The Empire of Tingleton is a tiny, cultured nation, renowned for its state-planned economy, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 16 million Tingletonians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 63.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Tingletonian economy, worth 668 billion Lerbs a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Automobile Manufacturing, Arms Manufacturing, and Tourism. Average income is 41,796 Lerbs, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Jaywalking will put an end to a family tree, contemporary art museums showcase the latest in centuries-old art, bike rage is all the rage, and dictionaries have tripled in size listing alternative spellings. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Tingleton's national animal is the Eagle, which can occasionally be seen dodging aircraft in the nation's cities.

Tingleton is ranked 245,084^th in the world and 115^th in The Communist Bloc for Highest Unexpected Death Rate, scoring 28.49 on the Bus Surprisal Index.