The Free Land of Meraud is a mammoth, socially progressive nation, ruled by Prime Administrator Alexandersson with an even hand, and notable for its smutty television, flagrant waste-dumping, and rampant corporate plagiarism. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless, devout population of 5.66 billion Meraudians are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The minute, corrupt, pro-business government, or what there is of one, is primarily concerned with Industry, with Administration and Law & Order also on the agenda, while Welfare and Social Policy are ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Mercan. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Meraudian economy, worth a remarkable 1,323 trillion Pallas a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Gambling, Information Technology, and Uranium Mining. Average income is an amazing 233,865 Pallas, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 909,628 per year while the poor average 41,110, a ratio of 22.1 to 1.

The space program has been reduced to Prime Administrator Alexandersson's nephew playing with a cardboard space shuttle, Prime Administrator Alexandersson can often be found attempting to coax random citizens' cats down from trees, women complaining about lack of opportunity are told to "man up", and children with trilobite collections are drafted into the 'Billy and the Cloneasaurus' division. Crime is all-pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Meraud's national animal is the Plesiosaur, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Parva Christi.

Meraud is ranked 1,389^th in the world and 3^rd in Anti Discord Alliance for Rudest Citizens, with 354.82 insults per minute.