The Empire of Styghia is a small, genial nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, absence of drug laws, and suspicion of poets. The compassionate, hard-working, cynical population of 26 million Styghians are proud of their wide-ranging civil freedoms, and those who aren't tend to be dragged off the streets by men in dark suits and hustled into cars with tinted windows.

The relatively small, liberal, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Welfare, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 10.1%.

The strong Styghian economy, worth 1.72 trillion Aureuses a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Soda Sales, Basket Weaving, and Information Technology. Average income is 66,338 Aureuses, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.7 times as much as the poorest.

Yawning is a sure sign of unemployment, engine room hooch is the drink of choice among the nation's navy, businesses have become paranoid as waves of lawsuits sweep the nation, and mourners at funerals are ticketed for trespassing. Crime is moderate, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Styghia's national animal is the Wolf, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Styghia is ranked 249,693^rd in the world and 9,376^th in Lazarus for Most Cultured, scoring 63 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.