Location: New York

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Confederate Provence's' of Altarians is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its devotion to social welfare. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 1.41 billion hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, liberal government stops and the rest of society begins, but it is mainly concerned with Education, although Social Welfare and Healthcare are secondary priorities. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of ALTARIO. The average income tax rate is 57%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Book Publishing, Gambling, and Arms Manufacturing industries.

Saturday morning cartoons feature full frontal nudity, space research funding has hit a recent high while several military bases are being closed down, the government now pays the "Really Awesome Super Heroes" (RASH) to catch evildoers, and the mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas. Crime is a problem. Altarians's national animal is the wolf, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the wolf hour.

Altarians is ranked 102nd in New York and 79,062nd in the world for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -2 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and