The Empire of Velmark is a mid-sized, orderly nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, compulsory military service, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 62 million Velmarkians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The enormous, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Spirituality. The average income tax rate is 71.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped Velmarkian economy, worth 2.07 trillion Velks 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 dominated by the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is 33,466 Velks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Declaring that "some kids are just born evil" is not endearing Leader to progressive thinkers, the country's famous rainforests are being bulldozed by the mining industry, all major public areas are watched by police surveillance cameras, and Harry Potter books are banned. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Velmark's national animal is the BlackHawk, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Velmark is ranked 130,951^st in the world and 55^th in Norrsken for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 1,485.67 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.