The Social Democratic Dominion of Hopal is a colossal, genial nation, ruled by Prime Minister Harry Felixon with an even hand, and notable for its anti-smoking policies, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 8.697 billion Hopalians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Hopton. The average income tax rate is 94.2%.

The all-consuming Hopalian economy, worth 844 trillion Currents a year, is highly specialized and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Tourism and Information Technology. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 97,071 Currents, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Companies struggle to cover for the hordes of employees on parental leave, candidates make campaign speeches at the funerals of former rivals, there's nothing more gay than bleeding for your nation, and exceptionally healthy police officers can sprint after crooks for hours on end. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hopal's national animal is the Elephant, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Hopal is ranked 33,719^th in the world and 2^nd in Union of Democrats for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 5,273.12 on the Gilded Widget Scale.