The Republic of Baring is a massive, efficient nation, notable for its ubiquitous missile silos, infamous sell-swords, and frequent executions. The compassionate, cynical, humorless, devout population of 1.087 billion Baringians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Education. The average income tax rate is 65.1%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Baringian economy, worth 108 trillion Ducats a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 99,490 Ducats, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.0 times as much as the poorest.

Cinemas play art-house movies to ever-shrinking audiences as film critics rule the industry, the military is on a massive recruiting drive in advance of an invasion of Brasilistan, vets have been drafted in to help "fix" those who fail the parental license exam, and prenuptial contracts have replaced diamond rings in marriage proposals. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Baring's national animal is the Bear.

Baring is ranked 162,184^th in the world and 255^th in Novaya Zemlya for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 300.3 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.