The Empire of Staros is a massive, efficient nation, ruled by Sultan Selim Al-Farouq with an iron fist, and renowned for its zero percent divorce rate, compulsory military service, and otherworldly petting zoo. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 3.096 billion Starosians are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New Constantinople. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 18.0%.

The thriving Starosian economy, worth 208 trillion New Ottoman lire a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Woodchip Exports, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 67,378 New Ottoman lire, with the richest citizens earning 8.2 times as much as the poorest.

Airport users are more worried about radiation than terrorism, surveillance cameras are banned, it takes months to get the proper permits for a child's first tricycle, and sexually-starved male dinosaurs terrorise tourists during weekly breakouts from Mesozoic Park. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low, thanks to a well-funded police force. Staros's national animal is the gray wolf, which can occasionally be seen sifting through garbage in the nation's cities, and its national religion is New Islam.

Staros is ranked 182,889^th in the world and 47^th in 001 Alpha Prime for Most Beautiful Environments, with 489.27 pounds of wildlife per square mile.