The Rat Merchants of Ferneus is a titanic, genial nation, ruled by The Kwelahn Merchant Congress with an even hand, and remarkable for its rum-swilling pirates, smutty television, and frequent executions. The compassionate, devout population of 13.714 billion Kwelahns have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Kwelahni Prime. The average income tax rate is 68.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Ferneusian economy, worth 972 trillion pounds a year, is led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Furniture Restoration, and Retail. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 70,928 pounds, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Super Barry Brothers is the most popular video game in the nation, the thin blue line is composed of picketing police officers demanding better pensions, doctors prescribe videos of political debates to patients with insomnia, and the native owl population is in permanent hibernation. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ferneus's national animal is the alien bear-worm, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Ferneus is ranked 88,831^st in the world and 164^th in Starlight for Most Developed, scoring 64.39 on the Human Development Index.