The Armed Republic of Palios is a tiny, safe nation, renowned for its compulsory military service and suspicion of poets. The hard-working population of 18 million Paliosians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 19.0%.

The strong Paliosian economy, worth 953 billion Purple-Backs a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Woodchip Exports, Gambling, and Soda Sales. Average income is 52,985 Purple-Backs, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.7 times as much as the poorest.

Parties that are too noisy are broken up to prevent disturbing wildlife, it is illegal to make racist remarks in public, same-sex marriages are increasingly common, and citizens need to demonstrate a complete set of dental records to throw five bucks in a hobo's hat. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent. Palios's national animal is the Raven.

Palios is ranked 322,906^th in the world and 17^th in Kaiserverse for Largest Black Market, with 2.00 billion Standard Monetary Units.