The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a colossal, safe nation, ruled by John Koenig with an even hand, and renowned for its compulsory military service, sprawling nuclear power plants, and daily referendums. The compassionate population of 9.213 billion Sorrowsians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Nazarick. The average income tax rate is 95.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Sorrowsian economy, worth a remarkable 1,401 trillion Minoes a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 152,162 Minoes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Popular sunny beaches always have a cloudy outlook, statistics show that terrorists often come from broken families, the government frequently panders to parents with boutique tax credits, and rare steaks seem even bluer now. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Obscure Sorrows's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Morii.

Obscure Sorrows is ranked 10,415^th in the world and 222^nd in the South Pacific for Lowest Crime Rates, with 100.45 law-abiding acts per hour.