The Federal Republic of West Alta is a huge, orderly nation, notable for its pith helmet sales, public floggings, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 374 million Altans 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 medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Castelalta. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 45.4%.

The frighteningly efficient Altan economy, worth 45.5 trillion Marks a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Retail, Information Technology, and Automobile Manufacturing. Black market activity is extensive. Average income is an impressive 121,743 Marks, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 441,844 per year while the poor average 23,891, a ratio of 18.5 to 1.

Nobody draws smiley faces on receipts anymore, the moon's craters are more numerous every day, personal injury lawyers are demanding compensation from the government after recent reductions in manufacturer liability, and shoppers insist that instruction labels exempt their purchases from VAT. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. West Alta's national animal is the Horse, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

West Alta is ranked 189,205^th in the world and 921^st in Europe for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 74.71 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.