The Republic of Bank 09 is a massive, efficient nation, renowned for its daily referendums, frequent executions, and multi-spousal wedding ceremonies. The hard-nosed, devout population of 2.031 billion Bank 09ians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The enormous government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Industry, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 66.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Bank 09ian economy, worth 134 trillion Banks a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Retail, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, Woodchip Exports, and Furniture Restoration. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 66,117 Banks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.1 times as much as the poorest.

College students make ends meet by selling their kidneys, euthanasia is legal, school lunches are made with hypo-allergenic wood pulp, and the people consider response to rudeness to be an acceptable casus belli. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bank 09's national animal is the Bank, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Bank 09 is ranked 3,604^th in the world and 2^nd in Bank for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 7,370.89 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.