The Democratic Republic of Ghurlan is a massive, genial nation, ruled by General Secretary with an even hand, and renowned for its national health service, keen interest in outer space, and daily referendums. The compassionate population of 1.646 billion Ghurlanis are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ghurlstadt. The average income tax rate is 91.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Ghurlanian economy, worth 145 trillion Ghurls a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Basket Weaving industry, with major contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Information Technology, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is 88,214 Ghurls, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Nations that kill a Ghurlani can expect a strongly worded letter, the "swords to plowshares" policy has created a generation of farmers that can kill a yak from 200 yards away, Ghurlanian watches are often the only thing to survive a disaster intact, and only 'organics' are permitted to be citizens. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ghurlan's national animal is the Reindeer, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Radical Pantheism.

Ghurlan is ranked 6,099^th in the world and 117^th in The Leftist Assembly for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 7,509.39 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.