The Republic of Mambo 98 is a massive, safe nation, renowned for its ban on automobiles, keen interest in outer space, and parental licensing program. The compassionate population of 1.128 billion Mambo 98ians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Education. The average income tax rate is 64.5%.

The thriving Mambo 98ian economy, worth 84.5 trillion currencies a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 74,940 currencies, with the richest citizens earning 5.2 times as much as the poorest.

Some of the country's most famous photographers are animals, the jails are alive with the sound of birdsong, contrails and thunderous rumbles have returned to the skies above, and the studies of art and philosophy are banned. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mambo 98's national animal is the animal, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Mambo 98 is ranked 131,182^nd in the world and 346^th in Izern for Smartest Citizens, with 32.29 quips per hour.