The United Socialist States of Balcem is a huge, genial nation, renowned for its complete lack of prisons, infamous sell-swords, and otherworldly petting zoo. The compassionate, democratic population of 537 million Balcemians 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 large government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Pradia. The average income tax rate is 67.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Balcemian economy, worth 46.4 trillion Yeets a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Retail. Average income is 86,345 Yeets, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Much of Balcem's computer network is controlled by a rampant artificial intelligence, the best defense is a good fence, artists are pillars of society, and many marriages go virtually unconsummated. Crime is totally unknown. Balcem's national animal is the Leafcutter Ant, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Balcem is ranked 16,788^th in the world and 269^th in Europe for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 8,109.31 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.