The Republic of Shachms is a colossal, cultured nation, remarkable for its teetotalling pirates, compulsory military service, and vat-grown people. The compassionate population of 3.237 billion Shachmsians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 95.9%.

The frighteningly efficient Shachmsian economy, worth 609 trillion bitcoins 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 mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Arms Manufacturing, and Trout Farming. Average income is an impressive 188,016 bitcoins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

It's a long jump to get onto the housing ladder, foreign casinos have trouble paying fans who bet on the triumph of the Shachms City Foxes against long odds, military pistols are more secure than the national treasury, and professionals are ready to retire by the time they receive permission to use their credentials. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shachms's national animal is the fox, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Shachms is ranked 3,464^th in the world and 18^th in the Plains of Perdition for Smartest Citizens, with 156.08 quips per hour.