Location: Antarctica

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Highly Humble Hierarchs of Hobbitat is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Toeless Bob with an even hand, and remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape. Its hard-nosed, hard-working population of 17.525 billion are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt, pro-business government stops and the rest of society begins, but it concentrates mainly on Law & Order, although Education and Healthcare are on the agenda. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Nutbush City. Income tax is unheard of. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Uranium Mining industry, followed by Beef-Based Agriculture and Woodchip Exports.

Cities are engulfed by smog, prisons are crowded with possible terrorist suspects, corporations cut costs by taking away safety-features on their products, and organised sports are frowned upon as frivolous. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hobbitat's national animal is the lemming, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the hairy toe.

Hobbitat is ranked 1st in Antarctica and 194th in the world for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 20 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and