The Retired Delegate of Alsted is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by a federal presidency with a fair hand, and remarkable for its compulsory military service, public floggings, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 31.618 billion Alstedians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked morass — juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of San Junipero. The average income tax rate is 83.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The strong Alstedian economy, worth a remarkable 1,841 trillion Alstedian Dollars a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity. The industrial sector is solely comprised of the Book Publishing industry. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 58,227 Alstedian Dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

New safety regulations require all cars manufactured in Alsted to be bombproof, employers may fire workers without giving any reason, planespotters are emigrating in droves, and corporate lobbying has been outlawed. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Alsted's national animal is the Juniperon Otter, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Alsted is ranked 263,551^st in the world and 1,089^th in Europe for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -16.81 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.