The Principality of Erste is a colossal, socially progressive nation, renowned for its irreverence towards religion and absence of drug laws. The democratic population of 7.205 billion Ersteans are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The medium-sized, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 28.6%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The large but underdeveloped Erstean economy, worth 174 trillion betales a year, is led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Basket Weaving, and Automobile Manufacturing. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 24,228 betales, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Genetic researchers have been expelled, tourists from around the world come to visit the country's famous rainforests, a nation-wide cull of deer is in effect, and the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller. Crime is totally unknown. Erste's national animal is the deer.

Erste is ranked 153,643^rd in the world and 1^st in Black Dragons for Lowest Crime Rates, with 60.73 law-abiding acts per hour.