The Swirling Stars of Merethin is a massive, genial nation, ruled by Iris with a fair hand, and renowned for its state-planned economy, compulsory vegetarianism, and restrictive gun laws. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 1.081 billion Merethinians, 1.029 billion of whom are zombies, 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.

The enormous, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Merethin City. The average income tax rate is 99.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Merethinian economy, worth a remarkable 1,333 trillion golden coins a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing and Tourism. Average income is an amazing 218,659 golden coins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Maxtopian tourists make expensive pilgrimages to Merethin City to enjoy their national art, internet moderator is one of the most popular jobs among the nation's more socially awkward citizens, citizens no longer take selfies with their dead relatives at funerals, and seven-year-olds debate for weeks on the merits of the Oxford comma. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Merethin's national animal is the axolotl, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans, and its national religion is Star Sister.

Merethin is ranked 1,158^th in the world and 6^th in Starlight for Highest Foreign Aid Spending, scoring 4,518 on the Clooney Contribution Index.