The Republic of Charles 5 is a huge, efficient nation, remarkable for its unlimited-speed roads, compulsory military service, and suspicion of poets. The compassionate, devout population of 550 million Charles 5ians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 47.4%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The thriving Charles 5ian economy, worth 36.6 trillion Coins a year, is quite specialized and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Automobile Manufacturing, and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 66,455 Coins, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Politicians have to be granted day-release from prison to speak on bills, foreign policy is mostly just to smile and hope for the best, the government will gladly pay you next Tuesday for a hamburger today, and children who display even minimal sporting aptitude are immediately assigned a personal trainer. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Charles 5's national animal is the Animal, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Charles 5 is ranked 100,580^th in the world and 573^rd in the Plains of Perdition for Highest Average Tax Rates, with 47.35 Effective Tax Rate.