The Holy Empire of Rousay is a very large, safe nation, notable for its public floggings, infamous sell-swords, and keen interest in outer space. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless, devout population of 415 million Orcadians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The medium-sized, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Kirkwall. The average income tax rate is 41.5%.

The very strong Rousayian economy, worth 39.9 trillion Bottlecaps a year, is fairly diversified and dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Uranium Mining, Trout Farming, and Tourism. Average income is 96,217 Bottlecaps, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.6 times as much as the poorest.

A popular saying is "a chicken for every pot and an abortion clinic on every street", a good Orcadian is hard to find, the government has cut its subsidies for all special interest groups, and wedding bands come in pairs to form wedding manacles. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Rousay's national animal is the Tammie Norrie, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Rousay is ranked 92,838^th in the world and 1^st in Orkneyjar for Safest, scoring 86.23 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.