The Community of St Stephen n Critters is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by The Head with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, hatred of cheese, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 33.796 billion St Stephen n Crittersians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Saint Circumstance. The income tax rate is 100%.

The enormous but underdeveloped St Stephen n Crittersian economy, worth a remarkable 5,693 trillion Jerry Berries a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity. The industrial sector is solely comprised of the Book Publishing industry. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 168,452 Jerry Berries, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Wilderness-dwelling hermits are surprised to find railway stations on their front doorsteps, businesses that prove successful are immediately broken up, crime suspects are forced to submit to blood testing, and children are brainwashed at a young age to accept "love and peace!" as a way of life. Crime is totally unknown. St Stephen n Critters's national animal is the Dancing Bear, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Secular humanism.

St Stephen n Critters is ranked 207,150^th in the world and 66^th in Hippy Haven for Fattest Citizens, with 0.85 Obesity Rate.