The People's Republic of Botto is a mid-sized, genial nation, notable for its keen interest in outer space, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate population of 56 million Bottoans are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 72.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Bottoan economy, worth 1.21 trillion florins 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 led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Soda Sales. Average income is 21,639 florins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Teenagers performing appendectomies on their friends has become a popular schoolyard prank, criminals and college students are taking an interest in the government's new weed-killing program, thieves find battery shops juicier targets than banks, and the general public only knows their favorite politician's first name. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Botto's national animal is the porpoise, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Botto is ranked 67,758^th in the world and 480^th in The Leftist Assembly for Largest Welfare Programs, scoring 1,794.34 on the Safety Net Mesh Density Rating.