The Federal Republic of Mangsten is a mid-sized, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 56 million Mangstenians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 9.7%.

The Mangstenian economy, worth 3.64 trillion stens a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Information Technology. Average income is 64,994 stens, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.7 times as much as the poorest.

Cold medicines curiously become cheaper when government officials sneeze, college students make ends meet by selling their kidneys, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, and voting is compulsory. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Mangsten's national animal is the Platypus, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Mangsten is ranked 83,677^th in the world and 195^th in Horizon for Rudest Citizens, with 61.81 insults per minute.