The Federal Republic of Brathen is a small, safe nation, renowned for its state-planned economy, absence of drug laws, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic, devout population of 23 million Brathenians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The medium-sized, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Welfare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 40.5%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The fragile Brathenian economy, worth 774 billion balloons a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, Pizza Delivery, and Trout Farming. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 33,636 balloons, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The nation excels at displacement, genetic researchers have been expelled, the mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas, and the government awards prizes to television shows featuring stereotype-breaking minority roles. Crime is totally unknown. Brathen's national animal is the Black Jack.

Brathen is ranked 69,197^th in the world and 17^th in Goninan for Nicest Citizens, with 16.29 average smiles per day.