The Democratic States of Fries 18 is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its public floggings, punitive income tax rates, and suspicion of poets. The hard-nosed population of 2.791 billion Fries 18ians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The large, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 50.7%.

The Fries 18ian economy, worth 113 trillion Frieses a year, is quite specialized and mostly made up of the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Retail, and Basket Weaving. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 40,347 Frieses, with the richest citizens earning 5.3 times as much as the poorest.

Love is a precious butterfly to be crushed under diplomatic protocol, consumption of cat memes has skyrocketed, code enforcement officers circle wealthy Fries 18ians like vultures, and newspapers may not print any negative stories about the government. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Fries 18's national animal is the Potato, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Fries 18 is ranked 265,467^th in the world and 203^rd in The Fries for Largest Arms Manufacturing Sector, scoring -4.58 on the Charon Conveyancy Index.