The Armed Commonwealth of Midland South States is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Max Houchens with an even hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, devotion to social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, humorless population of 30.443 billion Midland South Statesians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Oured. The average income tax rate is 99.0%.

The frighteningly efficient Midland South Statesian economy, worth a remarkable 7,063 trillion NorCon Dollars 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 Tourism industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Woodchip Exports, and Book Publishing. Average income is an amazing 232,032 NorCon Dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

A passport is literally priceless, soldiers' positions are given away by the glint of their bayonets, professionals are ready to retire by the time they receive permission to use their credentials, and sharing vacation pictures requires written consent from the entire beach resort. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Midland South States's national animal is the space invader, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is stoicism.

Midland South States is ranked 8,544^th in the world and 8^th in International Northwestern Union for Safest, scoring 123.37 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.