The Unified Kingdom of Materia-Collectus is a gargantuan, genial nation, ruled by Prime Minister Clyde Acker with a fair hand, and renowned for its daily referendums, hatred of cheese, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 15.819 billion Matero-Collectusites 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 government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, liberal, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Birkenhead. The average income tax rate is 99.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Matero-Collectusite economy, worth a remarkable 2,485 trillion Royal Credits a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing and Information Technology. Average income is an impressive 157,113 Royal Credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The military is slashing spending on conventional arms and diverting it to spending on prosthetic arms, stern tutting by international commentators has persuaded Materia-Collectus to disarm, re-education centers are being added to most prisons, and military units are often seen arguing over which one is truly favored by the gods. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Materia-Collectus's national animal is the Leopard, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Materia-Collectus is ranked 2,444^th in the world and 1^st in The Allied Republic for Most Popular Tourist Destinations, with 2,379.25 Tourists Per Hour.