Flag of Paledonn
The Great and Honorable Empire of Paledonn is a massive, safe nation, ruled by Carl Doubloon with a fair hand, and remarkable for its free-roaming dinosaurs, pith helmet sales, and ubiquitous missile silos. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless, devout population of 4.264 billion Paledonnians 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 Industry, Defense, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Jacksonville. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 6.0%.
The frighteningly efficient Paledonnian economy, worth 911 trillion Doubloons a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. Average income is an amazing 213,813 Doubloons, with the richest citizens earning 8.6 times as much as the poorest.
The country routinely whitewashes uncomfortable parts of its history, the "Underwear of Women in Power" issue of The Jacksonville Times is sold out, the government is seen to favor Catholics, and wind farms are erected on shuttered oil platforms. Crime is totally unknown. Paledonn's national animal is the Dragon, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Methodism.