The State of Van Kouchnet is a gargantuan, safe nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape and irreverence towards religion. The hard-working, democratic population of 10.3 billion Van Kouchnetians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 12.7%.

The strong Van Kouchnetian economy, worth 600 trillion betales a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Gambling industry, with major contributions from Furniture Restoration, Pizza Delivery, and Basket Weaving. Average income is 58,307 betales, with the richest citizens earning 6.7 times as much as the poorest.

The tenet of free speech is held dear, scientists regularly clone human beings for research purposes, and the country's famous rainforests are being bulldozed by the mining industry. Crime is relatively low. Van Kouchnet's national animal is the deer, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Van Kouchnet is ranked 187,540^th in the world and 2^nd in Toronto for Lowest Crime Rates, with 57.8 law-abiding acts per hour.