The Allied States of Mystyn is a huge, genial nation, renowned for its irreverence towards religion, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 442 million Mystynians enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 79.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped Mystynian economy, worth 13.6 trillion pebbles a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Door-to-door Insurance Sales industry, with major contributions from Trout Farming, Automobile Manufacturing, and Information Technology. Average income is 30,837 pebbles, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Racial and religious segregation has become rife as the various groups are loath to mingle, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, the government regularly reassures citizens that there are no monsters under their beds, and children's bedrooms are often decorated with posters of successful accountants. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mystyn's national animal is the toad, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Mystyn is ranked 10,039^th in the world and 29^th in Refugia for Most Income Equality, scoring 90.06 on the Marx-Engels Emancipation Scale.