The Republic of Charles 57 is a huge, cultured nation, notable for its ubiquitous missile silos, avant-garde cinema, and avowedly heterosexual populace. The hard-nosed, cynical, devout population of 587 million Charles 57ians 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 Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 36.1%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Charles 57ian economy, worth 31.4 trillion Coins a year, is led by the Furniture Restoration industry, with significant contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Basket Weaving, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 53,576 Coins, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.0 times as much as the poorest.

The government is deliberately installing bloatware onto computers, people who eat pizza with lactase supplements are arrested by the flavour police, seasonal hay-fever sufferers are attending government drug counselling sessions to get free doughnuts, and parents must choose their children's names from a government-mandated master list. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Charles 57's national animal is the Animal, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Charles 57 is ranked 73,598^th in the world and 63^rd in Charleslandia for Largest Cheese Export Sector, scoring 3,942.42 on the Mozzarella Productivity Index.