The Holy Empire of Richard Marles is a mid-sized, safe nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, compulsory military service, and enforced nudity. The hard-nosed, democratic, devout population of 56 million Richard Marlesians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Defense, and Education. The average income tax rate is 50.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped Richard Marlesian economy, worth 1.72 trillion lairds a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Automobile Manufacturing, Tourism, and Basket Weaving. Average income is 30,749 lairds, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Scientists spend more time enduring government inspections than they do on actual science, the dance skills of Leader are said to be almost as subversive as their politics, the navy plans patrols according to how many pubs nearby ports have, and the cold war against capitalism is growing chillier by the day. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Richard Marles's national animal is the Morgan.

Richard Marles is ranked 79,743^rd in the world and 4^th in Naughty Alcoholics Treaty Organisation for Most Cultured, scoring 68 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.