The Principality of Steigerwald is a titanic, cultured nation, ruled by Prince Franz Xaver von Dorsch with an even hand, and renowned for its daily referendums, keen interest in outer space, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, devout population of 15.267 billion Steigerwaldiens are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The medium-sized, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Helmshafen. The average income tax rate is 35.4%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The large but sluggish Steigerwaldien economy, worth 512 trillion Reichsmarks a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 33,564 Reichsmarks, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

It is a common belief that a sport isn't sport if there are no decapitations, the government tries not to listen to the people unless it absolutely has to, political dissidents are cut off from essential services, and gossip magazines have been replaced by mask catalogs. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Steigerwald's national animal is the eagle, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Wotanism.

Steigerwald is ranked 123,873^rd in the world and 1^st in Fallschirmjager for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 600.07 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.