The United Socialist Councils of Bastionias is a massive, safe nation, ruled by Supreme Council with a fair hand, and renowned for its anti-smoking policies, daily referendums, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 1.287 billion Bastionians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The enormous, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Brechten. The average income tax rate is 92.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Bastionian economy, worth 151 trillion Solidarities a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing and Tourism. Average income is an impressive 117,404 Solidarities, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Court cases mostly involve lawyers shouting questions at witnesses giving silent shrugs, army doctors who come under attack defend themselves by using stethoscopes like nunchaku, Bastionias has been recently classified as an international menace after 'liberating' several nearby territories, and 'The Anti-Government Hour' is a popular programme on many of Bastionias's radio stations. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bastionias's national animal is the Peregrine falcon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Bastionias is ranked 20,019^th in the world and 328^th in The Communist Bloc for Most Cultured, scoring 93 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.