The Constitutional Monarchy of New Cobastheia is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by King Edvard Cobastheian II with a fair hand, and renowned for its sprawling nuclear power plants, smutty television, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 14.342 billion Cobastheians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Cobast City. The average income tax rate is 97.7%.

The all-consuming Cobastheian economy, worth a remarkable 1,963 trillion Basthen Sheets a year, is highly specialized and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 136,892 Basthen Sheets, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Citizens are remarkably well involved in the political process, lobotomised jaywalkers can barely ambulate let alone repeat their offences, a traveller who once stubbed a toe on an Air Brancaland flight has been offered asylum, and machine-peeled candied grapes come in individual packaging for the busy commuter. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. New Cobastheia's national animal is the Grey Dragon Owl, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Atheism.

New Cobastheia is ranked 175,170^th in the world and 6,482^nd in The East Pacific for Largest Cheese Export Sector, scoring -4.2 on the Mozzarella Productivity Index.