The Federation of Merlovich is a colossal, socially progressive nation, ruled by President Anthony McGowan with an even hand, and remarkable for its otherworldly petting zoo, anti-smoking policies, and pith helmet sales. The hard-nosed, humorless population of 7.568 billion Merlovichans are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Hirane. The average income tax rate is 87.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Merlovichian economy, worth a remarkable 1,162 trillion Dollars a year, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 153,623 Dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

School kids who pretend to drive imaginary cars get a social worker and a police observer assigned to them, theories abound over why conspiracy theorists are being arrested, a little pushing and pulling is needed for big ships to pass, and the latest drugs are only legally available to private patients. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Merlovich's national animal is the Lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is No Official Religion.

Merlovich is ranked 25,400^th in the world and 1,282^nd in The East Pacific for Most Income Equality, scoring 74.81 on the Marx-Engels Emancipation Scale.