The Holy Empire of Ficlandia is a colossal, orderly nation, ruled by Supreme Overlord with an iron fist, and remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, public floggings, and unlimited-speed roads. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 4.908 billion Ficlandians are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The relatively small, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Industry, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Archive of Our Own. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 8.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Ficlandian economy, worth 955 trillion Fictions a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Retail, Information Technology, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is extensive. Average income is an impressive 194,555 Fictions, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,614,862 per year while the poor average 4,710, a ratio of 342 to 1.

Pedants defending Supreme Overlord observe that psychopaths and sociopaths aren't exactly the same thing, slavery is freedom, email killed the radio star, and the government mails weekly updates on the new anti-junk mail laws to every citizen. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force. Ficlandia's national animal is the beast inside, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is the Slash.

Ficlandia is ranked 34,398^th in the world and 3^rd in The Slave Guilds for Largest Cheese Export Sector, scoring 5,150.12 on the Mozzarella Productivity Index.