The Republic of Shy is a colossal, cultured nation, notable for its national health service, unlimited-speed roads, and rampant corporate plagiarism. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, cheerful population of 5.024 billion Shyians are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

The relatively small, corrupt, pro-business, well-organized government is primarily concerned with Industry, although Healthcare, Defense, and Welfare are also considered important. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 68.0%.

The frighteningly efficient Shyian economy, worth a remarkable 1,790 trillion francs a year, is broadly diversified and mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Retail, Soda Sales, Arms Manufacturing, and Gambling. Average income is an amazing 356,296 francs, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 3,193,703 per year while the poor average 5,102, a ratio of 625 to 1.

Clowns are being rounded up and admitted to mental institutions, drivers regularly pull over for nonexistent police cars, families make most of their annual income from government benefits, and children who can't memorize their multiplication tables are sent to the mines. Crime, especially youth-related, is pervasive, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Shy's national animal is the emu, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Shy is ranked 2,954^th in the world and 117^th in Poetry for Most Patriotic, with 95.62 flags saluted per person per day.