The Colony of Nightshade Islands is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape and compulsory military service. The hard-working, democratic, devout population of 13.222 billion Nightshade Islandsians enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The tiny, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Spirituality, Defense, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 8.0%.

The strong Nightshade Islandsian economy, worth 813 trillion scudoes a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Gambling industry, with significant contributions from Automobile Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Basket Weaving. Average income is 61,527 scudoes, with the richest citizens earning 7.9 times as much as the poorest.

A large-scale revitalization of the education system is underway, organ donation rates are among the lowest in the region, the mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas, and Brancaland has gifted over nine thousand putrid moose carcasses to Nightshade Islands as a reminder of their "special relationship". Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low. Nightshade Islands's national animal is the nightengale, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Nightshade Islands is ranked 61,768^th in the world and 1^st in Night for Most Armed, with 1.43 weapons per person.