The Federal Republic of Gonthavnor is a massive, safe nation, ruled by the Arch Mage with a fair hand, and notable for its soft-spoken computers, free-roaming dinosaurs, and restrictive gun laws. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 2.56 billion Gonthavnorians 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 large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Roke Peninsula. The average income tax rate is 82.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Gonthavnorian economy, worth 343 trillion Goldivories 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 mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism and Book Publishing. Average income is an impressive 134,330 Goldivories, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Pocket calculators are seen as status symbols for the ostentatiously wealthy, every microwave and toaster is being disassembled and probed by inspectors, the government has adopted a "Lightning Never Strikes Twice" approach to dealing with natural disasters, and the Finance Ministry posts hourly updates on where taxpayer money is spent. Crime is totally unknown. Gonthavnor's national animal is the Dragon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Gonthavnor is ranked 8,277^th in the world and 197^th in the South Pacific for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 12,199.52 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.