The Territory of Effluvium is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Veronica Peebles with an even hand, and renowned for its lack of airports, rampant corporate plagiarism, and triple-decker prams. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 9.328 billion Effluviumians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The minute, corrupt, socially-minded government, or what there is of one, is dominated by the Department of Environment, although Spirituality is also considered important, while Education and Healthcare receive no funds. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Van Allen. Income tax is unheard of.

The very strong Effluviumian economy, worth 183 trillion warblers a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized, broadly diversified black market in Basket Weaving. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 19,721 warblers, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The country routinely whitewashes uncomfortable parts of its history, an aboriginal talking stick is used for leaders' debates at election time, the government's new "quiet competence" initiative has supporters and detractors alike reeling in confusion, and women wear burqas to avoid unwanted male attention. Crime is all-pervasive, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Effluvium's national animal is the pepperoni, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Transcendental Obliteration.

Effluvium is ranked 259,761^st in the world and 11,494^th in The North Pacific for Smartest Citizens, with 0.16 quips per hour.