The Queen's State of Vie Thelon is a titanic, socially progressive nation, renowned for its complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 20.234 billion Vie Thelonians are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The minute, pro-business government, or what there is of one, prioritizes Education, with Industry also on the agenda, while Spirituality and Defense receive no funds. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.7%.

The powerhouse Vie Thelonian economy, worth 950 trillion betales a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is quite specialized and led by the Gambling industry, with major contributions from Retail, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. Average income is 46,964 betales, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 161,123 per year while the poor average 10,047, a ratio of 16.0 to 1.

Extreme political groups are outlawed, a large-scale revitalization of the education system is underway, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, and young children are regularly seen wagering pocket money at blackjack tables. Crime is a serious problem, probably because of the absence of a police force. Vie Thelon's national animal is the deer, which can occasionally be seen sifting through garbage in the nation's cities.

Vie Thelon is ranked 154,738^th in the world and 1^st in Thelon Lake for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 603.58 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.