The Meddling Matriarchy of Hindered is a gargantuan, genial nation, ruled by The Great Mother with an iron fist, and remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, anti-smoking policies, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, cynical, devout population of 26.888 billion Hindereders 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 Spirituality. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Madre Grande. The average income tax rate is 76.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Hinderederian economy, worth a remarkable 1,779 trillion motherlodes a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Woodchip Exports industry, with significant contributions from Cheese Exports and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 66,199 motherlodes, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.5 times as much as the poorest.

Black market eau de toilette is made in bathroom labs across the nation, defense lawyers suggestively note to juries how flagrantly happy victims were, the consent form for routine blood pressure measurement has been nominated for the 'Novel Of The Year' award, and nouveau riche farmers diligently take care of their golden calf herds. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hindered's national animal is the panda, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Goddess-worship.

Hindered is ranked 17,100^th in the world and 2^nd in Freshness for Safest, scoring 114.84 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.