The Empire of Marquista is a tiny, safe nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, ubiquitous missile silos, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 14 million Marquistanoes 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 medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, pro-business, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 22.7%.

The powerhouse Marquistan economy, worth 927 billion quis a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Woodchip Exports, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is 66,268 quis, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 278,172 per year while the poor average 10,261, a ratio of 27.1 to 1.

Mining safety laws are often more expensive than what's being mined, police are arresting costumed characters at comic book conventions, social care for the elderly consists of a self help leaflet and a kick on the backside, and mourners at funerals are ticketed for trespassing. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low, thanks to a very well-funded police force. Marquista's national animal is the Rattlesnake, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Marquista is ranked 76,158^th in the world and 2^nd in Vaagot Land for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 3,008.59 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.