The Republic of Bankowiata is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Strong AI with a fair hand, and remarkable for its multi-spousal wedding ceremonies, restrictive gun laws, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 7.863 billion Bankowiatans love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bankowiata City. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient Bankowiatan economy, worth a remarkable 2,588 trillion Virtual Coins 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 amazing 329,218 Virtual Coins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Sneezing pedestrians are grabbed by alley-lurking doctors, Maxtopian tourists make expensive pilgrimages to Bankowiata City to enjoy their national art, access to the woods is only granted to those who bring a small shrubbery, and the nation's universities are often mistaken for foreign embassies. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bankowiata's national animal is the Hedgehog, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Secularism.

Bankowiata is ranked 188^th in the world and 10^th in The North Pacific for Safest, scoring 210.91 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.