The Principality of The Shadow Nations is a fledgling, safe nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, irreverence towards religion, and absence of drug laws. The democratic population of 6 million Shadows 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 medium-sized, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 25.1%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The developing Shadow economy, worth 196 billion pyrolusites a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient black market in Book Publishing, Pizza Delivery, Information Technology, and Cheese Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 32,815 pyrolusites, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The tenet of free speech is held dear, surveillance cameras are banned, euthanasia is legal, and voting is compulsory. Crime is totally unknown. The Shadow Nations's national animal is the eaglefish, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

The Shadow Nations is ranked 51,216^th in the world and 119^th in Aeternum for Largest Pizza Delivery Sector, scoring 3,650.79 on the Pepperoni Propulsion Productivity Index.