The People's Republic of Castrop Rauxel Ost is a huge, safe nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, public floggings, and pith helmet sales. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 325 million Castrop Rauxel Ostians 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, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 60.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Castrop Rauxel Ostian economy, worth 32.7 trillion Soviet Euros a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Trout Farming, Information Technology, and Uranium Mining. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 100,511 Soviet Euros, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.9 times as much as the poorest.

Bad punctuation has come to a full stop, the military patrols the streets in search of possible secessionists, travelers often bring empty plastic bottles on Air Castrop Rauxel Ost flights to avoid the pay lavatories, and families waiting for delayed pipe installations hope daily for rain. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Castrop Rauxel Ost's national animal is the Braun Bär, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Castrop Rauxel Ost is ranked 65,804^th in the world and 1^st in Der Senat der Weltordnung for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 3,616.25 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.