The Kingdom of Great Nortend is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by King Alexander II with an iron fist, and notable for its frequent executions, complete absence of social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 14.757 billion Nortchmen are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The enormous, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Spirituality. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Lendert-with-Cadell. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 65.3%.

The powerhouse Erbonian economy, worth a remarkable 1,102 trillion pound martens a year, is led by the Basket Weaving industry, with major contributions from Cheese Exports, Arms Manufacturing, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 74,689 pound martens, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 210,833 per year while the poor average 21,180, a ratio of 10.0 to 1.

Planespotters are emigrating in droves, bars are packed at all hours, a rolling news ticker tape of disclaimers runs across the bottom of the screen on all TV shows, and King Alexander II's recent "I have a dream that we will fight them by raking muck on the beaches" speech seems a little derivative to many. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Great Nortend's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Church of Nortend.

Great Nortend is ranked 62,378^th in the world and 10^th in Astyria for Lowest Crime Rates, with 71.31 law-abiding acts per hour.