The Republic of Apple Tree is a tiny, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The cynical, devout population of 10 million Trees are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Spirituality, and Education. The average income tax rate is 55.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The basket case The Tree economy, worth 132 billion Apples a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Arms Manufacturing, Uranium Mining, Information Technology, and Woodchip Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 13,236 Apples, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Nine-year-olds are discovering that they can grow gardens in real life too, fancy dress parties are raided by military police for new recruits, light entertainment shows are light on actual entertainment, and crossword puzzles have been co-opted as a symbol of racial discrimination. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Apple Tree's national animal is the Parrot, which can occasionally be seen dodging aircraft in the nation's cities.

Apple Tree is ranked 320,709^th in the world and 264^th in Forest for Most Developed, scoring 45.39 on the Human Development Index.