The Federal Republic of Ostellan is a huge, genial nation, ruled by Prime Minister Amanda Waldron with an iron fist, and renowned for its public floggings, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, cynical population of 877 million Ostellanders are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The enormous government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ostbon. The average income tax rate is 78.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Ostellandish economy, worth 85.4 trillion ₮heons a year, is led by the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Information Technology, and Trout Farming. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 97,326 ₮heons, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The banshee wail foretells skies of death, fishermen take out second mortgages to afford the yearly fishing permit, inheritance tax has recently been abolished, and ambitious "businessmen" use their children to sell and advertise their products. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ostellan's national animal is the Ostellandish Deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Ostellan is ranked 26,121^st in the world and 757^th in the West Pacific for Most Cheerful Citizens, with 52.44 Percentage Of Water Glasses Perceived Half-Full.