Location: Rushmore

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Wintery Iceland of Taeshan is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Jeremiah Llama with a fair hand, and notable for its irreverence towards religion. Its compassionate, hard-working, intelligent population of 10.167 billion enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Public Transport, Defence, and Law & Order. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Atlantea. The average income tax rate is 44%, 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.

Record sales of 'child-whacking sticks' have been recorded, dog breeding has been banned in accordance with recent animal experimentation laws, voting is voluntary, and the government has ordered a moratorium on referenda. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is a major problem. Taeshan's national animal is the Falcon, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the Mercural.

Taeshan is ranked 59th in Rushmore and 49,348th in the world for Happiest Citizens, scoring 10 on the Relative Cheerfulness Rating.

Preview

NationStates by Max Barry, author of and