The Federation of Nolandrua is a large, safe nation, remarkable for its public floggings, state-planned economy, and digital currency. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 90 million Nolandruans are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The enormous, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 72.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Nolandruan economy, worth 4.77 trillion Ruas a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, fairly diversified black market in Trout Farming, Furniture Restoration, Book Publishing, and Retail. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 53,033 Ruas, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

War vets look after war animals, in court almost every witness is a hostile witness, every citizen must submit to DNA testing to be eliminated from police inquiries, and mathematicians are gathering an infinite number of Blackbirds and typewriters to see if they can recreate the works of Max Barry. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Nolandrua's national animal is the Blackbird, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Nolandrua is ranked 249,501^st in the world and 1,226^th in The Communist Bloc for Nicest Citizens, with 1.23 average smiles per day.