The Free Land of Markovic is a gargantuan, efficient nation, remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, complete lack of prisons, and absence of drug laws. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 17.607 billion Markovicians 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, juggles the competing demands of Industry, Administration, and Social Policy. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Valhalla. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 1.0%.

The powerhouse Markovician economy, worth a remarkable 2,686 trillion Roths a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Retail, and Soda Sales. Average income is an impressive 152,571 Roths, but there is an enormous disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 832,545 per year while the poor average 14,320, a ratio of 58.1 to 1.

The doctor has cold hands, the moral worth of national allies is judged by their GDP, competing private ambulances racing to be the first to traffic accidents are a major cause of road accidents, and in its new More is More campaign the government advertises obese men and women posing coquettishly with baked goods to spare their blushes. Crime, especially youth-related, is all-pervasive, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Markovic's national animal is the Ragnar, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Markovic is ranked 292,531^st in the world and 11,155^th in Balder for Lowest Crime Rates, with 5.09 law-abiding acts per hour.