The Travails of Taungu is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Emperor Shwenankyawshin with a fair hand, and notable for its free-roaming dinosaurs, anti-smoking policies, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless population of 12.372 billion Taunguans are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.

The medium-sized, corrupt, pro-business, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Mandalay. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 71.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Taunguan economy, worth a remarkable 2,067 trillion Gold Taus a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. Black market activity is extensive. Average income is an impressive 167,117 Gold Taus, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,072,952 per year while the poor average 10,586, a ratio of 101 to 1.

Disadvantaged youths often commit felonies to enhance their educational prospects, the well-off can quite literally buy extra votes, the well-to-do in Thaecia are never on time for important appointments, and it can be a real jungle in a modern courtroom. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Taungu's national animal is the Crow, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Shibe.

Taungu is ranked 210,282^nd in the world and 399^th in Thaecia for Most Average, scoring 24.42 on the Average Standardized Normality Scale.