The Withering State of the of Union of the Squids is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Verenkov Ivanovich Vyacheslavochich with a fair hand, and notable for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 7.262 billion Krakens love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass — juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Krackengrad. The average income tax rate is 86.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The strong Squidsian economy, worth 501 trillion Silver Sickles a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Woodchip Exports, Information Technology, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 69,013 Silver Sickles, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The media have begun calling the government treasury "Verenkov Ivanovich Vyacheslavochich's stash", it is against the rules of boxing to hit above or below the belt, the "feminist protest" defence is increasingly common for cases of armed robbery, and the slowest students feel vaguely targeted by their Mendelian Inheritance coursework. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Union of the Squids's national animal is the Squid, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans, and its national religion is Mutually Assured Destruction.

Union of the Squids is ranked 6,427^th in the world and 3^rd in The Union of Fairer Nations for Highest Foreign Aid Spending, scoring 2,373 on the Clooney Contribution Index.