The Kingdom of Byrstant is a huge, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its absence of drug laws. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, devout population of 214 million Byrstants hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Defense, and Education. The average income tax rate is 14.8%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Byrstant economy, worth 8.52 trillion pellars a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Furniture Restoration industry, with major contributions from Woodchip Exports, Information Technology, and Soda Sales. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 39,835 pellars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.1 times as much as the poorest.

Byrstant's children are widely acknowledged as the most foul-mouthed in the region, college students make ends meet by selling their kidneys, all recreational drugs are legal, and referenda are banned by law and the Parliament has absolute control of the legislative process. Crime, especially youth-related, is moderate, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Byrstant's national animal is the ghost bird, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Byrstant is ranked 115,755^th in the world and 4^th in The Allied Nations for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 79.06 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.