The Cornelian Dominion of Maritzal is a titanic, orderly nation, ruled by Cornelius I with an iron fist, and notable for its keen interest in outer space, unlimited-speed roads, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 21.514 billion Maritzalians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The tiny, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Defense, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Meridian. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 66.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Maritzalian economy, worth an astonishing 11,959 trillion Pistas a year, is mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Information Technology, Retail, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. Average income is a breathtaking 555,880 Pistas, with the richest citizens earning 9.3 times as much as the poorest.

The Great Maritzalian Tar Cloud can be seen from space, park rangers struggle to deal with a rash of stolen pic-a-nic baskets, dog breeding has been banned in accordance with recent animal experimentation laws, and customs officers pretend not to hear shouts of "HELP LET ME OUT!" emerging from diplomatic bags. Crime, especially youth-related, is all-pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Maritzal's national animal is the Cat, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is The Order Of Our Lord Cornelius.

Maritzal is ranked 237^th in the world and 3^rd in Europe for Most Cultured, scoring 665 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.