The Queendom of Shalsha is a huge, genial nation, notable for its free-roaming dinosaurs, parental licensing program, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic, devout population of 739 million Shalshänen love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Social Policy. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of RyuKitasa. The average income tax rate is 79.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Shalshan economy, worth 39.5 trillion Danengas a year, is quite specialized and led by the Basket Weaving industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 53,496 Danengas, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

Failed genetic experiments wreak havoc as they roam the countryside, prisoners can't do number twos without their "toilet buddy" present, families make most of their annual income from government benefits, and advertisers are struggling to make water sound cool to a twitchy public. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shalsha's national animal is the Kitsune, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Shalsha is ranked 127,221^st in the world and 147^th in Aesica for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 81.66 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.