The Republic of Ciconia Nigra is a colossal, safe nation, renowned for its compulsory military service, suspicion of poets, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic, devout population of 7.226 billion Ciconians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Armarium. The average income tax rate is 58.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Ciconian economy, worth 66.5 trillion Cegonhas 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 mostly made up of the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 9,199 Cegonhas, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Prime real estate is devoted to wind farms and solar energy generators, referenda can be called for any law at the request of at least one third of the voting population, Leader has just been declared ruler of Ciconia Nigra in an international press conference, and a major religion has been named as Ciconia Nigra's national religion. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ciconia Nigra's national animal is the black stork, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Ciconia Nigra is ranked 287,650^th in the world and 335^th in The Eighth Closet for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 3,845.19 Standard Monetary Units.