The Republic of Gildenshtuck is a massive, cultured nation, ruled by Oliver Blue with an even hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, ubiquitous missile silos, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, devout population of 4.576 billion Gildenshtuckians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Amora. The average income tax rate is 96.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Gildenshtuckian economy, worth 761 trillion gildens a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Tourism. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 166,429 gildens, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.5 times as much as the poorest.

Pandemics are over and done with by the time it takes to pass the nation's stringent border security, the nation's politicians are acknowledged as the most polite in the region to the dismay of comedians everywhere, schoolboys who turn to watch pretty girls go by are given detention, and guide dogs for the blind have been seen using government websites. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Gildenshtuck's national animal is the falcon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Freedom Christianity.

Gildenshtuck is ranked 223,654^th in the world and 4,979^th in The North Pacific for Nicest Citizens, with 6.84 average smiles per day.