The Free Land of Catalis is a colossal, genial nation, ruled by Phoenix Summer with an iron fist, and notable for its soft-spoken computers, pith helmet sales, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, cynical population of 8.56 billion Catalisians are ruled with an iron fist by the socialist government, which grants its people the freedom to do whatever they like so long as it doesn't involve getting richer than anybody else or challenging the government.

The enormous, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Crescent City. The average income tax rate is 93.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Catalisian economy, worth 987 trillion Bells a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism and Book Publishing. Average income is an impressive 115,354 Bells, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Digital novelty coins make for surprising vanguards of the revolution, the cruise missile launchers on the field hospital roof are purely deterrent in purpose, soldiers' positions are given away by the glint of their bayonets, and the government is spending billions of Bells on helping citizens find spiritual enlightenment. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Catalis's national animal is the TurtleDuck, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Catalis is ranked 285,354^th in the world and 6,108^th in The North Pacific for Largest Automobile Manufacturing Sector, scoring -14.42 on the Henry Ford Productivity Index.