The Republic of Goethen is a colossal, socially progressive nation, renowned for its infamous sell-swords, sprawling nuclear power plants, and pith helmet sales. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic, humorless population of 8.071 billion Goethenians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small, corrupt, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 98.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Goethenian economy, worth a remarkable 5,514 trillion currencies 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 an enormous, deeply entrenched, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Book Publishing, Retail, and Soda Sales. 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 a breathtaking 683,196 currencies, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

Boys who take just one date to the high school prom are called 'losers', the nation is devoted to world peas, government theft from poor artists to give to rich allies has been dubbed the "reverse Robin Hood" policy, and the government is a proud sponsor of the National Gaming Association. Crime is totally unknown. Goethen's national animal is the animal, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Goethen is ranked 949^th in the world and 21^st in Vickenian experiment incubator for Largest Governments, scoring 66.35 on the Bureaucratic Comprehensiveness Rating Scale Index.