The Holy Empire of Gradis Merricus is a huge, cultured nation, renowned for its museums and concert halls, ubiquitous missile silos, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 331 million Gradis Merricusians enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The relatively small, liberal, pro-business government prioritizes Defense, although Industry, Education, and Welfare are also considered important, while Spirituality and Environment receive no funds. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Augustinopolis. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 18.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Gradis Merricusian economy, worth 33.6 trillion Quans a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Soda Sales, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 101,493 Quans, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 483,841 per year while the poor average 12,511, a ratio of 38.7 to 1.

Census workers struggle to account for the rapidly increasing number of citizens to tabulate, many are questioning Leader wearing an Eckie-Ecola baseball cap during a keynote speech, multiple births are a cause of celebration for tax collectors, and people reciting Shakespeare have become a common sight. Crime, especially youth-related, is pervasive, probably because of the absence of a police force. Gradis Merricus's national animal is the Water Buffalo, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Gradis Merricus is ranked 11,227^th in the world and 275^th in The North Pacific for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 83,123.13 Standard Monetary Units.