The Empire of Mirstein is a very large, safe nation, renowned for its ubiquitous missile silos, compulsory military service, and restrictive gun laws. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, devout population of 179 million Mirsteinians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Spirituality, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 22.5%.

The Mirsteinian economy, worth 11.1 trillion Numis a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Basket Weaving, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 62,198 Numis, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.5 times as much as the poorest.

It's said that any enemy of democracy is a friend to Leader, school lessons are constantly interrupted by 'teacher needs a break' time, government theft from poor artists to give to rich allies has been dubbed the "reverse Robin Hood" policy, and Leader's told that love often manifests itself through homicidal four-lettered litanies. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mirstein's national animal is the Snake, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Mirstein is ranked 121,814^th in the world and 250^th in Astoria for Safest, scoring 72.33 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.