The Most Holy Republic of Ansstatt is a huge, cultured nation, ruled by MB Alois Horkheimer with an iron fist, and notable for its closed borders, public floggings, and keen interest in outer space. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, devout population of 819 million Ansstattors are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The relatively small, corrupt, pro-business, well-organized government prioritizes Industry, with Defense, Spirituality, and Law & Order also on the agenda, while Welfare and Social Policy are ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Gesalbtesland. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 18.4%.

The frighteningly efficient Ansstattic economy, worth 106 trillion Annsmarks a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Automobile Manufacturing. Black market activity is frequent. Average income is an impressive 130,155 Annsmarks, but there is an enormous disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 701,078 per year while the poor average 12,562, a ratio of 55.8 to 1.

Record sales of 'child-whacking sticks' have been reported, computer users are buried daily in thousands of unsolicited emails, shopkeepers use microscopes to verify the authenticity of banknotes, and education for the poor is learning to ask "do you want fries with that?". Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force. Ansstatt's national animal is the Basilisk, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Ansstatt is ranked 145,438^th in the world and 1,124^th in Europe for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 1,288.54 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.