The Empire of Gowda is a massive, safe nation, ruled by Gowda with an iron fist, and notable for its parental licensing program, daily referendums, and prohibition of alcohol. The compassionate, cynical population of 2.306 billion Gowdans are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Gowdan Naadu. The average income tax rate is 92.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Gowdan economy, worth 348 trillion Gowds a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 151,148 Gowds, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Arbitrary election rules are considered sacrosanct, citizens insist that there's no law against standing downwind when marijuana crops are burned off, beaches are empty as the shark population multiplies exponentially, and troublemakers boast about how many times they have to visit their therapist. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Gowda's national animal is the Lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Hinduism.

Gowda is ranked 18,210^th in the world and 1,026^th in Lazarus for Most Cultured, scoring 95 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.