The Mountain Range of The Snow Shield is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by a tribal warlord with an even hand, and notable for its deadly medical pandemics, complete lack of prisons, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless population of 20.171 billion tribals enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The minute, corrupt, liberal, pro-business government, or what there is of one, is solely concerned with Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Mount Mendev. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Snow Shieldian economy, worth a remarkable 5,045 trillion stones a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Soda Sales, and Uranium Mining. Average income is an amazing 250,118 stones, but there is an enormous disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,338,635 per year while the poor average 24,472, a ratio of 54.7 to 1.

People hearing voices that tell them to commit crimes are automatically assumed to be holy, children often explain to their parents that the Mega Ultimate Sword Fist was worth the thousand-stone charge on their phone bill, the government's suicide hotline now redirects callers to local tax lawyers, and you can be fired for dyeing grey hairs. Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. The Snow Shield's national animal is the narwhal, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

The Snow Shield is ranked 77,711^th in the world and 4,264^th in Balder for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 2,026.15 on the Gilded Widget Scale.