The People's Republic of Matsilia is a huge, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its compulsory military service, punitive income tax rates, and restrictive gun laws. The quiet, industrious population of 412 million Matsilians 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 large, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Law & Order, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 51.1%.

The Matsilian economy, worth 17.5 trillion nats a year, is led by the Uranium Mining industry, with significant contributions from Basket Weaving, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Trout Farming. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 42,356 nats, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.3 times as much as the poorest.

The mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Matsilia's national animal is the milead horse, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Matsilia is ranked 259,567^th in the world and 7,089^th in Osiris for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring -58.31 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.