The Federal Republic of Alarastan is a tiny, safe nation, remarkable for its punitive income tax rates, devotion to social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 8 million Alarastanians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 66.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The struggling Alarastanian economy, worth 160 billion Credits a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is mostly made up of the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is 20,107 Credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Theft is considered to be okay if the crime happened a long time ago, sociologists can charge whatever fee they like as the nation tries to find itself, there's a lot of mouth-breathers about these days, and people find it hard to relate to soldiers because of the dehumanising masks they wear. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Alarastan's national animal is the LothCat, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Alarastan is ranked 121,538^th in the world and 1,580^th in the South Pacific for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 624.46 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.