The Borderlands of Tristaea is a huge, safe nation, notable for its multi-spousal wedding ceremonies, absence of drug laws, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic, devout population of 677 million Tristaeans are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Seppelta. The average income tax rate is 75.1%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Tristaean economy, worth 42.2 trillion opals a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Tourism, and Trout Farming. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 62,263 opals, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

TV coverage of music festivals consists mostly of backstage interviews, most people suffer from some form of hearing loss, the Grinder at Fat Sal's Deli and Recycling Center is a national institution, and buses are widely regarded as the safest way to travel. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Tristaea's national animal is the moth, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Tristaea is ranked 234,973^rd in the world and 629^th in Horizon for Largest Publishing Industry, scoring -3.13 on the Bella Potter Productivity e-Index.