The Twenty Five Free lands of Meropis is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by The Leader with a fair hand, and notable for its daily referendums, pith helmet sales, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless population of 25.433 billion Meropisians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The relatively small, corrupt government is primarily concerned with Industry, with Education, Defense, and Healthcare also on the agenda, while Spirituality and International Aid receive no funds. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of The Big Place. The average income tax rate is 7.9%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Meropisian economy, worth an astonishing 14,199 trillion Pompas a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Retail. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are common. Average income is a breathtaking 558,300 Pompas, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.4 times as much as the poorest.

Road signs are getting harder to read under layers of knitted woolen cardigans, the writing style of religious hymns often changes mid-stanza, war memorials have been modified to include hammocks for napping, and you can get married in sickness and in health but not internationally. Crime, especially youth-related, is all-pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Meropis's national animal is the Bombus Terrestris, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is The Truth.

Meropis is ranked 106^th in the world and 1^st in Europe for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 514,194.62 Standard Monetary Units.