The Second Allied Provinces of Laeral is a gargantuan, genial nation, ruled by President Liu Mei-han with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, daily referendums, and otherworldly petting zoo. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 16.654 billion Laeralites are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The large, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Laeralsford. The average income tax rate is 97.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Laeralian economy, worth a remarkable 3,039 trillion marks a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing and Tourism. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 182,501 marks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

War vets look after war animals, the Museum of Blackacrean War Crimes is located on "Blackacre Did Nothing Wrong Avenue", atheist missionaries spread doubt overseas, and the Ministry of Health has reported a sharp increase in the incidence of delayed menopause. Crime is totally unknown. Laeral's national animal is the swan, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Laeral is ranked 286,445^th in the world and 74^th in International Democratic Union for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -16.01 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.