Though the immense riches of the mines of Reschora and Kelcestre have by now made it one of the wealthiest countries on earth, the Republic of Rockall remains remarkably little known. Indeed, Rockall is in many ways an unusual country. Its eight-house parliament is a model for study by political scientists, yet the operations of that parliament are little understood in other democracies and nowhere emulated. It continues to rely upon animal power and steam haulage for road and rail transportation and employs battery-powered helicopters for emergency services and for recreation.
Petroleum is used only to power long-distance aeroplanes.
Its refusal to do so has long been thought an inexplicable eccentricity. Only now, as world petroleum resources diminish, is that refusal coming to seem wise, even admirable. Yes, exchange rates against the stable Rockalese currency are extremely high, but that is not the major problem. Rather it is that the Rockalese are so self-contained and so contented a people. They are not great travellers themselves, for they like their own land too well to feel obliged to visit others.