The Empire of Shiya is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by God King Antony with an iron fist, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, smutty television, and otherworldly petting zoo. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 32.462 billion Zyans are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The relatively small, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Gojira. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 68.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Zyian economy, worth an astonishing 25,168 trillion Fuhs a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Uranium Mining, and Retail. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is a breathtaking 775,326 Fuhs, with the richest citizens earning 8.7 times as much as the poorest.

Jaywalking is punishable by public flogging, optometrists will see citizens in seconds but health inspectors won't be sighted for years, those who sing the national anthem off-key have the key thrown away, and riot police are stationed around paintings of violent protestors. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, despite the fact that it is difficult to make it through a day without breaking one of the country's many laws. Shiya's national animal is the Nine tailed fox, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Imperial Cult.

Shiya is ranked 120^th in the world and 3^rd in Pontbridge Islands for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 1,744.85 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.