The Empire of Shalum is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Imperator Tyler Holland with an even hand, and remarkable for its daily referendums, unlimited-speed roads, and infamous sell-swords. The hard-nosed, devout population of 18.217 billion Shalumites have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Aragon. The average income tax rate is 91.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Shalumite economy, worth a remarkable 2,546 trillion Dollars a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 139,809 Dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Claiming to have performed the Heimlich Maneuver is a popular defense for assault charges, school history books often refer to Imperator Tyler Holland as "that imperialist pig dog", Shalum isn't what it used to be, and the inside lane of every highway is for parked vehicles only. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shalum's national animal is the Cuderae, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Roman Catholicism.

Shalum is ranked 96,335^th in the world and 11^th in Tyran for Most Politically Free, scoring 66.29 on the Diebold Election Inking Scale.