The Republic of Coutdown is a colossal, socially progressive nation, ruled by President Marius with an even hand, and renowned for its frequent executions, infamous sell-swords, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 5.726 billion Cowdanians enjoy extensive civil freedoms, particularly in social issues, while business tends to be more regulated.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Varmint. The average income tax rate is 65.4%.

The frighteningly efficient Coutdownian economy, worth 828 trillion Koranis a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Retail, Book Publishing, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is frequent. Average income is an impressive 144,764 Koranis, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.7 times as much as the poorest.

Airplane passengers have been known to stuff pillows in their jackets to get extra arm room, lawyers spend as much time preparing their make-up as they do their briefs, proper policy proposals prerequire professional peer-reviewed papers, and editorials that criticize the government are legally obligated to display the "pants on fire" warning. Crime is totally unknown. Coutdown's national animal is the French Pig, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Mixed.

Coutdown is ranked 39,204^th in the world and 48^th in Refugia for Most Extensive Civil Rights, with 74.21 Martin Luther King, Jr. Units.