The Federal Republic of Lasteth is a massive, efficient nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, avowedly heterosexual populace, and lack of airports. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless, devout population of 1.51 billion Lastians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Last City. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 79.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Lastethian economy, worth 192 trillion Dollars a year, is mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Gambling, Retail, Book Publishing, and Automobile Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 127,269 Dollars, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 567,623 per year while the poor average 17,729, a ratio of 32.0 to 1.

The nation's new foreign policy of 'very disproportionate retribution' has its neighbors on edge, children dream of becoming physicians and physicists, retirement homes are filled with foreign war criminals, and Lastethian TV is considered cruel and unusual punishment in other countries. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Lasteth's national animal is the Sewer Rat, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Lasteth is ranked 23,003^rd in the world and 1,406^th in The North Pacific for Most Valuable International Artwork, with 8.57 Bank.