The Armed Republic of Simard is a very large, cultured nation, renowned for its frequent executions, compulsory military service, and compulsory gun ownership. The hard-nosed, devout population of 304 million Simardians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 37.2%.

The very strong Simardian economy, worth 23.0 trillion marks a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Uranium Mining. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 75,623 marks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.3 times as much as the poorest.

Exiles see that the line where the sky meets the sea is just clouds and rain, skateparks can be found in every city, several inches are being added to first class seating, and country folk are sent to obligatory boarding schools to learn how to be civilized. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Simard's national animal is the Eagle, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Simard is ranked 39,491^st in the world and 335^th in the West Pacific for Most Primitive, scoring 63.35 on the Scary Big Number Scale.