The Republic of Shatsa is a very large, safe nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape and frequent executions. The hard-nosed, hard-working, devout population of 259 million Shastans have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 13.5%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The strong Shatsan economy, worth 13.4 trillion Shatsan Dollars a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Uranium Mining industry, with major contributions from Automobile Manufacturing, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 51,746 Shatsan Dollars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

Prisons are filled with the cackles and sobs of a deranged inmate population, cheap and tasteless vegetables flood the markets, small shoes often wash up on the beach, and creating dance remixes is the newest form of conspicuous consumption. Crime, especially youth-related, is well under control, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shatsa's national animal is the Californian Bear, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Shatsa is ranked 159,671^st in the world and 2,725^th in The North Pacific for Most Developed, scoring 55.3 on the Human Development Index.