The Principality of Costo Novo is a gargantuan, orderly nation, ruled by Prince Matelio IV Coragozo with an iron fist, and notable for its public floggings, compulsory military service, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 23.633 billion Costo Novoans 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 enormous, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Spirituality, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Zalma Evan. The average income tax rate is 78.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Costo Novoan economy, worth a remarkable 1,298 trillion costains a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Woodchip Exports, Uranium Mining, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 54,954 costains, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.0 times as much as the poorest.

The government seizes all major gold finds, children as young as twelve are conscripted into the armed forces, the government has declined to declare any particular religion as its 'official' one, and Costo Novo has designated Zalma Evan as its capital city. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Costo Novo's national animal is the Red-Tailed Eagle Hawk, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Costo Novo is ranked 67,691^st in the world and 2^nd in Asela for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 2,827.2 on the Gilded Widget Scale.