The Rational Republic of Sanden is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Edmund Muskie with an even hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, compulsory military service, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful, devout population of 28.292 billion Sandenians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass — juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Notlock City. The average income tax rate is 85.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Sandenian economy, worth a remarkable 2,110 trillion Shards a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism and Pizza Delivery. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 74,612 Shards, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Major cities shut down as their local sports team takes to the field every day, UFO sightings are listed daily in the morning news, loans are available for students from poor families, and all streets are privately owned toll roads. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Sanden's national animal is the Peregrine Falcon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Rationalism.

Sanden is ranked 17,536^th in the world and 401^st in the South Pacific for Most Developed, scoring 87.73 on the Human Development Index.