Location: Lazarus

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Holy Empire of Devoted Snails is a gargantuan, devout nation, ruled by Leader with an iron fist, and renowned for its strong anti-business politics. Its compassionate, cynical population of 22.013 billion are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

There is no government in the normal sense of the word; however, a small group of community-minded, corrupt, socially-minded individuals is effectively ruled by the Department of Law & Order, with areas such as Defence and Commerce receiving almost no funds by comparison. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Devoted Snails City. The average income tax rate is 1%, 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.

The police have reaffirmed their tough stance on drugs, the words 'private' and 'enterprise' must never appear in the same sentence, poets and writers are regularly rounded up and shot for entertainment, and retirement homes are often fitted with luxurious suites. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Devoted Snails's national animal is the Dove, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, its national religion is Blind Devotion, and its currency is the Godly Shell.

Devoted Snails is ranked 3,246th in Lazarus and 127,470th in the world for Largest Public Sector, scoring -9 on the Bureaucratic Comprehensiveness Rating Scale Index.

NationStates by Max Barry, author of and