The Constitutional Monarchy of Free Azell is a titanic, cultured nation, ruled by King Jeremy with an even hand, and remarkable for its pith helmet sales, strictly enforced bedtime, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, devout population of 16.213 billion Free Azellians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass — juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Albany. The average income tax rate is 86.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Free Azellian economy, worth a remarkable 1,272 trillion rupees a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 78,461 rupees, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Signs at the border tell international drivers where they can put their cars, class clowns are frequently listed among the most dangerous criminals in the nation, gossip magazines are more interested in astrological stars than celebrity ones, and new safety regulations require all cars manufactured in Free Azell to be bombproof. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Free Azell's national animal is the swan, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Free Azell is ranked 175,824^th in the world and 98^th in Conch Kingdom for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 64.85 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.