The Federation of Bastalis is a massive, safe nation, ruled by High Councilor Zakaria Reid with an iron fist, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, compulsory military service, and national health service. The compassionate, cynical population of 2.503 billion Bastalians are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Newburton. The average income tax rate is 60.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The strong Bastalian economy, worth 197 trillion Federal Chrons a year, is led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Retail. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 78,869 Federal Chrons, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Organ donation rates are among the lowest in the region, the true length of the coastline of Bastalis may never be measured, the World Federation Games have been won again by Bastalis as no other country cares enough to compete, and internet ads promising "hot singles in your area" are even less accurate than they used to be. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bastalis's national animal is the Albatross, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Bastalis is ranked 214,829^th in the world and 8,187^th in The East Pacific for Largest Timber Woodchipping Industry, scoring -6 on the Tasmanian Pulp Environmental Export Index.