The Most Serene Republic of Saint Mark is a mammoth, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its burgeoning lion population. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 8.742 billion Saint Markians are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.

The minute, pro-business, outspoken government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Spirituality, Law & Order, and Defense. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 4.9%.

The thriving Saint Markian economy, worth 649 trillion lire a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Average income is 74,260 lire, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 262,859 per year while the poor average 15,147, a ratio of 17.4 to 1.

Crime is a problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Saint Mark's national animal is the lion.

Saint Mark is ranked 99,844^th in the world and 1^st in San Marco for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 96.95 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.