The Rational Republic of Sanden is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Edmund Muskie with a fair hand, and remarkable for its anti-smoking policies, frequent executions, and hatred of cheese. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful, devout population of 23.08 billion Sandenians 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 Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Notlock City. The average income tax rate is 86.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Sandenian economy, worth a remarkable 1,747 trillion Shards a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism and Pizza Delivery. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 75,697 Shards, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Major cities shut down as their local sports team takes to the field every day, UFO sightings are listed daily in the morning news, loans are available for students from poor families, and all streets are privately owned toll roads. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Sanden's national animal is the Peregrine Falcon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Rationalism.

Sanden is ranked 27,066^th in the world and 617^th in the South Pacific for Lowest Crime Rates, with 84.54 law-abiding acts per hour.