The Republic of West Austern is a colossal, socially progressive nation, ruled by Tim LXXVIII with a fair hand, and notable for its prohibition of alcohol, complete absence of social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 9.598 billion Austernians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Industry, and Education. The average income tax rate is 38.4%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The strong Austere economy, worth 414 trillion westeroes a year, is quite specialized and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Uranium Mining, and Cheese Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 43,167 westeroes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Businesses are abandoning the city centre because of the lack of transport connections, tradesmen will knock 10% off their fees if customers pay cash, prolonged government investigations are a common revenge tactic among spurned significant others, and it's surprisingly hard to find pictures of the bad haircuts from Tim LXXVIII's childhood. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. West Austern's national animal is the Western Emu, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

West Austern is ranked 245,915^th in the world and 9,109^th in Lazarus for Highest Food Quality, scoring 7.92 on the Meeshlin-Starr Index.