Location: Philosophy 115

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Merry Christmas of Pere Noel is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Father Christmas with a fair hand, and remarkable for its complete lack of prisons. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 5.361 billion enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Commerce, Education, and the Environment. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of The North Pole. The average income tax rate is 17%. A powerhouse of a private sector is dominated by the Tourism industry.

There has been a series of riots between local cannibals and health food advocates, punitive tariffs protect local industry, all judiciary cases are decided in the court of public opinion, and sex changes are routinely performed at Pere Noel's hospitals. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is crippling, probably because of the country's utter lack of prisons. Pere Noel's national animal is the flying reindeer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, its national religion is Santaism, and its currency is the elf.

Pere Noel is ranked 49th in Philosophy 115 and 99,014th in the world for Shortest Average Lifespan, scoring -35 on the Bus Surprisal Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and