The People's Republic of Botto is a mid-sized, genial nation, renowned for its keen interest in outer space, state-planned economy, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 89 million Bottoans 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 Administration, Education, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 73.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Bottoan economy, worth 1.90 trillion florins a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Soda Sales. Average income is 21,358 florins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Third party candidates are now gaining some representation in Parliament, employers are finding it hard to screen candidates now that everyone gets A grades in their exams, citizens are remarkably well involved in the political process, and the trail of chickpeas is a controversial part of middle school curriculum. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Botto's national animal is the porpoise, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Botto is ranked 254,926^th in the world and 584^th in The Leftist Assembly for Largest Pizza Delivery Sector, scoring -6.84 on the Pepperoni Propulsion Productivity Index.