The Grand Duchy of Highmere is a huge, safe nation, ruled by Adam VII with an even hand, and remarkable for its daily referendums and irreverence towards religion. The hard-working population of 914 million Highmereans 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 relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Mereria. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 9.7%.

The thriving Highmerean economy, worth 72.1 trillion Varils a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Gambling, Information Technology, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 78,855 Varils, with the richest citizens earning 8.6 times as much as the poorest.

Adam VII has just been declared ruler of Highmere in an international press conference, tampons are used as cheap fishing bobbers, taxpayer money is hard at work exorcizing laundry, and stores employing more than 100 employees are required to be at least twenty miles from any competitor. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Highmere's national animal is the Beer Beatle, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Highmere is ranked 159,629^th in the world and 16^th in Restoros for Smartest Citizens, with 28.64 quips per hour.