The Island Republic of Mark is a gargantuan, cultured nation, notable for its punitive income tax rates, devotion to social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic population of 32.59 billion Markians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Environment, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Mark City. The average income tax rate is 72.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Markian economy, worth a remarkable 1,938 trillion Markan Credits a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity. The industrial sector is mostly comprised of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 59,481 Markan Credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Mark successfully hosted the Balder Olympics, the government seizes all major gold finds, hundreds of thousands of convicts work as slaves in Mark's many privately-owned prisons, and employers may fire workers without giving any reason. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mark's national animal is the Mighty Dog, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Mark is ranked 67,335^th in the world and 3,363^rd in Balder for Most Developed, scoring 71.87 on the Human Development Index.