The Empire of Virulian is a huge, efficient nation, ruled by Emperor Callahan Sidereum with an even hand, and renowned for its punitive income tax rates, devotion to social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, devout population of 880 million Virulians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Saint Camie Schlawg City. The average income tax rate is 66.4%.

The frighteningly efficient Virulian economy, worth 113 trillion VLDS a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Cheese Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 128,998 VLDS, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.0 times as much as the poorest.

Disadvantaged neighbourhoods have become no-go areas after sundown, graverobbers claim they're acting within the interest of 'scientific preservation', whenever pilots have to bail out the government bails out their company, and jaywalking is punishable by public flogging. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Virulian's national animal is the Schlawg, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Virulian is ranked 252,655^th in the world and 205^th in Thaecia for Most Beautiful Environments, with 212.98 pounds of wildlife per square mile.