The Republic of Oxbow Lakes is a colossal, safe nation, renowned for its burgeoning shoop population. The quiet, industrious population of 3.132 billion Oxbow Lakesians 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 relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Education. The average income tax rate is 17.6%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Oxbow Lakesian economy, worth 146 trillion dollars a year, is dominated by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Cheese Exports, Gambling, and Soda Sales. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 46,620 dollars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.0 times as much as the poorest.

Prison reforms have replaced communal luaus with communal loos, every new building project has to undergo a five-year environmental impact study before it can go ahead, the "boy who cried wolf" policy makes sick people reluctant to call an ambulance, and nature reserves often contain artificial waterfalls and concrete paths. Crime is almost non-existent, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Oxbow Lakes's national animal is the shoop, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Oxbow Lakes is ranked 231,040^th in the world and 2^nd in Mica for Largest Publishing Industry, scoring -2.65 on the Bella Potter Productivity e-Index.