The Free Land of Gravelines is a colossal, cultured nation, remarkable for its disturbing lack of elderly people, keen interest in outer space, and compulsory gun ownership. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 6.66 billion Gravelinesians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 48.2%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Gravelinesian economy, worth 839 trillion U238s a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized, fairly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, Information Technology, and Book Publishing. 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 an impressive 126,030 U238s, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.0 times as much as the poorest.

Tweenage nobles order army regiments to do their homework for them, the nation's police officers are famously miserable-looking, edutainment video games are taking Gravelines's students to the next level, and discarded pennies litter the streets. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Gravelines's national animal is the Millirem, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Gravelines is ranked 103,550^th in the world and 37^th in India for Highest Average Tax Rates, with 48.22 Effective Tax Rate.