The Queen's State of Blanchekirk is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by the Governor with an iron fist, and renowned for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The cynical population of 23.856 billion Blanchekirkians 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 government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, corrupt, socially-minded, well-organized morass — juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Education, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. The average income tax rate is 77.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but stagnant Blanchekirkian economy, worth 320 trillion betales a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Soda Sales. Average income is 13,415 betales, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

School uniforms are compulsory, returning tourists and businessmen are detained without trial if they belong to the "wrong" religion, fancy dress parties are raided by military police for new recruits, and drills and shovels have been banned as the government cracks down on any means of fracking. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Blanchekirk's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is none.

Blanchekirk is ranked 98,967^th in the world and 2^nd in Nouakchott for Nicest Citizens, with 13.62 average smiles per day.