The Magic and the Mystery of Merconitonitopia is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Montebad II with an even hand, and notable for its prohibition of alcohol, lack of airports, and daily referendums. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 16.457 billion Mirkonites are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded morass — is primarily concerned with Defense, although Environment and Spirituality are also considered important. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bahmedag. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient Mirkonite economy, worth a remarkable 7,306 trillion virtues a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched, highly specialized black market in Arms Manufacturing. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. State-owned companies are the norm. Average income is an amazing 443,951 virtues, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

One tree's worth of paperwork accompanies each imported log of timber, male celebrity chefs are laughed at for their lack of manliness, judicial torture is outsourced overseas, and ritual mummification is making a comeback. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Merconitonitopia's national animal is the dove, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Merconitonitopia is ranked 131^st in the world and 2^nd in The North Pacific for Largest Black Market, with 12,907 trillion Standard Monetary Units.