Location: 10000 Islands

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Underground Empire of Spudlandia is a massive, economically powerful nation, ruled by King Edward with a fair hand, and notable for its keen interest in outer space. Its hard-nosed, intelligent population of 3.473 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, Law & Order, and Commerce. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Solanum Tuberosum. The average income tax rate is 80%, and even higher for the wealthy. A powerhouse of a private sector is dominated by the Automobile Manufacturing industry.

The "Underwear of Women in Power" issue of The Solanum Tuberosum Times is sold out, schools have extensive counseling programs for troubled students, conductors wield diamond-encrusted batons to fit in with their freshly gilded surroundings, and crime suspects are forced to submit to blood testing. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Spudlandia's national animal is the Roastie, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, its national religion is Hash Brownism, and its currency is the Dauphinoise.

Spudlandia is ranked 2,010th in 10000 Islands and 98,641st in the world for Shortest Average Lifespan, scoring -34 on the Bus Surprisal Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and