Location: The East Pacific

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Union Republic of South Allegheny is a massive, safe nation, ruled by Allen Gordon with an iron fist, and notable for its keen interest in outer space. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 4.596 billion are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

The minute, corrupt, pro-business government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Defence, Law & Order, and Education. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Pittsburgh. Income tax is unheard of. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, followed by Information Technology and Beef-Based Agriculture.

Cremation is compulsory for the deceased, parents must choose their children's names from a government-mandated master list, the military is blowing up any threat to employment within the nation, and many working fathers have never seen their children. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. South Allegheny's national animal is the ruffed grouse, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, its national religion is Capitalism, and its currency is the Mark.

South Allegheny is ranked 48th in The East Pacific and 2,422nd in the world for Largest Trout Fishing Sector, scoring 7 on the Nemo Depletion Efficiency Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and