Location: the South Pacific

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Great Unwashed Masses of Polkstreet is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by Polky with a fair hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls. Its hard-nosed, intelligent population of 15.078 billion love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Education, Defence, and Law & Order. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of The Women's Locker Room. The average income tax rate is 73%, and even higher for the wealthy. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Book Publishing industry, followed by Uranium Mining and Arms Manufacturing.

The mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas, CEOs can't hear the term 'Fire Sale' without bursting into tears, the airship business has been driven out of the country by strict regulations and high fines, and teenagers stay out into the wee hours of the morning "stargazing". Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Polkstreet's national animal is the accordion, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the whoopie.

Polkstreet is ranked 4,262nd in the South Pacific and 84,221st in the world for Most Compassionate Citizens, scoring -36 on the Kitten Softness Rating.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and