The Armed Republic of The 503rd Podrian Infantry Brigade is a huge, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy and stringent health and safety legislation. The cynical population of 431 million 503rd Podrian Infantry Brigadeans are ruled with an iron fist by the socialist government, which grants its people the freedom to do whatever they like so long as it doesn't involve getting richer than anybody else or challenging the government.

The medium-sized, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 36.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant 503rd Podrian Infantry Brigadean economy, worth 4.25 trillion assembly notes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Trout Farming, Woodchip Exports, Cheese Exports, and Beef-Based Agriculture. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 9,851 assembly notes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. The 503rd Podrian Infantry Brigade's national animal is the serpent.

The 503rd Podrian Infantry Brigade is ranked 167,001^st in the world and 2^nd in The Third order alliance for Most Primitive, scoring -63.25 on the Scary Big Number Scale.