The Oppressed Peoples of Pothole is a huge, genial nation, notable for its museums and concert halls, compulsory military service, and keen interest in outer space. The compassionate, devout population of 897 million Potholeans are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Spirituality, and Industry. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 37.4%.

The powerhouse Potholean economy, worth 73.9 trillion Gravels a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 82,336 Gravels, with the richest citizens earning 8.0 times as much as the poorest.

Homeowners are evicted to make way for new runways, fruit market traders let their stock spoil rather than reduce their prices at the day's end, kids are arrested at gunpoint for playing with toy rifles, and Blackacrean security services are wondering why Leader is so fond of the numbers 6, 7 and 9. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Pothole's national animal is the Dead Deer.

Pothole is ranked 123,848^th in the world and 11^th in Endless Highway for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 640.36 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.