Location: Canada

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Green Commonwealth of Spirit Bear is a massive, economically powerful nation, ruled by Tadadoha with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 2.423 billion hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, liberal government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Education, Social Welfare, and Healthcare. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Onondaga. The average income tax rate is 88%, and even higher for the wealthy. A powerhouse of a private sector is dominated by the Tourism industry.

The breathalyser pledge is a traditional part of marriages in Spirit Bear, cyber-crime and tin-foil hat sales are both increasing at record rates, the newspaper industry is subsidised by the government in order to keep it afloat, and teams of painters are converting road signs from horse lengths to kilometers. Crime is totally unknown. Spirit Bear's national animal is the Black Bear, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the Hiawatha.

Spirit Bear is ranked 143rd in Canada and 97,923rd in the world for Shortest Average Lifespan, scoring -31 on the Bus Surprisal Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and