The Democratic Republic of Balan Wonderworld is a mid-sized, socially progressive nation, notable for its ritual sacrifices, ubiquitous missile silos, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, cynical population of 68 million Yakubian Worm-slugs are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The enormous, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 75.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Balan Wonderworldian economy, worth 1.54 trillion hearts a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Woodchip Exports industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Furniture Restoration, and Information Technology. Average income is 22,619 hearts, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The cruise missile launchers on the field hospital roof are purely deterrent in purpose, power stations shutting down at night has made bedtime reading tricky, RPG fans reminisce fondly about when people thought they were evil and dangerous rather than geeky and socially inept, and hospitals fear government fines more than terrorist ransoms. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Balan Wonderworld's national animal is the Tim, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Balan Wonderworld is ranked 94,374^th in the world and 500^th in The Leftist Assembly for Most Cultured, scoring 67 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.