The Kingdom of Aesterwald is a colossal, genial nation, ruled by König Siegfried with a fair hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, smutty television, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 3.291 billion Waldenians 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 enormous, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Vanderfell. The average income tax rate is 82.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Waldenic economy, worth 326 trillion marks a year, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Book Publishing, and Tourism. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 99,282 marks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Clothing with a scarlet S is popular among repentant body shamers, puppies given out free in marketing promotions are often tossed straight into the trash, the number of eyes rolled per maths lesson is increasing exponentially, and five-year-olds who refuse to line up on command get gold stars. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aesterwald's national animal is the Waldenian walrus, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans, and its national religion is Canonism.

Aesterwald is ranked 174,157^th in the world and 7^th in Waldenia for Largest Trout Fishing Sector, scoring 940.21 on the Nemo Depletion Efficiency Index.