The Democracy of Merni is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Emperor Xaranas IV with an even hand, and renowned for its frequent executions, daily referendums, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, humorless population of 13.246 billion Mernians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Qersi. The average income tax rate is 99.0%.

The thriving Mernian economy, worth a remarkable 1,880 trillion koras a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is solely comprised of the Book Publishing industry. Average income is an impressive 142,001 koras, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

There's a shortage of swinging hot spots as land development grinds to a halt, organ donation is compulsory, noises louder than a whisper have been prohibited by law, and parents dread their examinations more than their children. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Merni's national animal is the horse, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Merni is ranked 54,052^nd in the world and 22^nd in The Labyrinth for Most Efficient Economies, scoring 89.33 on the Krugman-Greenspan Business Outlook Index.