The Book of Lamentations is a colossal, orderly nation, remarkable for its burgeoning cobra population. The hard-working, cynical population of 3.491 billion Lamentationsians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 20.2%.

The Lamentationsian economy, worth 161 trillion guilders a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Soda Sales industry, with major contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Arms Manufacturing, and Pizza Delivery. Average income is 46,207 guilders, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.1 times as much as the poorest.

Conductors wield diamond-encrusted batons to fit in with their freshly gilded surroundings, the tenet of free speech is held dear, the mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas, and citizens are enjoying a recent large cut in taxes. Crime is moderate. Lamentations's national animal is the cobra.

Lamentations is ranked 243,458^th in the world and 1^st in Christianity for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -5.48 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.