The Most Serene Republic of Castuna is a massive, socially progressive nation, ruled by Rajmund Grzegorzewski with a fair hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, compulsory military service, and daily referendums. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic, devout population of 2.497 billion Castunans hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Osebury. The average income tax rate is 56.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Castunan economy, worth 318 trillion francs a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Retail. Average income is an impressive 127,520 francs, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest.

The nation's counterintelligence budget is all up in the air, atheistic refugees haven't got a prayer of being granted asylum, the contraband cigarette trade is lighting up across Castuna, and newspaper stories fill several pages with colorful adjectives. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Castuna's national animal is the Peregrine Falcon, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Catholicism.

Castuna is ranked 72,838^th in the world and 15^th in Democratic Socialist Assembly for Largest Manufacturing Sector, scoring 14,981.73 on the Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index.