The Commonwealth of Langnord is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Edvard Stenbeck with a fair hand, and renowned for its sprawling nuclear power plants, keen interest in outer space, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 3.693 billion Langnordish 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 large, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Langopolis. The average income tax rate is 65.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The strong Langnordan economy, worth 225 trillion Marks a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Trout Farming. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 61,070 Marks, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Schoolchildren on field trips are asked what torture means to them, urban planners beg for just one more lane before bedtime, nine out of ten citizens of Langnord answered 'nuclear safety inspector' when asked their occupation, and films are funded in accordance with the volume of tears shed when reading the screenplay. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Langnord's national animal is the Loon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is None at the Official Level.

Langnord is ranked 45,251^st in the world and 1^st in NationVision Official for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 195.5 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.