Location: The Ascendancy

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Soviet Confederation Premier of Hofschatten is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its irreverence towards religion. Its hard-nosed, intelligent population of 3.581 billion are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whoever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, liberal, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it devotes most of its attentions to Social Welfare, with areas such as Religion & Spirituality and Law & Order receiving almost no funds by comparison. The average income tax rate is 68%, and even 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.

A chain of pubs that cater solely to children have recently been unveiled, chimaeras are frequently shot for looking at people 'in a funny way', a referendum must be held in order for any new law to be passed, and graffiti graces every city's streets. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is moderate, probably because of the country's utter lack of prisons. Hofschatten's national animal is the chimaera, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the virtual monetary unit.

Hofschatten is ranked 479th in The Ascendancy and 90,528th in the world for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -4 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and