The Disputed Territories of East Lodge is a very large, cultured nation, notable for its compulsory military service and ban on automobiles. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 126 million East Lodgeans are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The relatively small, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Welfare, and Healthcare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 10.1%.

The East Lodgean economy, worth 7.67 trillion Rubies a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Trout Farming industry, with major contributions from Cheese Exports, Basket Weaving, and Tourism. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 60,850 Rubies, with the richest citizens earning 6.0 times as much as the poorest.

Every workday begins with group therapy, the military is slashing spending on conventional arms and diverting it to spending on prosthetic arms, voting district maps are said to resemble a tyrannosaurus eating the capital, and there has been a series of riots between local cannibals and health food advocates. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent. East Lodge's national animal is the Red Panther, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

East Lodge is ranked 37,063^rd in the world and 1,577^th in the South Pacific for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 3,243.68 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.