Location: Antarctic Oasis

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Evil Conservative Empire of The Palentine is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Empress Jhessan Spaulding with an even hand, and notable for its compulsory military service. Its hard-nosed, hard-working population of 15.261 billion are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt, pro-business government stops and the rest of society begins, but it is mainly concerned with Defence, although Law & Order and Commerce are secondary priorities. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of The Burgh. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 26%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Uranium Mining industries.

People regularly disappear off the streets and all evidence of them is destroyed, truth is often impossible to tell from fiction on the evening news, photographers can be found hiding behind the curtains in Empress Jhessan Spaulding's bedroom, and new urban roads are threatening city parks. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. The Palentine's national animal is the sphinxian treecat, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, its national religion is Reaganism, and its currency is the greenback .

The Palentine is ranked 7th in Antarctic Oasis and 1,373rd in the world for Largest Trout Fishing Sector, scoring 9 on the Nemo Depletion Efficiency Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and