The Republic of Durnost is a colossal, socially progressive nation, renowned for its burgeoning hawk population. The hard-working, cynical population of 4.405 billion Durnostians are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

The relatively small, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Welfare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 10.0%.

The very strong Durnostian economy, worth 268 trillion rubledollars a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Gambling industry, with major contributions from Woodchip Exports, Soda Sales, and Cheese Exports. Average income is 61,013 rubledollars, with the richest citizens earning 8.9 times as much as the poorest.

Crime is moderate. Durnost's national animal is the hawk, which can occasionally be seen dodging aircraft in the nation's cities.

Durnost is ranked 177,989^th in the world and 1^st in Ridge blue for Largest Manufacturing Sector, scoring 6,875.15 on the Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index.