The Republic of Shanary is a large, genial nation, notable for its compulsory military service, irreverence towards religion, and absence of drug laws. The hard-working, democratic population of 87 million Shanaryians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 23.7%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The strong Shanaryian economy, worth 4.87 trillion rubles a year, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Cheese Exports, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is 55,981 rubles, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Hunters have been known to lose limbs while attempting to 'play tag' with their prey, the nation is renowned abroad for its love of blood and guts, online terrorists are automatically assigned adverts for cheap balaclavas, and children spend all morning taking out a comma and all afternoon putting it back in again. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Shanary's national animal is the unicorn, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Shanary is ranked 75,743^rd in the world and 1,565^th in the South Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 102.71 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.