The Holy Empire of Ballsuk is a huge, efficient nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, enslaved workforce, and parental licensing program. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, devout population of 401 million Ballsukians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Sentinum Prime. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 34.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Ballsukian economy, worth 36.9 trillion Mengens a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Automobile Manufacturing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Black market activity is notable. Average income is 92,021 Mengens, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 279,829 per year while the poor average 23,501, a ratio of 11.9 to 1.

The government seizes all major gold finds, mall countdown clocks warn that there are only 364 more shopping days until Maxxmas, colonial citizens are forced to sing the praise of the "Great Ballsukian Liberator", and well-off serial killers write monthly checks to avoid jail time. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ballsuk's national animal is the Ballsukian Killerwasp, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Ballsuk is ranked 117,164^th in the world and 9^th in Eastern Europe for Lowest Crime Rates, with 66.04 law-abiding acts per hour.