The Thistle Node of Node Thistle is a colossal, efficient nation, remarkable for its national health service, avant-garde cinema, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, devout population of 4.593 billion Node Thistleans are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Education, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 61.0%.

The frighteningly efficient Node Thistlean economy, worth 500 trillion Nodecoins a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Information Technology, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is an impressive 108,904 Nodecoins, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.2 times as much as the poorest.

Taxpayer money is hard at work exorcizing laundry, Node Thistle successfully hosted the The Node Olympics, sneezing pedestrians are grabbed by alley-lurking doctors, and territories have the right to secede if they aren't happy. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Node Thistle's national animal is the Circuit, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Node Thistle is ranked 97,003^rd in the world and 41^st in The Node for Nicest Citizens, with 14.64 average smiles per day.