The Commonwealth of Model 97 is a very large, genial nation, renowned for its rum-swilling pirates, compulsory military service, and spontaneously combusting cars. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 398 million Modelians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The relatively small, outspoken government prioritizes Administration, although Law & Order, Education, and Healthcare are also considered important, while International Aid is ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New Trenchia. The average income tax rate is 18.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Model 97ian economy, worth 21.2 trillion shells a year, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Pizza Delivery, Uranium Mining, and Book Publishing. Average income is 53,224 shells, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Almost all products in Model 97 are hand-crafted due to strict employment laws, artists from across the nation compete to renovate the restrooms of old government buildings, on graduation day the hats thrown in the air fly high enough to stun passing pigeons, and torture is commonly used to extract information from suspected criminals. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Model 97's national animal is the pheasant, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Model 97 is ranked 249,213^th in the world and 2,078^th in the West Pacific for Highest Foreign Aid Spending, scoring -5.48 on the Clooney Contribution Index.