The Imperatum of The Very Dark Place is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by HE Sir Cerse Ermanáric with an even hand, and renowned for its zero percent divorce rate, public floggings, and avant-garde cinema. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 9.84 billion Darkians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Neu Bosehaven. The average income tax rate is 98.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Darkian economy, worth a remarkable 3,831 trillion Imperial Notes a year, is broadly diversified and mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Retail, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an amazing 389,346 Imperial Notes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Eau de Trashcan has become a wildly popular perfume, any citizen who cries is immediately assigned a psychiatrist, the weather in Neu Bosehaven is always 'pigeons with a chance of droppings', and train stations have more platforms than a 1970s disco. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. The Very Dark Place's national animal is the Darkian Eagle, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Darkiut.

The Very Dark Place is ranked 1,682^nd in the world and 15^th in Commonwealth of Sovereign States for Most Patriotic, with 112.53 flags saluted per person per day.