Spotlight on:

“The yeast know how to make the wyne.”

The Republic of Wyneries is a massive, economically powerful nation, ruled by Jack Flash with an even hand, and remarkable for its complete absence of social welfare. Its compassionate, hard-working population of 4.823 billion are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The government -- a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass -- juggles the competing demands of Defence, Law & Order, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 35%. The private sector is almost wholly made up of enterprising fourteen-year-old boys selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out.

Wyneries's children are widely acknowledged as the most foul-mouthed in the region, child adoption by homosexual couples has been outlawed, Jack Flash has just been declared ruler of Wyneries in an international press conference, and elections have become procedural nightmares due to voters persistently rejecting candidates. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Wyneries's national animal is the dragon, and its currency is the bangaloor.

Wyneries is ranked 123rd in the region and 5,137th in the world for Highest Unemployment Rates.