capita.