The Nine of the Afternoon of Valerievna is a massive, pleasant nation, ruled by Rachael Vytherov with an even hand, and remarkable for its ubiquitous missile silos, rampant corporate plagiarism, and fear of technology. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 1.859 billion Pebbles 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, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Education, Spirituality, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Miss Bad Life Choices City. The average income tax rate is 38.5%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Pebbleian economy, worth 143 trillion gold bars 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 black market in Uranium Mining, Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Gambling. 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 77,166 gold bars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest.

Workers' complaints never reach central planning, government officials frequently cut taxes as a distraction from antics with their secretaries, the government has forked out millions on an unmade bed that is apparently East Lebatuckese "art", and drug-related crimes carry the death penalty. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Valerievna's national animal is the monster, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Lynxism.

Valerievna is ranked 4,675^th in the world and 259^th in Osiris for Largest Mining Sector, scoring 10,893.09 on the Blue Sky Asbestos Index.