The Republic of Baaren is a very large, genial nation, notable for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, cynical, devout population of 348 million Baareners 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 government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Taasal. The average income tax rate is 70.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Baarens economy, worth 31.2 trillion Soets a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Book Publishing. Average income is 89,656 Soets, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.4 times as much as the poorest.

Noises louder than a whisper have been prohibited by law, pro-democracy regime change has been avoided, hammer and sickle-wielding space marines are such stuff that dreams are made on, and politicians have seen a significant reduction in followers on their social media accounts. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Baaren's national animal is the Cardinal, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Baaren is ranked 92,897^th in the world and 181^st in Communitas for Most Cultured, scoring 67 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.