The Federation of Lavrentia is a huge, safe nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, keen interest in outer space, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, devout population of 265 million Lavrentians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government prioritizes Spirituality, with Welfare, Education, and Defense also on the agenda, while Social Policy is ignored. The average income tax rate is 22.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Lavrentian economy, worth 13.9 trillion marks a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Woodchip Exports industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Information Technology, and Automobile Manufacturing. Average income is 52,594 marks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

The installation of street lights across remote goat tracks has left citizens bemused, pregnant hitchhikers with signs requesting rides to "competent care" are a common sight on Lavrentian roads, advert breaks are played at lower volumes to make them easier to ignore, and heartfelt sentiments are mercilessly marketed by a million-mark treacle machine. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Lavrentia's national animal is the Lion, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Lavrentia is ranked 302,342^nd in the world and 3,894^th in The North Pacific for Largest Black Market, with 11.0 billion Standard Monetary Units.