The Retired Delegate of Alsted is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by a federal presidency with a fair hand, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, daily referendums, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 27.713 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 Education, Healthcare, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of San Junipero. The average income tax rate is 79.1%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The strong Alstedian economy, worth a remarkable 1,524 trillion Alstedian Dollars a year, is extremely specialized and solely comprised of the Book Publishing industry. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 55,018 Alstedian Dollars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.0 times as much as the poorest.

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 39,634^th in the world and 512^th in Europe for Healthiest Citizens, with 5.66 Bananas Ingested Per Day.