The Republic of Thorwick is a very large, genial nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The quiet, industrious population of 463 million Thorwickians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 63.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Thorwickian economy, worth 13.1 trillion Chromeses 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, fairly diversified black market in Woodchip Exports, Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Furniture Restoration. 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 28,203 Chromeses, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Neon signs promoting safe driving often distract drivers, police officers often conceal their identities to safeguard against public complaints, the most popular WhoTube videos are ones featuring parodies of iconic songs, and it is illegal to distribute Girl Guide Cookies without an advanced food hygiene diploma. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Thorwick's national animal is the Shoebill, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Thorwick is ranked 103,534^th in the world and 92^nd in Aesica for Largest Governments, scoring 16.25 on the Bureaucratic Comprehensiveness Rating Scale Index.