The Holy Kritarchy of Violan is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Burning Prophet Osar Seph with a fair hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, smutty television, and zero percent divorce rate. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, cheerful population of 38.455 billion Violanians are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.

The minute, outspoken government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Defense, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Catoni. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Violanian economy, worth an astonishing 15,954 trillion gold denarii a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Retail, Arms Manufacturing, and Uranium Mining. Average income is an amazing 414,883 gold denarii, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,688,987 per year while the poor average 67,656, a ratio of 25.0 to 1.

Public executions just aren't the cheery spectacles they once were, there are traffic jams at sea as diligent customs officers check every part of every ship, actively encouraging climate change is helping reduce winter fuel costs, and at the edge of the final frontier space's biggest missile platform is about to unfold. Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, probably because of the absence of a police force. Violan's national animal is the phoenix, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Amism.

Violan is ranked 332,078^th in the world and 52^nd in Free Market Federation for Largest Welfare Programs, scoring -75.5 on the Safety Net Mesh Density Rating.