Spotlight on:

“Patria Fideles Defendit”

The Most Serene Noble Republic of Santheres is a gargantuan, devout nation, ruled by its government with a fair hand, and remarkable for its complete absence of social welfare. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 11.711 billion are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Education, and the Environment. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of San Gianpiero. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 45%. A powerhouse of a private sector is dominated by the Tourism industry.

College students make ends meet by selling their kidneys, Max Barry is this year's Miss Santheres, hundreds of thousands of convicts work as slaves in Santheres's many privately-owned prisons, and senior citizens can usually be found doing heavy manual labour. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Santheres's national animal is the lion, which is also the nation's favorite main course, its national religion is Marcevangelista Catholicism, and its currency is the lira.

Santheres is ranked 13th in the region and 7,440th in the world for Most Politically Apathetic Citizens.