The Cornelian Dominion of Maritzal is a titanic, orderly nation, ruled by Cornelius I with an iron fist, and notable for its teetotalling pirates, infamous sell-swords, and free-roaming dinosaurs. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 21.525 billion Maritzalians 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 tiny, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Defense, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Meridian. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 62.7%.

The frighteningly efficient Maritzalian economy, worth an astonishing 11,822 trillion Pistas a year, is mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Information Technology, Retail, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. Average income is a breathtaking 549,231 Pistas, with the richest citizens earning 8.9 times as much as the poorest.

Boys who even ask about cheerleading are placed on the Sex Offenders Register, the government has cut taxes in the face of widespread tax evasion, popular political cartoonists are thrown in jail for inciting dissent, and most Pista coins are riddled with bite marks. Crime, especially youth-related, is all-pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Maritzal's national animal is the Cat, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is The Order Of Our Lord Cornelius.

Maritzal is ranked 6,287^th in the world and 28^th in Europe for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 9,605.34 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.