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“Faugh an Beallach”

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The Imperial Union of Aravea is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by Arkhon Alexandra von Randgriz with a fair hand, and remarkable for its smutty television, pith helmet sales, and strictly enforced bedtime. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 29.092 billion Araveans 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 tiny, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Dal Riata. The average income tax rate is 6.8%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Aravean economy, worth a remarkable 2,465 trillion Thalers a year, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 84,747 Thalers, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

The nation's forests are full of treasure hunters in military-grade survival gear, the Grinder at Fat Sal's Deli and Recycling Center is a national institution, the government is constantly producing new maps to accommodate the continual renaming of cities, and soldiers find that home gadgets and power tools are more effective as improvised weapons than the guns they've been issued. Crime is well under control, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aravea's national animal is the Aravean Snow Lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Lutheranism.

Aravea is ranked 31,050^th in the world and 10^th in Mystria for Most Cultured, scoring 78 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.