The People's Republic of Velardland is a huge, genial nation, notable for its state-planned economy, pith helmet sales, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, cynical population of 477 million Velardians 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 Education, Defense, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Springfield. The average income tax rate is 72.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient Velardlandian economy, worth 20.4 trillion Sucres a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Beef-Based Agriculture industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Tourism. Average income is 42,774 Sucres, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The Ministry of Health has reported a sharp increase in the incidence of delayed menopause, aides are afraid to ask if Leader wants a cup of tea or coffee, the intelligence community is playing 4-D chess with an imaginary spy network, and coat closets are being re-branded as bedrooms. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Velardland's national animal is the Capibara, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Velardland is ranked 74,608^th in the world and 1,693^rd in The North Pacific for Most Patriotic, with 18.79 flags saluted per person per day.