The Republic of Candelaria And Marquez is a gargantuan, genial nation, ruled by President Fanny Tan with an even hand, and notable for its strictly enforced bedtime, daily referendums, and restrictive gun laws. The compassionate population of 26.853 billion Candelariasians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Albrecht. The average income tax rate is 75.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The enormous but inefficient Candelariasian economy, worth a remarkable 1,052 trillion reformed pounds a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology and Gambling. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 39,212 reformed pounds, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest.

Voters must frequently select what they view as the lesser of two evils on the ballot, meat-eating is frowned upon, graffiti graces every city's streets, and citizens may cast their vote over the internet or phone. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Candelaria And Marquez's national animal is the giant toad called Hope, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Candelaria And Marquez is ranked 23,554^th in the world and 16^th in Rushmore for Most Cultured, scoring 79 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.