The Holy Imperium of Ostermarch is a colossal, orderly nation, ruled by Maximilian with an iron fist, and remarkable for its aversion to nipples, otherworldly petting zoo, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless, devout population of 8.885 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 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. The average income tax rate is 92.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Imperial economy, worth a remarkable 3,777 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 425,135 crowns, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Weird kids who eat bugs are breaking the law, the government is more interested in identifying problems than fixing them, the dish 'poisson avec poison' is only available on the black market, and people are often woken up by rubbish music. 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 2,271^st in the world and 16^th in Europe for Fattest Citizens, with 39.33 Obesity Rate.