The Free Land of Thren is a very large, genial nation, renowned for its vat-grown people, absence of drug laws, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 225 million Threnians 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 medium-sized, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 55.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Threnian economy, worth 16.0 trillion Thren Marks a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Basket Weaving industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Soda Sales, and Tourism. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 71,271 Thren Marks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Door-to-door salesmen are frequently beaten up by 'vigilantes', strip mining of rare earth metals is up while back problems are down, adults have never outgrown their fear of monsters, and the end of autumn is celebrated with a bonfire of designer bags. Crime is totally unknown. Thren's national animal is the Common Raven, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Thren is ranked 65,338^th in the world and 117^th in Horizon for Nudest, with 189.5 cheeks per square mile.