The Protectorate of Estopel is a tiny, safe nation, notable for its zero percent divorce rate, suspicion of poets, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 10 million Estopelians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 63.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The weak Estopelian economy, worth 302 billion Mildwarrens 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 a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Trout Farming, Arms Manufacturing, Basket Weaving, 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 30,234 Mildwarrens, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The police force is rumoured to be made up of evil shadows with no souls, search and rescue forces now accept cheques and all major credit cards, Leader's new door-knocking campaign has the sweet taste of success, and pandemics are over and done with by the time it takes to pass the nation's stringent border security. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Estopel's national animal is the Lammelthrak, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Estopel is ranked 260,193^rd in the world and 8^th in The Lands for Nicest Citizens, with 5.02 average smiles per day.