The Commonwealth of Latstat is a very large, genial nation, renowned for its otherworldly petting zoo, national health service, and absence of drug laws. The compassionate, democratic population of 249 million Latstatians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The large, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Environment. The average income tax rate is 69.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Latstatian economy, worth 15.9 trillion Credits 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 Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Retail, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is 63,822 Credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The aims of top-secret Latstatian science projects revolve around designing the perfect robot woman, torture is illegal, sermons are regularly interrupted by businessmen taking phone calls, and welfare funding has recently gone through the roof. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Latstat's national animal is the Tailor Bird, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Latstat is ranked 290,384^th in the world and 511^th in Starlight for Greatest Rich-Poor Divides, with 1.27 Rich To Poor Income Ratio.