The United States of Parxum is a very large, genial nation, renowned for its daily referendums, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, hard-working population of 116 million Parxumians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 44.1%.

The strong Parxumian economy, worth 6.50 trillion Parxumian credits a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Retail, and Pizza Delivery. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 56,041 Parxumian credits, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.1 times as much as the poorest.

The nation has nearly as many history museums as Parxumians, the Department of Health is snowed under by requests for crisper ciabatta and tenderer tagliatelle, lifeguards are more concerned with watching for sharks than struggling swimmers, and politicians can't accept birthday presents from their own children. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Parxum's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Parxum is ranked 65,531^st in the world and 2,194^th in The North Pacific for Lowest Crime Rates, with 70.19 law-abiding acts per hour.