The Republic of ZoniStan is a huge, orderly nation, remarkable for its burgeoning giraffe population. The cynical population of 847 million ZoniStanians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The medium-sized, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 34.8%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient ZoniStanian economy, worth 27.5 trillion marks a year, is quite specialized and led by the Basket Weaving industry, with major contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Tourism, and Cheese Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 32,496 marks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

Crime is well under control, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. ZoniStan's national animal is the giraffe.

ZoniStan is ranked 272,147^th in the world and 127^th in Alliance of Non Regional Nation for Largest Automobile Manufacturing Sector, scoring -9.49 on the Henry Ford Productivity Index.