The Free Land of Paripana is a gargantuan, efficient nation, renowned for its keen interest in outer space, smutty television, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 29.25 billion Paripanans enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The minute, liberal, pro-business government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Industry, Education, and Administration. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 4.2%.

The very strong Paripanan economy, worth a remarkable 2,021 trillion grams of gold a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is broadly diversified, is led by the Soda Sales industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Retail, and Uranium Mining. Average income is 69,098 grams of gold, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 348,225 per year while the poor average 7,648, a ratio of 45.5 to 1.

Anti-government web sites are springing up, the nation's first space rocket -- sponsored by Pepsi and shaped like an enormous soda bottle -- is being developed, healthcare funding has been cut, and Jennifer Government is a bestseller. Crime, especially youth-related, is pervasive, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Paripana's national animal is the 1093 reference, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Paripana is ranked 290,729^th in the world and 11,118^th in Lazarus for Lowest Crime Rates, with 26.76 law-abiding acts per hour.