The United Socialist States of Ultaverstin is a huge, cultured nation, notable for its complete lack of prisons, irreverence towards religion, and absence of drug laws. The compassionate, democratic population of 622 million Ultaverstinians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ardeopolis. The average income tax rate is 71.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Ultaverstinian economy, worth 48.4 trillion ultas a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is 77,757 ultas, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

One tree's worth of paperwork accompanies each imported log of timber, people stand their fridges back-to-front to benefit from the free heating, drunk drivers are sent to rehabilitation paid for by the government, and welfare funding has recently gone through the roof. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ultaverstin's national animal is the black heron, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Ultaverstin is ranked 264,191^st in the world and 1,174^th in Europe for Most Patriotic, with 1.05 flags saluted per person per day.