The Eternal Misfortune of Pterodoria is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Someone with an even hand, and remarkable for its ubiquitous missile silos, triple-decker prams, and free-roaming dinosaurs. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless population of 21.44 billion Pterodorians are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The minute, corrupt, pro-business government, or what there is of one, is primarily concerned with Industry, with Defense also on the agenda, while Environment and Law & Order aren't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Pterodoria City. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Pterodorian economy, worth an astonishing 16,131 trillion Pteralurias a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Gambling, Soda Sales, and Information Technology. Average income is a breathtaking 752,414 Pteralurias, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 7,047,846 per year while the poor average 6,764, a ratio of 1,041 to 1.

Citizens are expected to be proficient in at least five languages, chrome-clad space marines are such stuff that dreams are made on, governments opposing Pterodoria are beset by rebels, and colonists who were promised new lands find only war-torn devastation. Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Pterodoria's national animal is the Pterodactyl, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Business.

Pterodoria is ranked 174^th in the world and 2^nd in Pencil Sharpeners Puppet Storage for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 1,511.19 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.