Spotlight on:

“Taxes have never seemed so high!”

The Federal Republic of Carziel is a huge, economically powerful nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 311 million are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

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, Healthcare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 62%, and even higher for the wealthy. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Uranium Mining, Automobile Manufacturing, and Gambling industries.

Copyright laws have been abolished, Carziel's first free elections in recent memory have been successfully concluded, reporters often lose their jobs over fact-checking errors, and Carziel is notorious for its citizens' infidelity. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Carziel's national animal is the Hypno Toad, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the Carnelisua.

Carziel is ranked 594th in the region and 45,375th in the world for Highest Unemployment Rates.