The Syndicate of Horvis is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Sharvo with an iron fist, and remarkable for its compulsory military service, pith helmet sales, and absence of drug laws. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 6.175 billion Horvisians are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The enormous, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Zovaian. The average income tax rate is 89.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Horvisian economy, worth 837 trillion Clangors 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 large, well-organized, quite specialized black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Tourism. 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 an impressive 135,549 Clangors, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Maxtopian Grass flags adorn every college dorm room, you need two tenors and a coloratura contralto to sing the national anthem properly, there'll be no comeback tour for many former boy bands, and the government is allowing greater autonomy for some regions in the hopes of quelling growing secessionist movements. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Horvis's national animal is the Condor, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Gogwanism.

Horvis is ranked 254,343^rd in the world and 9,714^th in Lazarus for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -7.08 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.