The Sovereign Isle of Nova Zemlya is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Primer Ductus Alia Arxemet with a fair hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, national health service, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 22.193 billion Zemlyans hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Arthane. The average income tax rate is 82.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Nova Zemlyan economy, worth a remarkable 2,201 trillion drosses a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology and Gambling. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 99,197 drosses, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The government is continually probing the galaxy in search of alien life, foreign nations often blame poverty and terrorism on Nova Zemlyan selfishness, artists attempt to convince the Hardship Fund that their unmade bed is a masterpiece, and delivery truck companies use hospital parking lots to store 16-wheelers. Crime is totally unknown. Nova Zemlya's national animal is the aether eagle, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Nova Zemlya is ranked 275,000^th in the world and 10,248^th in Lazarus for Most Primitive, scoring -278.46 on the Scary Big Number Scale.