The Republic of Lastral is a massive, socially progressive nation, renowned for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 1.203 billion Lastralians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 71.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient Lastralian economy, worth 54.5 trillion dollars a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Cheese Exports industry, with significant contributions from Furniture Restoration, Basket Weaving, and Pizza Delivery. Average income is 45,314 dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Citizens are required to report any and all incidents of prayer to their local Religious Affairs Officer, goldfish bowls are three metres in diameter, children's TV shows are having a gay old time, and drills and shovels have been banned as the government cracks down on any means of fracking. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Lastral's national animal is the fox, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Lastral is ranked 140,458^th in the world and 5,363^rd in Balder for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 619.28 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.