The Constitutional Republic of Bilancorn is a titanic, efficient nation, ruled by Lord Khaos with an even hand, and renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, flagrant waste-dumping, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The compassionate, hard-working, cheerful population of 13.987 billion Bilancornians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The tiny government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Derion. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Bilancornian economy, worth a remarkable 4,533 trillion Dukats a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Retail. Average income is an amazing 324,103 Dukats, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.3 times as much as the poorest.

Libraries have replaced overdue book fines with mandatory mental health assessments, descriptions of properties as "a stone's throw from the city centre" require a trebuchet to be true, Pinkerton agents are called in to forcibly break up white collar strikes, and elderly citizens regularly buy posh multimillion-Dukat mansions. Crime is totally unknown. Bilancorn's national animal is the Tiger Shark, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Daoism.

Bilancorn is ranked 520^th in the world and 1^st in Bisscaso Islands for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 321,186.89 Standard Monetary Units.