The Allied States of Tristezza is a very large, orderly nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, compulsory military service, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 396 million Tristezzans are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The relatively small, moralistic, pro-business, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Administration. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 9.0%.

The thriving Tristezzan economy, worth 32.7 trillion Continental Marks a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Gambling, Uranium Mining, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is 82,607 Continental Marks, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 342,044 per year while the poor average 13,092, a ratio of 26.1 to 1.

All government facilities are built in the subterranean citadel of Tristezza City, roads are littered with memorials for roadkill, the new one Continental Marks coin also makes a handy throwing-star, and "Leader got your tongue?" has become a popular idiom. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low, thanks to a capable police force. Tristezza's national animal is the blue bottle, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Tristezza is ranked 152,697^th in the world and 4^th in Etriae for Largest Publishing Industry, scoring 1,763.27 on the Bella Potter Productivity e-Index.