The Fiefdom of Lower Melodia is a massive, cultured nation, ruled by Federal Council with a fair hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, daily referendums, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 1.086 billion Lower Melodians enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The enormous, liberal, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New Bergen. The average income tax rate is 82.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Lower Melodian economy, worth 100 trillion ducats a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Cheese Exports. Average income is 92,404 ducats, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The typical murderer weighs 150kg and has hairy arms, sales of disinfectant wipes have skyrocketed, standard-issue infantry rifles now have carnations instead of bayonets, and third world countries are rich in "I Love New Bergen" t-shirts. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Lower Melodia's national animal is the beaver, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Lower Melodia is ranked 18,920^th in the world and 786^th in The North Pacific for Most Cultured, scoring 94 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.