The Republic of Bankowiata is a colossal, safe nation, ruled by Strong AI with a fair hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, prohibition of alcohol, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 7.827 billion Bankowiatans 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 enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bankowiata City. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient Bankowiatan economy, worth a remarkable 2,574 trillion Virtual Coins 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 Tourism and Book Publishing. Average income is an amazing 328,956 Virtual Coins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The media seems excessively interested in what Strong AI is wearing this season, there is a growing belief that consciousness is a simulated illusion within a computer-generated reality, Catherine Gratwick's campaign support is considered seminal, and intellectual snobbery has the cognoscenti sneering at anyone who doesn't have an opinion on the semiological drift of Umberto Eco's works. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bankowiata's national animal is the Hedgehog, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Secularism.

Bankowiata is ranked 292,939^th in the world and 6,446^th in The North Pacific for Most Primitive, scoring -1292.88 on the Scary Big Number Scale.