Spotlight on:

“We Will Endure”

Overview • Policies • People • Government • Economy • Rank • Trend • Cards

The Colony of ZenMaster is a titanic, socially progressive nation, ruled by The Sound of One Hand Clapping with a fair hand, and notable for its digital currency and irreverence towards religion. The hard-working, democratic population of 10.546 billion ZenMasterians 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 government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Taoville. The average income tax rate is 9.5%.

The ZenMasterian economy, worth 560 trillion pesos a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Trout Farming, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is 53,118 pesos, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.6 times as much as the poorest.

The Sound of One Hand Clapping's speeches are beloved by insomniacs, The Sound of One Hand Clapping has just been declared ruler of ZenMaster in an international press conference, the government has declined to declare any particular religion as its 'official' one, and same-sex marriages are increasingly common. Crime is moderate, probably because of the absence of a police force. ZenMaster's national animal is the unicorn.

ZenMaster is ranked 148,740^th in the world and 2^nd in Network for Most Cultured, scoring 64 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.