The Republic of New-Erie is a huge, genial nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, avant-garde cinema, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-working, devout population of 486 million New-Erieans are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Spirituality, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 39.1%.

The New-Eriean economy, worth 24.3 trillion francs a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Pizza Delivery, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 49,952 francs, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.1 times as much as the poorest.

Nobody knows why the caged lion sings, large areas of New-Erie are not accessible by the public, short shrift is being given to applications for political asylum from illegal immigrants, and the government invades its allies more than its enemies. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. New-Erie's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

New-Erie is ranked 233,957^th in the world and 100^th in Covenant Shores for Most Extensive Civil Rights, with 29.33 Martin Luther King, Jr. Units.