The Allied States of Tristezza is a very large, orderly nation, notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, compulsory military service, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 358 million Tristezzans are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The tiny, moralistic, pro-business, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 8.3%.

The thriving Tristezzan economy, worth 28.3 trillion Continental Marks a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Retail, Gambling, and Pizza Delivery. Average income is 79,077 Continental Marks, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 322,578 per year while the poor average 12,851, a ratio of 25.1 to 1.

100-year-old politicians are now a thing of the past, prison officers are bribed not to take bribes, charities reserve the right to not help those who go against religious teachings, and both criminals and civilians are DOA. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low, thanks to a capable police force. Tristezza's national animal is the blue bottle, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Tristezza is ranked 208,205^th in the world and 5^th in Etriae for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -2.37 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.