The District of Gallows Cove is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its compulsory military service, complete lack of public education, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 25.007 billion Gallows Coveans are free to succeed or fail in life on their own merits; the successful tend to enjoy an opulent (but moralistic) lifestyle, while the failures can be seen crowding out most jails.

The minute, moralistic, pro-business government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Industry, Defense, and Law & Order. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.8%.

The powerhouse Gallows Covean economy, worth a remarkable 1,141 trillion betales a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is quite specialized and led by the Uranium Mining industry, with major contributions from Basket Weaving, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. Average income is 45,659 betales, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 156,646 per year while the poor average 9,767, a ratio of 16.0 to 1.

Crime is a serious problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Gallows Cove's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Gallows Cove is ranked 263,257^th in the world and 5^th in Stockholm for Lowest Crime Rates, with 43.43 law-abiding acts per hour.