The Parochial Union of Saint Ardor del Alba is a massive, genial nation, ruled by Rosaria Dolores with an even hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, compulsory military service, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic, devout population of 1.429 billion Ardorans are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of San Lázaro. The average income tax rate is 67.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Ardoran economy, worth 153 trillion Lágrimas a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Retail, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 107,297 Lágrimas, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Birth announcements often also serve as death announcements, motorists must pay to enter inner-cities during peak hours, doctors will keep brain-dead coma patients ventilated for years in order to avoid accusations of allowing people to die, and sharks are enjoying their deliveries of canned food. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Saint Ardor del Alba's national animal is the lamb, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Catholicism.

Saint Ardor del Alba is ranked 13,003^rd in the world and 38^th in The Western Isles for Nicest Citizens, with 28.74 average smiles per day.