The Federal Republic of Goat Herding is a gargantuan, efficient nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 14.872 billion Goat Herdingians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The minute, moralistic government, or what there is of one, is effectively ruled by the Department of Law & Order, with Welfare, Education, and Healthcare also on the agenda, while Environment and Administration are ignored. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 6.5%.

The very strong Goat Herdingian economy, worth 664 trillion The Blahs a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Information Technology, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is 44,700 The Blahs, with the richest citizens earning 6.2 times as much as the poorest.

The government is reining in public spending, euthanasia is illegal, voting is voluntary, and citizens are enjoying a recent large cut in taxes. Crime is moderate, possibly because it is difficult to make it through a day without breaking one of the country's many regulations. Goat Herding's national animal is the Goat, which can occasionally be seen sifting through garbage in the nation's cities.

Goat Herding is ranked 31,226^th in the world and 12^th in Red Back Island for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 6,076.21 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.