The Durm of Surm is a mammoth, orderly nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The cynical population of 6.928 billion Surmians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 51.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but sluggish Surmian economy, worth 146 trillion rubledollars a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient black market in Retail, Automobile Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Pizza Delivery. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 21,080 rubledollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The country's famous rainforests are being bulldozed by the mining industry, the government awards prizes to television shows featuring stereotype-breaking minority roles, it is illegal to make racist remarks in public, and employers are finding it hard to screen candidates now that everyone gets A grades in their exams. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Surm's national animal is the hawk, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Surm is ranked 71,824^th in the world and 1^st in Freedom Light for Most Corrupt Governments, with 28.66 kickbacks per hour.