The Armed Republic of CR26 is a colossal, efficient nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, public floggings, and complete lack of prisons. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 7.272 billion CR26ians 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, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Law & Order, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 84.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient CR26ian economy, worth a remarkable 1,359 trillion cards a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Information Technology, and Automobile Manufacturing. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 186,891 cards, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The nation's student exchange programs are something of a one way street, the public health bureaucracy is wrapped in miles of red tape, doctors prescribe medicines produced by the last pharmaceutical company to give them a free pen, and the children of CR26 are often remarked upon for their cheery attitude to extreme violence. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. CR26's national animal is the legendary, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

CR26 is ranked 80,021^st in the world and 2,346^th in Two for Most Patriotic, with 22.78 flags saluted per person per day.