The State of Poplar Grove is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its compulsory military service, state-planned economy, and restrictive gun laws. The cynical population of 29.264 billion Poplar Groveans are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The enormous, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. The average income tax rate is 79.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but stagnant Poplar Grovean economy, worth 131 trillion betales a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is mostly comprised of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 4,482 betales, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

A major religion has been named as Poplar Grove's national religion, the government is cutting back on the number of political prisoners executed each year, the deer is a protected species, and Poplar Grove has designated Capital Heights as its capital city. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Poplar Grove's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Poplar Grove is ranked 54,215^th in the world and 1^st in Marshall Islands for Lowest Crime Rates, with 73.05 law-abiding acts per hour.