The Imperatum of The Very Dark Place is a titanic, cultured nation, ruled by HE Sir Cerse Ermanáric with an even hand, and renowned for its sprawling nuclear power plants, ban on automobiles, and free-roaming dinosaurs. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 13.735 billion Darkians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Neu Bosehaven. The average income tax rate is 98.7%.

The frighteningly efficient Darkian economy, worth a remarkable 4,986 trillion Imperial Notes a year, is fairly diversified and mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Retail. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an amazing 363,076 Imperial Notes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Many friends and relatives of HE Sir Cerse Ermanáric have been given ambassador jobs in tropical island nations, genetic research is facing major headwinds, sex offenders find themselves cut off from the ability to repeat their crimes, and owning a really cute pet is grounds for immediate investigation. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. The Very Dark Place's national animal is the Raven, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Darkian polytheism.

The Very Dark Place is ranked 86,976^th in the world and 62^nd in Commonwealth of Sovereign States for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 2,687.93 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.