Location: Lazarus

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Theocracy of Swift Sword is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its complete lack of prisons. Its quiet, industrious population of 1.231 billion are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The government -- a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass -- juggles the competing demands of Social Welfare, Religion & Spirituality, and Defence. The average income tax rate is 37%, but much higher for the wealthy. Private enterprise is illegal, but for those in the know there is a slick and highly efficient black market in Book Publishing.

Crime is moderate, probably because of the country's utter lack of prisons. Swift Sword's national animal is the Sword, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the River.

Swift Sword is ranked 1,179th in Lazarus and 35,905th in the world for Shortest Average Lifespan, scoring -11 on the Bus Surprisal Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and