The Grand Duchy of Ratling is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its digital currency, infamous sell-swords, and absence of drug laws. The compassionate, democratic population of 4.894 billion Ratlings are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Clementine. The average income tax rate is 84.1%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The thriving Ratlingian economy, worth 407 trillion legumes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Trout Farming, and Book Publishing. Average income is 83,250 legumes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The police ransack more houses than criminals do, therapists dispense hugs for heroin dealers and cuddles for crackheads, vacationers and business travelers are often warned that they may lose the right to vote if they spend too much time overseas, and fresh food is a thing of the past due to onerous testing standards. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ratling's national animal is the vulpes vulpes, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Nonexistent.

Ratling is ranked 173,343^rd in the world and 400^th in The Communist Bloc for Most Advanced Defense Forces, scoring 1,297.12 on the Total War Preparedness Rating.