The Holy Empire of Lysbon is a tiny, efficient nation, notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, zero percent divorce rate, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 9 million Lysbonians, 1 million of whom are zombies, have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The minute government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.5%.

The very strong Lysbonian economy, worth 589 billion Lysons a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Retail. Average income is 65,471 Lysons, with the richest citizens earning 6.7 times as much as the poorest.

The latest "must-have" uPhone is 1/4 mm thinner than last year's uPhone, the acceptance of acupuncture and other alternative therapies has needled the scientific community, Lysbonian politics is literally a blood sport, and tuba players are paid to quietly whisper into their instruments. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low. Lysbon's national animal is the Lion, which can occasionally be seen sifting through garbage in the nation's cities.

Lysbon is ranked 97,718^th in the world and 1^st in The nordics of the world for Largest Arms Manufacturing Sector, scoring 6,149.17 on the Charon Conveyancy Index.