The Grand Union of FORTTICONDEROGA is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Gordon Howard with an even hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, anti-smoking policies, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, democratic, devout population of 18.564 billion FORTTICONDEROGAians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Chandrila Prime. The average income tax rate is 95.1%.

The all-consuming FORTTICONDEROGAian economy, worth a remarkable 2,996 trillion Credits a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 161,400 Credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Money grows on trees, producers insist that movie stars wear crash helmets in every scene, at least 1% of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget goes to Gordon Howard's wardrobe, and it is rumoured that Gordon Howard uses a magic 8-ball to make policy decisions. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. FORTTICONDEROGA's national animal is the pegasus, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Christianity.

FORTTICONDEROGA is ranked 2,569^th in the world and 110^th in Osiris for Lowest Crime Rates, with 135.6 law-abiding acts per hour.