The Republic of Snow 199 is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its complete lack of prisons, zero percent divorce rate, and anti-smoking policies. The hard-nosed population of 1.501 billion Snow 199ians 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 medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Social Policy, Administration, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 27.9%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Snow 199ian economy, worth 58.9 trillion moons 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 large, well-organized, quite specialized black market in Gambling, Beef-Based Agriculture, Basket Weaving, and Information Technology. 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 39,243 moons, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.1 times as much as the poorest.

The nation's secret service is so secret that nobody knows if it has one, fur coats have become the latest fashion trend, children who express a belief in Santa are labelled 'delusional cultists', and epidemiologists happily announce that the reported incidence of depression is close to zero percent. Crime, especially youth-related, is a major problem, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Snow 199's national animal is the horse, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Snow 199 is ranked 32,531^st in the world and 421^st in Primitiveness for Largest Black Market, with 6.65 trillion Standard Monetary Units.