The Federal Republic of Gardera is a very large, socially progressive nation, notable for its irreverence towards religion, suspicion of poets, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 145 million Garderans enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Healthcare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 17.5%.

The strong Garderan economy, worth 9.45 trillion unitcorns a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Soda Sales, Information Technology, and Pizza Delivery. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 65,145 unitcorns, with the richest citizens earning 6.9 times as much as the poorest.

The internal market is thriving, the nation was recently voted "most likely to betray its allies", maximum security fish farms leave caged salmon pining for the fjords, and shanty towns are forming in the suburbs of major cities. Crime is almost non-existent. Gardera's national animal is the unicorn, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Gardera is ranked 225,234^th in the world and 117^th in Democratic Socialist Assembly for Most Primitive, scoring -101.65 on the Scary Big Number Scale.