The Allied States of Mount Marvin is a huge, cultured nation, notable for its museums and concert halls, vat-grown people, and compulsory military service. The democratic population of 742 million Marvinians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The medium-sized, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Brianburg. The average income tax rate is 43.6%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Marvinian economy, worth 78.4 trillion bits a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Basket Weaving. Average income is an impressive 105,641 bits, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Protestors are soaking piles of bits in blood to make a point about government incomes, the jails are alive with the sound of birdsong, sex changes are routinely performed at Mount Marvin's hospitals, and organ donation is compulsory. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mount Marvin's national animal is the piranha, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to heavy metals seepage into national waterways.

Mount Marvin is ranked 243,883^rd in the world and 5,429^th in The North Pacific for Most Cheerful Citizens, with 46.62 Percentage Of Water Glasses Perceived Half-Full.