The Empire of Gamblia is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Spruce with an even hand, and notable for its rum-swilling pirates, rampant corporate plagiarism, and absence of drug laws. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 4.888 billion Gamblians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and look forward to their next free and open election, to be held on an as-yet unannounced date.

The relatively small, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Gambling City. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 20.8%.

The frighteningly efficient Gamblian economy, worth 688 trillion gambels 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 large, well-organized, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Gambling, Retail, and Pizza Delivery. 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 an impressive 140,848 gambels, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 668,278 per year while the poor average 17,518, a ratio of 38.1 to 1.

Politicians no longer click with dating app matches, environmentalists have found an unusual ally in soldiers of fortune, birdsong in the mountains has to be loud enough to drown out nearby jackhammers, and inter-species marriages are ignored by the government. Crime, especially youth-related, is pervasive, probably because of the absence of a police force. Gamblia's national animal is the pigeon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Gamblism.

Gamblia is ranked 4,893^rd in the world and 1^st in The Chrono Sphere for Highest Unexpected Death Rate, scoring 142.5 on the Bus Surprisal Index.