The Democratic States of Ladzerben is a large, cultured nation, renowned for its otherworldly petting zoo, irreverence towards religion, and restrictive gun laws. The compassionate, democratic population of 167 million Ladzerbenians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The large, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 47.6%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped Ladzerbenian economy, worth 5.45 trillion Levant Silks a year, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Basket Weaving, and Pizza Delivery. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 32,644 Levant Silks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Tree farms across the nation are overrun by clipboard-wielding biologists, a blood-red mark on the doorframe means a building must be passed over for destruction, evenings at university debating societies often end with everyone acknowledging both sides may well be right, and truck drivers turn their engines off and coast whenever they're going downhill. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ladzerben's national animal is the Levant Phoenix, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Ladzerben is ranked 225,295^th in the world and 1,100^th in the Outback for Highest Unexpected Death Rate, scoring 29.86 on the Bus Surprisal Index.