The Intermittent Republic of Murab is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Grand Optimist Iago XII with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, smutty television, and complete lack of prisons. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 8.209 billion Murabians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The tiny government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Misery. The average income tax rate is 5.1%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Murabian economy, worth a remarkable 1,912 trillion New Groats a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Retail. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an amazing 232,984 New Groats, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The nation excels at displacement, public projects are synonymous with yawn-inducing conformity, animal liberationists receive government funding to break into animal research labs, and it ain't easy to be green enough to be imported into Murab. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Murab's national animal is the Ravening Sloth, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Reformed Empirical Syncretism.

Murab is ranked 114,760^th in the world and 80^th in The Western Isles for Largest Black Market, with 338 billion Standard Monetary Units.