The Federal Republic of The Highland Union is a huge, safe nation, remarkable for its daily referendums, irreverence towards religion, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 490 million Highlanders hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Warwick. The average income tax rate is 37.6%.

The very strong Highlandic economy, worth 39.3 trillion dollars a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Retail, and Beef-Based Agriculture. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 80,172 dollars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.3 times as much as the poorest.

A few people seem to spend their whole time complaining, private pharmacies close down as medicinal drugs are given away freely by the government, the Finance Ministry posts hourly updates on where taxpayer money is spent, and the military is slashing spending on conventional arms and diverting it to spending on prosthetic arms. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. The Highland Union's national animal is the gryphon, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

The Highland Union is ranked 86,054^th in the world and 3,366^th in The North Pacific for Highest Wealthy Incomes, with 140,162 Standard Monetary Units.