The Republic of Coutdown is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by Cyle Anglia with an even hand, and remarkable for its smutty television, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate population of 12.902 billion Cowdanians enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Varmint. The average income tax rate is 81.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Coutdownian economy, worth a remarkable 1,995 trillion koranis a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Retail, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 154,643 koranis, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Kids are taught in schools to argue with their parents, new arrivals are asked the location of the Minister of the Interior's birthmark, the number of students attending university has reached a record high, and police officers have been re-kitted with designer uniforms and gold-plated handcuffs. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Coutdown's national animal is the french pig, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Mixed.

Coutdown is ranked 13,230^th in the world and 576^th in The North Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 353.22 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.