The Golden Heart of Raphtalia is a colossal, pleasant nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, public floggings, and keen interest in outer space. The hard-working population of 4.95 billion Raphtalias are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Welfare, and Law & Order. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 18.8%.

The strong Raphtalian economy, worth 281 trillion Gold Coins a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Woodchip Exports industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Uranium Mining. Average income is 56,882 Gold Coins, with the richest citizens earning 5.6 times as much as the poorest.

Students and teachers are regularly stopped and searched for symbols of religious affiliation before class, military spending is on the increase, party leaders rely on horoscopes to create "ticket balance", and men's magazines give handy tips on the most effective way to throw heavy stones. Crime is a problem, possibly because it is difficult to make it through a day without breaking one of the country's many regulations. Raphtalia's national animal is the Tanuki, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Raphtalia is ranked 155,920^th in the world and 877^th in the Plains of Perdition for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 382.9 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.