The Borderlands of V217a is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by the Most Glorious Visionary with an even hand, and remarkable for its anti-smoking policies, complete lack of prisons, and parental licensing program. The compassionate, humorless population of 23.339 billion V217ovians enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Dublin. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient V217an economy, worth a remarkable 4,139 trillion Quid 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 Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing. Average income is an impressive 177,352 Quid, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The media seems excessively interested in what the Most Glorious Visionary is wearing this season, attendance of fathers at PTA meetings is at an all-time high, genetic research is temporarily tied up in government red tape, and sharing vacation pictures requires written consent from the entire beach resort. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. V217a's national animal is the Satsuma, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is a collection of silly beliefs.

V217a is ranked 2,430^th in the world and 123^rd in Lazarus for Lowest Crime Rates, with 137.23 law-abiding acts per hour.