The Federal Republic of Lion48 is a huge, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its state-planned economy, free-roaming dinosaurs, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 561 million Lion48ians 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, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Law & Order. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 65.7%.

The powerhouse Lion48ian economy, worth 58.0 trillion catnips 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, fairly diversified black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, and Book Publishing. 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 103,441 catnips, with the richest citizens earning 6.3 times as much as the poorest.

Citizens simply have to point a weapon at a government official to get what they want, the nationalistic national anthem inspires citizens to literally spit at foreigners, babies are a small but significant export, and Red Cross demand for body bags is rising while sutures go unused. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Lion48's national animal is the Meowing Cats, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Lion48 is ranked 303,513^th in the world and 87^th in Mauravia for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -13.13 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.