The Free Land of Lethem is a gargantuan, efficient nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, complete lack of public education, and suspicion of poets. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless population of 23.342 billion Lethemians live in a state of perpetual fear, as a complete breakdown of social order has led to the rise of order through biker gangs.

The minute, liberal, pro-business, outspoken government, or what there is of one, is solely concerned with Industry. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 1.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Lethemian economy, worth a remarkable 3,621 trillion gyanese dollars a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Soda Sales, Gambling, and Automobile Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 155,166 gyanese dollars, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,424,165 per year while the poor average 1,772, a ratio of 803 to 1.

Thousands of children die every day from easily curable illnesses, prominent cultural symbols are featured on the backs of cereal boxes, most academic research has ground to a halt, and the explosive fireball of the disintegrating space shuttle has devastated Cape Lethem. Crime, especially youth-related, is all-pervasive, probably because of the absence of a police force. Lethem's national animal is the lion, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Lethem is ranked 52,350^th in the world and 29^th in Middle Earth for Most Corrupt Governments, with 23.32 Kickbacks Per Hour.