The Holy Imperium of Ostermarch is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Maximilian with an iron fist, and remarkable for its deadly medical pandemics, avowedly heterosexual populace, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless, devout population of 7.012 billion Imperials 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. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of El Escorial. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 90.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Imperial economy, worth a remarkable 3,077 trillion crowns a year, is broadly diversified and mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Retail, and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an amazing 438,845 crowns, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,308,711 per year while the poor average 115,230, a ratio of 11.4 to 1.

Diplomats shake hands with their right and hide a poison dagger in their left, foreign leaders' Twitcher accounts are monitored for potential threats to national security, flipping a coin to make a decision leads to a referral to Gambling Addiction Services, and conscientious objectors are hanged as traitors. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ostermarch's national animal is the demigryph, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Imperial Cult.

Ostermarch is ranked 1,178^th in the world and 19^th in Europe for Lowest Crime Rates, with 149.26 Law-abiding Acts Per Hour.