The State of Januar is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, notable for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic population of 33.861 billion Januarians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. The average income tax rate is 70.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but sluggish Januarian economy, worth 666 trillion betales a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Retail, Cheese Exports, Furniture Restoration, and Information Technology. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 19,694 betales, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Voting is voluntary and Januar has designated Capital Heights as its capital city. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Januar's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Januar is ranked 320,888^th in the world and 617^th in State for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 5,750.69 Standard Monetary Units.