The Technocratic Federation of Laudesia is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Director Luther Cook with an even hand, and renowned for its vat-grown people, national health service, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, humorless population of 18.153 billion Laudesians 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 medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Holmond. The average income tax rate is 94.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Laudesian economy, worth a remarkable 8,338 trillion Gold Sterlings 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 an enormous, deeply entrenched, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Retail, and Tourism. 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 an amazing 459,362 Gold Sterlings, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest.

Homeowners are evicted to make way for new runways, the nation's universities are often mistaken for foreign embassies, frequent fliers are obliged to submit to invasive security procedures by government security, and pareidolic SETI scientists swear there's a message from aliens hidden within pi. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Laudesia's national animal is the Giant Squid, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Atheism.

Laudesia is ranked 2,604^th in the world and 112^th in The North Pacific for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 18,390.89 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.