The District of Variola is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by privy council chairman with an iron fist, and renowned for its compulsory military service, state-planned economy, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 22.72 billion Variolans are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized morass — juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Social Policy. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of District City. The average income tax rate is 75.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but stagnant Variolan economy, worth 380 trillion juno aurums a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Uranium Mining, and Pizza Delivery. Average income is 16,765 juno aurums, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Elections have been outlawed, Variola has designated District City as its capital city, and Privy council chairman has just been declared ruler of Variola in an international press conference. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Variola's national animal is the quick pink fox, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Variola is ranked 77,415^th in the world and 1^st in Yaren for Lowest Crime Rates, with 68.92 law-abiding acts per hour.