The Republic of K 2 is a mid-sized, socially progressive nation, notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, enslaved workforce, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 50 million K 2ians are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Welfare, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 8.7%.

The all-consuming K 2ian economy, worth 3.89 trillion candy cane gold bars a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Gambling industry, with major contributions from Woodchip Exports, Book Publishing, and Cheese Exports. Average income is 77,793 candy cane gold bars, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 503,567 per year while the poor average 4,818, a ratio of 104 to 1.

Slavers are real nutters, laser-wielding robots are taking aim at human hearts, the flight attendant who draws the short straw is on "cockpit bucket duty", and a girl's success in life is often linked to her performance in beauty pageants. Crime is a problem, probably because of the absence of a police force. K 2's national animal is the bat, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

K 2 is ranked 307,887^th in the world and 7^th in Freyaria for Largest Populations, with 50.0 million capita.