The Empire of Shortfin Mako is a large, cultured nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, disturbing lack of elderly people, and irreverence towards religion. The democratic population of 118 million Shortfin Makoans 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.

There is no government in the normal sense of the word; however, a small group of community-minded individuals keep a keen eye out for any attempt to organize such a thing, and ruthlessly crush it. Income tax is unheard of.

The Shortfin Makoan economy, worth 2.70 trillion sharkfins a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Uranium Mining, Arms Manufacturing, and Basket Weaving. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 22,897 sharkfins, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.0 times as much as the poorest.

Nudity is frowned upon, military officials are questioning the policy of ceding the nation's territory in exchange for promises not to invade it, all the cool kids have tetanus, and clumsy self-injury is a viable claim in modern compensation culture. Crime is moderate, probably because of the absence of a police force. Shortfin Mako's national animal is the Shortfin Mako.

Shortfin Mako is ranked 313,552^nd in the world and 1^st in The Reef for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring -7.07 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.