The Republic of New Herdon is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by The Republic Congress with an even hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, frequent executions, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless population of 5.338 billion Columbians are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The tiny, corrupt, pro-business government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Defense, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Seattle. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 3.4%.

The frighteningly efficient Columbian economy, worth a remarkable 1,174 trillion Columbian Dollars a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Soda Sales. Average income is an amazing 219,949 Columbian Dollars, but there is an enormous disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,293,025 per year while the poor average 17,435, a ratio of 74.2 to 1.

Whales in captivity live in little more than glorified goldfish bowls, every spring railroad foundations erode to reveal human remains, freighter lifeboats have been replaced by state of the art marker buoys so divers can recover the cargo after they sink, and young children are regularly seen wagering pocket money at blackjack tables. Crime is totally unknown. New Herdon's national animal is the Golden Eagle, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Rebellion.

New Herdon is ranked 46,770^th in the world and 2^nd in OEU Puppet Poole for Most Developed, scoring 65.02 on the Human Development Index.