The Kingdom of Nikolia is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by King Aleksandar II with a fair hand, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, public floggings, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, democratic, devout population of 24.405 billion Nikolians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, outspoken government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Environment, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Carigrad. The average income tax rate is 90.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Nikolian economy, worth a remarkable 1,943 trillion Krunas a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity. The industrial sector, which is extremely specialized, is mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 79,630 Krunas, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Loans are available for students from poor families, cheese has become the new icon of political dissent, murderers frequently escape punishment by claiming they were protecting their honour, and religious education is a new government priority. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Nikolia's national animal is the Eagle, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Nikolian Catholic Church.

Nikolia is ranked 22,180^th in the world and 4^th in Astyria for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 6,757.22 on the Gilded Widget Scale.