Spotlight on:

“If you wouldn't die for something, you're not alive.”

The Republic of Panahr is a huge, safe nation, renowned for its sprawling nuclear power plants. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 468 million are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt, pro-business government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Defence, Law & Order, and Education. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Panahr City. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 91%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing, Woodchip Exports, and Book Publishing industries.

The alarmingly racist TV show 'Bigtopians Say the Darndest Things' is a hit, military spending is on the increase, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, and the commercialisation of highly deadly weapons has instilled Panahr with a very polite populace. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force. Panahr's national animal is the Leopard, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the Pahn.

Panahr is ranked 79th in the region and 4,656th in the world for Largest Arms Manufacturing Sector.