Spotlight on:

“Peace my brothers. ”

The Commonwealth of Aragnoth is a huge, safe nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service. Its hard-nosed, hard-working population of 886 million have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The government -- a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass -- juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defence, and Education. The average income tax rate is 37%. The private sector is almost wholly made up of enterprising fourteen-year-old boys selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out.

Government officials frequently cut taxes as a distraction from antics with their secretaries, criminals are thrown to the white tigers to repay their debt to society, a nation-wide cull of white tigers is in effect, and legislation sometimes has to battle through weeks of filibustering to pass. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aragnoth's national animal is the white tiger, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the florin.

Aragnoth is ranked 27th in the region and 22,304th in the world for Most Politically Free Nations.