The Democratic States of Vlearon is a gargantuan, genial nation, notable for its ban on automobiles, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic population of 29.722 billion Vlearonians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 72.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but stagnant Vlearonian economy, worth 107 trillion Dollars 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, highly specialized black market in Book Publishing, Basket Weaving, Information Technology, and Soda Sales. 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 3,587 Dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Surveillance cameras are banned, a large-scale revitalization of the education system is underway, the nightowl is a protected species, and cars are banned. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Vlearon's national animal is the nightowl, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Vlearon is ranked 50,181^st in the world and 8^th in A Liberal Haven for Least Corrupt Governments, with 93.8 percentage of bribes refused.