The Byzantine Empire of Messeg is a gargantuan, efficient nation, remarkable for its enslaved workforce, frequent executions, and spontaneously combusting cars. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 36.559 billion Messegians are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

The relatively small, pro-business government prioritizes Law & Order, with Defense, Industry, and Public Transport also on the agenda, while Social Policy and Environment are ignored. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 9.8%.

The powerhouse Messegian economy, worth a remarkable 2,753 trillion soliduses a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Gambling, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is 75,325 soliduses, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 648,558 per year while the poor average 1,461, a ratio of 443 to 1.

The workforce is almost entirely made up of slave labour, a niche industry catering to S&M enthusiasts has sprung up, the government's new 'Crime Can Fight Itself' policy appears to be backfiring rather badly, and the government is avowedly atheist. Crime, especially youth-related, is a problem. Messeg's national animal is the bicephalus eagle, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Messeg is ranked 206,328^th in the world and 34^th in Eastern Roman Empire for Most Primitive, scoring -86.1 on the Scary Big Number Scale.