The Federation of Kuchyng is a large, safe nation, renowned for its soft-spoken computers, daily referendums, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 88 million Kuchyngians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Defense. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 10.0%.

The strong Kuchyngian economy, worth 6.59 trillion Golds 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 slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Tourism, Book Publishing, Trout Farming, and Basket Weaving. 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 74,867 Golds, with the richest citizens earning 7.6 times as much as the poorest.

The nation locks people up and tells them they're mad for compassion's sake, money grows on trees, conductors wield diamond-encrusted batons to fit in with their freshly gilded surroundings, and new pilots are regularly reminded that they are more expendable than their planes. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Kuchyng's national animal is the Pig, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Kuchyng is ranked 57,936^th in the world and 1,788^th in The North Pacific for Nicest Citizens, with 16.29 average smiles per day.