The State of Baarb is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by the Governor with an even hand, and renowned for its prohibition of alcohol and irreverence towards religion. The hard-working population of 44.122 billion Baarbians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and look forward to their next free and open election, to be held on an as-yet unannounced date.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Industry, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. The average income tax rate is 40.6%.

The powerhouse Baarbian economy, worth a remarkable 1,817 trillion betales a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Basket Weaving, Gambling, and Pizza Delivery. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 41,201 betales, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.7 times as much as the poorest.

Artists are pillars of society, Baarbian watches are often the only thing to survive a disaster intact, the government has cut its subsidies for all special interest groups, and a five-year-old and a convicted terrorist can sit alongside one another in jury service. Crime is almost non-existent, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Baarb's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Baarb is ranked 245,555^th in the world and 13^th in Grand Rapids for Largest Information Technology Sector, scoring -2.19 on the Fann-Boi Productivity Index.