The Republic of Penokolis is a massive, orderly nation, ruled by Magnus Parcival Grantham with an iron fist, and renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, parental licensing program, and state-planned economy. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 1.145 billion Penokolisians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The large, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Agartha. The average income tax rate is 69.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Penokolisian economy, worth 135 trillion Limestones a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized, quite specialized black market in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Uranium Mining, and Trout Farming. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 117,483 Limestones, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.7 times as much as the poorest.

The populace has developed a mortal fear of the woods, newspapers cannot report anything about politicians without their explicit consent, prankster scientists legally change their names to silly pseudonyms before major discoveries, and things are looking up for patients accidentally prescribed erectile dysfunction medication. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Penokolis's national animal is the seagull, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Penokolis is ranked 57,044^th in the world and 1^st in Naha for Highest Poor Incomes, with 50,981.07 Standard Monetary Units.