The Republic-Empire of Viscland is a colossal, safe nation, ruled by Prime Minister Bay with an even hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed population of 5.946 billion Visclanders enjoy extensive civil freedoms, particularly in social issues, while business tends to be more regulated.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New Boxcester. The average income tax rate is 64.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Visclandian economy, worth 900 trillion Viscland Dollars a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Tourism, Retail, and Book Publishing. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 151,464 Viscland Dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Living well is no longer the best kind of revenge, visiting the best Visclandian restaurants requires keeping a visa on file, the recital of citations that follows any political speech can be longer than the speech itself, and the nation is wading into dangerous waters. Crime is totally unknown. Viscland's national animal is the European Lynx, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Viscland is ranked 15,894^th in the world and 312^th in Europe for Most Beautiful Environments, with 1,189.77 pounds of wildlife per square mile.