The Island Imperium of Markanite is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Emperor Mark with an even hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, hatred of cheese, and suspicion of poets. The compassionate, devout population of 36.434 billion Markaniteans 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, Law & Order, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bastion. The average income tax rate is 69.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Markanitean economy, worth a remarkable 2,889 trillion Marks a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 79,295 Marks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.0 times as much as the poorest.

Kids looking for shark teeth have become ancient history, the nation's WA representatives have received a very public sacking after Markanite allowed its WA membership to lapse, the nation is renowned abroad for its love of blood and guts, and universities now offer degrees in cycling etiquette. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Markanite's national animal is the White Marked Tree Dog, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Catholicism.

Markanite is ranked 2,969^th in the world and 1^st in Byss for Largest Populations, with 36.4 billion capita.